Pet Wellness

At our hospital, we cultivate health and well-being at every visit

Pet Wellness

Wellness is not just the absence of disease. Wellness is a healthy balance of mind, body, and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being. It is living life to its fullest potential.

We enjoy wellness here every single day.

Wellness starts with a physical exam.

  1. The doctor will look in your pet’s mouth, will check the mucous membrane color, inspect the gums for irregularities, recession, masses, ulcerations, and/or redness.  The teeth will be inspected for tartar accumulation, missing teeth, loose teeth, periodontal disease, resorptive lesions, fractured teeth, and/or extra teeth.  The doctor will look under your pet’s tongue and in the back of the throat if able to look for masses, ulcers, sores, or foreign bodies. 
  2. The doctor will look in your pet’s eyes.  She will look at the conjunctiva for redness, swelling, irritation, or masses.  She will look at the eyelids for irritation, entropion, ectropion, masses, hairloss, distichia, or foreign bodies.  She will look for ocular discharge.  She will look at the cornea for clouding, ulceration, pigment changes, vascularization, loss of clarity.  She will look at the iris and pupil for inflammation, redness, irregular shape and sizes, pupilary light reflexes, cataracts, clouding, menace, vision, masses, etc.  Retinal exams are attempted but at the current time, dilated retinal exams are not performed. 
  3. The ears are inspected at the ear pinna-dorsal and ventral, external ear canal, internal ear canal, and tympanic membrane for redness, crusting, flaking, discharge, inflammation, masses, foreign bodies, or infection. 
  4.    The doctor will palpate your pet’s face and neck and head for muscle symmetry, masses, skin sores, lumps/bumps, thyroid gland problems, swallowing difficulties or tracheal irritations. 
  5.   The doctor will examine your pet’s skin for fleas, hair loss, irritations, lumps/bumps, sores, infections, allergies. 
  6.  The doctor will examine your pet’s feet for redness, toenail abnormalities, masses, infections, allergies and irritations and sores. 
  7.   The doctor will palpate your pet’s abdomen feeling for lumps or bumps, masses, pain, effusion. 
  8.  The doctor will examine the perineal area looking for swellings, masses, skin infections/irritations, recessed vulvas, anal sac problems.  Some dogs and cats will also have a rectal exam, palpating for masses, inflammation, prostate exams and anal sac exams. 
  9. The doctor will palpate your pet’s limbs and joints feeling for swellings, arthritis, stiffness, pain, dislocations, luxations.  The doctor will also test your pet’s strength and nervous system. 
  10. The doctor will palpate your pet’s back feeling for pain or weakness. 
  11. The doctor will listen to your pet’s heart and lungs, listening for irregular heart rates and arrhythmias and also listening for heart murmurs, fluid in the lungs, wheezing.  During this time, the doctor will also be palpating your pet’s pulse for quality.   
Not all pets are willing to allow this much of an exam. We see each pet as unique and tailor our approach to each pet individually. We are happy to give a sedative if needed or to take a lighter touch if acceptable for your pet’s situation. However, our goal is to get a good, complete exam as the most important step to your pet’s overall well-being.

Not only will your pet receive a complete examination, but we will also talk with you about your pet’s lifestyle. Things like diet, exercise, living situations, interaction with other animals and pets, travel history, and habits all contribute to your pet’s well-being. We will discuss nutrition, behavior, vaccination, parasite prevention, and risk factors for disease.

We want your pet to experience the fullest life, and we are here to help that happen!