Vaccines

Vaccinations are a critical part of your pet’s preventative wellness plan. Vaccines are designed to trigger immune responses and prepare the immune system to fight future infections from disease. Vaccines provide immunity against a variety of diseases with the intent of lessening the severity of or preventing certain diseases altogether.

Experts agree that widespread use of vaccinations within the last century has prevented death and disease in millions of animals. Vaccinations protect your pet from highly contagious and deadly diseases and improve your pet’s overall quality of life.

Core vaccines are recommended for all puppies and kittens as well as adult dogs and cats with an unknown vaccination history for protection against the most commonly transmitted diseases. Non-core vaccines are optional vaccines that should be considered depending on the pet’s exposure, environment, lifestyle, age and health.

The type of vaccines and frequency of vaccinations recommended for your particular pet may vary depending on the location, age, health, and lifestyle of your pet. These factors may change over time, so we recommend your pet’s vaccination plan be discussed each year at their routine annual examination.

Wellness Exams

We provide a complete wellness program for your pet to keep them happy and healthy.

Our wellness programs are designed to prevent disease and prolong the lives of your companion animals. We strive to prevent illness whenever possible. Early diagnosis of illness can lead to a longer, healthier life for your pet.

• Since our pets age quicker than us, regular exams are important to allow your veterinarian to evaluate your pet‘s overall health and become aware of any problems before they become serious illnesses.

Your pet’s dental health is a fundamental part of their overall health. During your pet’s regular physical examinations, the vet will also inspect the animal’s mouth and teeth to identify any problems. At Countryside Animal Medical Center we can provide dental care that will help keep your pet’s teeth healthy and functioning well.

• Good dental health

Good dental health ensures that your pet’s teeth are in good condition and pain free. Also, proper dental care will reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth, reducing inflammation in the mouth and the spread of these bacteria to other areas of the body.

• Issues Your Vet will Look For During A Dental Screening

Your vet will check the overall health of the animal’s mouth and will look for specific issues that could indicate a problem. Bad breath, discoloration of teeth, tartar buildup, loose teeth, excessive drooling, mouth pain, or bleeding of the gums are symptoms that warrant further investigation and treatment.

• Common Dental Problems in Pets

Pets can develop quite a number of dental problems. The most common problem is plaque and tartar accumulation that can cause bad breath and lead to painful gingivitis and loose teeth that may require extraction. Broken teeth may result from trauma or chewing on hard objects. Abscesses can result from diseased gums or teeth. Deciduous or “baby teeth” can be retained (not lost when the permanent teeth erupt) and cause misalignment of teeth and excessive tartar buildup between the retained tooth and the adjacent permanent tooth. Prompt treatment of these problems will lead to a longer and more comfortable life for your pet.

• Your Vet Is Your Partner In Your Pet’s Dental Health

Regular professional dental cleanings remove tartar buildup below the gumline where it can cause gum disease (gingivitis) that leads to loose, painful teeth. We can perform extractions of diseased or broken teeth when necessary. We can also recommend products to be used at home to help prevent the accumulation of plaque and tartar.

• Veterinary Digital X-Ray Imaging:

With superior image resolution and the ability to enlarge and manipulate the digital images, digital X-rays have proven to be more versatile and efficient that the traditional film X-ray technology. Digital X-rays also take less time to capture and less time to process, which leads to less time the pet has to spend on the table and ultimately less stress for him or her. Since the images are digital, we are able to email them to specialists for consultation on challenging cases or directly to the pet owner for his or her own records.

Some of the conditions for which Digital Imaging are ideal include but are not limited to:

• Cancer screening
• Bone Fractures
• Orthopedic conditions
• Reproductive issues
• Heart and lung evaluations
• Gastrointestinal diseases

Surgery can provide many benefits for pets, from pain relief and diagnosis of internal conditions to preventative wellness. If you’re concerned about the prospect of your pet receiving surgical treatment, rest assured that you will find the highest standards of surgical skill and care here at Countryside Animal Medical Center. Our veterinarians and skilled staff can ensure that your pet has the most positive surgical experience possible, from pre-operative evaluations and anesthesia administration to post-operative care and home treatment advice.

• Why Surgery?

The need for surgery may arise to address any number of issues, concerns or conditions in pets. Some of the more common types of surgery performed at our pet hospital include:

