Castration/Neutering: (male pets)
Surgical removal of the testicles helps protect from developing hernias, prostatic diseases, and testicular cancer. Neutering can often help deter marking behavior as well. Neuter early (6 months) for full health and behavioral benefits.

Ovariohysterectomy/Spaying: (female pets)

Orthopedic Procedures:
Dr. Roger Dozier is a leading orthopedic surgeon in central Missouri. Consider Southwest Animal Hospital when your pet is diagnosed with an orthopedic problem that can be corrected with surgery.  Your pet will be in skillful and caring hands.

Eye and Ear Procedures:
Whether it be removal of a damaging eyelash, “cherry eye” repair, or a deep ear flush, the doctors at Southwest Animal Hospital are equipped to help your pet’s ears and eyes feel their very best.

Soft Tissue Surgeries:

Laser Surgery

Southwest Animal Hospital has provided laser surgery for over 10 years. This technique replaces the traditional scalpel and provides significant advantages to patients during a variety of surgical procedures. The benefits of this technology include:

Less Pain:        
Laser energy seals nerve endings as it moves through tissue. Your pet feels less pain post-operatively.

Less Bleeding:     
The laser seals small blood vessels during surgery. This speeds many procedures, reducing the time your companion animal needs to be under anesthesia, which further reduces possible complications.

Less Swelling:
Laser energy does not crush, tear or bruise tissue because the only thing that touches your companion animal is an invisible beam of energy.

Precision:
The laser can remove unhealthy tissue while minimizing adverse effects to healthy surrounding tissue.

Reduced risk of infection:
This is one of the unique features of the laser beam. It efficiently kills bacteria in its path, producing a sterilizing effect.

Quicker recovery time: 
Reduced risk of infection, less bleeding, less pain and less swelling often allow the patient a far quicker recovery after the surgery.

The laser is ideal for a wide variety of surgical procedures for dogs, cats, and pocket pets.

Common procedures include: Declaw Soft Tissue Surgery (Cyst & Tumor Removal) Oral/Dental Surgery Entropion Surgeries Exotic Surgeries

Dentistry

Proper dental care is vital for the good health of your pet. This includes both veterinary and at home care. Dental problems contribute to periodontal disease, bad breath, infected gums, and tooth loss, not to mention pain and discomfort.

At Southwest Animal Hospital we offer the following services:

Dental Prophy:
Annual dental cleanings are recommended for both cats and dogs 3 years and older. Dental cleanings consist of scaling tartar and plaque off the teeth and above the gum line. Next, the entire surface of each tooth is polished. This creates a smooth surface which is hard for bacteria to adhere to and plaque to form. We then apply a fluoride treatment to help fortify the tooth enamel, which is especially important in cats because they are more likely to develop cavities.

Oral Sealant:
At the end of every dental cleaning, a sealant is applied to the teeth to help provide a protective barrier reducing the formation of plaque and tartar.

Periodontal Therapy:
Regular cleanings and dental exams will help ensure early detection of periodontal disease. When early bone loss is discovered before the tooth is loose, we use a product called Doxirobe to fill in the void and reverse bone loss.

If and when a tooth can’t be saved and needs to be extracted, the socket will be filled with a substitute bone product that will prevent future bone loss around neighboring teeth. The gum is sutured together to prevent dry socket and maximize the patient’s comfort.

Dental Radiology:
Dental x-rays are an important tool to detect hidden problems. Dental x-rays reveal which teeth are healthy and which teeth are diseased.  

Extractions:
At Southwest Animal Hospital, our goal is to keep teeth but sometimes it becomes necessary to extract them. If a tooth is diseased, painful, or loose and can’t be saved, an extraction would be necessary.

What can be done at home?
Nothing can replace regular professional cleanings, but there are measures you can take to help keep your pet(s) mouth healthy between cleanings.

Treats
Size appropriate Greenies are a great treat plus they contain unique fibers that scrub the teeth while the pet is chewing.

Rinses
CET Hygiene Rinse is a daily rinse that helps guard the teeth against plaque by killing the bacteria that cause it, which, in turn helps reduce bad breath.   

