Preventive Medicine

The doctors and staff at Poland Veterinary Centre firmly believe that the best approach to your pet's lifelong health is preventive medicine. Our doctors have gone to considerable lengths to ensure that we are providing the most up-to-date vaccinations and testing schedule tailored to your pet's individual needs. All pets will benefit from yearly physical exams, preventative vaccinations, and regular blood and fecal monitoring.

Yearly physical exams will enable our doctors to identify many health issues in their early stages. During a full physical exam, our doctors screen for cataracts, dental disease, tumors, and cardiac disease, along with many other illnesses that are not easily detected by the untrained eye. In addition to improving your pet's quality of life, preventive medicine is more cost effective for the average pet owner than unexpected emergency treatment. 

Only a short time ago, many potentially fatal diseases were prevalent in this area. Thanks to the development of preventive vaccines, these illnesses are now less common. Although diagnosis of these diseases is now more infrequent, each pet is still at risk of exposure. In addition to preventing disease in pets, vaccines prevent diseases that can be spread from animals to humans, like Rabies and Leptospirosis. Therefore, regular vaccinations are a valuable component of your pet's care. As always, our doctors and experienced staff will customize a vaccination protocol specifically for your pet and their lifestyle. For more information on vaccinations, click here.

Another element of preventive medicine is parasite prevention and screening. Heartworm disease is prevalent in our area and is found in every state in the U.S. If left untreated or undiagnosed, heartworm disease can lead to congestive heart failure and death, making once a month, year-round heartworm prevention and annual heartworm testing an important part of your pet's preventive health care plan. Fortunately, heartworm disease is easily avoided with many oral or topical medications. To learn more about heartworm disease, click here.

In addition to preventing heartworm disease, some heartworm prevention products also control intestinal parasite infections. Intestinal parasites can be easily acquired by pets by way of fecal, rodent, or parasite ingestion, or by drinking contaminated water. Many intestinal parasites are so small that they can only be seen by use of a microscope and have the potential of being spread to pet owners. Fortunately, intestinal parasites can be quickly detected by our trained staff during an annual fecal examination. For more information on intestinal parasites, click here.

In addition to vaccines and parasite prevention, an annual exam can assist in prevention of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is an inflammatory disease that affects the soft and hard structures that support the teeth. Eighty percent of dogs and cats over the age of four are found to have some degree of periodontal disease. During your pet's annual physical, a thorough exam of your pet's mouth will be performed to detect signs of periodontal disease like gingivitis, halitosis (bad breath), and calculus (tartar). If left untreated, periodontal disease can progress to infection of the bone that supports the teeth and subsequent tooth loss and oral pain. However, an exam of the oral cavity can assist in the prevention of periodontal disease by determining if a professional cleaning and radiographs are necessary. To learn more about our dentistry services, click here.

Your pet's quality of life is our top priority. With the use of preventive medicine, we can ensure your pet lives a long, healthy life. We appreciate you choosing Poland Veterinary Centre for your pet's care and look forward to serving you.