Preventative Care
Preventative care is something that we take very seriously at AACC. Any disease you can prevent, you won’t need to treat! Our goal is to help you provide your pet with a healthy lifestyle that includes proper diet, exercise, companionship, mental stimulation, and a calm, safe place to rest. Our integrative veterinary medicine approach allows us to combine conventional and holistic services to offer the best in preventative care for your dogs, cats and exotic pets.
Examinations & Diagnostic Testing
Preventative care starts with regular physical examinations. This is our chance to talk with you and hear any concerns you have about your pet, and also see if we can find any physical abnormalities that you may not have noticed. We may recommend laboratory testing to get an overall picture of your pet’s health, and to potentially catch diseases in their early stages so we can offer options on how to prevent progression of those conditions. We have a variety of wellness test packages that offer discounts on preventative testing, based on your pet’s age and needs.
Vaccinations
Many people think of vaccinations when discussing preventative care. Vaccines are an important part of keeping our pets healthy, and we at AACCstrongly believe in tailoring your pet’s vaccine protocol to their lifestyle. The American Animal Hospital Association in accordance with the scientific veterinary community, has categorized vaccines as core (recommended for all pets) and non-core (recommended in specific situations.) We use these guidelines to develop a vaccine protocol tailored to your pet’s needs while respecting local ordinances. We also offer vaccine blood titer testing to help determine if your pet needs specific vaccine boosters based on whether they still have immunity from earlier vaccines given. This is another topic we can discuss during your pet’s annual (or biannual) examination.
Heartworm, Flea & Tick Preventatives
Heartworm disease is a particular concern with dogs and cats. It is transmitted by bites from infected mosquitoes and leads to long worms growing within the blood vessels and eventually lodging within the heart of infected pets. It is rare in humans but common in animals, especially in areas where mosquitoes are prevalent. Heartworm disease is difficult to treat, as pets can potentially die during treatment, but is easy to prevent. We have a variety of options for heartworm preventatives such as oral chewables, topical drops, or injection. Many of these include flea and tick control, although we offer separate flea and tick preventatives as well.
Environment
Home environment is one of the most important overall factors in a pet’s life – and we’re especially thinking of cats here. People seem to be better at reading signs of stress in dogs, but many times we miss these signs in cats. Symptoms such as urinating outside the litter box, hiding, appetite changes, or aggressive behavior can all be signs of stress in cats. Stress can be due to inter-cat relationships, cat-to-human or cat-to-dog relationships, loud noises or construction inside or outdoors, boredom/lack of mental stimulation, and many other factors that people may not realize are detrimental to a cat’s well-being. This is why annual (or more frequent) physical examinations are so important for pets. It gives us as veterinarians a chance to have these conversations with you and help determine if we can change anything at home that could make a big difference for your pet.
