Aldergrove Animal Hospital : Services

We strive to provide you and your pet with the best possible care through courteous and efficient service as well as the most current medical and surgical techniques. We treat every client as an individual as we realize that every pet and its owner have different medical, emotional and financial needs.

You and your pet are our most important concern! We would appreciate any feedback, positive or negative, so that we can provide you with the best possible service.

Preventative Medicine
The key to animal health is preventative medicine. At the Aldergrove Animal Hospital we tailor preventative health programs for dogs and cats starting from birth. The cornerstone of this program is a regular physical examination. At this time an individual vaccination protocol can be developed for your pet based on its activity and environment.

It also includes discussion of and advice on, nutrition and diet, behavior, parasite prevention and dental care.

Many conditions, whether medical, dental, behavioral or nutritional, are easier to prevent than they are to cure.

1. Puppies and kittens should be seen several times for examinations, vaccinations, parasite control and spaying or neutering in their first 6 months of life. We treat every puppy and kitten as an individual depending on activity and environment. Call us to find out about specific recommendations for your baby.

2. Adult
From 1-8 years of life they should be seen at least once per year for a check up and necessary vaccinations, parasite prevention and dental care. Every animal is an individual so we need to customize your pets health care plan.

3. Senior Pet Care
Growing older is a fact of life for cats and dogs just like it is for humans. Just like in humans we have made great advances in veterinary medicine, which leads to healthier, longer-lived pets. As a rule of thumb, cats and smaller breeds of dogs live longer than giant breeds of dogs. Giant breeds live an average of 9-10 years and cats and small breeds live an average of 12-13 years. By the time they reach the age of 7-8 years of age all pets should be considered seniors. Early detection of disease is the cornerstone to a long and happy life!

Pet Age	Human Equivalent
	Small Dog/Cat	Medium Dog	Large Dog
1	15	15	15
2	24	24	24
3	28	28	28
4	32	32	32
5	36	36	36
6	40	42	45
7	44	47	Senior 50
8	48	Senior 51	55
9	Senior 52	56	61
10	56	60	Geriatric 66
11	60	65	72
12	64	Geriatric 69	77
13	Geriatric 68	74	82
14	72	78	88
15	76	83	93
16	80	87
17	84	92
18	88
19	92

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Medicine and Surgery

The Aldergrove Animal Hospital offers complete medical and surgical services. We have in house X ray equipment, automatic film processing and electrocardiography. We use a large central laboratory located 15 minutes away, which results in very extensive and accurate results in 4-24 hours. We also offer oncology and chemotherapy.

We have a well-equipped surgical suite with Doppler blood pressure monitoring, radio surgery and a broad range of orthopedic equipment. We use only isoflurane gas anesthetic to deliver the safest anesthetic possible. We recommend pre-anesthetic blood testing for all anesthetic procedures.

Telemedicine
All of our radiographs(x-rays) are captured by a digital camera and then uploaded through the internet to Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging & Cytopathology www.vdic.com where they are read by a board certified radiologist. We can have a specialist’s report often within an hour. This helps to give the most accurate interpretation of your pet’s x-rays.

Dentistry
Regular dental care prevents bad breath, oral pain, tooth loss and even serious illness. We offer extensive dental services that include scaling, polishing and some endodontics. We have access to dental specialists for root canals and major endodontic procedures. Dogs and cats do not sit still for dental procedures and so have to be anesthetized. We recommend pre-anesthetic testing for all dental procedures. We also have many special dental products and diets that promote good dental health and reduce the frequency of dental cleanings.

Canine Sports Medicine

Dr. Bowra has a special interest in canine sports medicine. He is a member of the American Canine Sports Medicine Association. He has many clients who breed and race sight hounds (Whippets, Greyhounds, Salukis), as well as competitive agility dogs, trial retrievers and even competitive sheep herding border collies. There are many disorders that are specific to athletic animals whether they be a trial retriever or a racing Greyhound. He is in contact with a number of veterinarians around the world who specialize in this area.

