Skin Care and Flea Control

Every Pet deserves to have healthy skin and a beautiful shiny coat.

Inadequate flea control is an issue that can lead to serious skin problems. Your Banfield hospital team is an expert at stopping fleas in their tracks using safe and effective flea preventive medications. Besides preventing flea related skin disease, flea control also prevents or reduces incidence of bites on people and other Pets and reduces the risk of Pets being infected with tapeworms.

Banfield veterinarians also provide care for Pets with minor skin illness and severe skin disease as well as consultations on how to maintain healthy skin and coat. Check with your veterinarian if your Pet is experiencing seasonal skin problems, has a skin injury or received some sort of skin trauma. Skin care is vital to the overall health and happiness of your Pet.

Pet Vaccinations and Preventive Care

Dogs and cats need vaccine boosters on a regular basis. Some vaccines are yearly, while others may be necessarily only every three years.

Your Banfield veterinarian knows what diseases to vaccinate against and utilizes only high-quality, proven reliable vaccines that have been handled and stored appropriately.

Simple steps like regular vaccine boosters maintain good health for Pets reducing the risk of contracting a serious, costly and sometimes fatal disease. As the interval between some Pet vaccinations has lengthened, the need for regular check-ups every year remains an important step in keeping your Pet healthy.

Other simple steps include check-ups, testing for intestinal parasites, heartworm testing and preventive medication, teeth cleaning, good nutrition, maintaining a healthy weight and other key areas that help Pets live longer healthier lives. Your Banfield doctor knows what needs to be included in your Pets regular or routine vaccine and preventive care program.

Optimum Wellness Plans®

Membership in a Banfield Optimum Wellness Plan® is one of the best and most affordable ways for you to provide the recommended preventive care to help keep your Pet healthy. Banfield's wellness plans differ from insurance and are discounted packages of annual preventive Pet health care items and veterinary services, such as twice-yearly comprehensive exams, vaccine boosters, routine testing for internal parasites, deworming and more. For every Pet enrolled on a plan, you are entitled to free unlimited office visits and discounts on other Banfield Pet care services. The regular preventive care afforded by our wellness plans enables your Banfield team to monitor your Pet's health on an ongoing basis so that we are able to identify any issues at an early stage when they are easier and less expensive to treat.

Spay and Neuter

Spay (ovariohysterectomy) and neuter (castration) surgeries are procedures done every day at Banfield on lots of Pets. Pets who are spayed or neutered no longer have the desire or ability to reproduce and benefit from reduced hormone levels, which when higher, drive desires such as fighting, roaming and breeding.

While these surgeries are routine for Banfield veterinarians, they are still major surgeries. Making a common surgical procedure, such as a spay or neuter, as safe and comfortable as possible for the Pet is a standard at our hospitals. To ensure the best possible outcome for each patient, we require safety measures including pre-surgical blood work, specialized instruments to monitor anesthetized patients' heart-rate and breathing, IV fluids, pain control and the safest gas anesthesia (sevolfourane which is also used in human hospitals). Providing safe, high-quality care for spays and neuters at a reduced price enables families to provide this important care for their Pets which benefits their lifelong health.

Surgery

Our surgery teams utilize many safety measures comparable to human hospitals. All patients receiving general anesthesia must have pre-surgical blood work which provides a vital check on the health of a patient and determines whether they are an appropriate candidate for surgery. Depending on the urgent nature of the surgery, abnormalities are addressed, drug selections are modified and sometimes surgeries are postponed or even cancelled until the veterinarian feels the surgery is safe to perform. Problems on the inside of the body are not always visible on the outside of the body and pre-surgical blood work provides important information about what is going on inside your Pet. Once anesthesia is deemed safe for the patient, specialized monitoring equipment tracks a patient's vital signs and close attention is paid to ensure the best possible outcome for each individual patient.

Diagnosis and treatment for ill or injured Pets

The desire to help ill and injured Pets is often times the first childhood inspiration our Banfield doctors and hospital teams encountered that ultimately lead them to become a veterinarian or Pet health care providers. Our experienced Banfield doctors treat Pets with minor illness, major disease as well as some critical or even life threatening injuries. It is always best to seek medical care for your Pet as early as you notice an illness or injury. Starting treatment early gives your Pet the best chance for a speedy recovery. Always talk to your Banfield doctor if you have questions while your Pet is under treatment in the hospital or continuing care at home.

