Our Services
We offer personalized veterinary care.
we go above and beyond normal care
At Alma Vet Connection, we offer a wide range of veterinary services with a mixture of both Western and traditional Chinese approaches. We work to not only give your pet the best care possible but also form deep, lasting connections with them as well.
Balanced Health Care
At Alma Vet Connection, we know that no two animals are the same. That’s why we offer complete and balanced health care that is personalized to your pet’s individual needs.
Physical Exams
Regular physical examinations are extremely important to maintain the health of your pet. Routine examinations give your veterinarian an opportunity to develop a picture of your pet’s overall health and establish baseline health measures. Examinations are also essential in spotting problems before they become serious health issues, ensuring the best possible outcome for your pet. Our veterinarians recommend a complete physical exam annually for your adult pet and bi-annually for your senior pet.
Wellness Screenings
Blood work and urinalysis serve multiple purposes, including diagnosing disease and determining the health of your pet. Yearly tests will check your pet’s organ functions and help define the general health of your pet, including potential problems that are often not visible during a physical exam. Obtaining baseline bloodwork and a urine sample when your pet is healthy provides invaluable information that we can compare to whenever your pet is sick in the future. Regular testing also allows for early detection and monitoring for changes, especially as they age.
Vaccinations
Regular vaccinations are one of the cornerstones of good preventive health care for dogs and cats. When administered by your veterinarian, vaccines provide cost-effective protection against infectious and contagious diseases for both pets and people. Vaccines help prevent many infectious illnesses, including ones that can be fatal, that pets may encounter if they are outdoors at all, socialize with other animals in public places, or travel with you.
Our team can help offer you some of the best advice regarding your pet’s vaccination plan, which can help lead to many happy years of health and wellness. We can help tailor a vaccination protocol for your pet based on their individual risk factors. Our pets are faced with many deadly infectious diseases, and vaccines can help protect them. Over the years, vaccines against dangerous diseases have saved millions of pets and virtually eliminated some fatal diseases that were once common.
Parasite Prevention
You may not always be able to tell if your pet has parasites. Fleas can hide under your pet’s fur, and some ticks are very tiny (only the size of a pinhead), so they are very difficult to find.
Intestinal parasites like roundworms can cause diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and other problems, but some infected pets don’t show any signs of illness at all.
Veterinary examinations and parasite testing are important ways to protect your pet’s health. Let our knowledgeable staff provide you with a comprehensive parasite control program. We can:
- Recommend a schedule for parasite testing
- Discuss what signs of parasites you can look for at home
- Review ways to control parasites in and around your home
- Discuss treatment options if your pet has parasites
- Recommend ways to control and prevent parasites in the future
Surgery
Our team is highly skilled and experienced in performing a wide variety of pet surgeries using modern techniques, cutting-edge equipment, and always adhering to the strictest standards of safety and care. We provide surgical options in a clean and safe environment. Most importantly, our veterinary team can closely track each animal’s vital conditions during surgery. Your pet is in safe hands at Alma Vet Connection!
Dentistry
Oral and dental health is one of the most important aspects of your pet’s overall health. At Alma Vet Connection, we place a high priority on this part of our patient’s health. That is why all of our dental procedures include:
- Scaling
- Polishing
- Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment (by our veterinarian charting each tooth)
- Dental Radiographs
All of these procedures occur while our skilled team safely monitors your pet under anesthesia.
Annual dental cleanings and polishing are recommended (just like humans) and should start at an early age. Dental disease (periodontal disease) is the most common clinical condition occurring in adult dogs and cats. But, it is entirely preventable. Unfortunately, there are often few signs of the disease process evident to the owner other than bad breath. Professional dental cleaning and periodontal therapy often comes too late to prevent extensive disease or to save teeth. As a result, periodontal disease is usually under-treated, may cause multiple problems in the oral cavity, and may be associated with damage to internal organs in some patients as they age. Periodontal disease that is left untreated can also cause tooth abscess, gum infections, and/or bone loss. These can be painful for your pet to experience and costly for you to manage. Studies in humans have linked periodontal disease to a variety of health problems, including poor control of diabetes mellitus and increased severity of diabetic complications. Additionally, it has been shown that diabetes is a risk factor for periodontal disease.
