Services
From shots to surgery, we provide practically all of the services you and your pet need.
Village Animal Hospital is committed to providing the highest quality of veterinary care for your dog or cat.
We’re pleased to provide all of the following services! Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or to learn more.
Puppy & Kitten Care
Do you have a new puppy or kitten? Congratulations on this addition to your family! One of the first things you should do when you bring your new pet home is to introduce him or her to us, your veterinary care team. Puppy and kitten visits offer a unique opportunity to get you and your new pet!
Your puppy or kitten visit will include a full “nose-to-tail” physical examination. We will look for any signs of illness and make sure that your new pet is in good health.
Do you have questions about nutrition, training, vaccinations, grooming, parasite protection, or overall health? What about tips for introducing your new pet to other pets and family members? Even if you are a very experienced pet owner and have had puppies or kittens before, each pet is unique and offers an opportunity to learn something new! We welcome your questions and look forward to addressing any concerns you may have. The more educated you are about your pet, the better you will be able to care for him or her, so we strive to offer you all the support you need.
Puppy and kitten wellness visits also present an opportunity to discuss your new pet’s recommended vaccine schedule and the best plan for parasite testing, treatment, and prevention. Our doctors and other staff members are well-educated about veterinary vaccines and parasite control, and our goal is to give you the best advice for your puppy or kitten. We will review your pet’s vaccine and deworming schedule and discuss the best way to continue, so don’t forget to bring any records that you have received.
We will work hard to help you understand your pet’s health considerations, and we encourage you to be involved in decisions regarding your puppy’s or kitten’s health care. Puppy and kitten visits are an excellent way to get your new pet started on the road to a happy and healthy life. Let’s take these important first steps together.
Annual Exams
Your pet can benefit greatly from regular annual examinations or check-ups. Whether your pet is a youngster, a “senior citizen,” or any age in between, annual examinations provide an excellent opportunity for us to conduct a thorough physical examination and develop a health profile for your pet. This information will help us identify medical problems and any other issues that can affect your pet’s health and quality of life.
An annual examination includes an evaluation of all of your pet’s major organ systems. We’ll use this visit to ask you questions about your pet’s behavior, appetite, exercise habits, and regular activities at home. This is also an excellent time for us to discuss any routine diagnostic testing that may benefit your pet or to recommend any vaccinations that may be due. If your pet seems healthy, an annual examination is a good opportunity to note any changes, such as weight gain or loss or other subtle changes that may not be evident at home. Sometimes, information obtained during an examination can help detect early signs of illness and address health issues before they progress.
An annual examination is also your chance to have us address your questions or concerns about your pet. We welcome your questions. No question is too small or too silly, and it is our pleasure to address your concerns. We strive to help you understand your pet’s health considerations, and we encourage you to be involved in decisions regarding your pet’s health care.
Finally, annual examinations help us establish a relationship with you and your pet. Through your pet’s physical examinations, other wellness procedures, and our consultations with you, we get to know your pet and learn about his or her lifestyle, personality, health risks, home environment, and other important information. We encourage you to use annual examinations to take an active role in your pet’s health care.
Personalized Vaccinations
Pets today can live longer, healthier lives than ever before—in part because of vaccines that help protect them from deadly infectious diseases. Over the years, vaccines against dangerous diseases have saved millions of pets and virtually eliminated some fatal diseases that were once common. Unfortunately, many infectious diseases still pose a significant threat to dogs and cats that are unvaccinated. Although vaccine programs have been highly successful and vaccines are considered routine today, we (as caregivers) and you (as pet parents) cannot afford to become complacent about keeping pets up to date on their vaccinations.
Many vaccines are available for use in dogs and cats, but not every pet needs every available vaccine. Some vaccines are considered core vaccines and should be administered to all pets, whereas other vaccines are optional and may be recommended for pets based on a variety of factors, such as their risk for exposure to disease. Vaccine recommendations can also change throughout a pet’s life, as travel habits and other variables change. We will consider all these factors as we determine which vaccines your pet should have.
We understand that your pet is unique and that no single vaccine program will be ideal for every pet in every situation. Our doctors and other staff members are well-educated about veterinary vaccines, and our goal is to give you the best advice for keeping your pet healthy. Let us develop a vaccination schedule and ongoing booster routine that accounts for your pet’s lifestyle, overall health, the risk for exposure to infectious disease, and other factors.
