Preventive Care

• Dental Care
  These resources include a wide variety of pet care, health, and behavioral information relating to your dog or cat. They cover such topics as traveling with your pet, dental care, common diseases, giving medications, introducing your pet to a new baby, and many more helpful topics.
• Vaccination
  At Cartersville Animal Hospital, we feel that 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.
• Behavioral Counseling
  Spaying and neutering accounts for more than half of the surgical procedures performed on pets. A spay involves the complete removal of the female reproductive organs (the uterus and ovaries), and neutering involves the removal of the testicles. Spaying and neutering helps reduce pet overpopulation and often avoids medical and behavioral problems later in a pet’s life. If you have a new puppy or kitten, or have questions about spaying or neutering an older pet, our informational spay and neuter handout may address some of your concerns, and our veterinary staff will be glad to answer any additional questions that you may have. Just give us a call at (770) 382-8570
• Nutritional Counseling
  Cats don’t have the same weight gain and loss patterns as dogs. Their energy requirements stay about the same throughout their adult lives. If your cat loses weight, call your veterinarian.
• Comprehensive Examination
  At Cartersville Animal Hospital, we want to partner with you to keep your pet healthy. An annual wellness exam allows us to evaluate your pet’s health and detect problems before they turn into serious illnesses. Because animals can’t tell us how they feel, we must rely on a thorough physical examination and direct observation to determine if your pet is truly healthy.

Illness Treatment

• Parasites Treatment and Control
  Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by parasitic worms that are transmitted by common mosquitoes. These worms live in the arteries of the lungs and occasionally in the right side of the heart of dogs, cats, and other species of mammals. It is a common misconception that indoor pets aren’t in danger for heartworms or other parasitic infections. This simply isn’t true.
• Behavioral Disorder Treatment
  For the protection of all pets in our care, boarders must be healthy and free of chronic medical problems. All pets are required to be up to date on the following core vaccines: Canine Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus, Bordetella, and Canine Influenza H3N8/H3N2. They must also be free from internal and external parasites, with a current heartworm and intestinal parasite exam. If your pet is not current on any of the above, we will be happy to update them at the time of admission. If your pet requires medication while boarding with us, please discuss this with our staff in advance.
• Pain Management
  When your pet’s condition calls for sedation, anesthesia, or surgery, our professional team provides a safe and comfortable environment. We administer anesthesia and pain medication and perform surgery in a manner that protects your pet from the risk of post-surgical infection and will make him or her as comfortable as possible. Our team follows strict guidelines for the proper care and handling of your pet before, during, and after surgery.
• Vomiting Treatment
• Diarrhea Treatment
• Skin Condition and Allergy Treatment

Infection Treatment

• Parvovirus Infection Treatment

Chronic Condition Treatment

• Arthritis Treatment
• Diabetes Treatment
• Thyroid Disease Treatment
  Hyperthyroidism is diagnosed in one in ten cats over 9 years old. A common cause of death just 20 years ago, now it is treated easily—the earlier, the better.
• Heart Disease Treatment
  Your pet’s Senior Health Program should include laboratory blood and urine tests, but we may also recommend radiographs (X-rays), an ultrasound, or an EKG. It is important to establish a set of "baseline" values for your pet with these diagnostic tests to make it easy for your veterinarian to monitor changes in your pet’s health over time.
• Kidney Disease Treatment
  Kidney disease is a major cause of illness and death in dogs and cats, but symptoms do not usually appear until two-thirds of the kidney function has been lost. If caught early, your pet could live happily with this condition for many years.
• Periodontal Disease Treatment
  Dental care is one of the most effective ways to prolong your pet’s life and prevent the chronic discomfort that accompanies dental disease. For us, caring for our teeth and gums is part of our daily routine. We understand that without this daily attention and without regular visits to the dentist, serious problems with our teeth and gums would develop. Your pet needs dental care to prevent problems, too. Pets do not complain much, but those with significant periodontal disease routinely start acting happier and livelier once their dental problems are addressed. Those pets that receive routine dental care have fewer heart, lung, kidney, and liver problems as they mature, as well as nicer breath!
• Cancer Treatment
  Both approaches may involve the use of multiple treatments completed at our animal hospital such as chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, nutritional management, and immuno-stimulating therapy.

Emergency Care

• Wound and Fracture Care
• Poisoning Treatment

Surgery

• Dental Surgery
• Veterinary Surgery
  The decision to have your pet undergo surgery is an important one. You probably have many questions about the procedure and how it will affect your pet. At Cartersville Animal Hospital, our goal is to keep your pet as safe as possible.
• Laser Surgery
  Today, Dr. McElwee and his staff offer a vast array of services in small animal veterinary medicine, including the advanced technology of laser surgery. Learn more about the services Cartersville Animal Hospital has to offer.
• Spaying and Neutering
  Should your pet become injured or ill enough to require surgery, rest assured our veterinarians are skilled in a variety of advanced surgical techniques. Dr. McElwee and the veterinary staff at Cartersville Animal Hospital strive to provide a friendly, relaxed, and compassionate setting for veterinary surgical patients. Our pet hospital has years of experience in soft tissue, orthopedic, and cancer surgeries, as well as more simple spay and neuter procedures.

Lab and X-Rays

• Laboratory Services
  Even if your pet seems perfectly healthy, frequent veterinary examinations are necessary for early detection of the changes and illnesses associated with aging. These changes may occur slowly, and you may not notice the subtle signs that your veterinarian can detect during an exam or through laboratory testing.
• X-Ray
• Microchipping
  Microchip implants are a safe and reliable way to improve the chances of recovering a lost pet. One of the most frightening experiences a pet owner can have is losing a pet. Statistics indicate that one out of three pets will become lost in their lifetime, and 90% of lost pets never find their way home because of no identification. An even scarier statistic is that 30–60% of those pets will be euthanized at animal shelters because they have no identification. Collars and nametags can be helpful in recovering a lost pet, but because they are external, they can be removed or lost. The permanent way to secure your pet’s identification is with a microchip implant.

General Pet Care

• Boarding
  At Cartersville Animal Hospital, we are pleased to offer our current veterinary clients limited boarding, for both medical and non-medical admissions. You can put your mind at ease while you are away, knowing that your pet is in an environment that emphasizes safety and cleanliness. Going away and have a special needs pet? Call us to inquire about our hospital care options for your best friend.
• Senior Pet Care
  There are diets designed specifically for senior pets. We highly recommend Hill’s Science Diet and Prescription Diets. Ask us which diet would be appropriate for your pet.