Veterinary Physical Rehabilitation/Physical Therapy

Rehabilitation goes hand in hand with sports medicine but there are many applications for rehabilitation and physical therapy in non athletes as well. Arthritis, hip and knee surgery, back problems and geriatrics are all patients that can benefit from physical therapy. Therapeutic exercise, massage, electrical muscle stimulation, therapeutic ultrasound, aquatic therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic are methods that can be used in rehabilitation.

Complementary & Alternative Medicine
We realize the value in alternative medicine and so offer access to specialists in alternative modalities such as acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractics. If you want to pursue any of these modalities, we believe in working with these specialists to combine traditional and alternative therapy in order to find the best possible treatment for a problem.

Dr. Gail Jewell is a veterinarian who is also certified in Veterinary Chiropractic and also practices Veterinary Homeopathy. She is available for consultation in these areas.

Nutrition
Proper nutrition can help to prevent many disorders such as urinary tract and skin diseases. Diet manipulation can also be used to treat many diseases. We offer nutritional counseling and a full line of prescription diets for many disorders. We also realize the value of all natural, non- processed, non-preserved diets. For the people who want to take the time to cook for their pet we have a large library of recipes of home cooked, fully balanced diets for healthy animals as well as many disease conditions. Although it is controversial, we realize that some pets do best on RAW FOOD diets. We carry a line of frozen raw food with several protein sources such as chicken, ostrich, buffalo and quail.

SUPPLEMENTS The biggest concern with non commercial diets whether cooked or raw is the balance of nutrients. as well as vitamins and supplements. There are many food supplements that can help to prevent or slow down the progression of conditions like, heart, liver, kidney disease, arthritis.

TREATS Of course just like us, all pets need treats. Many of the treats that you find in pet stores are made with byproducts and other unhealthy ingredients. Many treats are high in calories and fat. We offer treats that are healthy for your pets. They may help maintain dental health and reward your pet without putting on weight. We do not forget about cats as we have a number of healthy cat treats and toys.

Nutrition is a very important, but often overlooked, consideration in overall pet health.

Flea Control

We carry ADVANTAGE, PROGRAM, CAPSTAR, SENTINEL, REVOLUTION and OVICOLLAR flea products. If you use them when you do not have fleas you will not get fleas. We see fleas every month of the year. We must think about fleas all year around in BC as they can carry parasites as well as causing severe skin disease. We can devise an efficient and cost effective flea prevention plan for your pets.

Microchips
We use AVID microchips for the most permanent and traceable form of pet identification. The microchip is about the size of a grain of rice. It is injected beneath the skin between the shoulder blades. This can be done in most awake animals with very little discomfort. Once in place, any microchip scanner easily detects it. All SPCAs and most veterinarians have scanners. Registration in a North American wide database is included in the cost of the microchip. This database is accessible 24 hours per day 7 days per week through an 800 number from anywhere in North America. Once in place, if the chip ever migrates or ceases to function it will be replaced free of charge. The American and Canadian Kennel clubs recognize these microchips as identification for registration of purebred dogs.

During business hours we will see your pet immediately if its life is threatened.

After business hours we refer our emergencies to the Animal Emergency Clinic of the Fraser Valley at (604) 514-1711. They are located in Langley across from Costco and behind Spa Utopia.

They have a doctor and nurse on site all night long and on holidays. They are a fully equipped hospital specializing in emergency and critical care. They can perform emergency surgeries and actually have an animal blood bank for blood transfusions. Your pet will be transferred to our hospital along with any records and X-rays the next business day. We work with the emergency clinic to give you and your pet the best care possible.

Specialists
We believe in offering all available options for the best care for your pet. We have access to veterinary specialists in many areas including, surgery, internal medicine, ophthalmology, neurology and radiology/ultrasound. We work with these specialists to give you and your pet the best care possible.