Colorado Springs Veterinary Pet Health Care

Pine Creek Veterinary Hospital: Our Dog/Cat Wellness Exams

Colorado Springs Animal Hospital, Pine Creek Veterinary Hospital provides health and wellness care for pets

Regular pet health and wellness exams are the key to keeping your pet healthy. Wellness exams help us develop a picture of your pet’s overall health and are useful for spotting potential problems before they become more difficult to treat. At Pine Creek Veterinary Hospital, we spend a full 30 minutes with each patient and client during a wellness examination.

As part of an examination, we check your pet's heart and lungs, test his or her vision and hearing, examine the teeth and oral cavity, look for unusual lumps or swelling and test the joints and muscles for arthritis and swelling. During the exam, we discuss your pet’s vaccination needs and ask questions about your pet’s behavior, eating habits and other information. The veterinarians at Pine Creek Veterinary Hospital believe that working closely with clients is a vital part of keeping pets healthy.

Dog/Cat Vaccinations in Colorado Springs

Pine Creek Veterinary Hospital, Colorado Springs - Vaccinations, rabies shots, booster shots for dogs, cats

Every pet is unique - especially when it comes to vaccinations. We feel that each patient has individual needs based on their history, background, exposure potential, environment, age and household risks. We believe each patient should undergo 6-month evaluations and examinations to assess the above risk factors. Together, we will determine which vaccination protocol is best for that patient.

As a general rule of thumb, for the last 30 years, yearly pet vaccinations have not predisposed our patients to the potentially dangerous and deadly diseases that we are trying to protect them against. Certain vaccines have shown to have a three-year efficacy against certain viruses. However, most of our patients have not received these vaccines and, if so, have not received them consistently as they typically see different vets or move to different areas with different risk factors.

We take vaccinations very seriously and actually err on the side of not giving a vaccination if not needed, or at least waiting until other concerns for the animal are taken care of first.

Due to the number of parvo viral enteritis positive patients (puppies and young adult dogs) we experience in our area, we still advocate yearly vaccination for dogs until they reach their senior years and then 3-year vaccines, as long as that is what is appropriate for that individual patient.

In our community, outdoor/indoor cats predominate! We see an abundance of FeLV and FIV cases, as well as extreme numbers of herpes viral rhinotracheitis. Rabies is also resurfacing in our area. With the incidence of vaccine-induced sarcomas on the decline with the onset of semi-improved feline vaccines, we feel yearly vaccinations are still important, depending upon individual patient needs, risk factors, exposure or potential exposure.

Microchipping

Pine Creek Veterinary Hospital, Colorado Springs - Microchipping, microchips, vaccinations, shots for dogs, cats

Pet identification is a must, but sometimes, an ID tag and a collar aren't enough. Each year, millions of pets go missing. Microchipping your pet is a safe, easy way to help bring your pet home safely. A microchip is about the size and shape of a grain of rice. It is implanted under your pet’s skin between the shoulder blades in a procedure similar to a vaccination. Each microchip is encoded with information that corresponds to a national pet database. Most veterinary hospitals and animal shelters have special scanners capable of reading the information on each microchip. If your pet is lost, his or her microchip is scanned and the information in the database is used to reunite you and your faithful companion.

Pine Creek Veterinary Hospital uses the HomeAgain microchip system. Microchipping your pet is easy and inexpensive - please ask a staff member for more details about microchipping your pet.

Emergency Care for Colorado Springs Pets

If your pet has an emergency outside regular hospital hours, we refer clients to the following veterinary emergency care facilities:

Animal Emergency Center – North
5520 N. Nevada Ave.
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
719-260-7141
www.animalercare.com

Banfield Emergency & Critical Pet Care Clinic
5956 Stetson Hills Blvd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80922
719-473-0482

Referrals

In special cases, we may refer clients to Southern Colorado Veterinary Internal Medicine, a nearby specialty center. We typically provide referrals for:

  • Ultrasound (thoracic, abdominal and ocular)
  • Echocardiogram
  • Advanced orthopedic procedures
  • Second opinions on medical and/or surgical cases
  • Neurosurgery or neurology
  • Advanced or complicated ophthalmology

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