Brushing
CET Oral Hygiene Kits include flavored toothpaste; Poultry, Vanilla or Malt, and a soft-bristled toothbrush.  

Plaque turns into tartar in 3 days, so brushing 2-3 times weekly is the minimum frequency in which to see benefits. Human toothpaste is often toxic to animals, so be sure to pick up animal specific toothpaste from Southwest Animal Hospital.

Food
Hill’s Prescription Diet T/D is clinically proven to reduce gingivitis. The kibble is designed to be larger in size to resist crumbling.  This allows the kibble to engulf the teeth and scrubs the tooth surface much the same way Greenies do.

Oral hygiene not only helps your pet(s) mouth, but also their liver, kidneys, and heart. Promoting good oral hygiene in your pet is an important step in giving your loved one a longer, happier, and healthier life.

Preventative Care

Preventative care is an essential part of your pet’s life. It helps the doctor detect and prevent or minimize disease or injury, improve your pet’s quality of life, and help your pet enjoy a healthy life for as long as possible.

Wellness Examinations:
At Southwest Animal Hospital, we recommend examinations twice a year. A health exam will help determine the general well-being of your pet and can identify potential problems. Early detection of diseases can improve your pet's chances of successful treatment.

Vaccinations:
Vaccines are one of the most important preventative care measures for your pet. Vaccinations protect your pets from numerous disease threats such as hepatitis, parvovirus, distemper, and rabies in dogs and upper respiratory diseases, leukemia, and rabies in cats – just to mention a few. Many of these diseases can be passed on to humans, so vaccines help protect human health as well.

External Parasite Control:

Internal Parasite Control:
There are several types of internal parasites that can cause problems in dogs and cats. The most common internal parasites are heartworms, roundworms, tapeworms, whipworms, hookworms, and coccidia. A simple blood test or fecal test will detect any existing infections and the appropriate medications can be dispensed.

When a pet is ill it is often challenging to determine the underlying cause. Therefore, our veterinarians rely on diagnostic testing to properly identify problems and treat patients.

Our extensive laboratory services provide diagnostic information that is critical to the sick or injured pet. With our in-house blood analyzers, we are able to get laboratory test results in as little as 20 minutes. Having test results this quickly allows us to begin your pet’s treatment almost immediately.

Chemistry Panel Screening:
A small amount of blood from your pet can provide invaluable information about its overall health. The chemistry panel surveys many of the organ systems of the body to make sure they are working normally. We are equipped to run an extensive number of tests within our laboratory.

CBC:
The CBC tests for anemia, infection, inflammation and overall healthiness of the blood cells. It also evaluates the number and type of cells in circulation. White blood cells help fight infection or inflammation. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the tissues.

Urinalysis:
This assesses the health and function of the urinary system. It is especially important in older animals to help in early detection of kidney disease. While some serum chemistries help evaluate kidney function (BUN, Creatinine, etc.), much more information is obtained when a urinalysis is done at the same time. The urine sample is tested for several chemical components (glucose, protein, blood and more), as well as crystals, and cells (WBC, RBC, epithelial, etc.)

ECG:

Internal Medicine

Southwest Animal Hospital emphasizes many areas of internal medicine: With the aging of our pets, we can manage many age related diseases that may arise. Some pets that have developed allergies can be managed with symptomatic treatment while others with more severe allergies may require further testing and other control measures. Should your pet require intensive care, we can provide internal care, fluid therapy, and disease management.

Whether it is regular age appropriate food or a prescription diet, we have you covered.  We keep the most common diets in stock, and receive shipments every week.  Rest assured, if you need something we don’t have, we can get it in within a week.

Our groomer, Kaylyn, offers a full line of grooming services.

• For our Avian friends we offer toenail, wing, and beak trims.

Should you need to board your pet for a period of time, we offer a boarding facility.

Our kennel is located indoors to maintain climate control. Each pet is walked twice a day and given daily attention to ensure their well-being.

Unless your pet is on a special diet from home, we feed nutritious Hill’s Science Diet brand food to all staying with us. We can also provide Hill’s prescription diet if needed during your pet’s stay. 

For your pet’s protection and others in the hospital, we require that all pets are current on vaccinations.

Click here to view our Boarding Policy