Advanced Medicine for All Your Pet's Needs
Beyond Yucca Veterinary Medical Center's comprehensive wellness services, our veterinarian and pet care team provide internal medicine, testing and treatment for allergies, nutrition counseling and prescription diets and more. We are here to make caring for your pet as positive, simple and stress-free as possible.
Internal Medicine
Despite the very best preventive care, your pet can become sick. When this happens, it is stressful for you and your pet, especially because you can't simply ask your companion what's wrong. You need a skilled veterinarian whom you can trust to accurately diagnose and effectively treat your pet.
While the focus of our medical practice at Yucca Veterinary Medical Center is your pet's wellness, an important part of our services is the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of diseases that can affect your pet's internal organs and body systems. Dr. Sanchez has the expertise, the skill, and the support of advanced diagnostic technology necessary to identify and treat a range of complex internal medicine diseases.
Allergies and Skin Problems
Allergies are common in pets of all breeds and backgrounds. The most common symptom associated with allergies is intense itching of your pet's skin, either localized or generalized. Other symptoms include respiratory distress causing coughing, sneezing and wheezing or digestive problems causing vomiting, flatulence or diarrhea. It is important to be able to identify the first signs and symptoms of allergies and dermatological conditions. These include:
- Scratching, licking, chewing or biting the skin, feet and ears, often leading to hair loss and open sores or scabs
- Red, raised, scaly areas on the skin
- Bumps, crusts or pus filled vesicles on the skin
- Increased skin pigmentation
- Thickened skin
- Loss of hair
- Salivary staining (brown color)
- Head shaking
If your pet exhibits any of these symptoms, please make an appointment to have him or her seen by Dr. Sanchez. If left untreated, allergic reactions and skin conditions can become serious medical concerns.
Your Pet's Nutrition
Proper nutrition and a balanced diet, along with fresh, clean water, is an essential ingredient for your pet's overall good health. As your pet's caregiver, nutrition is the most significant health variable you control.
Feeding your pet the highest-quality food you can afford is one of the best ways you can contribute to his or her health and vitality. Although the differences between premium and budget varieties may not be apparent on their nutrition labels, they are in the quality of the ingredients. Both may contain the same amount of protein but may be very different when it comes to digestibility and nutritional value. Making the best nutritional choices for your dog or cat not only affects general health, but will improve the quality and length of your pet's life.
To support your efforts, Dr. Sanchez will perform a thorough body evaluation during every physical examination and give recommendations, including information on proper serving size, nutrient needs, and feeding strategies based on your pet's body condition. Our veterinary team can also help you navigate pet food claims so you can make the most informed choices.
Prescription Diets
Some pets have weight challenges or chronic conditions that may 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. For your convenience, Yucca Veterinary Medical Center carries Purina, Royal Canin and Hills Science Diet prescription products.
Class IV Laser Therapy (or K-Laser Therapy)
Reducing pain and promoting healing is one of our medical team's top priorities. To that end, we have invested in a class IV therapeutic laser, which we use on our patients following surgery or an injury and to help manage a range of chronic and acute conditions.
K-Laser therapy is a painless, FDA-approved medical procedure that uses low-level lasers to stimulate the natural healing capabilities of the body's cells. This form of laser therapy is effective at promoting healing on a cellular level, as well as decreasing inflammation after surgery, injury or areas of the body affected by chronic illnesses such as arthritis or acute conditions such as otitis. It can also be used to increase joint mobility and relieve the aches and pains common to geriatric pets.
During each treatment, the energy from the laser increases circulation, drawing water, oxygen, and nutrients to the damaged area. This creates an optimal healing environment that reduces inflammation, swelling, muscle spasms, stiffness and pain. In addition, it can accelerate tissue repair and cell growth, improve circulation and nerve function, reduce scar tissue formation, and help the immune system fend off infection. Laser therapy causes no adverse effects on healthy cells.
As the injured area returns to normal, function is restored and pain is relieved, allowing your pet to quickly return to his or her normal activities.
What Conditions Does Laser Therapy Treat?
Wound healing, including:
- Post-operative surgical incisions
- Contaminated or infected wounds
- Burns
- Snake bites
Skin conditions, including:
- Dermatitis
- Cat bite abscesses
- Eczema
- Ulcerated or non-ulcerated eosinophilic granulomas
- Frostbite
- Panniculitis (subcutaneous inflammation)
- Pododermatitis (inflammation of skin on feet)
- Pyoderma (puss in the skin)
- Seborrhea (dandruff)
Pain caused by musculoskeletal disorders such as:
- Cruciate ligament injury
- Hip dysplasia
- Elbow dysplasia
- Intervertebral disc disease
- Degenerative myelopathy
- Neck pain
- Back pain
- Paralysis
- Loss of motor control
- Osteoarthritis
- Post-operative fracture repair
- Degenerative joint disease
What You and Your Pet Can Expect
Pets typically do not need to be sedated for laser therapy treatments and the experience is usually pleasant and comforting. Most pets do not need to have their fur clipped.
Improvement is sometimes seen after the first treatment; however, the length and frequency of treatments varies with your pet's condition. Dr. Sanchez will recommend a laser treatment plan specific to your pet's condition.
Reproductive Medicine
Whether you are an experienced breeder or you are breeding your dog for the first time, Yucca Veterinary Medical Center can help during all phases of the breeding process, from initial planning and consultation all the way through birth and post-natal nursing and management of associated diseases and complications.
We provide the following reproductive medical services for your pet:
- Artificial insemination and surgical implantation
- Pregnancy monitoring and evaluation
- Ultrasonography
- Planned Caesarian sections (when appropriate)
- Neonatal care
As a part of our reproductive services, Dr. Sanchez can also treat other problems that affect your pet's reproductive organs, such as vaginitis, prostate disorders, and mammary disorders.
Baths & Nail Trims
For your pet's comfort, Yucca Veterinary Medical Center is happy to offer nail trimming and anal gland expression. Grooming is an important part of preventive medical care, and regular baths and nail trims help prevent serious medical problems and detect skin infections and growths before they become a problem - all while making your pet look, smell, and feel better.
In general, your dog's nails are too long if you can hear them clicking on your floor. For dogs and cats, long nails can get caught in carpet or cause them to slip. On some pets, nails curve around and grow into the feet, causing pain and infection. Regular trimming is an excellent alternative to declawing - or reupholstering your couch.
