Services
Exams / Consultations
Behavior Counseling
Vaccinations / Preventive Care
Exams / Consultations
Our objective is to support both you and your pet in enjoying numerous healthy years together. We emphasize the significance of your pet's annual physical examination as a crucial aspect of their overall well-being. To provide optimal care for each patient, our veterinarians conduct a thorough physical examination before any clinical assessment. During this process, any concerns or queries you may have will be addressed, and a personalized treatment plan for your pet companion will be developed. Additionally, we will delve into topics such as feeding and dietary recommendations, flea control, dental and preventive care, and behavior training to ensure comprehensive care for your pet.
Behavior Counseling
Pets are complex creatures and behavior issues can be especially challenging.
Yelling or punishing your pet after the fact isn't usually effective. They likely will have no idea why you're angry (nor will they care!), but you could damage your relationship with them as they will learn to fear you.
Yelling or punishing your pet after the fact isn't usually effective. They likely will have no idea why you're angry (nor will they care!), but you could damage your relationship with them as they will learn to fear you.
Pets are often very high-energy animals and they are easily bored. In the wild, there would be a wide variety of things to play with and explore. When they're kept indoors and you're away at work or school all day, there is significantly less to keep their attention. As a result, we often see destructive behaviors, many of which can be reduced or eliminated by increasing their access to stimulating activities during the day.
Most pet "owners" know that pets and stress don't mix. Pets require familiarity and routine in their home environment to feel safe and comfortable. They prefer predictability and consistency. Even a small change in your everyday routine can be stressful to your pet, which can result in behavioral issues.
The most common behavior issues we see in pets are:
- Inappropriate elimination
- Aggression (toward humans and other pets)
- Destruction (clawing furniture, chewing paper, plants, etc.)
- How can I make my cat stop clawing the furniture?
- How do I get my pet in a carrier?
- My pet gets so stressed going to the vet. Is there any way to make vet visits easier?
- What is the best way to travel a long distance with my pet?
- How can I make moving less stressful for my pet?
- How do I introduce the pet to my new baby?
Vaccinations / Preventive Care
Every pet leads a unique lifestyle. Is your pet primarily indoors? Do they enjoy outdoor excursions with a harness and/or leash? Is your pet placed in a boarding facility when you're away? Are there plans to welcome another animal into your home? At Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic, our doctors and staff believe in tailoring a personalized approach to preventive care for each of our patients.
Understanding that vaccines may have potential side effects, unlike many veterinary clinics, Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic does not advocate for a one-size-fits-all vaccination approach. Our doctors assess each patient individually to identify specific diseases to which the pet may be exposed. Based on this evaluation, we recommend only the vaccines and services essential for your pet's well-being.
Understanding that vaccines may have potential side effects, unlike many veterinary clinics, Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic does not advocate for a one-size-fits-all vaccination approach. Our doctors assess each patient individually to identify specific diseases to which the pet may be exposed. Based on this evaluation, we recommend only the vaccines and services essential for your pet's well-being.
Surgery
Dental Care
Diagnostics
Surgery
Our team of doctors conducts both routine and advanced surgical procedures, ranging from spaying and neutering to orthopedics, advanced dentistry, subtotal colectomies, perineal urethrostomy (PU), and general surgery. Employing modern pain management techniques, vigilant patient monitoring, carefully designed anesthesia protocols, contemporary surgical methods, and dedicated nursing care, Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic possesses the expertise to ensure that your pet's procedure is as safe and comfortable as can be. Our goal is to facilitate a swift return home and a seamless transition back to regular activities for your pet companion.
Dental Care
A healthy mouth and clean teeth can lead to a longer, healthier life for your pet. Taking care of your pets' teeth at home helps avoid serious dental disease, but cats and dogs need periodic professional cleaning just like you do. At Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic, we take care to provide a safe, thorough, and professional cleaning similar to the one you get at your dentist’s office.
