Wellness Care

Serving the Central Texas communities of San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Wimberly and New Braunfels, Springtown Veterinary Hospital is dedicated to providing superior, compassionate veterinary care. Our staff and doctors recognize that your pet is an important member of your family and are dedicated to becoming a partner in your pet's healthcare.

Our veterinary hospital is the only practice in the area to be accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association. As an AAHA certified hospital, we have been recognized for our focus on maintaining high-quality professional standards in patient care and client service. The standards set by the AAHA are recognized around the world as the benchmark for quality care in veterinary medicine with only about 15 percent of animal hospitals nationally earning AAHA accreditation.

Perhaps the most important area in which we excel is in preventative care. The medical staff at Springtown Veterinary Hospital understands that the best means to protect your pet's wellbeing while minimizing the lifetime cost of veterinary care is through preventative medicine. This is why we recommend regular and thorough wellness exams, safe and effective vaccines, proper dental care, lost pet microchip ID, nutritional counseling, and much more.

We also strive to provide extensive diagnostic evaluation, intensive treatment, and ongoing management for sick and injured pets. Within our team of doctors, we have a wealth of knowledge that we can share with you as part of our efforts to provide the very best care. We are also very fortunate to have a network of very talented specialists available for consultations and referral.

We also have placed significant emphasis on creating and maintaining a well-educated, motivated, energetic and compassionate staff. Our staff receives routine continuing education and training to keep them at the leading edge of veterinary medicine and empower them to work to their fullest potential. They are continually challenged to learn and given the opportunity to utilize their skills.

We also believe strongly in promoting a sense of family within our facility. Our practice was founded in part to provide the owners with greater opportunity to be involved with their children's lives and we work hard to maintain a practice that is personally close and supportive of its staff. This sense of family also extends to our clients. When you bring your pet to us for care, we will welcome you into the Springtown Veterinary Hospital family.

In all that we do, we are your partners in providing those who are near and dear to you with many happy years of tail-wagging, ball-chasing, pouncing, purring, and cuddling.

New Client Discount on First Exam

Springtown Veterinary Hospital is offering our new clients an introductory discount on your first visit to our hospital. We would love the opportunity to get to know you and your pet, and therefore, we are offering a free exam for new clients.

Springtown Veterinary Hospital offers an extensive range of services and animal preventative care to keep your pet healthy in all stages of life. We are confident that you and your pet will have a wonderful experience with our staff and doctors, and we look forward to meeting you and establishing a long-term relationship with you and your pet. Please let us know when you call so that we may honor your reduced exam fee.

Wellness Care for every Age and Stage of Life

Pets age faster than people, so regular veterinary care is very important for your pet's health. In addition, your pet cannot tell you how he's feeling and it's natural for pets to mask their illness as a means of self-protection. Sometimes the only way to tell if your pet is not well is through a veterinary examination.

An annual visit or a twice-a-year visit—especially important for pets over age seven—is critical for ensuring your pet is healthy and to detect any illness as early as possible. Our doctors perform a tip-of-the-nose to tip-of-the-tail exam tailored to your pet's breed, age, health status and stage in life.

Our team members are available to help you schedule appointments according to your pet's unique needs.

Comprehensive Physical Exam

Not only is your pet unable to tell you how they feel, they often will hide their symptoms of disease or illness. Sometimes the only way to tell if your pet is not well is through a veterinary examination. Our doctors perform a tip-of-the-nose to the tip-of-the-tail exam tailored to your pet's breed, age, health status and stage in life. For all pets, the comprehensive physical exam will consist of the following:

Opthalmic Exam
Otoscopic Exam
Dental Exam
Neurologic Evaluation
Coat and Skin Evaluation
Lymph Node Palpation
Cardiovascular Evaluation
Pulmonary Evaluation
Musculoskeletal and Joint Exam
Weight and Nutritional Counseling
Abdominal Palpation
Rectal Exam
Urogenital Evaluation

In addition, we will review any findings to you and make appropriate recommendations. We will discuss effective heartworm, flea, and intestinal parasite prevention. And, most importantly, we will answer any questions you may have regarding your pet.

Vaccinations

Vaccines for Your Pet's Health

Though San Marcos is a vibrant and beautiful place to live, it is not immune from a number of infectious diseases that can affect our pets. Additionally, there are diseases that not only are a danger to our pets, but to our families as well. It is important to keep your pet's vaccines current in order to protect him or her against preventable illness.

