Preventative Care: Wellness Exams, Vaccinating, and Fecal (Stool Sample/Parasite Screens)
We perform full examination on all of our patients before vaccination. An exam is required due to the fact that vaccinations are not without side effects, and we want to make sure animals are healthy before vaccination. At this visit, we also talk about a patient’s lifestyle, arthritis concerns, growths, weight concerns, and dental disease. We tailor a patient’s vaccination to its lifestyle, because all patients are not the same. We also offer the option of checking your pet's vaccine titers before vaccinating to see if they are already protected. We recommend running titers for all pets over 10 years of age.
Fecal samples are recommended at least once yearly. We are checking for intestinal parasites, protozoan, and bacteria. Some of the things we find in stool samples as well as some of the bacteria and virus that we vaccinate against are zoonotic (transferable to people); therefore, we are protecting you and your pets from disease.
Ingham County Dog Licenses: We are one of the few hospitals that partner with Ingham County to provide licenses. We license our patients only & cannot provide licenses if they are delinquent. These must be purchased with cash or check only since payment goes directly to Ingham County. Please make checks payable to: Ingham County Treasurer.
Preventative Care: Heartworm Tests & Tick Titers, Heartworm Prevention, Flea Prevention, Tick Prevention, & Intestinal Parasite Control
A heartworm test is a blood test performed yearly, and as part of commitment to quality care we incorporate tick titers into our heartworm testing. We recommend year-round heartworm prevention, flea prevention, and intestinal parasite control. We do see intestinal parasites and fleas every month of the year. Tick populations are growing in Michigan and are slowly moving toward us. Many of our clients are noticing ticks on their pets, even though they don’t travel outside the Lansing area.
We currently screen all dogs in which heartworm tests are run for tick borne diseases. We have had positive results for heartworm, Lyme disease, Erhlichia, and Anaplasmosis this year. Prevention is much less expensive than treatment of these diseases. Heartworm prevention is recommended for both dogs and cats. Dogs can be treated for heartworm cats can’t and 50% of the time cats die of the disease. We carry Revolution and Sentinel for heartworm, intestinal parasite, and flea control in dogs, and we recommend Bravecto or Credelio for oral prevention or Seresto Collars for topical flea and tick prevention in dogs.
In cats, we recommend Revolution Plus or Bravecto Plus which are topicals that prevents fleas, ticks, heartworms, and is an intestinal parasite control product.