Dental Disease
Periodontal disease is a progressive infection of the gums surrounding the teeth. If left untreated it can lead to halitosis, oral infections, and bacterial infections that can enter the bloodstream and cause damage to many major organs. As part of your annual visit, our team will conduct an oral examination to ensure that your pet's teeth are healthy and disease-free. If a cleaning is needed, while your pet is under anesthesia, we will x-ray and evaluate each tooth to determine if any other dental work is needed.
What Happens During the Cleaning?
During a thorough veterinary dental cleaning, plaque and tartar are removed from their teeth, and the rest of the mouth including the tongue, gums, lips, and teeth is examined. To make sure your pet will not feel any pain during the procedure general anesthesia is required.
Home Dental Care
Your pet relies on you to help maintain their dental health through regular teeth brushing which will help fight plaque build-up. A sample with toothpaste and a finger brush is included in your take-home care package.
At Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic, we're happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have about dental cleaning and exams for your pet. Call (970) 247-4701 today to schedule an appointment for a consultation or same-day cleaning.
Additional resources:
Diagnostics
Deciphering what a pet is experiencing can be a challenging task! At Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic we understand the critical significance of early detection of current or potential medical issues. Our doctors are proficient in conducting abdominal ultrasound assessments, heart studies, and guided needle biopsies, ensuring swift and precise diagnoses tailored to the unique needs of our patients
Allergies
Nutrition
Allergies
What are allergies and how do they affect pets?
Allergies are a common cause of skin conditions in pets. People with allergies usually have hay fever (watery eyes, runny nose, and sneezing) or asthma. Although pets with asthma can be allergic, most pets with allergies lick or chew their fur.
One of the most common medical conditions affecting
pets is allergy. An allergy occurs when the pet's immune system overreacts or is hypersensitive to foreign substances called allergens. Allergens are simply foreign proteins that the body's immune system tries to remove. Examples of allergens common in humans are pollens, dust, molds, and pet hair. Hypersensitivity in pets can manifest in one of three ways:
- The most common manifestation is itching of the skin, either localized to one area or a generalized reaction all over the pet's body.
- Another manifestation involves the respiratory system and may result in coughing, sneezing, and wheezing. Sometimes, there may be an associated nasal or ocular (eye) discharge.
- The third manifestation involves the digestive system and can result in vomiting, flatulence, and/or diarrhea.
What is flea allergy and how is it treated?
Flea allergy is the most common allergy in pets.
Flea allergy is the most common allergy in pets.
Despite common belief, a normal pet experiences only minor skin irritation in response to fleabites. On the other hand, a pet with flea allergies has a severe reaction to even a single fleabite. This reaction is an allergic response to proteins or antigens present in the flea's saliva. When a flea bites a pet to consume a blood meal, some of its saliva is injected into the skin. Just one fleabite may cause such intense itching that the pet may severely scratch or chew itself, leading to the removal of large amounts of hair. There will often be open sores or scabs on the skin, resulting in a secondary bacterial skin infection (pyoderma). The area most commonly involved is over the rump or base of the tail. In addition, the pet may have numerous small scabs around the head and neck. These scabs are often referred to as miliary dermatitis, a term that was coined because the scabs look like millet seeds.
Since flea saliva causes the reaction, the most important treatment for flea allergy is to prevent fleabites. Most flea infestations occur in the warmer weather but can occur year-round. Strict flea control is the foundation of successful treatment. There are many highly effective flea control products, both for treating the pet and for controlling fleas in the environment. Modern monthly flea preventives have made it easier and less expensive than ever to prevent fleas from affecting your pet.
Corticosteroids (cortisone or steroids) can also be used to block the allergic reaction and give immediate relief to a pet suffering from the intense itching of flea allergy dermatitis. This is often a necessary part of treatment, especially during the initial stages. If a secondary bacterial skin infection occurs from the flea allergy dermatitis, appropriate antibiotics must be used, generally for two to four weeks.
What is food allergy and how is it treated?
Food allergies in pets are caused by an immune reaction to a food or food additive. The allergy most frequently develops in response to the protein component of the food; for example, beef, pork, chicken, or turkey. Vegetable proteins such as those found in corn or wheat, as well as food additives and preservatives, may cause food allergies in some cases. Food allergy may produce any of the clinical signs previously discussed, including itching, digestive disorders, and respiratory distress.
