Join Club

Healthy Paws: Why Did My Vet Recommend a Specialist?

Healthy Paws

Editor’s Note: Healthy Paws is a column sponsored and written by the owners of Clarendon Animal Care, a full-service, general practice veterinary clinic. The clinic is located 3000 10th Street N., Suite B. and can be reached at 703-997-9776.

Many of our daily appointments consist of pets that are not feeling well for a variety of reasons. In many instances, we can determine the problem and treat effectively by obtaining a thorough history, performing a comprehensive physical exam, perform in-office diagnostics or send lab work out to a reference laboratory, and dispensing appropriate medications or treatments. However, in some instances, problems may be more complicated or require diagnostics beyond the scope of a general practice, and a veterinary specialist may be recommended.  

Many people are surprised to hear that there are specialists for animals! So, what exactly is a veterinary specialist you may ask? A veterinary specialist is a veterinarian who has gone through at least four additional years of training above and beyond the four-year veterinary school education. This typically consists of a one-year internship program, followed by a three-year residency program focusing on their preferred area of specialty. They then have to sit for their national specialty examination before receiving their board-specialty certification.  

Below are some examples of specialists and why we may refer a pet to them. We’ll discuss other specialities in two weeks with our next post.

Emergency & Critical Care SpecialistLet’s face it, sometimes our pets get so sick that they needs some pretty intensive care! Emergency clinics that have a criticalist on staff have the capacity to do some extremely intensive care, including ventilatory support (i.e. breathing for the patient in an acute lung injury), in-hospital feeding tubes, extensive nursing management and tend to be on the cutting edge with treatment options for some really complicated, really sick cases.

InternistWhen we just can’t seem to find the answer to a pet’s metabolic woes or advanced diagnostics (such as endoscopy or bronchoscopy) are needed — and an internal medicine specialist is often recommended. They excel at complicated case work-ups and are very good at long-term patient and chronic disease management. The types of cases that we often request their assistance with are complicated diabetics, certain respiratory disease, multiple metabolic disease processes occurring at once, and certain infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Their wealth of knowledge can be invaluable with making treatment decisions and when changing medications, doses, etc. to find just the right balance for a given patient. Subspecialties within internal medicine include:

Cardiologist: Sometimes we will hear a heart murmur or abnormal heart sound when performing a physical examination. A murmur is turbulent blood flow through the heart, but just listening to the heart doesn’t tell us exactly why the murmur is present. In these cases, we will refer your pet to a veterinary cardiologist to perform an examination and an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart). This will help determine the source of the abnormality. Puppies and kittens may have congenital abnormalities that can be fixed via surgery. Cardiologists also can place pacemakers in certain conditions where the abnormality has to do with the electrical conduction through the heart.

Neurologist: Unfortunately, sometimes our pets go through a variety of neurological disorders. This can include herniated disks in their back, tumors within the brain, congenital abnormalities, seizures, etc. Seeing a veterinary neurologist can help narrow down the cause for some of the signs you are noticing at home and they can also perform MRIs/CT scans on your pets to determine the next best step for treatment. Veterinary neurologists are also trained to perform spinal and brain surgeries.

Oncologist: Many types of cancers in veterinary patients can be surgically removed by your primary care veterinarian, but there are certain types of cancers that do best with surgical removal followed by chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. These are two types of treatments have to be administered by a veterinary oncologist and may help prolong the quality of life-span of your pet.

SurgeonMost primary care veterinarians can perform routine surgeries, including limb amputations. However, sometimes your pet has injured themselves to the point of needing a veterinary surgeon to repair the damage, or requires a complicated surgery that is beyond the scope of general practice. Examples of this include torn ACL repairs, performing a total hip replacement, complicated tumor removals, surgery entering the chest cavity or around the heart, repairing complicated congenital defects, to name a few.

Veterinary specialists are great resources for your pets when your primary care veterinarian thinks their expertise will be needed to help make your pet feel better, faster! We are fortunate to live in an area with numerous specialty-trained veterinarians to help us provide the best care for our pets.

Recent Stories

Morning Notes

Governance Change Postmortem –With their dreams of swift legislative action in Richmond quashed, proponents of Arlington governance changes say they’re not backing down in an effort to achieve their goals….

Good Monday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar. 🕗 News recap The following articles were published earlier today…

An 18-year-old Arlington woman is facing a litany of charges after an reported bike theft led to violence. The incident happened Sunday evening near the intersection of S. Walter Reed…

What do I do if school doesn’t fit my kid? That’s the question that so many of the parents and families ask when they’re looking at small independent schools like…

Well-Paid Maids recently unveiled a new scheduling system.

That means it’s easier than ever to book your professional home cleaning with the only certified living-wage home cleaning service in the D.C. area.

Here’s what to expect when you book your cleaning:

  1. Select your location.

  2. Choose your service (i.e. 1 BD/1BA). (This is also where you’ll see the rate.)

  3. Pick your cleaner. (If you don’t have a preference, opt for “any available.”)

  4. Schedule a date and time. You can also set up recurring cleanings and get a discount!

  5. Enter your information and reserve.

Read More

Submit your own Announcement here.

Are you facing life’s challenges, feeling overwhelmed, or seeking personal growth? Embrace the path to emotional well-being with our expert psychotherapy services!

Why Choose Us?

Our team of compassionate and experienced psychotherapists is here to guide you on your journey to inner peace, self-discovery, and positive change. We provide a safe and supportive environment where you can explore your thoughts and feelings without judgment.

What We Offer:
✔️ Individual Therapy
✔️ Couples Counseling
✔️ Anxiety & Stress Management
✔️ Depression Treatment
✔️ Trauma Healing
✔️ Self-Esteem Building
✔️ Life Transitions Support
✔️ And Much More!

Read More

Submit your own Announcement here.

Portofino Italian Wine Dinner, April 6, 6:30pm

Four course Italian dinner, paired with 2 wines each. The wines will be served “blind” and notes on each wine will be discussed. The event is coordinated with Elite Wine Importers and The Portofino Restaurant. The dinner is on Saturday,

×

Subscribe to our mailing list