Diagnostic/Advanced Care

Acupuncture is an effective tool that can be added to your pet’s current healthcare plan to help manage and improve their comfort and quality of life. During treatments, small needles are placed at specific acupuncture points to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and support the healing process. Acupuncture has been used to treat humans and animals for thousands of years in the Eastern world. In North America, acupuncture became an organized treatment modality for animals when the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS) was formed in 1974.

Acupuncture is one branch of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) which is an entire medical model that can be used alongside conventional veterinary medicine. When using the TCVM model to evaluate your pet, the veterinarian assesses their overall state of wellness and identifies patterns of imbalance that are contributing to your pet’s medical concerns. After the assessment, your veterinarian will create a TCVM and acupuncture plan to treat those patterns with the goal of improving their overall health and well-being.

What Types of Conditions Can Acupuncture Help?

• Osteoarthritis
• Back and neck pain/IVDD
• Cruciate injury/disease
• Degenerative myelopathy
• Seizure disorders/Neurological conditions
• IBD/Chronic vomiting/diarrhea/constipation
• Kidney disease
• Urinary disease
• Asthma
• Chronic sinusitis
• Skin disease
• Eye conditions
• Anxiety
• Immune dysfunction

How Long Does It Take?

Initial consultation and treatment will take 1 hour. During this time, a detailed history will be collected to allow a TCVM diagnosis and acupuncture plan to be made. Acupuncture treatment will be performed at the initial visit. Subsequent visits will take 45 minutes to allow discussion of your pet’s progress and acupuncture treatment. Needles will typically be in place for 10–25 minutes, depending on your pet’s condition.

Internal medicine is a broad section of veterinary medicine that means understanding how your pet’s internal body systems function, and in diagnosing and treating the many serious diseases that can affect the health of those systems.

Internal medicine can be acute or chronic disease including but not limited to:

• Upper and lower respiratory disease
• Vascular disease
• Hematologic illnesses
• Urologic and gastrointestinal diseases
• Liver and endocrine diseases
• Immune-mediated and infectious diseases

We offer a variety of diagnostic options along with medical management recommendations including medications and food to ensure the best medical
care for your pet.

Often cardiac problems in pets is detected in normal checkup visits to the vet, who might detect a murmur or some other problem that indicates a heart issue. But it also can show up at home.

For example, if you notice your pet starts

• Coughing
• Having trouble breathing
• Tiring easily
• Develops an intolerance to exercise

That may be a sign that his or her heart isn’t working like it should. That’s when you should bring your pet to see us at Meadowbrook Veterinary Clinic.

Here at Meadowbrook we have a veterinarian who has specialized training and extensive experience with cardiology. We have the capability to perform a full cardiac workup which includes an echocardiogram, chest x-rays, an ECG, and a blood pressure measurement. These results are reviewed by a board certified cardiologist who then gives us a full analysis and recommendations for your pet.

Heart issues are common in both dogs and cats and can affect any breed or age. However certain breeds are more predisposed to cardiac disease such as Cavaliers, Boxers, Dobermans, Toy Poodles, Maine Coons, and Persians.

At Meadowbrook Veterinary Clinic, we have a low-level laser which is a non-invasive treatment option that uses light to accelerate the body’s natural healing processes. It provides a localized region of accelerated cell growth which in turn decreases inflammation and pain. Laser therapy can be used alone or in conjunction with other modalities for pain control.

It’s commonly used to speed up the healing process and treat ailments such as:

• Arthritis
• Acute muscle or joint injuries
• Surgical incisions
• Skin and ear infections

Many different diseases can affect your pet’s skin and coat health. We can provide diagnostic care and long term management to help keep your pet looking and feeling their best.

Signs that your pet may be experiencing skin disease includes: scratching, shaking, licking or biting at self, rubbing at their face.

The most common causes of skin disorders in dogs and cats are: allergies, external parasites, and endocrine disease (imbalance of hormones). Many types of skin issues can be preventive so we always encourage a good quality diet such as Science Diet or Royal Canin, consistent flea and tick prevention, and routine lab work.

We have capabilities to perform skin cytology, cultures, biopsies, and more. For pets with suspected allergies, we can utilize an outside lab in order to perform allergy testing to ensure we find the root cause of your pet’s allergens.

If your pet is experiencing any skin or ear issues, we would love to help you create an individualized treatment plan that works for you and your pet.

At Meadowbrook Veterinary Clinic we have equipped both of our hospitals with advanced imaging capabilities including digital x-ray and ultrasonography.

Advanced imaging provides a non-invasive option for our veterinarians to see inside your pet’s body. Radiographs (aka x-rays) allow us to look for orthopedic disease, gastrointestinal obstructions, internal tumors, lung patterns, heart size, and more. Ultrasounds allow us to look for abnormal blood flow, fluid build up, organ size and shape, and more.

A large number of pets will allow us to perform advanced imaging while fully awake, however if your pet is in pain or becomes too stressed, we can give them a mild sedative to ensure their comfortability.

If further diagnostic imaging is required, such as a CT scan, MRI, or endoscopy, we would be happy to assist you in scheduling the procedure with a university or specialty hospital of your choice.

Both hospitals are equipped with a full in house laboratory to aid in quick answers for when your pet becomes ill. In our laboratories, we have the option to run:

• Complete Blood Count
• Chemistry Analysis
• Thyroid & Cholesterol Level
• Heartworm & Tick Borne Screen
• Feline Infectious Disease Screen
• Parvoviral Screening
• Clotting Times
• Pancreatitis Screen

We also use multiple outside laboratories and universities for additional testing to ensure we can accurately diagnose and treat your pet.