There are many vaccines necessary to protect your pet's health. However, Springtown Veterinary Hospital doctors do all that we can to minimize the amount of vaccines we give your pet. Eah year, we will determine your pet's needs based on his or her age, size, breed, health status, environment, lifestyle (how often your pet comes into contact with other animals) and travel habits. Your veterinarian will also perform an examination of your pet before giving any vaccine in order to ensure there are no health issues that could pose a health risk by giving the vaccine.

The Benefit of Recombinant Vaccines

In order to provide your pet with the most effective and safest vaccine protection possible, Springtown Veterinary Clinic uses recombinant vaccines. The primary advantage of recombinant vaccines is there is virtually no chance of the host becoming ill from the agent since it is a single protein, not the organism itself. Another advantage is that recombinant vaccines do not require an adjuvant. An adjuvant is an agent that stimulates the immune system to find and react to the vaccine protein. Some adjuvants have been implicated in causing cancer in some animals over time.

Our vaccination protocols are based on guidelines developed by the American Animal Hospital Association (dogs) and the Association of American Feline Practitioners:

Canine Vaccination Protocols

Rabies—given at 12 weeks of age, booster in 12 months, then every 3 years thereafter
DHPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, Parvo)—given every 3 to 4 weeks starting at 6 weeks of age through 16 weeks of age, booster in 12 months, then every 3 years thereafter
Leptospirosis—given at 9 weeks of age with a booster in 3 to 4 weeks, booster annually
Bordetella (Kennel Cough)—given at 9 weeks of age with a booster in 3 to 4 weeks, booster annually
Snake—given to dogs considered at high risk
Influenza—given to dogs considered at high risk

Feline Vaccination Protocols

Rabies (Purevax)—given at 12 weeks of age, booster annually
FVRCP (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia)—given every 3 to 4 weeks starting at 6 weeks of age through 16 weeks of age, booster in 12 months, then every 3 years thereafter
FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus—Purevax Vetjet)—following a negative blood test given at 8 weeks of age with a booster in 3 to 4 weeks, booster annually
Feline AIDS (Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome)—indicated for cats allowed to go outdoors, following a negative test given at 8 weeks of age with 2 boosters every 3 weeks, booster annually
FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis)—no longer recommended

Diagnostic Testing

Pre-Anesthetic Panel

To ensure your pet can properly process and eliminate an anesthetic, we run tests to confirm that your pet's organs are functioning properly and to find hidden health conditions. Healthy-looking pets may be hiding symptoms of a disease or condition. These tests also become part of your pet's medical record, providing a baseline for future reference.

Pre-Anesthetic Panel—Puppies/Kittens/Young Adults

Complete Blood Count
Mini Blood Chemistry

Pre-Anesthetic Panel—Senior Adults

Complete Blood Count
Comprehensive Blood Chemistry
Urinalysis
Thyroid Function Test

Early Disease Detection

Not only is your pet unable to tell you how they feel, they often will hide their symptoms. How will you know if your pet is in the early stage of an illness? This is why we recommend annual wellness exams and annual wellness diagnostic testing for Early Disease Detection. Wellness testing provides us with a better opportunity to detect any early changes in your pet's organ function and the possibility of treating or slowing down the disease process.

Our Early Detection Program is not one test, a series of tests, or just one visit. It's a new way of caring for your pet that is similar to how human medicine allows us to care for ourselves. Medical advancements enable us to diagnose potential diseases before they become a serious issue, enabling us to protect your pets like never before.

By following our simple program, many diseases can be caught early, thereby adding years to your pet's life. The program is individually tailored to your pet, based on his or her age, breed, lifestyle, and medical history.

Early Detection Panel—Young Adult

Intestinal Parasite Testing
Heartworm and Tick-Borne Disease Testing (Dogs)
Leukemia/AIDS/Heartworm Disease Testing (Cats)
Complete Blood Count
Mini Blood Chemistry Profile
Urinalysis

Early Detection Panel—Adult

Intestinal Parasite Testing
Heartworm and Tick-Borne Disease Testing (Dogs)
Leukemia/AIDS/Heartworm Disease Testing (Cats)
Complete Blood Count
Comprehensive Blood Chemistry Profile
Urinalysis
Thyroid Function Test
Glaucoma Screening
Blood Pressure Screening

Early Detection Panel—Senior

Intestinal Parasite Testing
Heartworm and Tick-Borne Disease Testing (Dogs)
Leukemia/AIDS/Heartworm Disease Testing (Cats)
Complete Blood Count
Comprehensive Blood Chemistry Profile
Urinalysis
Thyroid Function Test
Glaucoma Screening
Blood Pressure Screening
Electrocardiogram (EKG) Screening
Chest Radiograph

Heartworm Prevention

Heartworm Disease in Dogs

Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in dogs. It is caused by a parasite called Dirofilaria immitis and is transmitted by mosquitoes. Prevention is key; it is always less costly and safer to prevent heartworms than to treat them and the damage they cause! Yearly testing and monthly preventative is the cornerstone of a heartworm-free pet.

