Treating Pets With Loving Care

Our Services

If you love your animal, you can count on Elk Creek Animal Hospital to care for your pet with love and compassion.

 

Dentistry

Dental health is a very important part of your pet’s overall health. Your pet’s teeth should be checked at least once a year by a veterinarian for early signs of a problem and to keep your pet’s mouth healthy. Have your pet’s teeth checked sooner if you observe any of the following problems:

  • Bad breath
  • Teeth that are discolored and covered in tartar
  • Broken or loose teeth
  • Pain in or around the mouth
  • Bleeding from the mouth
  • Abnormal chewing, drooling, or dropping food from the mouth
  • Reduced appetite or refusal to eat

Although cavities are less common in pets than people, they can still have many of the same dental problems and may develop:

  • Periodontal disease
  • Abscesses or infected teeth
  • Broken teeth and roots
  • Tumors or cysts in the mouth

What is Periodontal Disease?

Periodontal disease is the most prevalent disease of all diseases in cats and dogs. It is an infection caused by bacteria. The bacteria are located on the teeth and the tissues surrounding the teeth (periodontium). By the time your pet is three years old, he or she will very likely have some early evidence of periodontal disease, which will worsen as your pet grows older if effective preventive measures aren’t taken. Periodontal disease doesn’t just affect your pet’s mouth. Other health problems found in association with periodontal disease include kidney, liver, and heart muscle changes.

How Does a Dental Work?

During a dental cleaning, plaque and tartar are removed from a pet’s teeth, and the health of the entire mouth (tongue, gums, lips, and teeth) is assessed. Dog and cat dental cleanings are very similar to human dental cleanings, except that we are required to use anesthesia to properly and safely examine and clean the teeth. Your pet does not understand the benefit of dental procedures, and he or she reacts by moving, trying to escape, or even biting. Anesthesia also allows for a better cleaning because your pet is not moving around and risking injury from the dental equipment.

We do our best to save every tooth that we feel has a chance to be successfully treated. We only extract teeth that, in the doctor’s opinion, are beyond saving. Pet tooth extractions are often necessary for removing damaged or diseased teeth, advanced periodontal disease, maloccluded teeth, fractured teeth, impacted teeth, and deformed teeth.

What can I do at home for my pet’s oral health?

Regularly brushing your pet’s teeth is the single most effective thing you can do to keep their teeth healthy between dental cleanings. Do not use human toothpaste! Human teeth cleaning detergents contain ingredients that are not intended to be swallowed and can cause internal problems if they are swallowed. Pet kinds of toothpaste are non-foaming, safe to be ingested, and available in flavors appealing to dogs, including poultry, beef, malt, and mint. We also offer Oravets here in our clinic. Oravet Chews form a barrier to help protect against the bacteria that leads to plaque and calculus buildup for a cleaner mouth and fresher breath. If you have questions about safe products to use, please ask, and we will gladly point you in the right direction.

Emergency & Urgent Care

We have a veterinarian and personnel on duty five days a week and a veterinarian on call seven days a week, all of which are trained and equipped to handle any urgent care your pet has. Usually, an emergency team consists of at least one veterinarian and several technicians working together to save a pet’s life. Emergencies can include things such as snail bait poisoning, getting hit by a car, and chocolate ingestion.
If you are an established client and feel that your pet needs emergency treatment, do not hesitate to call or come in immediately. If possible, it is best to call before coming in so that a team member can advise you on your particular emergency.
We are also available for urgent care when the condition is not life-threatening, but you feel your pet needs to be seen before you are able to get an appointment. Our staff will work hard to get your pet seen between scheduled appointments. When you arrive, our team will give you an estimate on how long you may have to wait to be seen.

Laser Therapy

The laser is applied directly to the surface of the skin, or it can be held just above the skin surface. A benefit of therapeutic laser therapy is that it is unnecessary to shave the fur in the treatment region. Treatment can be administered without discomfort or restraint.