• Dental surgery – A broken or hopelessly diseased tooth may need to be extracted. We can also remove oral tumors if necessary. Our surgical equipment includes an Ellman Radiosurgery Unit that produces excellent results on conditions of the gingiva (gums) and oral tumor removal.
• Emergency surgery – Open wounds and lacerations, gastric torsion or bloat (a digestive crisis), dystocia (difficult labor), and gastrointestinal or urinary blockage are a few examples of urgent conditions that can be successfully treated with surgery.
• Exploratory surgery – Surgery can also be used to establish or confirm a diagnosis. We may decide to perform exploratory surgery to identify or confirm a tumor, organ problem, or other difficult to diagnose condition.
• Spay and neuter surgery – Spay/neuter surgery is a type of preventative surgery. These procedures to remove the male or female sex organs reduce pet overpopulation and reduce or eliminate the risk of certain reproductive cancers and diseases such as pyometra (a serious uterine infection in females) and prostate disease in males. Spaying or neutering may also reduce the incidence of aggressive behavior problems in your pet.
• Orthopedic surgery – Orthopedic surgery includes procedures on bones and joints. Some examples of orthopedic procedures include fracture repairs, patellar (kneecap) luxation, and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture (ACL) repairs. Orthopedic surgery usually requires specialized instrumentation not necessary for general surgery. We have a wide variety of such equipment available in order to perform orthopedic procedures efficiently and successfully. Dr. Harlin has a special interest in Orthopedic Surgery and regularly attends continuing education seminars on this topic in order to stay current and advance his knowledge of the subject.

Microchipping is a simple procedure that can help lost pets return home and be reunited with their families.

• How Microchipping Works

Microchipping identifies your pet with a unique number that can be read by a universal scanner that most animal shelters and veterinary clinics are equipped with. Once a microchipped pet is scanned, the number can then be reported to the specific microchip company that the chip is registered with, who will provide the contact information of the pet’s owner. Collars and Identification Tags can help in locating lost pets, but are often lost or wear to the point that they are no longer readable. Microchips provide a permanent means of identification that cannot be lost if a pets slips out of its collar.

Microchipping involves injecting a tiny chip under the skin between your pet’s shoulder blades. The chip is inserted under the skin in much the same way as a vaccine, but via a slightly larger gauge needle.

Once implanted, out staff will register the chip in your name with Home Again (the nationwide company that we partner with for the microchipping process). Please note, however, that if you move or change phone numbers, you will need to update your information with the company.

The doctors and staff at Countryside Animal Medical Center understand that when pets are injured or ill, their families just want to see them better again! With this in mind, we have equipped our hospital with laboratory and diagnostic equipment that helps us to more quickly arrive at a diagnosis and institute treatment.

Our lab is equipped with the technology to handle a wide variety of sample types and testing needs, including but not limited to:

• Blood Chemistry
• Complete blood count (CBC)
• Glucose monitoring
• Cytology
• Urinalysis
• Fungal Cultures
• Infectious disease screening
• Intestinal parasite screening

When more involved laboratory testing is needed, we utilize the services of Idexx Laboratories, a national leader in veterinary diagnostics. We can schedule same day pickups to receive results as promptly as possible, and schedule consultations with their staff specialists if needed.

While certain minor surgical procedures may be done using only local anesthesia, more involved procedures require general anesthesia. General anesthesia is most commonly induced with an injectable medication and then maintained with a gas anesthetic/oxygen combination. General anesthesia immobilizes the patient and blocks pain during the surgical procedure. Prior to anesthesia, we will make a careful evaluation of your pet’s general health, size and other considerations in order to determine the ideal type and amount of anesthetic to be used. Our in-house laboratory equipment can be used to run pre-op blood testing on the same day as surgery to give us the most up to date results prior to anesthesia.

Following surgery, we will prescribe medications such as pain relievers and antibiotics as indicated by the particular procedure that your pet has undergone. Our goal is to provide your pet with the smoothest and most pain free recovery possible.

We strive to keep your pet happy and comfortable while you are away! Our boarding dogs can exercise in our secure fenced outdoor yard three times daily. Our boarding cats are housed in a separate “cats only” ward to reduce their stress while away from home. We monitor the boarding areas regularly during the day in order to keep them clean and sanitary.

*All boarding animals are required to be current on vaccinations for contagious diseases (Rabies, DHLPP, Canine influenza, and Bordetella for dogs, and Rabies and FVRCP for cats). Pets also need to be free of internal and external parasites.

If your pet becomes ill during his/her stay with us, we will contact you about the issues and treat them with your approval. If we cannot contact you , we will treat the symptoms as cost efficiently as possible. Pets may become anxious or stressed in unfamiliar surroundings which can cause them to lose their appetite or develop stress induced colitis (gastrointestinal issues such as vomiting or diarrhea). Our staff monitors all boarding animals for these and any other abnormalities they may notice and informs the doctor of them.

Please bring any medications that your pet is receiving regularly. It is not required to bring your pet’s food, but if you do, please label it with your name and your pet’s name. It is very helpful to have the food placed into individual zip lock bags containing their usual portion per meal. If you bring extra items (blankets, bedding, bowls, toys, etc.) please be aware that they may get set aside for safety or sanitation reasons. We cannot guarantee that all items will be returned in the condition that they arrived in. Please note that very large beds or blankets are very difficult to keep clean and dry and we do not have washers and dryers to properly clean them should they get soiled.

Please call ahead for boarding reservations and to find out about vaccination requirements, etc., especially during peak times such as holidays.