Services
Whatever she needs, we can probably help.
If we can’t, we can point you in the right direction.
- Thorough Physical Exams
- Vaccinations
- Spay/neutering for kittens and puppies.
- Giant breeds: Dr. Lynch has a special interest in giant-breed dogs, their special needs and how to help them live longer, healthier and happier lives.
- Dental Care: Your pet’s dental health is vital to her overall health — just like yours.
- General Anesthesia: It’s never without risk, but there are things we do every time to achieve a simple, uncomplicated recovery. For example, Dr. Lynch uses a balanced protocol that combines complementary drugs so she can use less total anesthetic and more cardiovascular stability. Further, a digital system continuously monitors your pet’s vital signs throughout the procedure.
- Nutrition: we use Purina Vet Direct and Hill’s-to-Home. Both deliver those heavy bags of food straight to your door, and shipping is always free.
- Heartworm Preventative and Flea Control Solutions: We recommend these industry-standard products, because they are the safest of their kind on the market.
- Simparica TRIO
- Revolution,
- Heartgard,
- Nexguard and
- Sentinel.
Thorough Physical Exams
The current standard of care in veterinary medicine calls for a physical exam every six months. Because dogs and cats age much faster than we do, their health can change just as fast. Of course, lots of things could prompt a few extra looks: your pet’s
- age,
- current health status,
- potential exposure to parasites and other animals
- and the amount of time she spends outdoors.
Kittens and puppies should have a routine checkup every three to four weeks for the first four months, then every six months for the rest of her life.
According to current guidelines from the Companion Animal Parasite Council, we should screen your adult pet for intestinal parasites at least once a year.
Kittens and puppies may need testing more often.
Dogs need an annual test for heartworms, a potentially deadly parasite. Heartworm disease is easily preventable, though, with a monthly dose of medication given all year long.
Your cat can also get heartworms – there’s monthly medication for him, too.
We recommend screening for kidney, liver and heart disease at his regular checkup, and we require it before general anesthesia.
We believe these tests are vital to keeping life with your pet happy and healthy for as long as possible. Here’s why.
- Early detection gives your pet a head start on treatment — and a better chance of beating — a host of potentially serious ailments.
- While your pet is young and healthy, it’s a good idea to establish normal (baseline) values. Later on, if she gets sick, we’ll be able to compare her numbers and get a better idea of what’s going on.
Once we have your pet’s first exam in the can, she’ll be well positioned to get appropriate, evidence-based treatment for any problems we find, now or later.
Vaccinations
Vaccinations are one of the more effective forms of preventive medication. However, there are some vaccines that are not medically appropriate or sufficiently effective, and, as such, cannot be recommended. Core vaccines, on the other hand, are generally administered to all healthy patients regardless of lifestyle. Dr. Yavitz can develop a disease prevention program uniquely tailored for your pet.
Vaccination Schedules
At Spoede Animal Hospital, we follow standard care protocols. All guidelines listed have been compiled by the Vaccination Guideline Group (VGG) of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), American Animal Hospital Association (AHAA), and the American Associaton of Feline Pracitioners (AAFP).
Here’s how these work for vaccinating your pet(s).
Puppies
Your new puppy will get a thorough physical exam before her first vaccination at 6-8 weeks.
Core vaccines protect him from
- canine distemper virus,
- adenovirus/type-2,
- parainfluenza,
- parvovirus
- and rabies.
The vaccine consists of 2 separate injections — one is for rabies, given once at 3-4 months of age; the other, called DA2PCPV, that combines all the other core vaccines — is repeated every 3-4 weeks until your puppy is 16 weeks old.
Non-core vaccinations provide protection against Bordetella, canine influenza, and leptospirosis. Puppy will get them twice, three weeks apart. Dr. Yavitz will help you determine which of these optional vaccines would be appropriate for your dog.
One year after the last puppy shots are completed, we recommend rabies and DA2PCPV boosters, and then every three years thereafter; booster vaccinations for Bordetella, canine influenza, and leptospirosis are given annually, if needed.
Kittens
You’ll want to bring in your new kitten for his first exam as soon as possible to make sure your he brings your family a clean bill of health. If he has any problems, you’ll want to take care of them now.
We’ll test him for
- Bartonella,
- feline leukemia virus (FeLV)
- feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)
- intestinal parasites
Your healthy kitten should get his first core vaccination at 6-8 weeks, for feline panleukopenia and the viral respiratory diseases caused by herpesvirus-1 and calicivirus (all three agents are combined in a single injection).
We’ll give him a booster at 3-4 week intervals until he’s 16 weeks old.
The vaccine that protects against feline leukemia virus (FeLV) also falls into the CORE category for kittens. The reason is as follows: cats under a year of age are at much greater risk for getting infected with FeLV than adult cats. Almost 100% of all kittens infected with FeLV at 6 weeks of age or younger will remain persistently infected for life. The risk drops to about 30% at 6 months and 5-15 % after a year of age when cats develop a natural resistance to the disease. FeLV vaccine is given in two doses, three weeks apart, starting at 8 weeks of age – or as soon as possible after that age.
Rabies
Your kitten will get his first rabies shot when he’s three months old. We use Merial® PUREVAX® Recombinant vaccines.
One year after the completion of the kitten shots, he’ll get a booster for FVRCP, rabies and FeLV (if needed). After that, he’ll get the FVRCP booster and FeLV booster (if needed) every three years and an annual booster with the Merial feline rabies vaccine.