Symptoms of Poor Oral Health
- Bad Breath
- Changes in Eating or Chewing Behavior
- Abnormal Drooling
- Brownish-Yellow Crust on Teeth
- Gums Bleeding
- Tooth Loss
- Change in Behavior
If your pet is experiencing any of these symptoms, our veterinarian should examine them to fully assess any issues and develop a treatment plan.
Things You Can Do At Home
- Brushing your pet’s teeth daily will help stimulate healthy gums, which helps deter additional plaque buildup.
- You can feed your pet a dental-based diet or treats. Ask your veterinarian for a recommendation based on your pet’s needs.
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 diagnosing your pet accurately, radiology can be an extremely valuable tool in our diagnostic arsenal. There have been many digital X-ray technology advancements, and we can now manipulate the digital images that we take. This allows us to diagnose issues that may not be seen on a traditional X-ray.
Skin & Ear Care
Companion nimals can suffer from many of the same dermatological problems that we humans can. This includes allergies to food and other environmental factors in addition to infections and skin diseases. If you’ve ever experienced a skin problem, you know all too well how these small issues can impact your whole life, causing itching, pain, and overall reduced quality of life. It’s the same for our pets.
If your companion is experiencing a problem with their skin, ears, or feet, help is just a phone call away! At Alma Vet Connection, we are trained and experienced in identifying, diagnosing, and treating a broad range of skin problems, including, but not limited to:
- Allergies
- Skin and Ear Infections
- Parasites
- Dermatitis
- Diseases of the Feet and Footpads
- Autoimmune Disorders
- Tumors
- Skin Cancers
To reach an accurate diagnosis, we use a variety of methods, including skin scrapings, cultures, laboratory testing, and biopsies. Once we’ve determined the cause of your pet’s skin problems, we’ll get to work developing a customized treatment plan. Our treatments may include the use of topical and/or oral medications, supplements, therapy, or any combination of these. We may also suggest making some changes to your pet’s home environment to remove certain things which might be acting as irritants. Often, we are able to manage the problem without the need for medicine.
Don’t let your four-legged friend suffer from the pain and itchiness of a dermatological problem another moment. Let us help them live a more comfortable life!
Senior Health Care
There is nothing more touching than to look into the eyes of our senior pets. You may see a little graying around the eyes and chin, or you may see eyes that have become cloudy—all signs of an aging pet that has devoted their lives to YOU. They have been with you for a long time. They have been loyal through all of your trials and tribulations, and now it is time to be loyal to them.
As we get older, we have aches and pains, and so do our pets. As we get older, we begin to have heart, liver, lung diseases, etc., and so do our pets. These diseases can cause discomfort. How do you know they are sick or hurting? How do you know what they need? Senior care is so essential for your pet. They deserve special attention now, just like they gave you when they were younger. Take your pet to the veterinarian regularly when they are seniors!
Hospice & Quality-of-Life Care
Our team at Alma Vet Connection is here to work with you to ensure your terminally ill pet stays as comfortable as possible. We want to ensure you enjoy whatever cherished time is left with your beloved companion.
Hospice care aims to meet the physical and mental needs of a pet faced with a life-limiting illness. It begins when a pet is diagnosed with a terminal condition, and the family has decided not to pursue aggressive, curative therapies. Pet hospice focuses on caring, not curing. We understand that serious illness profoundly impacts not only the patient but the family as well. Our goal is to promote a caring community sensitive to the entire family’s needs while also providing excellent care for a comfortable and full end of life.
Talk to our team today to discuss the ways we can make sure that your pet is happy and comfortable for their remaining time with you.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture involves the insertion of fine metal needles into specific points on the body to treat or prevent disease. Acupuncture therapy has been used for over 3,000 years on people and has effectively treated pets of all shapes and sizes for the last few decades. We tailor your pet’s acupuncture treatment after a comprehensive physical exam while also reviewing their detailed history and assessing their neurological/musculoskeletal systems.
In traditional Chinese medicine, disease is believed to be caused by an imbalance or disharmony in the external forces (or life energy—“Qi”) at work on the body. By identifying these imbalances, a pet’s overall well-being can be restored.
