Pet Health Services
Jacksonville Pet Vaccines
Vaccines are an essential aspect of any preventative medicine program.
Pet vaccines have proved to be an invaluable tool in protecting our pets from fatal diseases, but that does not mean some thought shouldn’t be given to how they are administered. Mandarin Animal Hospital tailors its vaccination protocol to guidelines established by the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Animal Hospital Association, Association of Feline Practitioners, the lifestyle of your pet, as well as the diseases he or she is most likely to be exposed to. During your kitten’s or puppy’s first year of life we also spread out the series of vaccines in order not to put too much strain on his or her developing immune system.
We do this in order to provide the best protection from disease as well as to reduce the possibility of your pet have an adverse reaction to a vaccine.
Dog/Canine Vaccines
After your puppy receives its first year series of vaccines, we like to move our patients to the three year vaccination protocol for DA2PP and Rabies vaccines. We recommend your pet remain on the yearly protocol for Leptospirosis, H3N8 and Lyme if indicated based on your pet’s lifestyle and exposure potential.
We also like to immunize our patients every six months for Bordetella and perform a fecal analysis for internal parasites on that same schedule. Yearly heartworm testing is also performed.
Cat/Feline Vaccines
After a kitten has gone through its first year series of pet vaccines, we recommend moving to the three year protocol for the FVRCP vaccine. Unlike with canines, we recommend our feline friends receive a yearly Rabies vaccine due to the effectiveness and safety of the Merial Recombinant Rabies vaccine that we use. If it is indicated by the lifestyle and exposure potential of your cat, we also recommend the annual Feline Leukemia Vaccine.
Finding a Lost Pet: Pet Microchipping
There is nothing more painful than the thought of a lost pet, especially if you are away from home on vacation or visiting friends. How will your pet find its way home?
The fact is that at one time or another in our pets’ lives they will find a way out of the house or off their leash. Most of the time, they will find their way home on their own, but too often pets become lost and are picked up by a well-meaning stranger or animal control officer and delivered to a shelter. If this happens to your cat or dog, a collar alone may not be enough, especially if the tag falls off or you are away from home and cannot be reached at the number on the tag.
Lost pet microchip IDs are a safe, simple and effective way to prevent your pet from becoming permanently lost. The microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and is implanted beneath your pet’s skin, usually between the shoulder blades. The procedure only takes a minute or two to perform and is painless.
The microchip is encoded with your pet’s vital information, which can be read by scanners at veterinary hospitals and shelters across the country and around the world. Once the information in the chip is read, it can be used to easily reunite you with your beloved companion.
Mandarin Animal Hospital uses a universally read microchip system that is recognized not only across the United States, but throughout South and Central America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
Caring for Your New Puppy or Kitten
Puppies and Kittens are a lot of fun to have in the home, but they require some special attention in order to assure they are a happy and healthy companion for years to come. This means that comprehensive physical exams at key developmental stages are important.
Because we want to help our clients give their new family member the best start possible, we strongly recommend our protocol for first year vaccines and examinations. In order to make these visits more affordable to our clients we only charge an examination fee on the first series of immunizations even though we perform an examination on all subsequent visits in the series.
Our first year protocol includes an initial wellness examination, screening for damaging parasitic infections such as worms or giardia, an initial dental exam, nutritional advice, and more. For puppies we advise the start of medicines to prevent Heartworm, and arranging their first grooming session. Additionally, at six months of age we recommend spaying or neutering your pet.
Vaccines are also very important. Because we take a balanced approach to the care of your puppy or kitten, Mandarin Animal Hospital spreads out vaccine visits. This ensures your new pet’s immune system adequately responds and recovers from each vaccine challenge.
These regular visits also provide you with opportunities to ask all the questions that come to mind regarding your pet’s care and give us a chance to become acquainted with your blossoming cat or dog.
Care for Your Senior Pet
Dogs and cats in their senior years may be a bit less active, but they are very loving and satisfying companions. They also require additional veterinary care in order to keep them healthy and detect early signs of treatable disease. This is all the more true since their metabolism slows and they are more susceptible to a variety of cancers.
We still recommend yearly wellness exams, vaccination boosters, regular parasite screenings, grooming, heartworm prevention, and dental exams. However, after your pet reaches six years of age—a little younger for some and older for some others—we also recommend a geriatric exam.
These examinations are tailored to your pet’s age and condition and include additional lab work such as a complete blood count, blood chemistry, electrolytes, thyroid function analysis, urinalysis, as well as tests for diseases such as certain cancers, diabetes, kidney disease, and others. Felines also are tested for the feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, and heartworm. Canines are also tested for heartworm as well as three of the most prevalent tick-borne diseases.
Because we believe this additional testing is so important to the health of your older companion, we have reduced the cost of our wellness blood work package when performed as preventative medicine at wellness examinations. This represents a significant savings to our clients.
Internal Veterinary Medicine
While we do not specialize in the treatment of any specific disease and refer complicated cases to one of our network of specialists, Mandarin Animal Hospital is widely experienced in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of complicated acute and chronic medical cases. These include, but are not limited to, endocrinology (e.g. diabetes and related diseases), renal failure, heart disease, seizure disorders, allergies, gastrointestinal disease, and dermatology.
