Preventive Care

• Dental Care
  Animal Health Care Center offers numerous, comprehensive pet dental services to keep your dog or cat’s oral health at its best. Did you know that, on average, by AGE THREE, pets have obvious signs of dental disease?
• Vaccination
  Vaccinations as recommended by our veterinarians - May vary with each pet - May include: FVRCP - Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis/Calicivirus/Panleukopenia, Feline Leukemia, Rabies
• Veterinary Ophthalmology
  Eye Care: Our doctors are trained to recognize feline specific eye disease and choose treatments based upon efficacy and your cat's tolerance to specific treatments
• Nutritional Counseling
  Whenever Qi becomes disrupted imbalances occurs and disease may result. The flow of Qi may be influenced by the stimulation of acupuncture points. Qi may be nourished by proper food, herbs, exercise, and body manipulation. The stimulation of acupuncture points by needles or other means is an attempt to re-establish the proper balance or flow of Qi throughout the body. The use of herbs, nutritional support, and exercise are implemented in an attempt to assist the body in obtaining the appropriate Qi it must acquire from its environment. Acupuncture helps to reset the energy system “circuit board†by balancing the flow of Qi within the body.
• Comprehensive Examination
  Having a pet is a lifetime (for them) commitment that both you and we, sign up for. We want that lifetime to be long, happy and healthy! It starts with your first visit. A thorough physical exam is done where every organ system is examined. If there are medical issues, we’ll come up with a game plan together to get them addressed and treated. If everything looks good, we’ll work together to decide what’s the best preventative care plan for your individual pet based on lifestyle and exposure (some pets are more exposed than others to certain diseases and may need additional vaccines vs others may be less exposed requiring less frequency of vaccines).

Illness Treatment

• Parasites Treatment and Control
  We’ll discuss getting your pet on the best parasite preventative (heartworms, intestinal worms, fleas, ticks) to cover what they are exposed to. We’ll discuss other things like nutrition, exercise routine, and age-appropriate testing (from heartworm tests and intestinal parasite screens to internal organ screenings for signs of disease). We’ll also take the time to answer any questions you may have so that you leave confident in the care you are giving your pet!
• Behavioral Disorder Treatment
• Pain Management
  Dr. Cynthia (“Cyndi†) Rachal has a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from LSU and graduated from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. Dr. Rachal loves all aspects of medicine, but her favorites are dermatology, geriatric care and chronic pain management, dentistry and acupuncture/Eastern medicine.
• Vomiting Treatment
• Diarrhea Treatment
  She was brought to us as a rescue from Texas Italian Greyhound Rescue. Her breed is Saluki. I’snt she beautiful. When we first saw Jasmine she was diagnosed with mammory masses, dental disease, urinary tract infection and heart-worm disease. We had our hands full. We started with the heart-worm treatment. Only days after her 2nd dose of medication she became very ill. She began vomiting and having severe bouts of bloody diarrhea.
• Skin Condition and Allergy Treatment
  Fleas are the most common parasite allergy. All it takes is one flea bite so they don’t HAVE to have an infestation to have issues if severely allergic! In dogs, they end up creating a pretty obvious pattern: hair loss and skin irritation around the back half of the body and down the back legs. This is because the most common area fleas like to “hang out†is around the rear end (this is also why those cheap flea collars don’t really work-they don’t reach all the way back to where the fleas actually are). Flea allergies in cats is typically harder to diagnose because their allergic pattern is not as obvious. They can just be itchy all over and they can have flea allergies. The other big thing with cats is that the vast majority of the time, you won’t ever see a flea on them even with them having flea allergies. This is because they are such excellent groomers! The second they feel the flea bite them they’re going after it trying to eat it off. It also doesn’t matter whether your cat or dog is indoors only! For every adult flea, there are 99 flea eggs and those eggs are microscopic and sticky, so even you walking in and out can bring those eggs in and out of your house which can start a flea cycle. If a flea allergy is suspected, the best thing to do is to treat the environment as well as your pet. The good news is that we have quite a lot of different products that are great at keeping fleas under control (Simparica, Simparica Trio, Bravecto, Nexgard, Seresto, Revolution Plus, Advantage Multi, Advantix). If we keep the fleas under control, these pets do quite well long-term. (**there are a couple of other less common ectoparasite allergies they can develop as well: the two most common are to flies and mosquitoes. There are treatments for that as well if suspected.**)

