Pet Health: A Complete Package of Benefits
South Des Moines Veterinary Center strives to provide quality veterinary care and education. Proper diagnosis is critical to treating medical ailments, and provides valuable insight into your pet’s current health status. Our veterinarians and team spend as much time as necessary to gather a thorough history, which results in the best possible treatment for your pet. Our advanced veterinary capabilities ensure high quality and rapid results.
Our veterinarians offer a customized approach to your pet’s wellness care by creating a comprehensive wellness plan specialized for your pet.
High-quality medicine and diagnostic procedures coupled with routine preventive care is the main focus at South Des Moines Veterinary Center. In addition to providing comprehensive veterinary care, we also provide canine and feline dental care pain management, boarding, grooming, doggy day care, and advanced surgical services. Offsite emergency care is also available for night, weekend, and holiday hours.
In our ongoing efforts to supply you with the latest information on veterinary care, we have compiled additional resources for you including:
Puppy and Kitten Care: Congratulations on the Arrival of Your New Pet!
Congratulations on the arrival of your new puppy or kitten! Preventive care is one of our top priorities, and we provide puppy and kitten wellness programs and packages to make it easy for your new pet to get the preventive care he or she needs. Your new pet’s first wellness visit should be at about 6–8 weeks of age. Our puppy and kitten consults generally include a full physical wellness exam, age and lifestyle appropriate vaccinations, deworming, dermatology check, and behavior advice. We are also pleased to provide information on general wellness care for your new pet.
PUPPY VACCINATIONS
Included in this service is a series of examinations and vaccinations, such as:
- Rabies
- Distemper/hepatitis
- Parvovirus/parainfluenza
- Leptospirosis
- Bordetella and influenza—available for puppies with high exposure to other dogs, such as dog parks, kennels, or doggy day care.
- Lyme Vaccine—available for dogs with exposure to tick environments
KITTEN VACCINATIONS
Included in this service is a series of examinations and vaccinations, such as:
- Rabies
- Panleukopenia (distemper)
- Rhinotracheitis and calicivirus
- Leukemia
WORM AND PARASITE TREATMENT
In addition, we will test and treat your new pet for worms and parasites. Some of the most common intestinal worms found in puppies and kittens are roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, and coccidia (a protozoan parasite). Puppies and kittens can be infected with worms and parasites from their mother or contact with infected fecal matter. These intestinal parasites can cause gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting and/or diarrhea. Hookworm parasites can even cause your puppy to become anemic (low red blood cells). In some instances, these parasites can be transferred to members of your family or to other pets. Multiple fecal tests will be performed and will allow us to treat your puppy or kitten accordingly.
Senior Pet Care: Specialty Care for Your Special Pet
Determining the age your pet becomes a senior is based on many factors, such as breed, size of pet, and lifestyle. In general, when your dog turns 7–8 years of age or your cat turns 8–9 years of age, we consider him or her a senior pet.
As a senior pet, preventive wellness exams become even more important. The earlier we detect a disease or health problem, the chances improve for a better response for your pet.
Senior pets are very good at hiding their ailments from their owners. Wellness exam visits can provide insight into your senior pet’s aging process. Great advances have been made in the treatment of many senior pet ailments. Some of these include:
- Arthritis care
- Changes in eye sight
- Loss of activity level
- Mental alertness
- Pain management
Additionally, we recommend a diagnostic workup once a year that includes the following:
- Complete blood count
- Blood chemistry panel
- Urinalysis
Quality preventive care is essential to the health of your pet. We want your pet to live a long and happy life. We have the diagnostic tools and onsite laboratory capabilities to diagnose the possible disease process in the early stages.
Together, we can achieve outstanding health care results for your pet. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We enjoy hearing from you!