West Palm Animal Clinic, is at the forefront of providing comprehensive care that is specifically designed to meet your pet’s unique needs.
As a full-service animal hospital, our breed-specific wellness program customizes care based on breed, age, lifestyle, and other risk factors, thus creating a wellness plan specifically for your furry family member. We know that your pet is unique and so is its breed – a Golden Retriever is not a Yorkshire Terrier and a Siamese cat is not a Florida Coon Cat!
Breed specific preventive wellness care is the best way to keep your pet healthy and happy. It is our mission to prevent illness whenever possible. Regular examinations and a complete preventive health care plan are the best ways to prevent illness before your pet’s quality of life is affected.
We treat a vast variety of conditions that are often times genetically linked to certain breeds. Particular breeds of both dogs and cats are at higher risk for medical issues such as hip dysplasia, heart conditions, and even cancer. West Palm Animal Clinic’s breed-specific wellness program is designed to screen our patients with better sensitivity to prone conditions. For example, we closely monitor Boxers for cardiac problems, Cocker Spaniels for glaucoma, Bengal cats for gastrointestinal disorders, and Abyssinian cats for kidney disease. Our goal is to detect these conditions early and be proactive in the treatment process.
During each wellness visit, we thoroughly examine your pet with its breed in mind. Your pet’s heart and lungs are evaluated. Next, his or her eyes, ears, mouth and teeth are examined.
We check for signs of tumors, skin conditions and problems with the joints and muscles and we palpate your pet’s abdomen for signs of swelling and abnormalities. As part of your pet’s complete physical examination, we may also perform various laboratory tests. These include fecal centrifugation for detecting internal parasites, blood tests for detecting heartworm and tick exposure, and general blood screenings to identify potential breed-related medical problems and conditions. It is our goal that your pet remain in such good health that we see him or her only for wellness visits.
Examinations are an essential step in detecting problems before they become serious health issues. Regular wellness exams are the best way to keep your pet healthy and prevent disease and illness before they become difficult – and costly – to treat.
Vaccinations
It is easy to forget that many diseases that were once fatal to pets are now prevented through vaccinations. Every pet has unique needs when it comes to vaccinations – that is why we will work with you to tailor a vaccination protocol that is specific to your pet.
Age, lifestyle, the risk of exposure and other factors must all be taken into account when your pet is vaccinated. Because we understand client concerns regarding vaccinations, we strive to reduce the number and frequency whenever possible.
Puppy & Kitten Breed Specific Wellness
You’ve welcomed a new puppy or kitten into your home – congratulations! Bringing a new animal companion into your home is a big step. We know you want to take the best care of your new pet, and we will tell you about the health concerns of your specific breed right from the start. The first veterinary visit is slightly longer than a routine exam; it gives us time to pass along important information about caring for your new furry family member.
Microchipping
Pet identification is a must for keeping your beloved companion safe. But sometimes, a collar and identification tag is not enough if your pet is lost or missing. Microchipping your pet is a safe and effective way to help ensure your pet returns home safely. A microchip is about the size and shape of a grain of rice and is implanted beneath your pet’s skin between the shoulder blades in a process similar to a vaccination. It can be the difference for your lost pet being home by dinner or never seeing your best friend again.
Every microchip is encoded with unique information about your pet. That information is stored in a national database. Veterinary hospitals and animal shelters throughout the country are equipped with special scanners capable of detecting and reading the data on a microchip. If your pet is lost, that data is used to reunite you and your pet.
There are few downsides to having your pet microchipped, yet less than 2% of cats lost without a chip are ever returned home – an unfortunate 98% never see their families again. That is in contrast to the 40% of cats that were microchipped who make it back to their owners. For dogs, the data shows that over 50% with a microchip are returned to their owners, while less than 20% without a chip ever make it back home.
For those with indoor only pets: remember the lessons Hurricane Katrina taught us. Many of the problems faced after Katrina involved reuniting pets with their families. In a natural disaster, a microchip may make a big difference for your pet.
Please ask our staff for more information about having your four-legged family friend microchipped.