Vaccines help pets live longer, healthier lives. Protecting your pet is our primary goal, so developing an appropriate vaccine schedule for your pet is important to us. Call us today to set up an appointment to discuss your pet’s vaccination needs.
On-Site Pharmacy
When considering options for purchasing medication, pet owners have many choices, including online pharmacies and mail-order catalogs. But where can you truly get the best value for your money? Who can offer you the most reliable and personalized service? Who has the most complete medical information on your pets and the ability to anticipate drug interactions or other problems that can result from inappropriately administering medication? Before you purchase your next prescription or medication refill, ask us about our fully stocked pharmacy.
You and your pet will benefit from our well-stocked pharmacy. We maintain a large inventory of veterinary pharmaceutical products and medications, including flea, tick, and heartworm preventive products, as well as prescription diet foods. You can rely on us whether your pet requires medication for a chronic medical condition or needs short-term medication while recovering from an illness, injury, or surgery. When you purchase medications from our pharmacy, you can rest assured that your pet’s medications were obtained from safe, reliable sources and stored under optimal conditions. Our trained staff will fill your prescriptions with care as well as attention to detail and your pet’s specific needs. You can count on us to provide you with accurate information about your pet’s medications, including proper dosing information, and to alert you to any potential drug side effects or interactions. We are also here if you experience any problems with your medication after you return home. Help is only a phone call away!
If you want to be sure to get the most value for your dollars, as well as convenience and the best customer service, call us for your next prescription or medication refill. We are pleased to provide our clients with a fully stocked pharmacy, and we stand behind every product that we dispense.
Orthopedic Surgery
Senior Care
Did you know that pets age faster than people and can be considered “seniors” at around seven years of age? Just as our health care needs change as we age, your pet’s health care needs also change. Nutritional needs, exercise habits, and many aspects of your pet’s daily routine can change as your pet ages. But how can you tell the difference between “normal” aging and a medical problem? As in humans, some health issues that affect older pets can begin with very subtle changes that may go unnoticed until the problem has become serious.
Regular wellness visits are important for every stage of your pet’s life, so don’t forget to keep your senior pet’s scheduled wellness appointments. The best way to help protect your pet as he or she ages is to understand the aging process in pets. We understand that process and can help you help your pet. Even if your senior pet is already being treated for a medical condition, treatment recommendations can change as a condition progresses. Sometimes, medication dosages need to be adjusted, or medication may need to be changed. Routine wellness blood work and other routine diagnostic testing are important for senior pets because these tests allow us to evaluate how your pet’s health is either responding to current management strategies or changing with age.
Your senior pet’s wellness examination is also your chance to have us address any of your questions or concerns about your pet. We welcome your questions and encourage you to be involved in decisions regarding your pet’s health care.
Older pets make wonderful companions, and thanks to advances in veterinary medicine, pets are living longer than ever! You are an important ally in your senior pet’s health care. We are here to help ensure that your pet is safe and happy throughout the “golden years.”
End of Life Care
Village Animal Hospital understands that facing an end of life situation for your pet is one of the most difficult decisions you may ever have to make. Our team is passionate and committed to helping you through these situations in any way we can. As a veterinary team and as fellow pet owners, we understand the progression of disease and aging, so you can count on us to be compassionate, empathetic, and non-judgmental when it comes to your decision. Our team is always ready to listen and guide you. We offer hospice consultations and quality of life exams in which you and your family discuss all questions and concerns in detail with your veterinarian.
Saying goodbye to your pet is never easy. You can count on our team to be empathetic and compassionate during this tough time. We are dedicated to making this transition as smooth as possible for your pet and your family.
Cremation and Burial Services
In order to help ease the transition of your pet’s passing, we offer cremation and burial services through an outside cremation service.
Spay & Neuter
If you keep your pet confined, neutering may seem unnecessary. Just the opposite is true. In fact, there are medical and health advantages for your pet through neutering. Spaying or castrating your young, healthy pet will reduce certain infections and cancers that could occur in later life.
Spaying Your Female Pet
The technical term for this operation is an ovariohysterectomy. It is an abdominal surgery involving the removal of both ovaries and the uterus. Since everything is removed, your pet will no longer come into heat.
Spaying your dog also reduces the risk of her running away to find a mate during her heat cycles.
This is a major surgery, but fortunately, modern gas anesthetics and monitoring equipment allow a healthy pet to be anesthetized for the 30 to 40-minute operation with minimal risk.
