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Preventative medicine

Compassionate Care When Your Pet Needs More Than Routine Visits

A 30-minute wellness exam once a year catches 80% of issues. We make it calm, Fear Free, and surprisingly pleasant.

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What you’re getting

A Half-Hour That Covers Everything

Nose-to-Tail Physical Assessment

Posture, Gait, and Attitude Check

Dental Exam for Tartar, Gum Disease, Fractures

Lymph Nodes and Abdominal Palpation

Joint and Muscle Palpation for Early Arthritis

Species-Specific Vaccinations as Due

Vital Signs (Temp, Heart Rate, Respiration)

Heart & Lung Auscultation

Eye & Ear Evaluation

Skin, Coat, and Ear Canal Inspection

Parasite Screening (Heartworm, Intestinal, External)

Unhurried Q&A About Diet, Behavior, Home Life

Why preventative care matters

A Lot Happens in a "Pet Year"

Dogs and cats age roughly seven times faster than people. A year between exams is the equivalent of skipping a doctor’s visit for seven years. In that window, dental disease accelerates, thyroid function shifts, weight creeps up, and small lumps become complicated ones. A 30-minute annual exam interrupts all of that before it compounds.
Early detection changes the math entirely. A heart murmur caught at grade two is managed with medication. Caught at grade five, it’s managed in a crisis. Kidney disease found in early Stage 1 responds to diet changes and monitoring. Found in Stage 3, it requires aggressive intervention and shorter timelines.
Every visit is also a relationship checkpoint. We know your pet’s baseline — what their coat usually looks like, how they carry themselves when comfortable versus anxious. That continuity means we notice when something is off, even when nothing obvious has changed.

While you’re in

Lab Panels Worth Adding to Your Visit

Same appointment, more answers. Each add-on runs in-house — results back the same day.

Heartworm & Tick Disease Panel

A single blood draw screens for heartworm disease plus Lyme, Anaplasmosis, and Ehrlichiosis — the three tick-borne diseases most commonly found in the Philadelphia area. Recommended annually for all dogs.

Fecal Parasite Screen

A fresh stool sample run through a flotation test finds roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, Giardia, and Coccidia. Most intestinal parasites are invisible and asymptomatic until the burden is heavy. Bring a sample collected within 24 hours.

CBC + Chemistry Baseline

A complete blood count plus a full chemistry panel assesses organ function, red and white blood cell counts, blood sugar, and more. Critical for early detection of kidney disease, diabetes, liver abnormalities, and anemia — especially in pets over 5 years old.

Vaccination protocols

Core Vaccines. Lifestyle Vaccines. We’ll Sort It Out Together

Core Canine Vaccines

Every dog that comes through our doors is evaluated against the current AAHA vaccination guidelines. Core vaccines — recommended for all dogs regardless of lifestyle — include:

  • DAPP — Distemper, Adenovirus, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus. Given as a puppy series, then boosted at 1 year and every 3 years thereafter.
  • Rabies — Legally required in Pennsylvania. Administered at 12–16 weeks, boosted at 1 year, then every 1 or 3 years depending on the vaccine.
  • Leptospirosis — Strongly recommended in urban Philadelphia given sewer and wildlife exposure. Annual booster.
  • Bordetella (Kennel Cough) — Required by most boarding and daycare facilities. Recommended for any dog with regular social contact. Annual or biannual depending on formulation.
  • Lyme — Recommended for dogs with tick exposure (parks, trails, travel). Two-dose initial series, then annual booster.

Cat vaccine protocols follow AAFP guidelines and are tailored to indoor-only versus indoor/outdoor lifestyle. Core vaccines include:

  • FVRCP — Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia. Kitten series, boosted at 1 year, then every 3 years for most adult cats.
  • Rabies — Required by Pennsylvania law for cats as well. Recombinant, non-adjuvanted vaccines preferred to reduce sarcoma risk.
  • FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus) — Recommended for all kittens and cats with any outdoor access or exposure to unknown cats. Annual booster for at-risk adults.
  • FIV — Testing is performed at the first visit. We will discuss vaccination versus risk management based on your cat’s specific profile.

Exotic species have distinct wellness schedules that differ substantially from dogs and cats. Species-specific preventive care is well-established:

  • Rabbits — Annual GI assessment, dental check, weight monitoring. RHDV2 vaccination now available and recommended.
  • Birds — Annual physical, Chlamydiosis screening, CBC where indicated. Psittacosis testing for new birds entering multi-bird households.
  • Reptiles — Annual physical, parasite screening, husbandry review. Frequency adjusted based on species and age.
  • Ferrets — Annual distemper and rabies vaccination. Adrenal and insulinoma screening starting at age 3.

Our exotic team will build a wellness schedule specific to your pet’s species, age, and environment at the first visit.

Common questions

Wellness Care FAQ

How often should I bring my pet in for a wellness exam?
Annually for dogs and cats under 8 years old. Twice yearly for seniors — pets age faster than people, and a six-month gap catches early-stage changes that a 12-month gap can miss. Pets with chronic conditions may need more frequent visits; we’ll set a schedule at the first exam.
Prior medical records, vaccine history, current medications list, and your pet. If you can bring a fresh stool sample (collected within 24 hours), we’ll run the fecal screen the same visit. If records aren’t available, come anyway — we’ll start fresh and work with what we find.

Yes — our exotic hub has species-specific wellness schedules for rabbits, birds, reptiles, ferrets, guinea pigs, chinchillas, hedgehogs, amphibians, and invertebrates. Dr. Sharonda Meade (ABVP-Avian) leads exotic care, and our entire exotic team is trained in Fear Free handling for small and unusual animals.

Never. Senior pets benefit most from regular check-ins — we find more, and we find it earlier, when there’s still time to change the outcome. We recommend twice-yearly exams for pets over 8.

Rabies is legally required in Pennsylvania for dogs and cats. All other vaccines — DAPP, Bordetella, Lyme, Leptospirosis, FVRCP, FeLV — are evidence-based recommendations tailored to your pet’s lifestyle, exposure risk, and health history. We walk every client through the reasoning so you can make an informed decision, not just a compliance check.