Routine Services

From a first puppy or kitten visit to a senior pet’s physical exam, Gentle Care Animal Hospital provides high quality medical care for our patients and exceptional customer service to our clients. Our doctors stay on top of cutting edge technology to provide your pet with the best of care.

When you arrive with your pet you can always expect professional, educated, and caring service from our entire team.  A customer care specialists and technician will assist you with your pet's appointment. Please feel free to come with any questions or concerns because we are happy to answer them all.

If you are unable to stay for your pet's appointment, we also offer a drop-off service. Your pet can spend the day with us while you run errands or go to work. Our veterinarians will examine your pet and either call you with the exam findings or discuss them at the time of pick up.

Gentle Care Animal Hospital believes in preventative medicine and will always make recommendations with your pets’ best interest in mind. We look forward to being your pet’s medical care provider.

High Tech Dental Care

We are quickly realizing the benefits of proper dental care. Pets live longer when provided with regular dental cleanings and home care.

If you have ever been to the dentist yourself, you’ll have a better idea of what happens during a pet’s dental procedure. The main difference is that cats and dogs are put under general anesthesia to enable a better cleaning and examination of the mouth. It is impossible to do a thorough examination and cleaning of your pet's mouth with he/she awake.

Prior to any anesthetic procedure a blood work panel is done. This is a precautionary measure to help determine if there will be complications with the anesthesia, if drugs need to be altered, or if the dental should be delayed while other underlying problems are addressed.

Assuming the blood tests are normal enough to continue with the surgery, the pet is then anesthetized. Once the pet has been anesthetized a full dental examination is performed. The veterinarian and the veterinary technician work together during the dental procedure. Any abnormalities are noted and are documented in the pet’s medical record. Possible abnormalities include deep pockets in the gum line or missing, broken, crooked or discolored teeth. Oral tumors and other problems are also checked for at this time.

The veterinary technician then performs the dental cleaning. They use an ultrasonic scaler very similar to the one used on human teeth at the dentist’s office. Plaque and tartar are removed from every surface of each tooth. Subgingival scaling is done to remove any debris that may be sitting below the gum line.

Once the teeth have been thoroughly cleaned with the ultrasonic scaler and a hand scaler, any teeth that appear to be damaged will have dental radiographs done to determine if they need to be extracted. If this is necessary then a nerve block will be performed prior to the tooth extraction.

Now that the teeth have been cleaned, and any suspicious teeth have been checked and possibly extracted, the veterinary technician polishes the tooth surface. This element of the dental procedure is essential to keep the teeth in their best condition. A special polish is used to make a smooth surface on the tooth. During the scaling process, small grooves are made in the enamel coating on the tooth. Polishing fixes these grooves, making a smoother and hence more difficult surface for plaque and tartar to build up on in the future.

After the teeth have been thoroughly examined, cleaned and polished, the procedure is not entirely finished. Home care is one of the most important aspects of pet dental care and should be discussed by the veterinary professional with the pet owner at the time of the dental. Several options are available today making home dental care an easy part of the overall treatment of your pet’s health.

Digital Radiology

The doctors and team members at Gentle Care Animal Hospital use radiographs or “x-rays” to image the bones, joints, organs and soft tissue of the body.

Radiographs are an important, noninvasive method of looking at injuries to bones, size of organs, foreign objects in the intestines and so much more. This technology allows our veterinarians to make decisions regarding the most appropriate therapy for your pet.

We only use digital radiography which means less radiation exposure to your pet, better x-rays, faster results and the ability to email or send the x-rays to specialists anywhere in the world.

Ultrasound

In keeping with our commitment to providing the best medicine for your pets, Gentle Care Animal Hospital has an in-house ultrasound machine. Our veterinarians are highly trained and are able to perform ultrasounds right here in our hospital. Also available to our facility are board certified radiologists that travel to our hospital to perform or consult on specific cases. With either situation your pet will remain here at our facility during the ultrasound procedure.

Ultrasounds are a non-invasive diagnostic tool that uses sound waves to create images of soft tissue (internal organs) of the body. It is a more sensitive diagnostic tool than radiographs, but will occasionally need to be used in addition to radiographs. Ultrasound is used to visualize the inside your pet’s abdomen, without having to do surgery.  It is also commonly used if your pet has been diagnosed with a heart murmur or abnormality to evaluate heart function.

Endoscopy

Gentle Care Animal Hospital offers endoscopy on site. An endoscope allows a visual examination of some internal organs and body parts without invasive exploratory surgery.  A flexible insertion tube with a bending tip at the end enters the body attached to an illuminated, magnified, eye piece.  This piece of equipment also allows us to retrieve an object your pet has eaten that may otherwise have been surgically removed. Endoscopy will be recommended as a diagnostic tool if your pet has chronic gastrointestinal issues. If necessary, during the procedure, the veterinarian is able to use a tool that can take a biopsy from the tissue of concern.

Surgery

Gentle Care Animal Hospital performs both routine and non-routine surgical procedures.

Prior to any anesthetic procedure a blood panel will be done to evaluate organ function as a precautionary measure to help determine if there could be complications with the anesthesia or if we need to delay the procedure.

The morning of surgery you can expect to meet with a technician who will explain the procedure and answer any further questions. Your veterinarian will perform a physical exam on your pet prior to the surgery and an intravenous catheter will be placed. Heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels and temperatures will all be monitored by a trained veterinary technician during the procedure. Your pet will remain on intravenous fluids to help stabilize blood pressure. We have state of the art equipment for not only monitoring but also a “Bair Hugger” to keep your pet warm during and after the procedure. When your pet is awake and in our recovery suite, we will call you to let you know how your pet's surgery went and when you will be able to come pick them up.

Chemotherapy

Although we are not a referral oncology hospital, Gentle Care Animal Hospital is able to treat certain types of cancer. If diagnosed with cancer and we are unable to treat your pet within our facility, we can refer you to a local oncology center. We will discuss all options so you can choose what is in the best interest of your pet.

Microchipping

Microchips allow veterinarians and shelters to reconnect you with your pet in the event that your pet gets lost.

A microchip is a very small computer device with a unique number. Every hospital and shelter has a microchip reader that will identify this unique number. Once implanted the microchip number will be entered into the database along with your information and Gentle Care Animal Hospital’s information. In the event that your pet gets lost, your pet will be scanned and the number that appears will be linked to not only you but to our hospital. We will be able to contact you to let you know where your pet is located.  The microchip does not act as a GPS unit and therefore your pet must be found and scanned.

The implantation procedure is simple. A veterinarian injects the microchip under your pet's skin between the shoulder blades and we register the chip's unique identification number. Although we prefer to do the implantation while under anesthesia for surgery or a dental cleaning, it can be done while your pet is awake.