General Medicine Services

Your pet is a very important part of your family. Studies show that pet owners live longer, happier lives. Unfortunately, most pets have shorter life spans than umans and require more medical care and attention.

General Diagnostic and Wellness

• Preventative Medicine & Wellness
  • Disease and Parasite Prevention
  • Vaccinations Protocols
  • Senior Pet Wellness

• Dermatology
• Pain Management
• MicroChip Implantation

Preventative Medicine and Wellness

Keeping in mind that most pets age more quickly than you do, regular yearly examinations are essential, and as your pet gets older, twice yearly examinations help ensure your pet's continued health.

Nothing is more important to us than your pet's health and well-being. Routine wellness exams give us the chance to evaluate your pet's health and to detect problems that could possibly escalate to more serious illnesses. Wellness exams also include a full physical examination and routine disease screening tests. Additional testing may be needed in order to fully diagnose a possible health problem.

Routine exams can often help detect the early signs of heart disease.

A change in weight (either loss or gain) since your pet's last visit could indicate the early stages of a metabolic disorder, such as diabetes, kidney or thyroid disease, or obesity.

Ear examinations help detect possible parasites, bacteria, fungus, or foreign material that may be causing your pet discomfort.

An eye examination helps determine any abnormalities, such as anemia, glaucoma, cataracts, jaundice and allergies. Even high blood pressure can be determined by an eye exam.

Your pet's mouth will be checked for the plaque and tartar buildup, fractures, loose teeth, tumors, possible infections, dental abnormalities and other problems.

Your pet's reproductive system will be examined for swellings, discharges, and breast lumps. If your pet has not been spayed or neutered, there are health benefits that your veterinarian will explain to you.

A skin and hair examination helps determine possible allergies, infections, warts or tumors, or if your pet is suffering from parasites such as fleas or ticks.

A gentle examination of your pet's abdomen will detect any abnormalities, such as enlarged organs or masses. Pain in some areas could indicate problems with the kidneys, intestines, stomach, or other organs.

An examination of your pet's joints, muscles, and lymph nodes may detect inflammation, arthritis, or tumors.

If your pet is exhibiting any unusual behavior or symptoms, be sure to tell your veterinarian.

• Coughing
• Sneezing
• Weight Loss
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Excessive panting
• Excessive scratching
• Change in appetite
• Excessive urination
• Excessive thirst

Disease Prevention

Regular vaccinations against infectious disease is a tremendous help in maintaining your pet's health. The veterinarians at Animal Hospital of Fairfield will create an individualized vaccination curriculum based on your pet's lifestyle and exposure to disease.

All cats and dogs are recommended to get core vaccines. For cats, these include panleukopenia, rabies, calicivirus and herpesvirus. For dogs, core vaccines include rabies, distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus and bordatella.

Depending on risk, lifestyle, and exposure, certain vaccines or non-core vaccines will be given to your pet. For cats, this includes the vaccine for feline leukemia. For dogs, vaccines for Lyme Disease and Leptospirosis are administered.

Senior Pet Wellness

Always remember - dogs and cats age more than 7 times faster than people!

Your pet is entering the "senior years" of its life when your dog or cat reaches 8 years or age. While aging itself is not a disease, the physiological changes aging brings may make your pet more predisposed to disease and other health risks, as senior pets are more likely to develop health problems. Because health problems tend to multiply with your pet's age, it is highly recommended that your dog start to attend twice-a-year health visits when they reach 8 years of age.

Being aware of the various physiological changes will help you explain to your veterinarian any health concerns you may have for your senior pet. This, in turn, helps your veterinarian determine which tests are needed.

10 Steps for a Healthy Senior Pet

• Twice a year senior health care exams are recommended to monitor your pet's health.
• Regular blood work is recommended as the baseline for measuring future changes to your pet.
• Be aware of any changes in behavior and notify your veterinarian.
• Provide your pet with a high quality senior food that provides high levels of key nutrients.
• Have your pet undergo regular dental checkups.
• To maintain a healthy weight and muscles, provide moderate exercise.
• If your dog or cat tires easily or displays trouble breathing, notify your veterinarian.
• Groom your pet weekly, and be sure to check for lumps and sores, or for discharges from the eyes, ears and nose.
• Reduce stress on your pet by maintaining a familiar routine and by making no major changes to your pet's environment.
• Pets that haven't been neutered or spayed should have their mammary glands or prostate gland examined.

Dermatology

One of the more common problems in cats and dogs is skin disease. The most common problems are skin and ear infections, allergies, and external parasites such as fleas or ticks.

To diagnose skin problems we provide a wide assortment of procedures: skin scrapings, fungal and bacterial cultures, allergy testing, cytology, and biopsy.

Pain Management

Your pet's well-being and comfort is our priority. We strive to prevent and minimize both the physical and emotional pain of surgery and do our utmost to ensure your pet's comfort after. To ensure your pet's comfort at home, medication will be prescribed when your pet is discharged from the hospital.

Each individual pet responds to pain in a different way, so it is important to pay attention to any unusual behavior or symptoms of pain. Signs that your pet may be in pain:

• Slight limping
• Trembling
• Shaking
• Licking or chewing at a particular area
• Sitting or lying in an abnormal position
• Change in appetite/interest in food
• Looks depressed
• Frequent whining
• Eliminates without attempting to move
• Dilated pupils

Microchip Implantation

A lost pet is a terrible thing!
Microchips are a perfectly safe and permanent way to provide your pet with an ID tag that will allow a speedy identification and reunion with your loved one, should they ever become lost. The procedure to implant the microchip is very similar to routine vaccination, lasting only seconds. The microchip is implanted between the shoulder blades under the skin.

Your pet now has a permanent ID tag with its own unique identification code. Once your pet's chip has been implanted, it is imperative that you fill out the enrollment form enclosed with the microchip. The information you provide on the form is then stored in a database and will always be available, so if your pet is ever lost, their ID number will be able to be scanned at animals shelters or veterinary clinics.