Pet Wellness Exams
Wellness exams are critical to helping your pet maintain good long-term physical health. Combined with regular doctor consultations, vaccinations, parasite prevention and proper nutrition, annual examinations give your pet the best chance at excellent lifelong health. Routine exams are the most affective way to prevent illness as well as early detection of disease.
Vaccinations and Preventative Care
Our doctors and highly skilled nursing staff provide current recommendations and treatments to keep your pets healthy and safe.
Fleas
Fleas are external parasites that feed on the blood of cats and dogs. Although Fleas don’t naturally reside in Lake Tahoe, they do like to visit and occasionally infest our pets and homes.
Ticks
These external parasites consume the blood of mammals and are responsible for the spread of several serious conditions in people and pets.
Heartworm
This thread-like parasitic roundworm spreads through mosquito bites and makes its home in the heart, lungs and blood vessels of infected animals.
Gastrointestinal Parasites
Giardia, Roundworms,Tapeworms, Coccidia are common intestinal parasites spread through scavenging, the ingestion of infected fleas during grooming or passed from mother to puppy. These parasites can make your dog sick as well as spread to humans.
Reproductive Surgery
Our doctors provide spay and neuter surgeries for cats, dogs and rabbits. This procedure eliminates the risk of a unwanted litters, but also helps reduce the risk of some serious and life threatening reproductive tract diseases and cancers. In addition, spaying and neutering generally results in better behaved family pets by reducing undesirable behaviors such as urine marking, humping, dominance, aggression, and escape/ roaming.
Microchipping Your Dog
The purpose of pet ID microchips are to provide a form of permanent identification. They are tiny, about the size of a grain of rice, and contain a unique identification number. Our staff administers the microchip as a subcutaneous injection over the shoulder blade area. Veterinary hospitals, animal control and animal rescue groups typically have microchip scanners. The microchip scanner will detect the electronic code embedded in the chip and display the identification number on its screen. The registration database is then checked for this identification number (either online or by telephone), and the pet owner’s contact information is retrieved.
What to Expect During Your Pet’s Physical
Our BCVC team will provide your cat or dogs with a comprehensive physical checkup to gain a complete picture of their overall health. Routine wellness exams at BCVC generally include the following elements:
General Condition
Your pet’s general demeanor and physical condition can provide clues to their overall health. How they stand and walk, their level of alertness, and whether they are a healthy weight for their size are all important indicators of overall health.
Coat & Skin
During your pet’s routine checkup, we will examine your cat or dog’s coat and skin for signs of health problems. These can include excessive oiliness, dryness, bumps, lumps, dandruff and abnormal loss of hair.
Face & Head
Your pet’s eyes, ears, and nose will be examined for abnormalities or discharge. We will also check the mouth for symptoms of oral health problems such as plaque buildup or periodontal disease.
Internal Health
Heart rate and rhythm, pulse, and blood pressure are vitally important to your pet’s heart health. We’ll test these to ensure they’re normal. The lungs will then be examined for evidence of abnormal breathing.
Your pet’s lymph nodes will be checked for swelling and pain. And our vets will also examine their abdomen to make sure that their intestines, kidneys, spleen, liver, and stomach all feel normal and that your pet isn’t showing signs of discomfort.
Checkups for Puppies & Kittens
Puppies and kittens need proper medical attention in their first few weeks of life to get off to a healthy start.
We will provide your new best friend with a comprehensive physical exam, deworming medications and any appropriate immunizations. We will also test your pet for any intestinal parasites.
We provide puppy and kitten packages to all of our patients, including comprehensive preventative vaccinations and examinations as well as expert guidance to help you through your pet’s critical first year of life.
Please never hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have about caring for your new pet, both at your appointments or following your visits.
Once your puppy or kitten’s checkup is complete, you’ll return periodically for his or her required booster shots.
Seniors
With recent advances in veterinary medical knowledge and care, as well as newer therapies and better nutrition, senior pets are living longer than ever.
While this is excellent news for pets and their owners, it does mean that special attention will need to be paid to your senior pet’s routine healthcare as they grow older. When your pet grows beyond middle age, routine exams become increasingly important for their continued comfort, health, and longevity.
In addition to the routine wellness procedures, we perform on all adult pets, we will give special attention to your senior pet’s potential geriatric conditions, such as arthritis or decreased vision.
Additional laboratory tests may be recommended for aging pets to provide more detailed information about your senior pet’s overall health and wellbeing.