Southern California Veterinary Hospital

Our Philosophy

We work as a team to provide loving and professional service for all the cats and dogs in your family. We treat strictly dogs and cats and some of our veterinarians are Board Certified in general practice for those two species. We endeavor to make medical recommendations a cooperative effort between you and us as we strive to create the best outcome possible. We hope you will come and experience our service and our medicine. For an explanation and more information about the services we provide please see below.

Examination

We require that all pets receive an examination before services are performed. This requirement is a legal one that establishes a veterinary-client-patient relationship. After that, we require all pets receiving any service here get examined by one of our veterinarians yearly for pets under 7 and every six months for pets over 7 years-old. Due to the shortened life span of our pets it is important to catch potential problems early.

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Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is much more difficult to assess in cats and dogs. It takes a lot of skill and sophisticated equipment. However, many diseases cause increased blood pressure and, if high, it can make the disease worse or progress faster. We are equipped to measure and monitor blood pressure in our patients.

Electrocardiogram

We do both in-house ECG and specialist ECG. The specialist ECG is transmitted via phone line to Cardiologists. It is then interpreted and comments regarding the nature of the problem, probable causes, and potential treatments are received.

Radiology

We use state-of-the-art digital radiology in the hospital. These images can be enlarged, highlighted, and enhanced using our software. This increases the diagnostic yield many fold and can help us see things we could not see before with standard radiology. Radiographs are also available for viewing at the VetPacs website 24 hours after they are taken. To view radiographs ask for the Webcode from us. Each radiograph we take has a unique Webcode. Go to http://www.vetpacs.com or click on the link above. Put the Webcode in the field and then, where is says “Please select clinic name…”, from the pull down menu, select Southern California Veterinary. Then click “Get Exam”. In addition to viewing the images we can burn them to a CD or we can transmit them to specialist radiologist for consultation and recommendation.

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Dermatology

We have a special interest in skin diseases of both dogs and cats. We use a variety of methods and approaches for allergies, skin infections, and skin manifestations of internal disease. We see a large volume of dermatological cases including those with ear complications.

Ultrasound

We provide ultrasound services through specialists in the area that travel and perform the procedures at our office.

Medicated and Non-Medicated Bathing

We offer both medicated bathing for skin conditions and non-medicated basic bathing. We also offer some grooming and clipping. Our baths include ear cleaning, toe-nail trims, and anal sacs expressed. We use a variety of shampoos depending on the skin condition.

TIPS for home-bathing pets with itchy skin

Use cool water – Cool water decreases the amount of redness and decreases the amount of serum that can ooze onto the skin after a hot or warm bath. Cool water decreases itching.
Leave medicated shampoo on a minimum of 10 minutes. The shampoo needs to be scrubbed on the fur and then rubbed into the skin. The contact time allows the medicine to work.

Dilute a few tablespoons of shampoo in a cup of water and then apply it to the fur. Putting full strength shampoo on the fur makes it hard to rinse off. Un-rinsed shampoo can cause a variety of infections and inflammations.
Rinse well and then rinse again. Water is hydrating and good for the skin so the longer there is contact with cool water the better. Additionally, there should be not residual shampoo left.
Use an after rinse if prescribed. Mix the rinse with cool water then apply to the fur and rub onto the skin. Do not rinse this off.

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In-House Laboratory

Some conditions and emergencies require immediate answers. We have a variety of sophisticated lab machines that we can use. We can do a Complete Blood Cell Count using our CBC machine. This can tell us information about the number and types of cells in the blood. Many conditions alter these from normal. We can also do a variety of “chemistry” panels that can tell us if some of the major organs in the body are affected by a condition. We do some cytology (examining cells in the microscope) where we can take small amount of tissue, exudates (pus), discharges (ears), and put them on a slide. After staining we can often isolate the problem. While in-house lab is convenient and quick, it is somewhat limited. Our outside lab partner Antech is much more complete and most of our samples are sent to an outside lab. Many results are returned in 24 hours.

Anesthesia

Due to advances anesthesia is much different today. It is “balanced” meaning it is much safer and the recovery is much quicker. The advances in anesthesia and surgery have made most procedures quite safe, with a low rate of complications. However, occasional problems can arise if the veterinarian is not aware of the pre-existing conditions which may not be evident during the pre-surgical examination and diagnostic testing. We require that every pet undergoing general anesthesia have baseline lab testing. This does not guarantee the absence of complications; however, it will greatly reduce the risk of complications.

