WELLNESS EXAMS | SMALL MAMMALS | VACCINES | PREVENTION | SENIOR PETS

PREVENTIVE CARE EXAMINATIONS: DOGS AND CATS

Did you know that even small changes in your pet’s behavior, appetite, or activity level might be a sign of illness or injury? Getting to know your pet when he or she is happy and healthy makes it easier for us to tell when there might be a problem—and to intervene before that problem becomes serious.

At Stone Ridge, we recommend annual preventive care exams for young, healthy dogs and cats, and twice-yearly exams for senior pets and those with chronic illnesses. Your pet’s preventive care visit may include:

• A comprehensive physical exam
• Vaccinations based on your pet’s unique needs
• Blood work
• Monitor basic organ function including kidneys, liver
• Also checks for infection, anemia, and other blood diseases
• Heartworm testing (blood test)
• Intestinal parasite testing (fecal sample)
• Discussion and implementation of parasite prevention
• Discussion of any concerns you may have

PREVENTIVE CARE FOR SMALL MAMMALS

(Rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, rats, mice, hamsters, hedgehogs, and gerbils)
Because animals living in the wild must hide any weaknesses to protect themselves from predators, illness and injury in small mammals can be especially difficult to detect.

For this reason, Stone Ridge recommends annual preventive care exams for ferrets, guinea pigs, hedgehogs and other small mammals.

VACCINATIONS: DOGS AND CATS

In Florida, contagious diseases such as leptospirosis, canine influenza, parvovirus and rabies can seriously endanger your pet’s health. Vaccinations are, by far, the best way to protect your pet from these diseases.

Just like all forms of care provided at Stone Ridge, vaccinations are given on an individual basis, according to your pet’s specific and unique circumstances and needs, including age, breed, species and geographic location.

PARASITE PREVENTION: HEARTWORM, FLEAS, AND TICKS

Here in Florida, every season is flea, tick, and mosquito season. In addition to making your pet feel miserable, fleas and ticks can pose potentially serious threats to your pet’s health, and a single mosquito bite can infect a pet with heartworm, a potentially fatal disease. As if that weren’t enough, Florida is also home to a number of intestinal parasites, including coccidia, and hookworms which can make a pet very ill. All cats and dogs residing in Florida should be on regular parasite prevention.

Here is a list of preventions that we carry at Stone Ridge Animal Hospital:

SENIOR PET CARE

At Stone Ridge, we recommend comprehensive examinations every 6 months for older pets, as well as senior blood work performed annually or, if recommended, more often. For senior pets with health issues, lab work may be recommended every 3 to 6 months. Dental cleanings are recommended as needed, which may be yearly or every 3 to 6 months for certain pets.