Veterinary patient care is a constantly changing field. New techniques and equipment are being developed all the time, and we here at Columbia Animal Hospital recognize that staying up to date with today's medicine is essential in our mission to provide you and your pet with the best care possible.

Below is a summary of the various services we offer, including links to pages with more details on a particular service. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call us during normal office hours.

Wellness Care

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It's a cliche, but true. Gingivitis, parasites, skin problems, and heart murmurs are a few prevalent ailments that afflict our patients. Thorough physical exams from nose to tail can detect problems early and prevent them from becoming more severe. Vaccination protects your pet from common disease and can prevent suffering and death. Screening can minimize the impact parasites may have on your pet's well-being.

Obesity, some skin problems, and allergies can be related to diet. We will work with you to determine the best dietary options for your pet. We offer a number of specially formulated diets to address specific medical conditions like kidney disease and weight management.

Medicine

Ill pets can pose a diagnostic challenge. Some problems can be readily diagnosed from physical exam and history. In other cases, such as Cushing's disease, laboratory testing is used to help identify problems so that a diagnosis can be reached and a treatment plan formulated.

Our in-house laboratory allows us to rapidly run blood counts, serum chemistries, urinalyses, and several other common diagnostic tests quickly and accurately. This allows us to recognize your pet's illness more efficiently and tailor their treatment to their needs faster than we could if we needed to send these tests to an outside lab.

There are cases where specialized laboratory testing is necessary and we can send samples out for these specific testing purposes.

Cases of heart disease, pneumonia, and urinary tract disease can be diagnosed using internal imaging, such as x-ray and ultrasound. These imaging techniques provide us with valuable and detailed information on internal organs and their structure.

Our pharmacy allows us to quickly and conveniently dispense many veterinary specific medications to get your pet on the road to wellness.

Surgery

For common problems like fractures, tumors, and wounds, our surgical suite provides us with the means to effectively address these issues. Using modern equipment, the patient's vital signs are monitored during anesthesia. Intravenous fluids are provided to help support circulation and provide access for critical medications.

A common concern for many of our clients is the comfort of their pets during and after surgery. We utilize a variety of available anesthetics to control pain and provide that extra margin of safety, especially for our older or high risk patients. We can also reduce the pain and inflammation your pet will experience postoperatively with our surgical carbon dioxide laser and a variety of pain control medications.

Dental Care

Dogs and cats suffer from periodontal disease very frequently. It starts as plaque and tartar accumulate at the gumline. The bacteria stimulate inflammation that progresses to infection if untreated. The infections cause pain, loss of bone around the teeth and can leak bacteria into the blood stream where they circulate through the internal organs.

Periodontal disease in your pet is best prevented the same way as in people, daily tooth brushing. It can be a challenge and require quite a bit of patience to train your pet to allow toothbrushing. Once gingivitis is established treatment under general anesthesia is needed to remove the plaque and allow gum tissue to heal. If it becomes too advanced, badly infected teeth may need extraction.

We are happy to help you prevent periodontal disease with training advice, toothbrushing supplies and periodontal therapy.