Wellness Care:  The most important part of preventative care involves encompassing our complete physical exam with all of each patients breed, age, history, underlying conditions, daily activities, and exposure to environmental and infectious pathogens.    With this information, our team of veterinarians and licensed technicians develop a reasonable plan to optimize health, good quality of life, and the human animal bond.  This is generally through food and supplement recommendations, deworming and vaccine schedules, as well as periodic wellness exams and laboratory diagnostics.     Wellness care is important for all of our animals, from the neonatal Pixie-Bob kitten, to the 12 year old Black Angus cow, to the 32 year old Shetland pony.  Please inquire about our wellness plans.

Anesthesiology:  The art of reducing or eliminating sensation so we can perform procedures of all types in an efficient manner is a critical part of our every day practice.  Our anesthetic techniques range from specific local nerve blocks to general anesthesia.  Often times, our various anesthetics techniques are combined to provide to most optimal pain control, with the least side effects and quickest return to normal function.  For example, our spays, or ovariohysterectomy, have both an injectable narcotic cocktail injection and a non steroidal anti-inflammatory injection prior to induction of general anesthesia of pure oxygen and isoflorane or sevoflorane gas, followed by a post operative injection of long acting pain medication.   
     At Chuckanut Valley Veterinary Clinic, anesthesia does not stop once we roll our patients out of surgery.  Selective drug therapy and supportive care are continued for the entirety of hospitalization and post procedural care.
     Safety of our patients is our most important priority during any procedure.  The following critical steps are taken with every anesthetic patient at Chuckanut Valley Veterinary Clinic:
     a)  thorough history and physical exam
     b)  preoperative blood work on all patients and sometimes preoperative electrocardiogram
     c)  intravenous catheter placement on all anesthesia patients
     d)  preinduction cocktails which make induction and recovery from anesthesia smooth
     e)  preinduction non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapy injections and fluid therapy where indicated
     f)   using high quality gas anesthetics for maintenance of general anesthesia
     g)  use of short and long acting local anesthetics to reduce the need for generalized drug therapy
     h)  extensive monitoring equipment (continual pulse oximetry--measuring the oxygen saturation of his or her blood,  continual electrocardiogram, continual respiratory monitoring, and periodic core body temperature and blood pressure monitoring)
     i)  extensive supportive care to maintain normal body temperature and organ perfusion with hot water pads, bear hugger blankets and intravenous fluid pumps, respectively
     j)  and MOST IMPORTANT: direct, full time veterinary and/or licensed veterinary technician monitoring during the entire anesthesia

Dermatology:  Our animals skin is a complex organ that contains moisture and structures, protects underlying tissue and vasculature, and provides an immune defense barrier.   The veterinarians at Chuckanut Valley Vet Clinic recognize the complex interactions the skin must balance and are skilled at dermatology.  Skin problems are sometimes as simple as a flea infestation, but are often multifactorial, having both primary and secondary pathology.  Skin pathology can also reflect underlying nutritional or hormonal imbalance.  Dermatology work ups include extensive history, physical exam, skin scrapes, biopsies, and blood work.  Through IDEXX lab submission, we have access to board certified histopathology interpretation and case consultation.  We also have established relationships with board certified dermatologists locally for referral.

Dentistry:  As with most other areas of veterinary medicine, we stress preventative measures to maintain oral health.  Good oral hygiene is crucial for good and long quality of life.   Given correctly, oral maintenance products can prevent plaque and tartar that lead to gingivitis and tooth loosening.  These include appropriate diet, daily tooth brushing, water additives, specialized C.E.T. chews, and chew toys.  We have a standardized oral health grading system that helps us consistently communicate the degree of pathology in the mouth.  Dentals include our typical general anesthesia work up (exam, blood work, IV catheter, IV fluids, preinduction sedation and analgesia shots, induction, maintenance on gas anesthesia) and maintenance (forced air Bair Hugger heating blanket, constant veterinary or licensed veterinary technician monitoring, constant breath monitoring with respiratory meters, as well as external cuff blood pressure, continuous pulse oximeter, and heart rate and rhythm monitoring).  Our dental equipment includes dental digital radiography, and Dentalaire high speed water cooled drill, scaler, and polisher.