Available Veterinary Services

Wellness Exams

All patient exams involve a nose to toes exam. This includes:

  • Body weight, temperature, heart rate and respiration rate
  • Inspection of teeth, gums, tongue and throat as able
  • Ear canal evaluation with an otoscope
  • Ocular exam with an ophthalmoscope
  • Evaluation of heart for an arrhythmia or murmur with a stethoscope
  • Abdominal palpation
  • Musculoskeletal exam for lameness or other abnormalities
  • Skin and fur exam for dryness, infection, fleas or other critters and signs of allergies
  • Paw and toe check for nail length, damage or allergy
  • Rectal exam as able, with possible anal gland expression and evaluation

Sometimes parts of an exam cannot be done on awake veterinary patients. In the best interest of the patient and medical staff, some items may be skipped or sedation may be required to properly evaluate important parts of your pet.

Lab work is generally recommended as part of the routine annual evaluation, with more specific testing based on abnormalities noted at home or during our exam.

Surgery

At times our veterinary patients require surgery. These include routine (or non-routine) spays or neuters, mass removals and minor injury repair. Critical or severe injury surgery is also done for our pets. These more intense surgeries may go to specialists who have extensive training and advanced equipment for your pet’s proper care.

All surgical procedures on veterinary patients are done under full anesthesia and monitoring, with very few exceptions. Pre-anesthetic lab work is recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association to assess patient risk. It is required for all patients under our care.

Before any surgery is performed, we require examination and discussion of surgery with the pet parent. This is to assess risk and discuss complication rate/type, including patient care.

Dental Care

Oral health care for our pets is just as important as any other facet of their health. Our pet’s teeth take the same day-to-day damage ours do, such as chips or fractures, periodontal disease and abscesses. The combination of tooth quality, gum viability, mouth odor and other factors all play a part in our pet’s oral health. Dental care is generally divided into two parts, at-home care and routine dental prophylaxis.

AT-HOME DENTAL CARE
• Teeth brushing: the cornerstone of at-home care
• Proper chewing: needs to be the right item for your pet
• Oral rinses, sprays, wipes and diets
DENTAL PROPHYLAXIS
• A proper and thorough cleaning of a tooth’s crown AND the area under the gingiva
• Extensive physical exam of all teeth, the gingiva and the bone of the mouth
• Dental radiographs using state-of-the-art digital technology

Dental cleanings are recommended by the American Veterinary Dental College and should be discussed with your veterinarian. A proper cleaning involves the use of anesthesia and all pets are put completely asleep to allow for the exam, x-rays and possible tooth repair or extraction. If teeth are mobile, have radiographic significant bone loss, abscesses, or severe crown damage, teeth are often recommended for surgical extraction.

At St. Francis Animal Clinic, our goal is to provide above average education on at-home health care, while also offering state-of-the-art digital dental radiographs at the time of our dental cleanings to ensure the most accurate evaluation of our veterinary patient’s oral health.

Dental Care Veterinary Services | St. Francis Animal Clinic
Image shows heavy calculus buildup with moderate gingivitis. Tartar with bacteria causes damage at the gum line, which can lead to inflammation, recession and/or bone loss.
Dental Care Veterinary Services | St. Francis Animal Clinic
Image shows metal probe going above a premolar and through the missing bone space between two roots. This is considered periodontal disease with significant bone loss, where the roots of the tooth are located.
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Pet Dental Care Like Teeth Brushing is Important | St. Francis Animal Clinic

Emergency Care

Emergency care is offered during our normal business hours. Any patient who comes for emergency care will be triaged in the same manner as a human hospital or walk-in clinic. Critical patients are generally seen ahead of healthy or routine pet care patients. If the patient is stable enough, they will be treated and cared for as able and as quickly as possible. Referral to a local specialist is sometimes recommended for advanced diagnostics or continued care.

We do not offer overnight care for critical patients. In the best interest of our patients, overnight care at one of the local emergency hospitals may be recommended.

Examples of cases transferred to a clinic for continued or critical care are:

  • Snake bites (for needed antivenin)
  • Critical kidney or toxic patients who need greater than 12 hours of IV care or monitoring
  • Parvo puppies who are in need of 24+ hours of intensive care and quarantine
  • Respiratory or cardiac compromised patients who will need oxygen care or other overnight care

Senior Pet Care

Although every pet needs some level of care, our senior veterinary patients typically require more extensive care. It is recommended for our older patients to have exams every 6 months to find and treat disease as it happens or prevent disease before it occurs. Although problem areas are found with our routine health screening, many health concerns are noted in between our scheduled wellness checkups.

Senior veterinary patients have more degenerative type diseases such as arthritis, heart problems, kidney disease and dental disease. Our goal is to prevent the onset of these diseases as long as possible. Once these or other diseases occur, our doctors and staff will take the required time to come up with a plan for supportive or critical care for our seniors.

Pet Nutrition

We take your pet’s nutrition seriously and encourage a well-balanced diet. We offer veterinary prescription diets for cats and dogs, including the brands Hill’s Science Diet, Royal Canin and Purina. These special diets are used for a wide range of care, such as kidney, dental, digestive, urinary, hairball and weight management. Our veterinarians will discuss an appropriate diet for your pet, which may include a prescription diet.

Hill's Prescription Diet | St. Francis Animal Clinic Grooming and Pet Nutrition
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet | St. Francis Animal Clinic Grooming and Pet Nutrition
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets | St. Francis Animal Clinic Grooming and Pet Nutrition

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Visit our Grooming page for a list of additional services provided by St. Francis Animal Clinic

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