Infection Treatment

• Leptospirosis Treatment
  Leptospirosis Snap Test: This test can show if a dog is positive for leptospirosis (*as long as they haven’t been vaccinated in the last 6 months*) within a few minutes. Otherwise it can take days waiting for the lab testing to come back. This is vital information considering how deadly this disease is and the fact that it is zoonotic (meaning that it can be spread to people too!)
• Parvovirus Infection Treatment
  Parvo Antigen Snap: This test is run to test a dog for the presence of parvovirus and gives us an answer within minutes which is important to know so treatment can be started immediately considering how deadly this virus is.
• Feline Retro Virus Treatment
  FeLV/FIV/HW Feline Snap: This test checks for Feline Leukemia Virus antigen, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Antibody and Heartworm Antibodies (yes! Cats can get heartworms too!). FeLV is extremely contagious cat to cat and the average lifespan they live after diagnosis is no more than 5 years so it is imperative that we know if a new cat or an outdoor cat (even if just hanging out on the porch) has contracted the virus. FIV is also contagious (although less so) and affects their immune system the rest of their lives so it’s important to know. Although heartworms in cats are rare, they are a common cause of coughing in cats and feline “asthma†and can cause sudden death.
• Bacterial and Viral Infection Treatment
  Whether it’s from ectoparasites, food, or atopy, when an allergic reaction happens, there is inflammation, itching, chewing, licking, rubbing, and generally feeling terrible. They can then develop secondary infections (bacterial, yeast/Malassezia or a combination of the two) which also trigger the same symptoms leading to a vicious cycle of misery. Bacterial infections require antibiotics (that can include oral antibiotics and/or antibiotics in topical forms meds/shampoos/sprays/mousses/wipes/etc). Fungal infections require antifungals (in the same forms as antibiotics). The allergic reaction itself also needs to be treated and this can be done by using steroids (whether oral with things like Prednisone or topical with steroid creams/sprays/mousses/wipes/shampoos) or anti-itch injections (like the monoclonal antibody Cytopoint or the immune-modulator Apoquel and sometimes a combination of these. Usually, treatment is multi-modal to reach the best results. Keep in mind that the skin is one of the slowest organ systems of the body so it may take weeks in severe infection cases to completely heal and bringing your pet in for their recheck appointments is critically important (**antibiotic resistance is a serious problem and it is vital to make sure we’re getting rid of a bacterial infection instead of just knocking it down to low numbers**).
• Urinary Tract Infection Treatment
  Urinalysis: This test can tell us all kinds of information. We can check for urinary tract infections, but we can also pick up early signs of kidney malfunction (much earlier than what shows up on bloodwork!), and check for other things in the urine like protein, glucose, ketones, bilirubin (which will show up with liver disease before liver blood values will change) and sometimes even bladder cancer cells.

Chronic Condition Treatment

• Hip Dysplasia Treatment
  Penn Hip is a radiographic screening method for diagnosing hip dysplasia. Hip dysplasia is widely accepted to be a genetically based trait in dogs and cats. The most commonly affected dogs are large breeds and include German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Labradors, and Bulldogs. But, any dog or cat can be affected. Hip dysplasia progressively gets worse with age and causes discomfort to the animal.
• Diabetes Treatment
• Thyroid Disease Treatment
  5. Address any other underlying diseases that can make allergies worse or check to make sure you aren’t dealing with something else instead: this can be things like mites (Sarcoptes, demodex), hypothyroidism, Cushing’s disease, ringworm, autoimmune skin diseases, skin neoplasias, etc.
• Knee Problems Treatment
• Heart Disease Treatment
  We believe that the proper nutrition for your pet makes a huge difference in their health and longevity. Dr. Rachal stays up on the latest research (for example: there is a new study linking some grain free diets-not all of them!-to taurine deficiencies which can cause heart disease in dogs and cats) and would be more than happy to sit down with you and come up with the best food for your pet; whether it be a homemade diet, raw, or commercial. We believe that the more you know about the different food options out there, the better choice you’ll make for your pet.
• Kidney Disease Treatment
  With the advancement of medicine comes the benefit of our pets living longer. The drawback though is that as they live longer, certain illnesses can occur, mainly due to their organs tiring out (examples: canine cognitive dysfunction, arthritis, chronic kidney disease, certain cancers, and more).
• Periodontal Disease Treatment
  Dental care: Our knowledge and dental experience help us prevent and treat your dog's dental conditions, including periodontal disease
• Cancer Treatment
  Cancer treatment: Our communicative, community approach to cancer treatment makes all the difference for you and your dog

