Pet Wellness Exams
At Riverbend Animal Hospital in Hadley, MA, we understand the importance of proactive pet care. Our comprehensive pet wellness exams are designed to keep your furry companions happy, healthy, and by your side for years to come.
Pet Wellness Exams
We strongly encourage annual exams, as well as semi-annual exams, for some of our aging population. As a matter of survival, animals often do not show outward early signs of disease.
At Riverbend Animal Hospital, regular physical examination is invaluable for early diagnosis and assessment of health problems. This allows us to offer a more comprehensive selection of treatment options and often improves your pet’s long-term outcome.
Screening
We recommend regular screening to be sure pets are as healthy on the inside as they appear on the outside. Animals do not always show outward symptoms of infection or disease until a condition has advanced. It is best to identify problems early when medical or surgical intervention can be most helpful for your pet.
Standard screening tests include a 4DX (Heartworm, Lyme, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichia) test, fecal analysis, complete blood count, full blood chemistry profile, and urinalysis. These screening tests aim to detect disease and help keep your animal healthy.
We also perform blood and urine tests as part of our pre-anesthetic screening. These tests help determine a patient’s tolerance for anesthesia and the best anesthetic protocol for the patient.
Vaccinations
Our vaccination protocols are based on AAHA, AVMA, and AAFP guidelines. We try to minimize the number of vaccines given over your pet’s lifetime while offering necessary protection tailored to their individual exposures.
Massachusetts state law requires all pets, whether indoor or outdoor, to have a current rabies vaccine for public health. Puppies and kittens are given an initial series of vaccines to build their immunity.
Core vaccines are recommended and administered to dogs and cats to protect them against highly contagious, prevalent, and potentially fatal diseases. Non-core vaccines are selectively recommended based on exposures due to geographic location, lifestyle, and risk/benefit ratio assessment.
Parasite Prevention & Treatment
Parasite prevention and treatment prevent many common diseases that adversely affect animal and human health.
Some of the many diseases transmitted by external parasites (fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes) include Heartworm disease, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis, and Bartonella (Cat Scratch Fever). Preventive treatments for heartworm, fleas, and ticks are proven safe and effective in reducing the risk of diseases to pets when given monthly all year round.
Internal parasites (hookworms, roundworms, giardia, tapeworms) likewise cause severe disease, most commonly in the gastrointestinal tract. Our clinic regularly performs fecal exams and some blood tests to identify internal (gastrointestinal) parasites. Once identified, internal parasites may be treated with the appropriate anthelmintics.
Veterinary Services in Hadley, MA
Below are all of the veterinary services we offer at Riverbend Animal Hospital. If you have any questions regarding our services, please feel free to call us.