Food allergy testing is recommended when the clinical signs have been present for several months when the pet has a poor response to steroids, or when a very young pet itches without other apparent causes of allergy. Testing is conducted by feeding an elimination or hypoallergenic diet. This means a diet in which the ingredients have not previously been fed to the pet (e.g., rabbit, venison). Because it takes at least eight weeks for all other food products to be removed from the body, the pet must eat the special diet exclusively for a minimum of eight to twelve weeks. If a positive response occurs, you will be instructed on how to proceed.
If the diet is not fed exclusively, it will not be a meaningful test. This means absolutely no treats, other foods, people's foods, or flavored medications during this period. This cannot be overemphasized. Even accidentally providing a tiny amount of the offending protein can result in invalidating the test.
If your pet’s symptoms improve after the food trial, a presumptive diagnosis of food allergy is made. Exclusively feeding a hypoallergenic diet lifelong is highly successful in treating food allergic skin disease in many pets.
What is inhalant allergy or atopy?
Inhalant allergy or atopy is not well understood in pets. In dogs and humans, atopic dermatitis generally refers to allergic reactions to environmental allergens such as pollens, grasses, molds, mildew, and house dust mites).
Many of these allergies occur seasonally, such as ragweed, cedar, and grass pollens. However, others are with us all the time, such as molds, mildew, and house dust mites. When humans inhale these allergens, we express the allergy as a respiratory problem. In humans, atopy is also sometimes called 'hay fever'. The pet's primary reaction to atopy is severe, generalized itching.
Most pets that have an inhalant allergy are allergic to several allergens. If the number of allergens is small and they are seasonal, itching may last for just a few weeks at a time during one or two periods of the year. If the number of allergens is large or they are present year-round, the pet may itch constantly.
Allergies can be fairly common in pets, just as in people, and can manifest in a variety of symptoms.
There are several things we can do to diagnose allergies and treat them.
Symptoms:
- Over grooming.
You may not see your cat grooming excessively, but you may see areas of thinned or no hair where they have licked it off. This is their way of scratching itchy skin. The most common areas seen are on the belly, the hindquarters, and the legs, but they can occur anywhere on the body. Your cat may even groom so much that the skin becomes red, raw, and scabby. - Miliary dermatitis.
This is when you notice multiple little bumps or scabs in various areas on your cat's skin. The most common areas are on the rear and around the neck, but again, these can show up anywhere. This is like the equivalent of an allergic rash on your cat. - Rubbing excessively.
Similar to overgrooming, this primarily affects the skin above the eyes and on the ears. You may notice that the fur above your cat's eyes is getting thinner and thinner and that there are reddish scabs in the same area that are increasing in number. You may also notice that the hair on the ears is thinning out. This is from overaggressive rubbing of the face on objects due to itchy skin that they cannot get with their tongue. - Excessive ear wax production.
Many cats with allergies, even mild allergies, will have an increase in ear wax production from the systemic inflammation. There are other causes as well for increased ear wax production such as yeast or bacterial infections, but allergies are the most common reason. - Vomiting.
This happens most commonly with food allergies, if there is enough of an inflammatory reaction from environmental allergies, these can also cause increased vomiting. The small intestine is a huge part of the immune system with lots of immune cells, so if the immune system is significantly inflamed from allergies, then the small intestine can also become inflamed, resulting in vomiting. - Cracked paw pads.
While not as common, allergies in some cats can cause a dry crackled appearance to your cat's paw pads. - Eosinophilic granuloma complex.
This is a hypersensitivity reaction generally caused by allergies that can cause swollen ulcerated areas of the lips, or red intensely itchy large plaque-like scabby areas on your cat's skin. - Scooting.
In rare cases, allergies can cause a thickening and itchiness of your cat's anal sacs resulting in scooting on the carpet to try and itch the rear end. This can also be caused by impacted anal sacs, so if your cat is doing this, please let us know so we can check for impaction. - Coughing.
While most commonly caused by asthma, coughing can also be triggered by allergies.
