Comprehensive Wellness Care for Your Pet
Keeping your fur babies healthy starts with regular wellness care. At Caring Hands Animal Hospital, we focus on preventive care to ensure your pet enjoys a long, happy life. Our wellness services are tailored to your pet’s age, breed, and lifestyle, helping to detect health issues early and keep them in their best health.
Individualized Medicine
Doctors at Caring Hands Animal Hospital care for each patient with utmost care. Every pet gets tailored preventive care based on age, location, and lifestyle. Below are a few care plans to give you an idea of what treatment for pets look like at our hospital.
Puppies & Kittens require special care during their early months to ensure they grow up healthy. We recommend bringing them in for wellness visits at approximately 8, 12, and 16 weeks of age. During these visits, our veterinarians perform comprehensive physical exams, administer core vaccinations, conduct fecal testing for parasites, and provide deworming treatments. We also discuss flea, tick, and heartworm prevention to protect your new pet from common health threats. Our team is here to answer any questions you have about nutrition, behavior, and training of your puppies and kittens.
We recommend spaying and neutering your pets around six months of age to prevent unwanted litters and reduce health risks, such as uterine infections and testicular cancer. Our team ensures a safe and comfortable experience for your pet, providing pre-operative evaluations and post-surgery care instructions.
As pets mature, annual wellness visits play a vital role in maintaining their health. For adult pets aged 1 to 6 years, we perform a comprehensive physical exam, update necessary vaccinations, conduct fecal testing, and discuss ongoing flea, tick, and heartworm prevention. These check-ups allow us to monitor your pet’s overall health and detect any early signs of illness.
Good oral hygiene is essential for your pet’s overall well-being. During each wellness exam, we assess your pet’s teeth and gums for signs of tartar buildup, gingivitis, or dental disease. If needed, we may recommend a professional dental cleaning to remove plaque and bacteria. Click here to know more about dental care.
As pets reach their senior years (age 7 and older), their healthcare needs change. We recommend biannual wellness exams to monitor their health closely and detect age-related conditions such as arthritis, kidney disease, and diabetes. In addition to regular physical exams, we conduct bloodwork and urine testing to assess organ function and overall health. Keeping up with vaccinations, parasite prevention, and proper nutrition is key to maintaining a good quality of life for Senior pets. To learn more about Senior Care, please click here.
Parasite Prevention
Fleas, ticks, and heartworms pose serious health risks to pets. Even indoor pets are susceptible to parasites brought inside on shoes and clothing. We recommend year-round parasite prevention to keep your pet safe. For more information on parasites, please visit the Companion Animal Parasite Council website. A few options include topical treatments, oral medications, and collars that protect against fleas and ticks. Heartworm prevention is essential, as heartworms transmitted by mosquitoes can cause life-threatening disease in both dogs and cats. Our veterinarians at Caring Hands will recommend the best parasite prevention plan based on your pet’s specific needs; Interceptor, Heartgard, Revolution, or other preventative, for lifelong heartworm preventative. For more information on heartworms, we recommend the American Heartworm Society.
Microchipping: Permanent Protection for Your Pets
At Caring Hands Animal Hospital, we believe that every pet deserves a "ticket home." Microchipping is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to ensure your pet can always be identified and returned to you, no matter where they wander.
The Process: A microchip—no larger than a grain of rice—is safely placed just beneath your pet’s skin. This tiny device holds a unique identification number that acts as a permanent link to your contact information. If your pet is ever lost, veterinary clinics, shelters, and rescue groups across the country can scan the chip to facilitate a quick and happy reunion.
The Benefits of Microchipping:
- A Lifelong Link: Unlike collars that can break or tags that can fall off, a microchip provides a permanent ID that stays with your pet for their entire life.
- Quick and Comfortable: The implantation is a brief, minimally invasive procedure—much like a routine vaccination—ensuring your pet experiences very little discomfort.
- The Key to Recovery: Statistics show that microchipped pets are significantly more likely to be reunited with their families after going missing.
- Worry-Free Adventures: Whether you are walking through the Mosaic District or traveling out of state, a microchip gives you the peace of mind that your pet is never truly without their "ID card."
Vaccinations
Vaccinations are crucial to protecting your pet from common diseases. Our veterinarians determine the best vaccination plan based on your pet’s lifestyle and risk factors. At Caring Hands Animal Hospital, we offer essential vaccines, including:
1. Rabies
Rabies is a fatal viral disease that can be passed from animals to humans through bites or scratches. Virginia and Maryland state law requires all dogs and cats to be vaccinated.
