Beyond Preventative Care Services
Internal Medicine
Heartland Animal Hospital offers a broad range of veterinary services to best protect your pet's health and overall well-being. Our entire team is committed to ensuring your pet's safety should he or she ever fall ill. To that end, an important part of our practice is the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of diseases that can affect your pet's internal organs and body systems. Our experienced veterinarians and advanced diagnostic technology provide Heartland Animal Hospital with expertise in diagnosing and treating a variety of internal medicine cases.
Allergies and Skin Problems in Dogs and Cats
Most allergies appear after a pet has reached six months of age and are common in dogs of all breeds and backgrounds. The majority of dogs don't begin showing symptoms until over the age of two. The most common symptom is localized or generalized itching of the skin; however, other signs can include coughing, sneezing, and wheezing or vomiting, flatulence, and diarrhea. Most dog allergies are the result of fleas, but they can also be caused by food or an inhaled irritant like mold, dust or pollen.
Flea allergy is also the most common allergy in cats. While a normal cat will experience only minor skin irritation at the site of the bite, the flea-allergic cat will have a severe, itch-producing reaction when the flea's saliva is deposited in the skin. A single bite can cause such intense itching that the cat may severely scratch or chew itself, leading to hair loss and open sores or scabs on the skin. The area most commonly involved is over the rump or base of the tail.
Being able to identify the first signs and symptoms of allergies and dermatological conditions is important. These include:
We can evaluate your pet, test for sensitivities, determine the most effective method of treatment, and explain how you can prevent future problems. If left untreated, allergic reactions and skin conditions can become serious medical concerns. If you notice your pet exhibiting any of these symptoms, please make an appointment to have him or her seen by one of our veterinarians at Heartland Animal Hospital.
Your Pet's Nutrition
Just like people, proper nutrition and a balanced diet are essential ingredients for your pet's overall good health. Since pets most rely on their human caretakers for their daily meals, you are responsible for making sure your pet's nutritional needs are met.
The doctors at Heartland Animal Hospital perform a thorough body condition evaluation during every wellness examination and can give recommendations on serving size and nutrient needs of your pet based on what we see.
Some pets have serious nutritional challenges or chronic conditions that benefit from feeding a special prescription diet. Making this change can have a significant positive impact on your pet's overall health and well-being. Prescription diets benefit medical conditions such as liver disease, bladder and kidney disease, digestive problems, renal failure, food allergies, diabetes, and more.
Our hospital carries a variety of pet food, including Hills prescription diets plus many others we can special order.
Treating Your Pet's Cancer
At Heartland Animal Hospital, we consider many factors in advising the most appropriate course of treatment for your pet's particular case. A diagnosis of cancer is a scary one, and we understand it can be difficult to decide how to proceed. Our team is here to help guide you.
We offer some chemotherapy treatment options as well as surgical removal of benign and malignant (non-metastasized) cancers in accessible, well-defined areas. Complex procedures may require referral to a specialist. Additionally, any radiation treatment is only available at veterinary specialty centers.
Before making the decision on the appropriate course of action for your pet, please discuss all the relevant factors with our medical team so you can make an informed choice. Our understanding of cancer is increasing all the time, leading to better treatment approaches, quality of life, and improved outcomes.
We moved to Ashland late in 2000 and began using Heartland Animal Hospital in the spring of 2001. Dr. Cuddihee and her staff took the records of our pets from previous veterinarian’s office and used those to start providing treatment to our pets and building their own records. Fifteen years later, we are still sold on the services our pets receive. Dr. Cuddihee and her staff have celebrated our new pets with us and have been caring and empathetic when we’ve had to say goodbye to some very old friends. While it is difficult to talk about euthanasia of very special animal family members, it is important to me to say that the staff at Heartland have kept some of our pets happy and healthy longer than the breed books say they should live. They have been kind, respectful and caring of both of both the pet and us when the time has come to humanely euthanize the animal. Our dogs look forward to going to the vet’s office in Ashland (and know where the treats are). Our cats are tolerant of trips to the vet and rarely get their claws out (a four star review from a cat, believe me). Finally, I would like to make two points. Dr. Cuddihee will give you every option and scenario for treatment available (and the cost associated with it) but she allows you to make the decision of how to proceed. Second, I recently discovered the price of specialized dog food is less at her office than it is at the farm store in Columbia. So if you want great care and service, and reasonably priced pet products, go to Heartland.
Brooke Dawson, “Blackie”, “Critter”, “Etta”, “Smokey”, “Beau”, & “Gabe”
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