Spaying your dog will substantially reduce the chance of breast tumors, the most common cancer of older, intact female dogs. Cystic ovaries, false pregnancies, hormonal disorders, and uterine infections also plague these same pets. Uterine infections are very common and result in potentially life-threatening illnesses. The only way to correct this is to perform emergency surgery should an infection occur. This is a much more costly and dangerous surgery.
Six to eight months is the optimum age for spaying a female pet. We send pets home the same day for overnight monitoring at home. We use aggressive pain management protocols to keep her as comfortable as possible post-surgery. After she gets home, you will need to keep her as quiet as possible for the next week. Usually, house confinement and leash walks are sufficient. Complications after a hysterectomy are very rare.
Neutering Your Male Pet
The technical term for this operation is castration. An incision is made on or near the scrotum and the testicles are removed. The anesthetic risk for a young, healthy pet is minimal. If the surgery is done before the pet reaches sexual maturity, certain undesirable sexual behavior traits may be avoided (humping, spraying, fighting, etc.). Prostate gland infections or cancer and testicular tumors are essentially prevented through castration. Roaming behavior (to establish a territory or find a mate) is greatly reduced. In general, the animal becomes a much better pet.
Six to 12 months is the optimum age for castrating the male dogs, depending on the size, breed, and temperament of your dog. We recommend discussing your dog’s individual situation to determine the best age for this.
Six to eight months is the recommended age for neutering your male cat to prevent marking behaviors and roaming.
Post-surgical care includes preventing licking at the incision and keeping your pet confined, quiet, and limited to leash walks for a few days.
Microchipping
Each year, thousands of pets go missing, and many don’t make it back home. Many pets (especially indoor pets) don’t wear collars or tags. Even if your pet wears a collar and identification tag, collars can break off and tags can become damaged and unreadable, so these forms of identification may not be enough to ensure your pet’s safe return. Your pet needs a form of identification that is reliable and can’t get lost, stolen, or damaged. A microchip is a safe, simple form of identification that can significantly increase the chance that your pet will return safely.
A microchip is about the size and shape of a grain of rice and is placed underneath your pet’s skin between the shoulder blades. Microchip implantation takes only a few minutes and is very safe. Each microchip is unique and carries vital information about your pet—including your name, address, and contact information. When a microchip is implanted, the pet owner is given a registration form to complete. Registering the number on the microchip includes your pet in a national pet recovery database. Veterinary hospitals, animal shelters, and animal control offices across the country are equipped with special electronic scanners that can detect the microchip and read the identification number. If a lost pet is picked up by animal control or found by a good Samaritan and presented to a veterinarian, a quick scan of the microchip reveals the identification number. A toll-free phone call to the pet recovery database alerts the microchip company that a lost pet has been identified. The pet owner can then be contacted and reunited with his or her pet!
Young puppies and kittens can receive microchips, but even if your pet is already an adult, you should consider microchipping. Even indoor pets can get outside accidentally and get lost, so if you’re relying on other forms of identification, you could be placing your pet at risk. Microchipping is a safe, effective way to help ensure your pet’s return if the unthinkable happens.
Ask us about microchipping your pet today!
Dentistry
According to the American Veterinary Dental Society, 70% of adult cats and 80% of adult dogs show symptoms of oral disease by the age of three.
Does your best friend have bad breath? Despite what many pet owners may believe, “dog breath” is not just a nuisance – it’s a sign of an unhealthy mouth. Bad breath is caused by bacteria. Over time, bacteria lead to plaque and tartar buildup on your pet’s teeth. The result is bad breath, reddened gums, and other common signs of dental disease. As dental disease progresses, other signs can include drooling, discomfort while chewing, and loose or missing teeth. Even if you’re using treats and chews to help control tartar, these are frequently not enough to keep dental disease in check. Ask us about the best ways to control plaque and help protect your pet from dental disease.
Dental hygiene is an important part of your pet’s health because dental disease can be associated with other serious health problems, such as heart disease and kidney disease. But how do you know if your pet has a healthy mouth? Let us examine your pet’s teeth and gums to help determine if there are any dental issues you should know about. After a brief visual examination, we may recommend a more detailed examination (which requires sedation), a dental cleaning, or options for at-home dental care.
