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An emergency visit is rarely something you plan for. When you’re worried about your pet, the last thing you need is uncertainty about what happens next.

Pet emergencies rarely happen at convenient times. Many emergencies unfold late at night or in the early morning hours, when primary care offices are closed, and families are left searching for help.

Many people ask our office if rabbits make good family pets. The answer is a resounding ‘YES’! They make great pets that are easy to care for (with a little advance instruction) and provide fulfilling, personable, and yes, intelligent companionship.

There is an unprecedented nationwide phenomenon that has been occurring since the COVID-19 pandemic affected our lifestyles. This is the fact that all around the country, veterinary emergency practices are becoming overwhelmed by the caseload presenting to these facilities. 

To reduce the spread of the virus, some local veterinary practices are meeting owners and pets outside and keeping their buildings closed. Others are practicing social distancing and focusing on cleaning.

In our ever-changing world of dealing with the coronavirus, we are updating our protocols which allow us to continue providing the best care possible to your pets. While these may seem severe, we are trying to protect our staff as best possible and keep you, the client, as safe as possible.

It’s that time of year again. The holidays are fast approaching, kicking off with Halloween as the first big holiday where people will go out and buy a lot more chocolate and candies than they normally would earlier in the year. 

One of the more common ailments seen in felines is urinary tract disease. This can present in different ways depending on the gender and age of the cat. For example, urinary tract infections are more common in females. Urethral obstruction is more common in young male cats. 

You might wonder how dental health affects your pet.  Dental disease reveals itself mostly as oral pain.  In pets, oral pain can be difficult to recognize but often dysphagia (difficulty eating) is the easiest symptom of pain you might notice.  Pets will enthusiastically run to the bowl at mealtime but then walk away without eating since it is uncomfortable to chew food. 

Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or IBD, is a complex disease process of the intestinal tract that is a common cause of chronic gastrointestinal (GI) upset in dogs and cats.  This inflammatory condition causes a combination of clinical signs including changes in appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss.  

CT scans are non-invasive and non-painful. Your pet will be on a movable table that is advanced into a tube-like structure where the x-ray beam can be rotated 360 degrees around your pet. As your pet advances into the tube, the CT scan takes multiple images. A computer then reassembles the multiple images to create a three-dimensional picture of the body part being scanned.

Pets can be unintentionally exposed to a variety of toxic substances. Even when the substances are secured and out of site, animals still have a way of finding them and ingesting them (unzipping backpacks, jumping up on counters). The story of Olive highlights this and how serious it can be when animals get into things that aren’t meant for them.

The Westbridge Veterinary Referral Hospital is proud to offer our new low-level laser therapy! Laser therapy is a relatively new treatment modality that can be used in both cats and dogs for a number of different conditions. The laser produces specific light wavelengths and frequencies to affect a photochemical alteration of cells, which results in decreased pain, decreased edema and inflammation, and promotion of healing at the affected site.

We wanted to share this note we received from the family of one of our recent emergency patients. This and similar situations occur a lot more than one would think. Part of our mission here at WVRH is to provide the best acute care possible, when we have wonderful and happy outcomes like this we all rejoice.

A common cause of front limb lameness in medium to large breed dogs of any age is the result of a condition traditionally called “elbow dysplasia”. Although some dogs have signs of lameness after adulthood, the problem arises during the development/growth from puppy to adult. Elbow dysplasia is traditionally described as one or more of three conditions seen in medium to giant breed dogs. 

The surgery department at WVRH is available Monday through Saturday with board-certified surgeons that are here to assist with consultation and surgery for small animals. We also are available for emergency surgery when needed overnight and over the weekend. We are committed to providing options for the treatment of multiple conditions that our beloved pets may require in their lifetime.