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital highly recommend all dogs receive monthly heartworm preventative all year long.

Effects

Adult heartworms are found in the heart and large adjacent vessels of infected dogs. Adult worms cause disease by clogging the heart and major blood vessels leading from the heart. The immature worms, or microfilariae, circulate throughout the body. Microfilariae may block blood flow in blood vessels that supply vital organs including the lungs and liver. Heartworm infection leads to severe heart, lung, liver, and kidney damage.

Symptoms

Heartworms survive up to 5 years and it takes a number of years before dogs show outward signs of infection. Unfortunately, by the time signs are seen, the disease is well advanced. The most obvious signs are a chronic cough, shortness of breath, weakness, listlessness, exercise intolerance, or fainting. Other common symptoms include weight loss, poor condition, and anemia. Severely infected dogs may die suddenly during exercise or excitement.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of heartworm disease can be made by a blood test that is performed in our hospital. We use a serological test that detects antigens (proteins) produced by adult heartworms. In addition, our blood test also screens for Lyme Disease, Ehrlichia and Anaplasmosis—commonly seen tick-borne diseases in our area.

Prevention

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital recommend the use of Trifexis once a month, every month, all year long. This medication is safe for all breeds of dog, all weights and ages as young as 6 weeks. Trifexis is a convenient all-in-one preventative for heartworms, fleas, roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms. Trifexis is guaranteed to be 100% effective in preventing Heartworms, Roundworms, Hookworms, and Whipworms in dogs. If your pet has been tested for heartworms (two negative tests), receives Trifexis monthly, 12 months of the year, but still comes up positive for any of these parasites, we will cover the entire cost of diagnostics and treatment to remove those parasites.

Heartworm Disease in Cats

Prevention Heartworm disease is not just a canine disease. Heartworms affect cats differently than dogs, but the disease they cause is equally serious and potentially fatal. It only takes one mosquito to infect a cat, and because mosquitoes can get indoors, both indoor and outdoor cats are at risk and should receive heartworm preventive.

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital highly recommend all cats receive monthly heartworm preventative all year long.

Symptoms

Heartworm disease in cats actually affects the lungs more the heart. The term HARD is often used, meaning Heartworm Associated Respiratory Disease. Symptoms of coughing are often mistaken for feline asthma or allergic bronchitis. Cats may also show anorexia, vomiting, weight loss, or even sudden death.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is not as straight forward in cats as it is in dogs. An initial blood test is performed in our hospital. We use a serological test that detects antibodies to heartworms. Any positive antibody results are submitted to our outside laboratory for a follow-up antigen test.

Prevention

Heartworm disease in cats is harmful, even fatal, but very preventable. Revolution is a topical medication that is a highly effective heartworm, flea, and intestinal parasite preventative. It also effectively treats ear mites and feline scabies. Revolution is very safe and very easy to apply.

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital recommend the use of Revolution once a month, every month, all year long.

Intestinal Parasite Prevention

Dogs and cats suffer from several types of intestinal parasites (or worms). The most common are roundworms, hookworms, whipworms (dogs), and tapeworms. With the exception of tapeworms, intestinal parasites live within your pet's intestines and only pass microscopic eggs in the stool. Even though these eggs are not visible to the naked eye, they are highly infectious to other pets and people.

Intestinal Parasites in Dogs

Symptoms

Although some parasite infections will cause few or no symptoms, dogs typically experience the following:

Loss of appetite
Vomiting and/or diarrhea
Weight loss
Poor hair coat
Pot-bellied appearance

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of intestinal parasites is made through a special testing process of your dog's stool (fecal centrifugation). The diagnosis is based on presence of microscopic parasite eggs, with each species having its own unique appearance.

Prevention

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital recommend Trifexis, once a month, every month, all year long for the treatment and prevention of roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms, When given monthly, Trifexis will effectively treat and prevent these harmful parasites.

Trifexis provides convenient, all-in-one protection against heartworms, fleas, (adults and immature phases), roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms.

In addition, it is important to properly clean and dispose of your dog's stool to avoid envorinmental contamination. Parasite eggs can survive in the environment for long periods of time, resulting in persistent reinfestations as well as transmission to people. Good personal hygeine when cleaning up after your dog will also prevent transmission.

