The dogs in our lives are often companions, friends, work partners and part of our family. At the Groton City Animal Hospital we understand the bond that many of you share with your canine companion and strive to provide comprehensive medical and surgical care for him or her. We feel very strongly that preventive care is the foundation for keeping your friend healthy well into their "golden" years.

     We encourage our clients to come in for yearly thorough physical exams in addition to updating vaccines on a regular basis. Our vaccine recommendations have changed over the past several years as we learn more about vaccines, how long the immunity to certain diseases last and most importantly evaluating your individual animals risk factors for getting a disease. The time when all dogs got the same vaccines on the same schedule is gone. We now tailor our recommendations to your pet. A comprehensive physical exam is also important in identifying any problems that your pet might have from simple things like skin issues to more major problems such as heart disease. In addition to our doctors using their skills to exam your pet, we may also recommend blood screening to help identify some diseases at an even earlier stage than might be apparent on a physical exam. Some of the things we might test for would be anemia, kidney disease, liver dysfunction, heartworms and thyroid function. We also might recommend testing your pet’s urine to identify things such as bladder stones, bladder infections, kidney disease or early stages of other diseases. Testing your pet’s stool for internal parasites on a regular basis is a very important part of general wellness care. Internal parasites can cause a variety of physical problems from weight loss to diarrhea and vomiting. Individual tests would be recommended based on your pet’s age, physical signs and the doctor’s exam. Many of the blood tests can be run here at our office and we also have the capability of doing radiographs and basic ultrasounds here.

     The most important part of your visit to our hospital with your pet is the time that we spend talking with you about your pet, his or her lifestyle, and getting information on anything that may be a concern to you about your pet and especially spending time educating you about health care for your dog. Educated clients are our best clients and make better pet owners! We encourage owners to ask questions about their pet on every subject from diet to behavior. You can also rest assured that if at any time, your pet’s health care needs are beyond the scope of the equipment available at our hospital, you will be informed of options for referral for additional diagnostics or more advanced medical and surgical care. Situations where this might arise include complicated orthopedic cases, seriously ill medical patients that require round-the-clock intense monitoring, and the need for advanced diagnostics such as abdominal ultrasounds, MRI or CT scans.

     Our office does not currently offer adjunctive therapy in areas such as acupuncture or chiropractic but we are happy to provide referrals to other local practitioners that do provide this type of care. In many cases these modalities provide symptomatic relief for things such as arthritis in addition to treating with traditional medicine.