The beam of the laser consists of wavelengths with photons that penetrate into the tissue. The photons are absorbed by cells that are not properly functioning due to injury or disease. The photons help to initiate cellular processes by increasing the productivity of ATP, the energy source for cells. This increases overall cellular function, allowing for more rapid absorption of nutrients, elimination of wastes, and reproduction of new cells. The reproduction of healthy cells and efficiency of cellular function aids to:

  • Alleviated chronic or acute pain
  • Reduce inflammation of soft tissue
  • Reduce edema (fluid trapped in body tissue)
  • Activate immune cells
  • Reduce bacteria in the region of treatment
  • Increase blood flow to the region of treatment
  • Help surgery heal and recovery (incisions, growth removals, bone surgeries)
Microchipping

Why should I microchip my pet?

Microchip identification is the most reliable way to reunite lost pets with their owners. As separation from your cat or dog can happen all too easily, permanent identification by microchipping is critical. Every pet should have microchip identification as the procedure can be done at any age.

How does microchipping work?

The small microchip (the size of a grain of rice) is injected under the skin between your pet’s shoulder blades in a relatively harmless veterinary procedure. The chip is permanent, lasting the whole life of the pet. Your information has to be registered with your bar code number so that you can be contacted if your pet ever becomes lost. If a pet is found, all animal care facilities (shelters, hospitals, etc.) will scan the pet for a microchip using a special microchip reader that is simply waved over the skin. The pet owner is then called immediately and given the contact information about where to pick up their pet.

Diagnostics

We pride ourselves on having state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to help us best diagnose your pet. Not only does this allow us to get your pet’s results faster, which means faster treatment and less stress, it also means that we will refer you to a specialist less often, saving you time and money. Here are some of the tools we have at our disposal:

  • High Definition Digital X-Ray machine
  • Digital ultrasound
  • Digital Dental X-Rays
  • In-house blood work machines
    • Complete blood count (CBC): This test checks red and white blood cell and platelet counts. It can help diagnose things like infection and anemia.
    • Chemistry panel: This test checks several different liver and kidney enzymes as well as things like blood glucose, potassium, and calcium.
    • Heartworm testing
    • Feline Leukemia & FIV testing
    • Phenobarbital testing
  • Urinalysis and Urine Sediment analyzer: This machine checks patient urine for things like blood, protein, bacteria, glucose, and crystals. Not only does it calculate those values, but it provides us with dozens of detailed magnified images to help us better diagnose your pet.
  • Fecal Analyzer: The analyzer checks stool samples for an array of different parasites, including roundworms, whipworms, and giardia.
Pharmacy

At Elk Creek, we offer a full-service on-site pharmacy for the convenience of our clients. We carry a wide range of prescription and non-prescription medications, as well as supplements and preventatives.

Almost anything that we don’t carry in the clinic can be found on our online store.

Products

We strongly recommend flea and tick and heartworm prevention all year round!

Fleas and ticks carry diseases that can make your pet very sick. Fleas can multiply rapidly. Just one female can produce hundreds of fleas, and each new generation can grow from egg to adult in 14 days under ideal conditions. Fleas multiply in your pet’s bed, your bed, blankets, pillows, and furniture, etc. It is important to treat ALL pets in your household. If you do have a flea infestation, you need to vacuum, clean, and treat furniture. Use hot water and mechanical treatments such as washing machines, carpet cleaners, and steam vacuums. We highly recommend purchasing flea/tick and heartworm prevention from your veterinarian. Some products sold at stores may carry a similar-looking product, but it may not be as effective! Please find information on the products we recommend here.

Spaying & Neutering

At Elk Creek Animal Hospital, we encourage our clients to have their pets spayed and neutered to help control the companion animal population and provide your pet with long-term health benefits. We recommend spaying or neutering all pets of the appropriate age (5 months for cats, 6 months for small-medium size dogs, and 10-12 months for large and giant breed dogs) to prevent behavioral issues as well as serious health concerns such as testicular cancer in males and uterine infection or mammary tumors in females.

Whenever you’re ready to schedule an appointment, we would be happy to advise you on a more specific time frame that works conveniently with your schedule.