For the safety and comfort of our patients, and for the peace of mind of our clients, we have a minimum set of requirements before, during, and after anesthesia. In addition, we offer additional care above and beyond our minimum standards for those cases requiring more.

For SAFETY we require the following:

A current examination no more than one day prior to the procedure (Veterinary Medical Board Requirement)
A safety catheter for intravenous access for fluids and or medications
Advanced monitoring of vital systems
Intravenous fluids during surgery to maintain blood pressure
Lab tests of blood to determine underlying problems

For COMFORT we require the following:

An anti-pain injection before the procedure that lessens the perception of pain afterwards
Post procedure anti-pain injection for sustained comfort
Pain medication for home administration

For Additional Safety we recommend a chest x-ray and an EKG to check heart size and function on most pets except very young normal pets. You will have an opportunity to choose to do these tests during check-in.

For your convenience we also offer the following additional services. Some are easier and more comfortable if performed while under anesthesia.

Home Again Microchip® placed during anesthesia (now a requirement in LA)
ORA VET™ Dental Sealant (includes the first Ora Vet home kit)
Fluoride treatment (pets under one year old only)
Fecal examination to look for parasites
Toe nail trim

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Pain Management

We are always concerned about our patients and the pain they might perceive after a procedure. Pain has been linked to poor wound healing, immune suppression, inappetance, and other problems. Each pet, just like each person, responds to pain very individually. We use a variety of approaches to control pain called “multi-modal”. As part of the International Veterinary Association of Pain Management, we have special interest in making sure our patients experience the least pain possible. Here are some signs of pain in pets. For more links to sites relating to pain see our links page.

Signs That Your Pet May Be in Pain

Abnormal Posture

Hunched up or praying position
Sitting or lying in an abnormal position
Not resting normally but restless and moving frequently
Head hung low

Abnormal Walking

Stiff or slow to rise, limping or partial weight bearing
Unable or unwilling to get up

Abnormal Movement

Thrashing/restlessness
Trembling/shaking
No movement while awake

Appetite

Lack of appetite
Difficulty eating or chewing

Vocalization

Crying or whining
Not as vocal if that is normal

General

Hiding or becoming very clingy
Lethargy or Depression
Aggressive/growling/biting/ears back
Not sleeping
Not urinating or defecating normally

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Dentistry

Dental disease is very common in cats and dogs. We now know that dental disease such as tarter build up and gingivitis causes extreme pain and discomfort along with internal organ problems. Studies indicate that cats and dogs with severe dental disease leak microscopic amount of protein into their urine. This protein is toxic and over time can contribute to kidney failure. Tarter is food particles and bacterial colonies that can infect the blood stream leading to blood infections and or heart problems. Much of the tarter and scale is underneath the gums and requires ultrasonic cleaning and polishing to decrease the gingivitis. A few non-veterinary and un-licensed individuals will scale the teeth without anesthesia but this will not get rid of the gingivitis or disease under the gums. Good dental prophy and polish requires general anesthesia (please see our section on anesthesia). Extractions of diseased, broken, loose, or infected teeth are often necessary and cannot be adequately determined before anesthesia and initial cleaning. These extractions are critical for maintaining kidney and heart health.

Surgery

We perform a variety of both elective and non-elective surgeries. Elective surgeries such as spaying and neutering are important not only to control the pet over population but also to make life better. We also do a variety of complex non-elective soft tissue and some orthopedic procedures as needed for our patients. Non-elective procedures include but are not limited to:Mass and tumor removal

Oral surgery
Abdominal surgery
Genitourinary procedures
Ear surgery
Some orthopedic procedures

All surgeries are done under sterile conditions. We make sure that pain is addressed before, during, and after each procedure. All our patients are monitored very carefully using sophisticated equipment. All our patients are kept warm using water heated blankets. We send home written discharge instruction after all our surgeries and procedures.

Hospitalization

It is never fun to be in the hospital. We only hospitalize pets when absolutely necessary to receive treatments that cannot be given at home. Usually hospitalized pets are on intravenous fluids and medications. Fluids are delivered via IV pumps so that the amounts are regulated. There is no supervision after hours so in very critical cases we transfer cases to an overnight critical care facility for observation and treatment.

Pharmacy, Pet Food, and Over the counter products

We carry a complete pharmacy for the convenience of our clients. We carry prescription Hills food only. All other foods are available through our pet store. We also carry a variety of shampoos and supplements. We carry many flea and heartworm products.

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