Monday, Jan. 7th 2019

Your pet’s Healthiest Self

Welcome to 2019! 

Did You Know?  How we help your pet be their healthiest self…

There are things we can do to help you keep your pet as their healthiest self and well cared for that you may not have thought of. 

First,

we recommend all pets (cats and dogs) have chiropractic at least twice a year.  Some may need it more often due to health issues or breed and body type.  If you’ve been using us for acupuncture, skin problems, or just routine health care like vaccinations, be sure to ask us about scheduling a chiropractic evaluation!  Keeping the nervous system working at peak performance goes a long way towards keeping your pet healthy, happy, and pain free.  This exam costs about $70 by itself, less if combined with a physical examination.

Second,

be sure to ask us about recommended supplements.  Many pets lack variety in their diets, or have chronic health issues.  We have a variety of supplements from all-purpose ones for general health to specific ones for certain health issues.  Pets with chronic organ malfunction (kidneys, liver, heart) or joint pain should absolutely be on supplements for better quality of life.  If your pet isn’t moving around freely with a smooth shiny coat and healthy appetite, there’s room for improvement!

Third,

we are really good at helping with optimizing the weight of your pets.  More than half of this country’s pets are overweight which contributes to other health problems like heart problems, diabetes, and joint pain. We can do a complete exam, nutritional consult, and initial weigh-in and come up with a specialized weight loss program that will work for your family, with free weight re-checks as often as you wish!

Fourth,

did you know we can do vaccine antibody titers in-house?  For a little over $50, we draw a few drops of blood and measure the antibodies in your dog to distemper, parvo, and hepatitis.  There’s no need to give your dog these vaccinations IF their body already has enough antibody to protect them from these diseases.  If you have concerns about over-vaccination, be sure to ask us if your pet is a candidate to have these titers measured instead of automatically giving an annual vaccine.  This whole process takes about half an hour so very little waiting, and since we do it here it’s low cost as well.  And if we measure and find out your pet needs a booster, we include that vaccine at no additional cost other than a physical exam to make sure they are healthy enough to receive a vaccine.  Many of our clients just include this titer test with their dog’s regular check-up and heartworm test (since we’re drawing blood anyway).

Fifth,

yes, we offer nail trims! (It surprises us how many people ask us that).  Not only do we do them for $13, we use pheromones, treats, and lots of petting to try to minimize stress if your pet is anxious about this procedure. We’ve been known to take a dog outside to distract them, or allow a cat to hide under a towel.  We also encourage “getting to know you” visits for pets who are stressed about the vet for this or other reasons.  You just give us a call to make sure it’s a good time, then bring your pet in to say hi!  Let us know that’s why you’re there, and we’ll spray the waiting room with pheromones, offer treats, petting, or just let your pet take a tour around the clinic to sniff things and have a positive and non-stressful visit.  We won’t charge you for this, as it helps make everyone’s job easier when your pet DOES need us to do something.  If your pet is a little extreme about their feet, we can try sending home a safe and gentle medication ahead of time for you to give and see if that helps your pet be more relaxed, plus we have some great calming aids for sale!

Sixth,

has your older pet had base-line bloodwork yet?  Many people don’t think about having their pet’s blood values checked until they get sick.  But having a baseline at around the age of 5-7 years can be very helpful later!  Different breeds may vary and, in some cases, have one or two values that fall outside the average normal range.  Also, occasionally when we do a well-check lab test, we are surprised to pick up on early organ issues that we can then get control over quickly before your pet really starts to feel ill.  At the very least, having that early lab testing on file gives us a point for comparison later if they do get sick.  Plus, it’s always a relief to hear “your pet’s bloodwork looks great”!

Finally,

our Nutritional consults bear another mention.  We have found that many health issues will improve if we can tweak what you feed your pet.  Many common pet food brands are full of inflammatory ingredients.  When we do a Chinese medical examination and full nutritional evaluation of what and how much you feed your pet, we can then recommend specific ingredients or types of food to help adjust their system, reduce inflammation, control weight, and generally improve quality of life.  We have especially good results with pets with skin or intestinal disorders.  For about $100, you can have the exam and up to an hour of the doctor’s time to thoroughly evaluate the diet and decide on changes to improve your pet’s health.  This will include handouts and information on how to evaluate pet food ingredients, where to find different foods, and even how to incorporate home-made foods or “people foods” into the diet.  Dr Leonard feels a proper diet is probably the single most important way to keep pets healthy life-long.  If you’re buying your pet food at a grocery store, we strongly recommend this service!

Dates Dr Leonard will be out of the office:

Friday, January 25 and March 1, 8, and 29.  Possibly February 15 and 22.  When Dr Leonard is out on Fridays for a dog show, we usually still have a receptionist present to help with making appointments, filling prescriptions, and helping you with purchases until about 3 p.m. 

Note about how we remind you of needed services:

Our system automatically sends out an email, and we will call you, when a reminder for an examination, lab test, or vaccine pops up in our software.  These reminders are generated by performing certain procedures so are automatically in the system when your visit is complete. So, if your pet comes due, you will be getting two reminders automatically via email and phone.  We are trying to remember if we only leave a message, so don’t get that appointment scheduled with our phone call, to change the date on the reminder to contact you again in a week or two until you have received three reminders from us.  That doesn’t always happen as sometimes after the message is left we accidentally click the “done” button.  So if you have changed emails or don’t read it much, or your email provider is blocking them, or your voice mail box is full, you may miss reminders.  Please don’t blame us for these things.  We are reaching out to you in two different ways at least once for every reminder.  We also periodically try to reach out to any client we haven’t seen in 6 months or longer.  Make sure when you come in that we have a correct email and phone for you if you have not been receiving the reminders, and check your spam filters to allow emails from wholehealthpetcenter.com .  To make things easier, we do recommend scheduling your next visit before you leave our office.  It’s easy to change it later, and that way things won’t get overlooked. 

 

 


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Whole Health Pet Center
18011 E St. Rte 58
Raymore, MO 64083
816-331-1868

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