WagMore Next Door
Wellness Exams
We understand that you want your pet to live a long, happy, and healthy life. We want that too! We find that the most effective method to enhancing a pet’s health and vitality is by following comprehensive preventative care recommendations, starting with routine wellness examinations.
Pets cannot communicate with us verbally, making the wellness exam the best tool that a veterinarian has in ensuring your pet’s health and happiness. If your pet appears healthy, that’s great! Keep in mind, even seemingly healthy pets need routine, comprehensive check-ups by an experienced veterinary professional.
A full physical exam gives us the opportunity to catch harmful health conditions in your pet sooner when they are most treatable. Our veterinarians are trained to catch subtle, underlying conditions by checking your pet from nose to tail. This is why routine wellness exams are key! We recommend all pets visit us once or twice a year so we can ensure they are maintaining exceptional health.
Sick Visits
Pets can catch illnesses and diseases despite our best efforts to keep them healthy. If your pet isn’t feeling well, it’s up to us to figure out what’s going on. To help your pet regain health as soon as possible, we’ll first perform a comprehensive physical exam. Many times, an accurate diagnosis cannot be made from a physical exam alone. In these cases, further diagnostic testing may be recommended. Our clinical team will always communicate the recommended course of treatment with you beforehand.
Vaccinations
Vaccinations are one of the most important and convenient methods to protect your pet from an array of potentially deadly, yet preventable, diseases. Based on your pet’s age, lifestyle, and risk of exposure, vaccinations are needed periodically, and usually administered during your pet’s routine wellness visit.
Vaccinations work by introducing your pet’s immune system to antigens that look like the disease-causing organism, but won’t actually cause the disease itself. This way, if your pet is ever exposed to the real disease, its body will be prepared to recognize and fight it off, preventing a potentially life-threatening outcome.
Core Vaccines are required and recommended for all pets.
- Canines: DHPP (distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, and parvovirus) and Rabies*
- Felines: FVRCP (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, and Panleukopenia) and Rabies*
Non-Core Vaccines are lifestyle dependent.
- Canines: Bordetella, Lyme disease, Leptospirosis
- Felines: Feline Leukemia, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus
*The rabies vaccine is required by law in Pennsylvania. If you are unsure if your pet is current on his or her rabies vaccine, let us know and we will check your pet’s records.
Parasite Prevention
Continuous, year-round parasite prevention protects pets against fleas, ticks, heartworms, and other harmful parasites, and the detrimental conditions they cause. Importantly, some parasites are zoonotic, meaning they are transmissible from pets to people. It’s in the best interest of your pet and entire family to keep up with monthly preventative products. This is true for indoor pets too!
Our clinical team will discuss your pet’s lifestyle, risk of exposure, and preventative needs so the best protection is provided for your pet. This may come in the form of a pill, treat, or topical treatment. Remember, when it comes to parasites, prevention is the best medicine.
- Fleas
- Cause skin irritation and allergies like dermatitis, Bartonella, and tapeworms
- In serious cases, fleas can cause anemia and death
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Ticks
- Cause serious health issues like tick paralysis, Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and more.
- Prevalent in wooded areas and humid climates
Check your pet for ticks during regular grooming and after coming indoors from outside
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Heartworms
- Transmitted by mosquitos
- Cause irreversible damage to the blood vessels, heart, and lungs
- Often show minimal to no symptoms until disease progression is advanced
- Symptoms include coughing, trouble breathing, fatigue, weight loss, and a swollen abdomen
- Fatal if left untreated
- Cats are less susceptible than dogs, but they can still be infected with greater difficulty to diagnose
Microchipping
Losing a pet is a stressful experience. To increase the chances of a happy reunion, we recommend using not only collars and ID tags, but also microchips.
If your pet is ever lost, microchips can help bring him or her home. We typically recommend inserting microchips while your pet is undergoing spay-neuter procedure or getting other routine vaccinations.
Insertion is virtually painless, and will provide your pet with a lifetime of identification! This way, if your lost pet is ever brought to an animal shelter or veterinary facility, their unique identification number can be scanned and you will be contacted right away.
Nutrition Counseling & Weight Management
Eating well and maintaining an ideal body weight is just as important for pets as it is for people. Your pet’s eating habits and level of physical activity can effectively prevent health issues like diabetes, arthritis, bladder and kidney stones, allergies, and heart disease.
We understand that knowing what to feed your pet, how much to feed your pet, and how to decipher pet’s food labels isn’t easy. We’re happy to discuss your pet’s dietary needs with you, and, when in doubt, ask your veterinarian for advice and recommendations! They are your most trusted resource.
A few helpful tips!
- To prevent overweight and obese pets, always use a measuring cup and refer to the recommended serving size on the food label, or consult with your veterinarian.
- Reading the first five ingredients listed on your pet’s food label is a good indication of the food’s nutritional quality. The first five ingredients should not include any preservatives, fillers, or artificial colors.
- Be careful when sharing human food to avoid sickness and toxicities.
Behavior Counseling
Understanding your pet’s naughty behaviors can be frustrating as a pet owner. With some patience and the help of our professional team, we can help correct undesirable behaviors so you can have the happiest relationship with your pet.
The first step is to find the root of the behavioral issue, which is oftentimes an underlying health concern. We find that many times, when the health issue is addressed and treated, the undesirable behavior is resolved, too. Consider this: a cat may be urinating outside of the litter box due to bladder stones, or a dog may be destructive due to separation anxiety. If we find that a behavioral issue is not medically related, we’ll provide you with advice, solutions, and effective training methods.
Allergies & Dermatology
Contact, air-borne, and food allergens can cause pets a great deal of irritation and discomfort. At Skippack Animal Hospital, our clinical team is prepared to assess, diagnose, and treat a wide-range of skin infections and allergic reactions that may be affecting your pet’s skin, hair, ears, and nails.
In some cases, a diagnosis can be made simply by examining your pet’s skin or site of infection. Other times, further examination may be necessary in the form of blood samples, skin scraping, cultures, and biopsies. These tests will be quickly and accurately diagnosed in-house so treatment can
begin promptly.
Once we identify what’s ailing your pet, we’ll discuss an appropriate course of treatment with you. This may involve something as simple as a topical cream, or a combination of treatment methods.
Let us know if you recognize any of the following symptoms in your pet, as these are indicative of allergies and dermatological concerns:
- Excessive scratching
- Constant licking, biting or chewing
- Scabbing, inflamed or flaky skin
- Excessive shedding
- Lumps or bumps
- Hot spots
- Vomiting or diarrhea