Emergency Care

• Seizure Treatment
  Yoda presented for a consult for integrative treatment with Dr. Rachal with a history of disc disease issues. He had already had surgery in the past on his lower lumbar spine and was already on medications. He had a couple of acupuncture appointments and then all of a sudden got worse! He was having these weird episodes of screaming out in pain. These episodes actually went on for quite a while in spite of changing up treatment, changing up medications, taking xrays and running bloodwork. To make things more challenging, the screaming episodes never happened while he was at the clinic. Dr. Rachal had never seen anything like it and the episodes were escalating at home to the point where Yoda’s mom and dad were considering euthanasia. Dr. Rachal deep dived into researching what could possibly be going on (knowing doing an MRI was out of the cards at this point) and managed to get things narrowed down to either a bizarre seizure disorder or a disease called Syringomyelia which is mainly seen in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (of which is part of what he is mixed with turns out). We started treatment for both of these diseases (this involved steroids, Gabapentin, Omeprazole, anti-seizure meds and more). It took a bit for things to kick in but once they did, Yoga was like a whole new pup! All of the screaming episodes went away. This is a long-term management disease issue so he’ll be on most of these medications the rest of his life and he does have disc disease issues that we keep him going along happily with by doing acupuncture and laser therapy.
• Wound and Fracture Care
  This little guy was brought in on emergency after being in a house fire. He had massive smoke inhalation and fire damage to the top of his head, the top of his neck, his eyes and his back legs. His dad was also in the fire and was in the human hospital for smoke inhalation at the same time. CW was hospitalized with us for about a month and needed oxygen therapy, eye treatment, and major burn wound care, including daily bandage changes and eventually surgical debridement followed by further wound care. It was the best day when his mom came to pick him up! Although that may have been far surpassed by the day a couple of weeks later when he came back for a recheck and dad had been discharged from the human hospital. Seeing them both alive and reunited made everything we do worth all the hard work!

Surgery

• Veterinary Surgery
  We understand that a dog veterinarian is only as good as his or her ability to successfully prevent, diagnose, and treat whatever ailment a dog may be facing. Equally as important is our ability to listen and communicate well with owners to make sure they understand their dog's health concerns and how to make the best choices for their dog. This is why our dog hospital is capable of handling any procedure, including preventive care, medical diagnosis, and emergency surgery.
• Declawing
• Spaying and Neutering
  By spaying or neutering your pet, you’ll help control the pet homelessness crisis, which results in millions of healthy dogs and cats being euthanized in the United States each year simply because there aren’t enough homes to go around. There are also medical and behavioral benefits to spaying (female pets) and neutering (male pets) your animals.
• Veterinary Euthanasia
• Cropping

Lab and X-Rays

• Laboratory Services
  CBC (Complete Blood Count): This test looks at the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The CBC identifies whether there is anemia, inflammation, or infection present. It can also indicate immune system response and blood clotting ability.
• X-Ray
  Digital radiography takes X-rays literally within seconds and does not require the films to be developed like with traditional x-ray machines. The images are instantly uploaded to a computer where we can look at the images on a screen and easily enlarge views, zoom in on certain areas, take measurements, and more. We also can very easily take these images and send them to a board-certified radiologist for review if we feel like we need an expert opinion on what we’re looking at!
• Dental Radiology
  The best way to avoid these problems is to use a combination of dental care at home and at the veterinary clinic. Here at the clinic, we provide an array of dental services that include full mouth dental radiography (this is extremely important as quite a lot of dental disease in animals happens below the gum line and there are a LOT of diseases that can be missed without taking dental xrays!), dental prophy (where we use an ultrasonic scaler above and below the gum line to clean off all the tartar and bacteria present as well as polish the teeth), probe the teeth (for evidence of gingival pockets/abscesses or cavitated lesions or other signs of disease) and extraction of diseased teeth if needed. The best way to avoid the extractions is to get routine dental cleanings done before the teeth get bad as well as using some of the supplements mentioned below.
• Microchipping
  It’s a terrible feeling to know that your pet is lost and on their own, but it’s an avoidable one. Microchipping pets is the best way to ensure their safe return in the unfortunate event that they become lost.

General Pet Care

• Boarding
  We are proud to provide Arlington and the surrounding communities with boarding services. We practice the highest standards of care and cleanliness for patients staying with us. We know that it takes a great deal of trust to leave your pet with someone else, so we want to assure you that we are professional, highly trained, and most of all, we love pets.
• Grooming
• Senior Pet Care
• Dog Training
  Even experienced dog owners come across unruly pups that might need a little extra help learning basic manners. If your dog falls into this category or exhibits unwanted behaviors talk to your pet’s veterinarian.
• Animal Daycare
• House Calls

Specialty

• Bird Vet
• Exotic Animal Vet
• Small Animal Vet
• Reptile Vet