Canine Well Care

Wellness care is an important part of the medical care of your pet. Disease prevention and early detection is essential in allowing your pet to live a long and happy life. We offer comprehensive wellness care for every stage of your dogs life.


Physical Examination
We stress the importance of an annual exam (or biannual exam in senior and high-risk patients). Thorough check-ups and preventive care can help alleviate serious health problems. At the physical examination the doctor will perform a complete physical, review your pet's medical history, recommend needed tests or services, and discuss care recommendations.

Oral Health Care 
Regular dental care is important in maintaining your pet's teeth and protecting your pet's health. Dental disease is the most common disease affecting pets. By the age of three, the majority of dogs are already suffering from dental disease.

We realize that pet dental care is a new idea to many people and many of our clients don't yet understand how important it is to take care of our pet's teeth and gums. We are committed to doing our part to change this! Daily brushing of your dog's teeth is the most effective means to prevent plaque and periodontal disease. An oral exam is part of every complete physical exam, so if your pet is due for an exam, come in and we will check your pet's oral health at that time.

Our technicians will also show you how to take care of your pet's teeth at home to keep them their best between professional cleanings. We understand that not every client will be able to brush their pet's teeth, we can discuss alternate methods and products to help slow the accumulation of plaque.

Keeping your pet's teeth healthy will give your pet a healthier, happier, longer life. As an added bonus, clean teeth give your pet sweet breath!

Tick Borne Disease 
We have seen a dramatic increase in tick related disease in the past several years. Dogs are susceptible to acquiring several infections from ticks; including Lyme disease( borrelia), ehrlichia, anaplasma, babesia, and bartonella. We are recognizing coinfections of lyme disease and ehrlichia or anaplasma causing significant disease in pets. All of these diseases can manifest in life threatening ways in the dog.

Owners must protect their dogs from tick exposure in order to decrease the incidence of these infections. Our healthcare team will be able to determine the most effective methods and products for tick control in your dog, taking in consideration your pet's age, breed, lifestyle, and exposure risk.

Heartworm Prevention and Testing
Every dog should be on monthly heartworm prevention to protect against heartworms and intestinal parasites. This monthly pill is one of the simplest and most important things we can do to protect our pet's health.

Heartworms are transmitted to dogs by mosquitoes. Dogs need to be tested for heartworms before beginning preventative (unless less than 6 months of age). These test are necessary because it is dangerous for your dog to receive the preventative if he/she is heartworm positive. Once your dog is on monthly preventative we commonly check for exposure every two years.

Intestinal Parasite Control 
Intestinal parasites including hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, tapeworms, and coccidia can make your pet very ill and many of these parasites can infect people! We provide appropriate testing to screen your pet for these parasites and prescribe medication to treat and prevent reinfection. Puppies are at high risk for infection, so we treat all puppies appropriately to eliminate infection. We stress the significance of zoonotic infection (people can get serious disease from some of these parasites) and educate owners in prevention methods.

The Center For Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends that all dogs be on year- round heartworm preventative to control intestinal parasites, which dogs routinely pick up from their environment, soil contact, fleas, and consumption of prey animals.

Intestinal Parasite Analysis
As many different parasites infect dogs and no one dewormer controls every parasite, it is necessary to check your pet's stool for parasites.

As parasites are evident on a fecal analysis only in certain stages of their lifecycle, a 'negative' fecal does NOT mean that your pet is clear of parasites. A 'positive' fecal allows the veterinarian to choose a dewormer that is effective against the parasites we know your pet has. We recommend a fecal analysis at least once a year.

Immunizations 
Immunizations are a vital tool in preventing serious and potentially fatal disease. Recent research has shown that some immunizations last for three years or more, while others require annual revaccination. Several leading veterinary immunologists believe that repeated vaccination of a pet that is adequately protected for a disease can aggravate immune mediated and allergic disease.

Our goal is to adequately protect your pet from fatal diseases without potentially aggravating other disease conditions. At LVH we routinely screen antibody titers to measure if an animal has adequate protection against a disease. We do not revaccinate animals that have adequate titers. After a puppy has completed the initial vaccine series and annual boosters, we routinely titer these patients for distemper and parvovirus. We also use the highest quality vaccines available.

Early Disease Detection   As pets age it is important to acquire a baseline assessment of their metabolic function. Early detection of disease allows us to treat or slow its progression. We strongly recommend screening bloodwork, urinalysis and or radiographs in senior patients on an annual basis.

Permanent identification 
We strongly recommend microchip identification of all pets. Microchipping is a simple permanent means of identifying your pet. If your pet is lost or stolen and brought to a shelter, pound or veterinary hospital, he can be positively identified and safely returned to you. We implant microchips with a syringe and needle in the subcutaneous tissue over the shoulder blades. Many clients prefer to have this done during the spay or neuter surgery since the rather large microchip needle can be painlessly inserted while the pet is asleep for surgery.

Pharmacy 
We maintain a complete inventory of pharmaceuticals, vitamins, shampoos, flea and tick control products and heartworm preventatives to meet the needs of your pet. We also carry a full line of prescription  diets. We will help you chose the product most beneficial for your pet, based on their unique lifestyle.

Individualized Flea Control Programs
Fleas not only irritate your pet, they also carry disease and and cause serious allergic responses and skin infection.

We develop programs for the specific needs of your pet and your own particular environmental situation. Our healthcare team will review with you the best ways to control fleas in your house, in your yard and on your pet. We will assist you in selecting the flea control and prevention products most suitable to your pet and lifestyle.

Dietary Counseling 
We will provide guidance regarding your pet's nutritional needs for each life stage, including dietary requirements for growth, weight maintenance and performance.

Behavioral Counseling 
We can provide advice regarding the correction of problems such as excessive barking, chewing, spraying, scratching, digging, house soiling and aggression. We refer to a board certified veterinary behaviorist to assist in management of many aggression cases.