Instructions for the procedure here at Elk Creek Animal Hospital:

  • Drop-off time for your pet is between 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM in the morning. Your pet will spend one night with us. They can go home at 10:00 AM or later the next day.
  • Make sure that there is no food or treats given to your pet after 10:00 PM on the night before surgery.
  • No water or any other liquids should be given to your pet after 6:00 AM on the day of surgery.
  • All pets must be up to date on their vaccinations.

We will have a Surgery Consent Form in the morning to fill out at drop-off that will have some additional options that owners can choose from. Also, please read through our Surgical Information page.

Other Surgery

We specialize in a range of different surgeries. It is our goal to provide your pet with the highest quality care and safest surgical experience possible. We do everything that we can do here at the clinic, which keeps you from having to go to a specialist, saving you time, stress, and money. Read more here.

Vaccinations & Wellness Care

Preventative care is one of the most important aspects of maintaining your pet’s health. Regular wellness visits and pet vaccinations are the most effective way to guard against major health issues and infectious diseases. Not only can these infectious agents adversely affect the well-being of your pet, but some are even transmittable to humans. We strongly recommend annual vaccinations to help protect your pets as well as the rest of your family from numerous disease threats, including:

Dogs

  • Rabies – A contagious and fatal viral disease of mammals that causes madness and convulsions. It is transmissible through the saliva to humans.
  • Bordetella (sometimes called kennel cough) – Aids in the prevention of canine infectious tracheobronchitis caused by Bordetella bronchiseptica.
  • DAPPV + L4: A combination vaccine that vaccinates against several common diseases, such as:
    • Leptospirosis – a bacterial infection that can affect all breeds and sizes of dogs. Lepto can be a very serious disease and can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated early. Left untreated, it can develop into a more severe, life-threatening illness that affects the kidneys, liver, brain, lungs, and heart. Initial signs of leptospirosis include fever, lethargy, and lack of appetite. However, if lepto is caught early, it responds well to antibiotics. The disease is caused by spiral-shaped bacteria called leptospires that live in water or warm, wet soil.
    • Canine Distemper Virus – Canine distemper is a highly contagious, often fatal disease caused by a virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems. Its epidemiology is complicated by the large number of species susceptible to infection.
    • Canine Parvovirus – A highly contagious viral illness that manifests itself in two different forms. The more common form is the intestinal form, which is characterized by vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and lack of appetite (anorexia). The less common form is the cardiac form, which attacks very young puppies’ heart muscles, often leading to death.
  • Infectious Canine Hepatitis – An acute liver infection in dogs caused by canine adenovirus type-1 (CAV-1). The virus is spread in the feces, urine, blood, saliva, and nasal discharge of infected dogs. It is contracted through the mouth or nose, where it replicates in the tonsils. The virus then infects the liver and kidneys.

In addition to vaccinations, we offer heartworm testing, flea, tick, and heartworm preventatives. Refer back to our Products page.

Cats

  • Rabies – A contagious and fatal viral disease of mammals that causes madness and convulsions. It is transmissible through the saliva to humans.
  • Feline Leukemia Virus* (FeLV)(for “at-risk” cats) – A retrovirus that can be transmitted from infected cats when the transfer of saliva or nasal secretions is involved. If not defeated by the animal’s immune system, the virus can cause diseases that can be lethal.

*Feline Leukemia/FIV testing is required before a vaccine is given.

  • FVRCP includes:
    • Feline PanleukopeniaPanleukopenia (sometimes called feline distemper) is a highly contagious, severe infection that causes gastrointestinal, immune, and nervous system diseases.
    • Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis – A virus, just like a common human cold, that causes an upper respiratory tract infection that is easily transmitted from one cat to another. Kittens are particularly affected, but this disease can be dangerous in any unprotected cat.
    • Feline Calicivirus – A widespread and highly contagious virus that is another major cause of upper respiratory infection in cats.
    • Chlamydophila – This disease is an extremely contagious bacteria that will infect the eyes, causing conjunctivitis. They may also infect the lungs, digestive tract, and reproductive tract.