Intestinal Parasites in Cats

Although some parasite infections wil cause few or no symptoms, cats typically experience the following:

Loss of appetite
Vomiting and/or diarrhea
Weight loss
Poor hair coat
Pot-bellied appearance

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of intestinal parasites is made through a special testing process of your cat's stool (fecal centrifugation). The diagnosis is based on presence of microscopic parasite eggs, with each species having its own unique appearance.

Prevention

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital recommend Revolution, once a month, every month, all year long for the treatment and prevention of roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms, When given monthly, Revolution will effectively treat and prevent these harmful parasites.

Revolution provides convenient, all-in-one protection against heartworms, fleas, (adults and immature phases), roundworms, and hookworms. Revolution will also effectively treat ear mites and feline scabies.

In addition, it is important to properly clean and dispose of your cat's stool to avoid envorinmental contamination. Parasite eggs can survive in the environment for long periods of time, resulting in persistent reinfestations as well as transmission to people. Good personal hygeine when cleaning up after your cat will also prevent transmission.

Flea Control

Fleas can be a major problem for both dogs and cats. They cause severe discomfort resulting in scratching, licking, chewing, and biting. Fleas are also the cause of Flea Allergy Dermatitis, the most common pet skin condition. They feed off your pet's blood and, in severe infestations, can cause anemia. Fleas also transmit tapeworms to dogs and cats.

Fleas reproduce year-round and at an incredible rate—one female flea can produce 50 eggs within one day! Just a few fleas can quickly result in a major infestation. That's why it's important to kill fleas as quickly as possible, before they can lay eggs.

Flea Control in Dogs

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital recommend Trifexis once a month, every month, all year long. Trifexis provides fast relief by killing fleas within 30 minutes and keeps working to prevent flea infestations all month long. Fleas are killed before they can lay eggs and Trifexis cannot be washed, rubbed or shaken off.

Trifexis is a convenient, all-in-one protection against heartworms, fleas (adults and immature phases), roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms.

Flea Control in Cats

It is just as important to provide parasite protection for cats, whether they venture outside or live completely indoors. Revolution is a topical medication that is a highly effective heartworm, flea, and intestinal parasite preventative. It also effectively treats ear mites and feline scabies. Revolution is very safe and very easy to apply.

The doctors at Springtown Veterinary Hospital recommend the use of Revolution once a month, every month, all year long.

Microchip Permanent Identification

Dogs and cats will often run off for an hour or so to explore the world and then find their way home for food and warmth. However, what would you do if your pet failed to come home? How would someone find you if your pet lost his or her tag, the tag became unreadable, or you were traveling?

The sad fact is that getting lost is the number one cause of pet death. Studies have shown that more than 10 million pets are lost each year and about 90 percent will not be returned to their owners without effective pet identification.

This is why Springtown Veterinary Hospital views microchip pet IDs as a standard of care for all of our patients. With a microchip, your pet can be identified quickly and easily by animal control officers, shelters or veterinary hospitals. Microchips are safe, unalterable and permanent identification for pets.

At Springtown Veterinary Hospital, we use the HomeAgain microchip system, which is quick and painless (the microchip is approximately the size of a grain of rice). The entire procedure is similar to a vaccination and takes less than 10 seconds. The HomeAgain ID program uses microchips that register the animal with a unique identification number that is filed in a database with important contact information. This information can be updated at any time.

For only $34 we can microchip your pet today and enroll him or her in the HomeAgain Pet Recovery Service. This special price includes the microchip, microchip replacement and lifelong registration with HomeAgain. The American Animal Hospital Association also provides a free, searchable database to aid in the recovery of lost pets. HomeAgain membership also offers benefits such as proactive pet recovery and free access to ASPCA Poison Control (normally $60 per call).

Nutritional Counseling

Pets are living longer, healthier lives than ever before and a big part of that is due to our expanded knowledge of the importance of proper nutrition to overall health.

This fact is not lost on the doctors of Springtown Veterinary Hospital. During your pet's comprehensive physical examination we evaluate his or her body condition and give recommendations based on what we find.

For most pets these recommendations will include information on proper serving size and other feeding strategies to maintain optimal body weight and nutritional health. However, some pets have more serious nutritional challenges or chronic conditions such as diabetes, or kidney disease. Nutritional management can include more intensive feeding strategies, specialized foods, and prescription diets.

We also carry a diverse inventory of prescription foods and high-quality nutritional products. If your pet requires a prescription diet we do not carry, we can easily order it for you. We can also offer advice and provide information about diets that benefit specific medical conditions such as liver disease, bladder and kidney stones, renal failure, food allergies, diabetes and other conditions.