With veterinary acupuncture, small needles are inserted into the skin at specific points where life energy is believed to flow. When stimulated, these different acupuncture points cause specific effects on the body.
Most pets feel no pain during the placement of the acupuncture needles because they are so small. In fact, many pets become relaxed during treatments and can even fall asleep.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has recognized acupuncture as a valid treatment modality. It can be used to treat specific conditions. It can also be used to help prevent health problems from occurring. Through modern studies involving advanced imaging techniques, acupuncture’s physiological effects have been proven. Since acupuncture does not involve medications that need to be metabolized, it can be safely performed on almost all pets, even those with liver and kidney disease.
Herbal Therapy
Herbal therapy is another form of Eastern medicine that is used for prevention and treatment. Herbals come in many forms, such as tea, pills, powders, treats, and capsules. They are available for both our canine and feline patients.
Behavior Counseling
Does your pet act out in ways that are annoying, destructive, or just unbecoming? Are you frustrated with certain negative behaviors? Are your companion’s bad habits causing a rift between you and making it difficult for you to embrace them as a part of the family? If you’re struggling with your pet’s behavior problems, you’re not alone! Alma Vet Connection offers comprehensive behavioral counseling services to help manage and overcome negative pet behaviors once and for all.
Our team is highly skilled and experienced in animal behavior, and we know that the first step is to identify the root cause of the problem. Many negative behaviors are mere symptoms of a larger underlying problem, and the only way to eliminate the behavior is to address the real issue at hand. For instance, when your pet acts destructive or barks incessantly when you’re away from home, these behaviors could be signs that your companion is suffering from separation anxiety. We’ll uncover what’s really causing the problem so we can address it and get it under control.
Nutritional Counseling
Nutrition plays a critical role in the overall health and well-being of your pet. Your pet’s nutritional needs change with age and activity level. Specially formulated diets can help manage various medical conditions like kidney disease, diabetes, and heart disease. Work closely with your veterinarian to find the right food and the proper intake amount for your pet.
With so many foods on the market and various nutritional requirements depending on your pet companion’s age and health, we are here to help you make the right choices. The Alma Vet Connection team is ready to serve up suitable food recommendations to tackle those stubborn feline urinary problems, overweight dogs, or relentless diarrhea. Our team has specific recommendations to help you choose well-balanced and safe foods for your healthy young, adult, or senior pet.
Food Therapy
Just like people, there is no perfect food for pets. All pets are created differently. They are different breeds with different energy or health requirements based on their lifestyle, size, age, or personality. These differences influence what food might be best for them.
Food therapy is a branch of traditional Chinese veterinary medicine. This process uses natural foods and other methods such as acupuncture, herbal therapy, or conventional medicine to help heal your pet.
Allergy Assessment
Though many of us associate allergies with the change of seasons, they’re actually a prevalent issue all year round. We want to best equip you to diagnose, prevent, and treat your pet’s allergies!
Common Allergy Symptoms
- Excessive Licking, Biting, Chewing or Scratching (at certain areas of the body or all over)
- Excessive Rolling or Scooting
- Hair Loss (on certain spots of the body or thinning hair all over)
- Reoccurring Ear Infections
- Sores/Scabs on the Skin
- Poor Coat Condition
- Redness to Areas on the Skin
- Odor
We have a variety of treatment options available for allergies. We will make a specific recommendation and treatment plan on a case-by-case basis based on our allergy assessment. Our allergy treatment plans will be perfectly tailored for your pet! To work towards an allergy diagnosis, we may need further testing. This may include allergy testing and food trials (more information below).
Allergy Testing
This is a blood lab test that will test for environmental and food allergies. We will send this out to a lab for the most accurate results. If a pet is positive for any allergy, oral medication can be made to treat that pet’s specific allergies.
Food Trials
If there is a concern that your pet might have a food allergy, we may recommend a food trial as a good starting place. All of our food is satisfaction guaranteed with a full refund if you are unhappy with the product or results.
Joy-of-Life Care
Adding a new member of the family is an exciting time that can have some challenges. Whether you just got a new puppy or kitten or adopted a senior pet, we here at Alma Vet Connection want to be a part of setting you all up for a happy and successful life together! That is why we incorporate every aspect of a pet’s life into what we recommend.