Wellness Care

Examinations: Since pets age faster then their owners, we recommend seeing them twice a year. During these visits we can monitor changes in body weight, shedding patterns, activity levels and dental conditions. All of these can point to potential problems.

Blood work: To further monitor your pet's health, we recommend at least once a year blood work to monitor internal body function. Palpation during exam can pick up changes in size and texture of most organs. By the time these changes are felt, the organ may be failing. Blood work will show early trends while the organs are still healthy that may indicate pending problems. The sooner the problems or trends can be detected the easier to manage the disease.

Vaccinations: During your first visit you will be asked to fill out a simple questionnaire about your pet's indoor and outdoor habits. This questionnaire will help to determine if your pet needs vaccinations other then those considered routine. Heartworm check: For dogs, this is important. We live in a city that is built around three rivers and is home to many parks with ponds, lakes and reservoirs. Even with all of the mosquitoe control activities, they still live in the city. Mosquitoes carry the larva of the heartworm and can transmit it from dog to dog. Even if your pet takes heartworm prevention every month all year around, they need to be checked in order to fulfill the warrantee agreement that most prevention products carry.

Feline leukemia and FIV test: Cats that go outside unobserved should be tested for these diseases routinely unless they are vaccinated for them. The viruses that cause these diseases destroy the immune system of the cat much like the HIV virus does to humans.

Parasite Exams

Dental care We feel that dental care is important in order to maintain a healthy pet. We will examine your pet's teeth during all wellness exams to monitor for tarter build up, evidence of gingivitis and broken or damages teeth. We encourage at home dental care and offer toothpaste, toothbrushes, water additives, foods and chews to help you keep your pet's mouth as healthy as possible. Uncontrolled dental disease can lead to potential heart and kidney disease later in life.

Puppy and Kitten talks The first year of your pet’s life can be the most rewarding and the most challenging. We offer puppy and kitten talks during their vaccination visits to help address some of the common issues.

Laboratory We offer in house blood testing using the IDEXX system. This allows us to do routine and emergency analysis on your pet’s blood and get the results to you faster then sending it to an outside lab.

Surgery We perform routine surgery on a daily basis. We have a clean surgical suite where we perform most of our procedures and a “dirty” surgical suite where we prep the animals for surgery and perform dentals and other messy procedures. We believe in performing prepubescent spay and neuter on all animals not intended for breeding. While we do not encourage the declaw procedure on cats, it is sometimes necessary for the health of the owner and the safety of the cat. Boarding and Grooming We do not have a groomer on staff, but do offer limited bathing and cat grooming. If you need grooming services, please contact the office for a list of respected groomers in the area. We do offer boarding for our clients only. Holidays and summer weekends fill up fast and need to be booked as soon as possible.

Charity Programs

Gates Memorial Fund: Just before the beginning of this year, we lost Gates. Most of you knew him as the big orange cat that hung out at the front desk. Gates had a special place in all of our hearts and to honor his memory, the staff has set up a memorial fund to offset the medical costs for hardship cases. Recipients of money from this fund will be nominated by the staff and the amount applied to the bill will be decided by them as well. You can donate to the fund by adding a donation to your invoice or contributing money to a collection jar at the front desk.

Rescue Organizations: We work with several rescue groups who take pure and mixed breed dogs out of kill shelters and place them in for-ever homes. We provide spays, neuters, exams and medications at a discounted rate to help them place as many animals as possible. This year, all of the proceeds from the Pet Odor Candle sales will be donated by the clinic to help offset the cost these groups incurred caring for their animals. Come in and see what fragrances we have available and help rescue a pet.

All dogs coming to the clinic must be on a leash or in a carrier. If you do not have a leash, please ask us and we will provide out with a nylon slip lead. All cats should be confined to a carrier or like device for their protection. Every effort will be made to get you and your animal into an exam room and checked out as soon as possible. Clients with animals that show aggression to other animals may be asked to wait outside or, if a room is empty, will be shown to a room and will be seen in the order of their appointment.

Payment
At Southtown Veterinary Clinic, we try to keep our prices fair and competitive. Payment is expected at the time of service. We do accept cash, check, Visa, Master Card and Discover. For established clients we do offer adult budget plans to help spread out the cost of the yearly wellness visit. Due to the fact that our animal clinic’s facilities are provided for your pet through private enterprise and represent a substantial investment by Dr. Fretz and her husband, we cannot routinely offer payment plans for services other then the wellness visits.

Estimates
The staff will be more then willing to make and estimate for all services rendered to your pet at our facility. Once the estimate is accepted, all efforts will be made to stay within the range agreed upon. If there is an increase in the agreed fees, every effort will be made to inform you of the increase before the service is rendered.

Hospitalized Animals
Southtown Veterinary Clinic makes every effort to provide a clean and safe environment for all animals in its care. All of the clinic animals are kept current on vaccinations and parasite control. If an animal is hospitalized and found to have a flea, tick or other parasite infection, that animals will be treated with appropriate medication at the owners expense all other animals in the hospital at that time may receive treatment but not at any additional cost to their owners. Animals either not vaccinated or overdue for their vaccines will be brought current as long as doing so will not harm the animal in its current condition. The vaccination costs will be added to the final bill.

Boarding
All animals boarded at our facility are expected to be current on vaccinations including kennel cough for the dogs. We may find it necessary to treat your animal for fleas or ticks if an animal is hospitalized with an infection at no cost to you. You will be informed of this when you pick your animal up from boarding.