Chronic Conditions
Chronic or recurring conditions take a major toll on your pet’s health. These illnesses are distinct from acute diseases, which are isolated events and easier to treat. Persistent symptoms mean that ongoing care is required to properly manage or cure the disorder.
Unfortunately, many of these conditions are not fully curable; instead involving continued medication and therapy to manage symptoms.
Common chronic conditions
- Musculoskeletal conditions like arthritis or chronic back pain
- Spinal cord problems causing weakness in the back legs
- Skin Allergies
- Epilepsy
- Cancer
- Endocrine Disorders
Controlling chronic conditions involves a long-term commitment. While conventional medicine focuses mostly on symptoms, Two Rivers veterinarians utilize holistic remedies like Chinese and Western herbs, Acupuncture and specialized diet, combined with pharmaceutical use, to develop a more complete healing regime. This approach employs multiple methods working harmoniously to alleviate symptoms and treat the condition’s source, resulting in highly effective chronic disease management and improved quality of life.
Senior Concerns
Like people, the needs of your pet change dramatically as they age. Older animals are more prone to many diseases as well as skeletal, muscular, digestive and cognitive disorders. Separating normal aging from potential medical conditions gets more difficult as time progresses.
Senior pets are susceptible to a number of medical issues such as:
- Decreasing mobility due to joint pain and other musculoskeletal/neurologic issues
- Kidney and liver disease
- Heart and lung disease
- Mental and cognitive dysfunction
- Cancer
Geriatric pets require more attention, Two Rivers Veterinary Clinic recommends that elderly pets increase the frequency of veterinary visits per year to best diagnose and treat emerging medical disorders as early in the disease process as possible.
We know that your aging pet’s comfort is your highest priority and we make it ours as well. Alternative therapies like Acupuncture and herbs are gentle drug-free options that can be safely added to more conventional pharmaceutical approaches for controlling pain/mobility concerns, nausea and loss of appetite.
Chinese Medicine and Chiropractic integrates nicely with conventional treatments of many senior disease processes by supporting body systems and trying to restore balance where there is excess or deficiency.
End of Life Decisions
Letting go is hard. The decision to end your pet’s life is the most difficult of all. Rapidly declining health, through advanced age or terminal illness, has a major effect on their quality of life. It is important to remember that euthanasia can be the gentlest course of action to end your pet’s suffering.
Two Rivers Veterinarians are there to guide you every step of the way. We compassionately assess your elderly pet’s general health and quality of life, and give you honest counsel on how best to proceed, while respecting the unique perspective that only you can have. It is our mission to honor and celebrate the bond our patients have with their guardians from the day they’re brought home to the day they say goodbye.
Acute Conditions and Urgent Care
Sometimes symptoms come on suddenly without any prior history like coughing, sneezing, vomiting, diarrhea, not eating or limping. Most of these conditions can be treated at Two Rivers Veterinary Clinic with a combination of alternative and conventional therapies. During the exam we will do an assessment to determine the degree of urgency and if referral is necessary.
If we assess your pet to have a potential emergency we will refer you to one of the local emergency veterinary hospitals, especially if your pet needs immediate tests like ultrasound or in-house blood work, which Two Rivers Veterinary Clinic cannot provide fast enough. Emergency clinics are staffed and equipped in a way to provide the best critical care possible.
In cases of obvious emergency, like difficulty breathing, collapse, severe trauma, etc, we will advise that your pet be taken directly to a local emergency clinic and bypass our evaluation.
After your pet’s visit to any emergency clinic we are available to schedule a follow up exam to review your pet’s condition and treatment options from a more holistic perspective.