Dentistry

Healthy teeth and gums are one of the best health care gifts a Pet owner can provide for their Pet, It is important to follow your veterinarian's advice on maintaining dental health—an essential factor in your Pet's overall health and longevity. Our hospitals provide a complete dental health care program for clients and their Pets, including early intervention for puppies and kittens when they are most receptive to "new" things. Banfield offers professional dental cleanings, including any necessary extractions, while taking all necessary precautions for a safe anesthetic procedure in our Pet hospitals. The Banfield hospital team can provide diet and treat recommendations to help keep your Pet's teeth clean during regular dental cleanings as well as provide recommendations for good at-home dental care.

Radiology (X-ray)

Each Banfield hospital is equipped to perform X-rays, a valuable diagnostic tool used to identify many types of illness or injury when Pets are sick or suffer a trauma. X-rays can be used to evaluate bone damage, as well as evaluate organ integrity and identify foreign objects that may have been ingested.

Geriatrics

Geriatrics is health care for senior Pets. Depending upon a Pet's species, breed, inherited genetics and environmental factors, our patients step into the geriatric category at different ages.

Our Banfield doctors are expert in health issues related to seniors and work to support gracefully aging Pets with an excellent quality of life. Our Banfield doctors also practice preventive medicine that helps reduce or avoid common ailments often common in senior Pets. In addition to helping your senior Pet maintain a healthy weight and moderate exercise, other prevention tips may include regular blood work, EKGs, dental care at home and professional dental cleanings under anesthesia in the hospital.

Convenient Location, Hours & Early Morning Drop-off Service

At Banfield, we know Pets often get sick or need attention in the evenings or on weekends, which is why we're open later and have Saturday and Sunday hours at most of our locations. Most of our Pet hospitals are conveniently located inside PetSmart stores so that you can take care of all your Pet care needs in one trip. Because we know you work and have busy schedules, we offer options for dropping your Pet off early in the morning, when it's convenient for you. Once your Pet's health care visit is complete you can arrange to discuss the doctors findings, any recommendations and treatment options and any suggested home care. The hospital team can also work to have your Pet ready to go home when it's convenient for you to pick him or her up.

In-House Lab

Both sick and healthy Pets are prescribed tests in our hospitals and many of those tests are run on site at our in-house laboratory. An on-site lab enables quick results for tests such as routine heartworm testing, intestinal parasite testing as well as pre-surgical blood work. Quick results additionally provide our Banfield doctors with information necessary for making a diagnosis and treatment recommendations for ill Pets more quickly than waiting for test results that need to be sent out to a laboratory. Quick turnaround time on test results can also reduce the time a Pet needs treatment in the hospital, which results in less stress on the Pet and reduces treatment costs for sick Pets.

On-Site Hospital Pharmacy

Having convenient and immediate access to the many preventive and therapeutic medicines at your Banfield hospital ensures Pets can start recommended medications right away. If you need to refill medication, the hospital team will authorize your refill and prepare it for you to pick up, often eliminating the need to call or pick-up from a pharmacy. The convenience of seeing your Pet's doctor and being able to pick up your Pet's prescription medication on a single visit reduces the time and cost you may incur both on the original visit and any future medication refill visits.

Dietary and Behavioral Consulting

What your Pet eats and how they behave (in the family setting or out in public) is a part of everyday life, each day of your Pet's life. Discussing Pet nutrition and treats with the professionals at Banfield give you the knowledge to make powerful decisions for your Pets short term and long term health. Poor nutrition leaves Pets susceptible to skin problems, digestive problems, weight issues, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and other health concerns.

Pets that fit well into a family's everyday life are happier and well adjusted. The veterinary professionals at Banfield are a great source of information about general Pet behavior, training tips and resources for correcting unwanted Pet behaviors. Since some undesirable behaviors can be directly linked to an illness, any change in a Pet's behavior should be brought to the attention of your veterinarian. The Banfield hospital team has the experience to assist you in uncovering any underlying illness and getting your Pet the help he needs to recover and get back to the being the great family companion you love.

Microchips

Microchips provide an important level of protection in case your Pet gets lost and loses his collar and tags. Banfield's TruePaws® Pet identification system provides your Pet with a unique identification number that is permanently stored under your Pet's skin, where it cannot be removed, become lost, altered worn and unreadable like an external tag. Once your Pet receives a TruePaws microchip, the unique ID number is entered into our national database, which is linked to your Pet's medical record and is accessible seven days a week by calling an 800#. We even offer a TruePaws Promise, which means that when your Pet has a TruePaws microchip and is kept current on his vaccinations, if he is ever lost and brought to Banfield injured, we will provide life-saving medical Pet care services until you are contacted — so that necessary emergency care is not delayed.