Even if you think your pet’s teeth and gums are fine, we can offer expert advice to help you keep them that way! Dental health shouldn’t be taken for granted. Fortunately, many dental problems can be managed through at-home care and by bringing your pet to us for regular dental check-ups and teeth cleanings.
We want your pet to live a long, healthy life, and we understand that maintaining a healthy mouth is part of that. Your pet’s health is important to us, so let us help you with this commitment. Call today to discuss your pet’s dental care needs and how we can help!
Diagnostic Testing
Radiology
A radiograph (X-ray) is a type of photograph that looks inside the body and reveals information that may not be discernible from the outside. Radiography can be used to evaluate your pet’s internal organs like the heart, lungs, and abdominal organs, as well as bones. When it comes to accurately diagnose your pet, radiology can be an extremely valuable tool in our diagnostic arsenal.
Digital X-rays are routinely used to diagnose and examine broken bones, obstructions, arthritis, masses, and tumors. We use digital X-rays to also confirm pregnancies or detect ingested objects.
Blood Work
We also utilize Idexx, the largest and most reliable veterinary commercial laboratory for sample analysis, pathology, and specialized diagnostics. Blood work is usually a combination of a complete blood count (CBC) and a blood chemical analysis. Blood work is a basic evaluation tool. Pets, particularly those in their senior years, should have a CBC at every annual examination. Blood work allows a veterinarian to monitor the progression of a pet’s disease.
Routine blood tests are run before anesthesia and surgery to make sure that your pet does not have a disease or illness that would make anesthesia or surgery a significant risk. This lab work is very similar to the “pre-op labs” that your doctor would recommend before you have any procedure performed on yourself.
Fecal Testing
Fecal tests provide insights regarding any intestinal parasites that may be inhabiting your pet’s body. Intestinal parasites are organisms that live, grow, and feed in the intestinal tract, taking away nutrition and in severe cases, causing illnesses such as anorexia, diarrhea, vomiting, anemia, or even death. The best way to detect parasites is by testing a fresh, non-frozen, fecal sample for the parasite’s eggs. Treatment may vary depending on the type of parasite found, but it usually consists of oral medication.
Urinalysis
A urinalysis test checks for levels of specific chemicals in your pet’s urine. Abnormal levels of certain chemicals can be a sign of particular illnesses. The urinalysis screens for imbalances that can be an indication of kidney disease, kidney infections, bacterial infections, urinary tract disease, diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, urinary bladder disease, autoimmune disease, Cushing’s disease, prostate disease, and hepatitis and liver conditions.
Cytology
We use cytology to examine the surface of the skin or ear canals for evidence of bacterial or yeast infections. This involves collecting surface samples of the skin on a slide, staining them, and then evaluating them using a microscope. In addition to identifying infection, cytology can also be used to identify the type of cells in a skin mass, to look for evidence of ringworm and autoimmune diseases, and to inspect the appearance of a patient’s hair when there is hair loss. This type of sample collection and testing can further enhance diagnostic insight to develop a more specific diagnostic and/or treatment plan for your pet.
Soft Tissue Surgery
Probably the most common soft tissue surgery performed at our clinic is the removal of masses or lumps on animals. Most of these masses or lumps, once removed and tested, are benign (non-harmful); however, occasionally, they are more serious. Early removal and accurate diagnosis of a lump are necessary to improve the outcome in your pet if the mass is cancerous. Lacerations are also common in pets and suturing will reduce the chance of infection, improve healing time, and reduce scarring.
Urgent Care
How do I know if my pet should be seen?
- Choking, difficulty breathing, or nonstop coughing or gagging
- Severe bleeding or bleeding that doesn’t stop within five minutes
- Hit by a car
- Bite wounds
- Seizure activity
- Severe vomiting or diarrhea
- Inability to urinate or defecate (poop)
- Bloated abdomen or dry heaving
- Eye injuries
- Overheating or heatstroke
- Toxin ingestion
- Snakebite
- Allergic reaction (facial swelling, hives)
- Lameness or not walking
- Trouble giving birth
Emergency Care
During normal clinic hours, we are able to see emergencies. Our staff is trained to recognize and respond to emergencies quickly. If your pet is having a life-threatening emergency, please call us en route, which will help us triage your pet and prepare for your arrival.
For after-hours emergency care, we work closely with BluePearl Emergency (952-955-7972) and The University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center Emergency and Critical Care Clinic (612-626-8387).