Additionally, many of these cases require hospitalization until the patient is stabilized, which we can provide if necessary. If hospitalization here is necessary, your pet will receive the close attention of Dr. Mosley and our staff. For those patients that are considered to be in critical condition, we will transfer them to our emergency clinic partner for continuous monitoring during the night.
Nutritional & Behavior Therapy
Nutritional Counseling
One of the key factors that have extended the life span of companion animals as well as improved health and vitality throughout their lives is our growing knowledge of the role of proper nutrition. During your pet’s wellness examination your veterinarian will evaluate your pet’s body condition and provide nutritional recommendations based on what he sees.
However, for some pets with nutritional issues or chronic diseases such as diabetes, they may require a bit more intervention. This can include specialized foods, feeding strategies, and even prescription diets. We can also provide advice and information about diets that benefit specific medical conditions such as liver disease, bladder and kidney stones, renal failure, food allergies, and other conditions.
Mandarin Animal Hospital stocks a number of prescription diets that are specialized to each patient’s stage of life, nutritional requirements or medical needs. We can also order a number of nutritional products to better meet your pet’s health needs.
Behavior Counseling
Behavior problems are the number one reason that owners give up a pet. Mandarin Animal Hospital offers behavior counseling for many of your pet’s problems including inappropriate urination or defecation, aggression, separation anxiety, inappropriate chewing and barking, scratching, digging, and spraying.
Our veterinarians will work closely with you to understand the source of these behavior issues and in developing a specific plan to help eliminate your pet’s unwanted behavior. Oftentimes, the behavior problem, such as inappropriate voiding, can be linked to a medical issue (cystitis, bladder stones, kidney disease, etc.) and can be treated medically. For other behavior issues, the treatment plan often includes behavior modification and may include medication-assisted training. If our veterinarian is unable to help with your pet’s behavior problem, we can refer you to a board-certified animal behaviorist.
Internal & External Parasite Prevention
External parasites (fleas and ticks) as well as internal parasites (heartworms, roundworms, whipworms, and hookworms) are not only a health threat to your pet, but to your family as well. Many of these parasites are considered to be zoonotic, which means they can affect animals and humans too. Additionally, as anyone who has experienced an infestation of fleas in their home can attest, parasites can be difficult and expensive to eradicate.
Therefore, the best means to keep your pet, family and home safe from these pests is through prevention. Mandarin Animal Hospital stocks a wide range of parasite prevention medications and can help you select the right one for your pet. We will also work with you to develop a program that best meets the specific needs of your pet and your own particular environmental situation. We will look at possible exposure points, your pet’s activities and review with you the best ways to control fleas and ticks in your house, yard and on your pet. We will also discuss with you exposure risks for internal parasites, signs and symptoms, and the best means to prevent infection.
With a little prevention, there is no reason why your pet and your family should have reason to fear these pests.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapy is a new and highly innovative treatment to help control chronic pain and improve the quality of life for pets with osteoarthritic conditions such as arthritis, tendon and ligament injuries, and immune mediate polyarthritis. While osteoarthritic conditions are rather difficult to treat, stem cell therapy offers an effective alternative for pets that have not tolerated or responded well to medication, are not a good surgical candidate, require long-term pain management, and/or for whom a natural therapy is a preferred method of treatment.
How it Works
Dr. James L. Mosley, Jr., owner of Mandarin Animal Hospital, is specially trained and certified by Vet-Stem, one of the nation’s leading stem cell laboratories, in the therapeutic use of stem cells.
The process begins by Dr. Mosley extracting a small amount of fat from your pet’s body, which is then sent to Vet-Stem where the sample is processed to extract and concentrate the stem cells. Once the stem cells have been processed they are returned to your veterinarian who injects them in the affected area(s) of your pet.
Because these cells are able to self-differentiate into many cell types as they develop—such as bone, cartilage, nerve and muscle—they can replace and boost the growth of healthy cells.
National & International Health Certificates
If you plan on traveling with your pet or are a breeder you may need national or international health certification for travel or pet sales. In general, these certificates document that the dog or cat has been properly cared for and received necessary veterinary care, which includes vaccinations.
For clients seeking to travel nationally or internationally, these certificates are proof to state and international authorities that your pet is in good health as well as that he or she has been properly vaccinated. If you do not have this form of documentation it is very likely your pet could be quarantined for an extended period of time.
Mandarin Animal Hospital is authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and well-versed in handling the documentation required for traveling with your pet.
Generally, these certificates are only valid for a certain period of time, must be filled out within a specific timeframe prior to when you travel, and require different forms depending on your destination. We encourage you to contact your airline to find out the specific documentation that is required.
We can help you understand what you need and advise you on how to safely travel with your pet by air. We also can provide you with valuable recommendations for other travel concerns.
Our Pet Pharmacy
In numerous acute or chronic conditions, medication is required to cure or alleviate symptoms. At Mandarin Animal Hospital, we believe that timely and convenient access to these medications is an important aspect of caring for your pet. For this reason, we maintain a comprehensive pharmacy.
This is not only convenient to our clients, but ensures your pet receives necessary medications in a timely fashion. There is also a direct line of communication between our pharmacy and your veterinarian. We are able to ensure each medication becomes part of your pet’s medical record thereby reducing the chance for errors and enhance our ability to monitor the use and effectiveness of each medication.
Refills are easy too. Simply give us a call or visit our online pharmacy and we can either mail them to you or have them ready at your next visit.