Services for a Healthy Life
Vaccines
Vaccinations are not only safe and effective; they are an important and fundamental piece of your pet’s preventative healthcare plan. Advances in veterinary immunology have made diseases that once were relatively common and fatal to pets easily preventable. There are also vaccines—such as for rabies and other zoonotic diseases—that help protect your family from very dangerous and difficult to treat illnesses. Additionally, with each passing year, veterinary science is improving on existent vaccines as well as increasing our ability to prevent an even wider array of contagious diseases.
Bethany Animal Hospital’s vaccination protocol follows American Animal Hospital Association recommendations and is designed to take into account the unique attributes of your pet. We truly believe that our balanced protocol is the best means of protecting your pet from the risk of preventable disease or a negative reaction to a vaccine.
Exotics & Pocket Pets
Bethany Animal Hospital is also very proud of the wellness services we are able to offer our clients that have exotic or pocket pets such as reptiles, birds, ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and other small mammals. These animals’ healthcare needs are often quite unique and require a veterinary practice with the experience and expertise to ensure they live long, healthy and happy lives.
In the wild, many of these animals have developed strategies to conceal illness or injuries as a survival technique to avoid predators. As a result, their medical problems often go unnoticed for too long. By the time the owner recognizes that there is a problem with his or her exotic pet, the condition is often extremely serious.
This is why we strongly recommend regular physical examinations to check for health problems as well as annual monitoring to check for nutritional and other conditions. With regular veterinary medical examinations—two per year is recommended—problems are often diagnosed before they become serious medical conditions.
Beyond routine examinations, we offer vaccinations, dental care, surgery, pain management, sick visits, and medical management of illnesses and injuries.
After acquiring your new pocket pet, a complete veterinary examination is also strongly recommended. This includes a thorough physical examination, nutritional consultation, and disease screening and laboratory testing if necessary.
Senior Pet Care
Due to advances in veterinary medicine, companion animals are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. However, this does not mean that your senior pet’s good health can be taken for granted. Older pets are more susceptible to a range of diseases that with regular veterinary care can either be prevented or caught at their early and preventable stages.
Bethany Animal Hospital recommends yearly wellness exams, vaccination boosters, regular parasite screenings, grooming, Heartworm prevention, and dental exams. However, after your pet reaches seven years of age—a little younger for some and older for some others—we also recommend a geriatric exam. These exams are tailored to your pet’s age and condition and include additional lab work such as a Complete Blood Count and screenings for common diseases such as certain cancers, diabetes, diseases that affect the kidneys, and others. We will also review your pet’s nutritional needs and may suggest an individualized geriatric diet and vitamins.
Nutritional Counseling
One of the key factors contributing to the improved health and longevity of companion animals is our expanded knowledge of the important role that proper nutrition plays in overall health. During your pet’s comprehensive physical examination we evaluate his or her body condition and give recommendations based on what we see. However, some pets with nutritional issues or chronic conditions such as diabetes require a little bit more intervention, which may include specialized foods, feeding strategies and even prescription diets.
Bethany Animal Hospital has trained staff available to help you with your pet’s nutritional challenges. We also have a diverse inventory of prescription foods and high-quality nutritional products. If your pet requires a prescription diet we do not carry, we can easily order it for you. We can also offer advice and provide information about diets that benefit specific medical conditions such as liver disease, bladder and kidney stones, renal failure, food allergies, diabetes, joint mobility, and other conditions.
MLS Laser Therapy
To further reduce pain and promote healing after surgery, an injury or to manage a range of chronic and acute conditions, Bethany Animal Hospital offers laser therapy. Cleared by the FDA for medical treatments, laser therapy uses low-level lasers to stimulate the natural healing capabilities of the body’s cells. This form of laser therapy is effective at promoting healing on a cellular level as well as decreasing inflammation after surgery, injury or areas of the body affected by chronic illnesses such as arthritis or acute conditions such as otitis, hot spots, lick granulomas, bladder inflammation, and more. It can also be used to increase joint mobility and relieve the aches and pains common to geriatric pets.
The laser creates a deep penetrating laser emission that induces the body to release endorphins and stimulates the injured cells to heal at a faster rate. This tool enables us to offer our clients an alternative to pharmaceuticals that is capable of producing significant results without any dangerous side effects.
Our Pharmacy & Pet Products Store
The Pharmacy
In numerous acute or chronic conditions, medication is required to cure or alleviate symptoms. To ensure timely and convenient access to these medications, Bethany Animal Hospital maintains a comprehensive pharmacy.
Not only does our pharmacy mean you don't have to wait for important medicines for your pet, but there is a direct line of communication between the examination room and the pharmacy window. Each medication becomes part of your pet’s medical record, which reduces the chance for errors and enhances our ability to monitor its use and the outcome for your pet.
Refills are easy too. Simply give us a call or visit our online pharmacy and we can either mail them to you or have them ready at your next visit.
The Store
With so many pet care products on the market, it can be difficult to know which ones are best for your pet. We have taken some of the guess work out by researching the ones we think are best and then including them in our health products store here at the Hospital. We can also make recommendations based on the unique needs of your pet.
These include over-the-counter flea and tick control products, Hill’s Science Diet pet foods, prescription and specialty diets, treats, grooming aids, nutritional supplements, leads and collars, clothing, toys, chew bones, dental care products, and more. If you don’t see something in our store or would like to suggest a product, we are able to special order a wide range of products for our clients.