Digital X-rays

Ventana Animal Hospital is proud to announce one of the many changes that we are constantly making to provide our patients the best diagnostics available. One of these advancements is our new digital radiology capability.

If you have been to your own physician recently for X-rays, you may have seen the bright clear, and immediate results produced by digital radiology.

These images are vastly superior to film radiology, providing our doctors better visual interpretation. They are also produced faster and with no developing materials in the building, are safer for both the staff and the environment.

Additionally, since our staff members have to position your pet for X-rays, the introduction of digital radiology lowers the radiation exposure for pet and staff alike.

Radiology is one of the most important factors in accurate diagnostics for a slew of injuries and diseases. We here at Ventana Animal Hospital are proud of this new technology and the quality care that it provides for your furry family members.

Cats need to see the vet too!

Cats make up nearly half the pet population, yet they only account for a third of veterinary visits. Why is this?  Many people believe that cats (especially those that spend their time indoors) do not need to see the veterinarian as often as dogs. Cats are deemed more self-sufficient than dogs. Cats also hide illness far more successfully than do their canine counterparts.

Cats do need to see the vet just as often as dogs do. Cats need rabies vaccinations regularly regardless of whether or not they are indoors (a rabid bat flying into the house has caused far more cat euthanasias than anybody would want.) They also need vaccinations for viruses that you can bring in on your clothes or shoes.

Cats, unlike dogs are prone to a degenerative illness of the teeth that causes painful lesions as teeth erode from the gumline. These are called feline oral resorptive lesions (FORLs). These are extremely painful, but your cat will not show it. Cats will continue to eat regardless of how much their teeth hurt (what alternative do they have?) We can quickly and painlessly evaluate your kitty's teeth to ensure that they are not painful.

Cats are also prone to all of the same age related issues that dogs are, including arthritis, diabetes, renal disease and cancer. Many of these illnesses can be addressed if found in time. Senior dogs and cats need to see the vet more often not less! Remember, pets age far faster than we do, so a year is a very long time in cat or dog years.

Cats, especially indoor cats are very prone to excessive weight gain and obesity. Being overweight can affect your cat's health, making her more prone to diabetes and other endocrine diseases. It can also make grooming difficult, and joints painful. We will be more than happy to evaluate what your cat is eating and place it on a diet. We also have tips and tricks to help inactive cats become more active (whether they want to or not!)

If your kitty has not seen a veterinarian in some time, please make an appointment. We here at Ventana Animal Hospital know how unpleasant kitties find the hospital environment to be. We will make every effort to make your cat's visit a smooth, stress-free and expedient event.

Snake Training

Ventana Animal Hospital stocks antivenin for use in the event of snake bite. We always have at least two vials in the refrigerator. During the summer we will mix up and give this extremely expensive life saving medication to more dogs (and occasionally cats) than we care to.

Honestly, we would like to never use antivenin again. Snake bites in pets (especially dogs) are common in the Tucson. Snakes remain active throughout the year, though spring, summer and fall have the highest incidence of snake strikes. Whether you are hiking Sabino Canyon, sitting on your back porch or bird hunting in Patagonia, snakes are everywhere, and they are active far into the fall.

Rattlesnake venom does several things, the first is that it causes extreme pain followed by swelling to the bite location. The venom then causes changes in the blood which encourages bleeding (this is why we do blood work on snake bite victims). Lastly the venom causes local tissue death called necrosis. The only thing that can counteract the envenomation process is swiftly getting to a veterinarian and receiving antivenin, antibiotics, fluid therapy and pain medication. Depending on the snake species (mojaves are exceptionally venomous), strike location, amount of venom injected by the snake and other factors, use of antivenin is often (but not always) able to save pets' lives.

All dogs are at risk of snake bite. Snakes are not respectful of boundaries and through climbing trees, crawling through drain holes and under gates and even following rodent excavations they can find themselves in even the most impenetrable yard.

Please help us here at Ventana Animal Hospital to never ever see another snake bite again. Get your dogs snake trained. This is the easiest most cost effective method to ensure that your dogs do not engage the snakes that they do encounter.

Snake training (like any training) is not 100% effective. Terriers and bird dogs seem to suffer the most when it comes to failing to heed the warnings issued through snake training. Because of this, most people who do snake training will let you periodically 'test' your dogs to ensure that they 'got' the lesson. In most cases they will let you do this at little to no cost.

Truly, short of packing up and moving to a snake free island, snake training is the most effective cost efficient way to ensure that you never ask us to open up one of those vials of antivenin.

We here at Ventana Animal Hospital believe so strongly in the effectiveness of snake training that we have partnered with Paul Blaushild of Central Pet to provide our customers an exclusive opportunity to save money on this life saving training. Bring any receipt from Ventana Animal Hospital to Paul at Central Pet, and they will give you $5 off snake avoidance training.

Even with swift life saving care, every year we lose at least one pet to snake bite. Please, we don't want it to be your pet. Schedule a trip to Central Pet (or any trainer who can train your pet to avoid snakes) now.

Welcome to Ventana Animal Hospital's Blog!

In an effort to better reach our pet loving community Ventana Veterinary Hospital of Tucson has decided to jump into the world wide web in a big way! This is a very exciting move for our company, and we hope that it will help us bring our excellent service and care standards directly to you, our loyal customers.

Ventana Animal Hospital was started on the North East side of Tucson 18 years by Karen Burrows DVM. Seven years later Dr. M. Nielsen joined the practice. Along with a great veterinary staff, Ventana Animal Hospital continues to grow and provide the friendliest most personal service for your pet's veterinary needs.

We at Ventana Animal Hospital are proud of the contribution that we have made and will continue to make to animal wellness in Tucson.

To that end we are constantly upgrading equipment and technology to better provide the services that pet owners have come to expect from our veterinary team.

In July we introduced our team to a new computer system to better help us track your pet's health, and increase efficiency. We also brought in a new digital x-ray unit which provides superior radiographs for better quality diagnostics.

We also brought in all new in house blood analyzers to help provide faster diagnostics to our patients.

We take our relationships with our clients seriously, and we take our medicine seriously, and we hope that putting our messages about pet health into your hands quicker and cheaper we will help add another dimension to our vison as your favorite neighborhood veterinary office.

Please join us on Facebook to receive minute to minute updates on special events, FDA food recalls, and pet health news.

Thank you for your loyal support. We look forward to 18 more excellent years of providing friendly, conscientious veterinary service.