Routine Well-Pet Visits
It is recommended that your pet be seen by a veterinarian annually, even if there are not any obvious health concerns. If a vaccination is needed, that can be done during a well-pet visit.
NOTE: never allow your pet or any family member to be vaccinated while there is any kind of illness happening.
Minimal Vaccine Protocols
When vaccinating, less is better.
It is not uncommon for pets to be over-vaccinated by well-meaning practitioners who do not recognize that annual vaccinations are unnecessary to maintain immunity. Also, they may not recognize that vaccinations, while they do a good job of protecting from acute diseases they’re designed to prevent, often lead to chronic disease. That is exacerbated when the vaccinations are repeated necessarily. Puppies may often be vaccinated too young and too often by non-veterinarian breeders who are not well-versed in immunology. Most state laws require vaccinating dogs and cats against rabies far more frequently than biologically necessary to maintain immunity.
We vaccinate against the diseases your pet is likely encounter in day-to-day life. Here in Berkeley Springs, WV the major diseases are parvovirus and rabies. We vaccinate puppies against parvovirus infection beginning at age 10-12 weeks, and repeat once 4 to 6 weeks later, if at all. Rabies vaccinations in WV are required, in dogs and cats, to be repeated one year after the first vaccination, and every three years thereafter. Dr. Doyle began practicing here in 1991 and has seen zero cases of distemper since that time, so there is no need to vaccinate against distemper. If you are traveling to a distemper-endemic region, please talk to us about vaccination (also flu and other diseases).
If there is concern about repeating vaccinations, we can do a test called a titer to determine whether the pet has antibodies circulating in the blood.
Homeopathic Treatment for Most Illnesses
- During your appointment, your pet will get a thorough physical examination. Dr. Doyle will interview the caregiver carefully in order to prescribe the remedy that is most appropriate. If your pet has been to other veterinarians, it will be very helpful to have records from those as well.
- There might be a need to do some blood testing, a lot of which can happen in-house so that you get results during your visit.
- There will be a discussion about your pet’s diet. If that needs to be tweaked, recommendations will be made. It is not uncommon for nutritional supplements to be prescribed also.
- Most of the diseases we see these days in veterinary medicine are chronic diseases. There will be follow-up visits, the frequency of which will be determined by your pet’s individual needs.
Routine Spays and Neuters
Because of the serious pet overpopulation epidemic, we do spay (ovariohysterectomy) and neuter (castration) of cats and dogs, which renders them unable to reproduce. Those are elective surgeries done on healthy animals. Usually the pet goes home the same day.
Telephone Consultations
Due to the limited number of veterinary homeopaths, it is quite possible that you do not live close enough to AnimaliA, or any other such doctor, to bring your pet. In that case, Dr. Doyle offers telephone consultations for homeopathic treatment and nutritional advice. You will still need to maintain your relationship with your local veterinarian so that if any assessment or diagnostics are needed, you can access those services. Just as for office visits, we will need the records from any veterinarians who have seen your pet previously.
Grooming
Dr. Doyle’s assistant Gina is a professional pet groomer and provides grooming services at AnimaliA Veterinary Care.