Symptoms:
- Fever
- Seizures
- Change in behavior (over excitability, shyness, aggression)
- Excessive salivation
- Paralysis
- Inability to swallow
The rabies vaccination is given annually to cats and dogs, initially as a 1-year vaccine, and then every 3 years to dogs.
2. Distemper (DHPP and FVRCP)
Another highly-contagious disease with no cure or treatment is distemper. Dogs, cats, ferrets and other wildlife animals get this serious disease.
The disease is spread through both direct and indirect contact.
Symptoms:
- Weight loss
- Lethargy
- Fever
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Nasal discharge
The vaccines available for distemper are species-specific. For dogs, the vaccine offers protection from intestinal viruses including Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, and Parvovirus. For cats, the vaccine offers protection from upper respiratory viruses including Rhinotrachitis, Calicivirus, and Panleukopenia.
These vaccines are often abbreviated to DHPP and FVRCP.
Distemper vaccines are given as a series to puppies and kittens, annually to young adult pets, and every 3 years in older adults and seniors.
3. Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is another zoonotic disease transmitted through infected animal's urine. They contaminate water and soil. The veterinarian will inform you if your pet is at risk for contracting Leptospirosis after assessing their lifestyle and recommend vaccination accordingly. This disease causes kidney and liver failure in your pet.
Symptoms:
- Fever
- Lethargy
- Decreased appetite
- Increased thirst
- Vomiting
- Unusual amounts of urine (larger or smaller)
- Muscle and joint pain
- Bleeding or brusing
The Lepto vaccine is given as a series of two, and then annually to adult and senior dogs.
4. Lyme Vaccine
A common infectious disease transmitted from ticks to both pet parents and their pets is Lyme disease. Those who spend long hours outdoors are at increased risk of the disease. It is very prevalent in the Northern Virginia area. It is important for your pet to be on tick preventative and vaccinated to avoid Lyme disease.
Dogs either show the symptoms of Lyme disease late or never at all, which makes it difficult for pet parents to understand if they are affected. If a pet is positive for Lyme disease, antibiotics are given to try to eliminate as much of the bacteria in the body. However, it is difficult to eliminate the bacteria completely. So even with a course of antibiotics helping symptoms, a low-level infection may always be present.
Some dogs can show no symptoms at all (asymptomatic), but noticeable symptoms include:
- Pain
- Limping
- Lameness
- Inappetence
- Fever
In severe cases, kidney and heart disease can develop. Lyme vaccines are given to puppies as a series of two, and then annually to adult and senior dogs.
5. Bordetella
Bordetella, also known as “Kennel Cough”, is a highly contagious upper respiratory disease in dogs. Easily transmitted through direct contact or the air; vaccination is recommended for all dogs that interact with other dogs in their neighborhood, boarding and daycare facilities, dog parks, and groomers.
Unvaccinated puppies or young dogs, and dogs that have a compromised immune system may experience severe symptoms.
Symptoms:
- A dry, hacking cough
- “Honking” cough
- Nasal discharge
- Decrease in appetite
- Lethargy
- Fever
The Bordetella vaccine may be given as an injectable or “intra-nasal” (in the nose), and are given every 6-12 months.
6. Canine Influenza
The Canine Influenza was a new virus in 2012, that mutated from an existing strain. Since the disease was a new strain, any dog that was exposed to it was likely to contract it and become infected. A vaccine was developed to help protect dogs and is available if needed. It was found not to be contagious to humans.
Symptoms:
- Discharge from the nose or eyes
- Coughing (can be productive or non-productive)
- Labored breathing or increased rate
- Lethargy
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Decrease in appetite
We recommend that you check with your pet’s boarding, grooming, or day care facilities to see if they require this Influenza vaccine before your pet visits with them. You can also discuss your pet's lifestyle with the veterinarian to understand if they need this vaccine.
The Influenza vaccine is given as a series of two, and then annually to adult and senior dogs.
7. Feline Leukemia
Feline Leukemia, or FeLV, is a viral infection that is spread from cat to cat through saliva, feces, and during lactation.
Nursing kittens, feral or outdoor cats, and cats living in multi-cat households are at risk of infection. There is currently no known cure for Feline Leukemia.
A blood work screen can be completed in hospital to determine if a patient is infected with Feline Leukemia.
Symptoms:
Although some cats show no symptoms at all, the common noticeable symptoms include
- Decrease in appetence
- Respiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing, discharge from nose or eyes)
- Lethargy
- Fever
- Loss of weight
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
The leukemia vaccine is given as a two-part series to kittens and annually to adult and senior cats.