Diagnosis:
There are a few diagnostic tests that we can do to diagnose allergies, either definitively or presumptively. These are:
Diet trials.
Since many causes of allergies can be food allergies, we may want to try doing a hypoallergenic food allergy trial. Since your cat cannot physically be allergic to something they have never eaten, a food trial consists of feeding your cat a commercial prescription hypoallergenic diet that does not contain any ingredients found in any over-the-counter diets. For this to be effective as a trial, it must be fed exclusively for 4-6 weeks.
Biopsies.
If your cat has skin lesions or is vomiting, and we are not sure if it is allergies are the cause, we can do full-thickness biopsies of your cat's skin or small intestine to determine if allergies are the culprit. This only tells us if allergies are the cause, it does not tell us what the specific allergens are, so we do not do this commonly.
Response to treatment.
If your cat cannot do a hypoallergenic diet trial, then we may just try allergy treatment, and see if they respond.
Allergy testing.
This is the ideal test for allergies, but even this is not 100%. Two types of allergy tests can be done to diagnose allergies in your cat a blood test looking for antigens and antibodies to allergens, or a skin test to determine which antigens your cat will react to. Neither test is inexpensive.
The skin test will generally only be done by a veterinary dermatologist. The skin test is considered more accurate, but also more time-consuming and invasive. If you are interested in doing the skin test, we can refer you to a board-certified veterinary dermatologist who is a few hours away.
The blood test is done much more commonly since any veterinarian can draw blood and send it to a specialized lab. Multiple labs perform this test, however not all labs are equal, and you may not always get accurate results. We use Heska labs, considered one of the most accurate in the country by most immunologists.
This is the ideal test for allergies, but even this is not 100%. Two types of allergy tests can be done to diagnose allergies in your cat a blood test looking for antigens and antibodies to allergens, or a skin test to determine which antigens your cat will react to. Neither test is inexpensive.
The skin test will generally only be done by a veterinary dermatologist. The skin test is considered more accurate, but also more time-consuming and invasive. If you are interested in doing the skin test, we can refer you to a board-certified veterinary dermatologist who is a few hours away.
The blood test is done much more commonly since any veterinarian can draw blood and send it to a specialized lab. Multiple labs perform this test, however not all labs are equal, and you may not always get accurate results. We use Heska labs, considered one of the most accurate in the country by most immunologists.
Diet trials.
Since many causes of allergies can be food allergies, we may want to try doing a hypoallergenic food allergy trial. Since your cat cannot physically be allergic to something they have never eaten, a food trial consists of feeding your cat a commercial prescription hypoallergenic diet that does not contain any ingredients found in any over-the-counter diets. For this to be effective as a trial, it must be fed exclusively for 4-6 weeks.
Biopsies.
If your cat has skin lesions or is vomiting, and we are not sure if it is allergies are the cause, we can do full-thickness biopsies of your cat's skin or small intestine to determine if allergies are the culprit. This only tells us if allergies are the cause, it does not tell us what the specific allergens are, so we do not do this commonly.
Response to treatment.
If your cat cannot do a hypoallergenic diet trial, then we may just try allergy treatment, and see if they respond.
Treatments:
Antihistamines.
These only work for some pets. It is an inexpensive treatment that you can buy over the counter at the drugstore in pill form. If you cannot pill, we do have some alternative routes of giving antihistamines.
Steroids are extremely effective in pets, but they have undesirable side effects. The most common undesirable side effect of long-term use is the development of diabetes. We generally will try to minimize the length of time your pet has to be on steroids, or if your pet's allergies are year-round, we will try to get to the lowest effective dosing to minimize the risk of diabetes.
Immunotherapy.
These only work for some pets. It is an inexpensive treatment that you can buy over the counter at the drugstore in pill form. If you cannot pill, we do have some alternative routes of giving antihistamines.
- Zyrtec (cetirizine). You can give your pet of a 10mg tablet (5mg) once daily. There are very few side effects to this.
- Chlorpheniramine. This is an allergy pill that has been around so long that there isn't even a brand name for it anymore. It is very inexpensive and will work for some pets. The dose is a 4mg tablet (2mg) once or twice daily. The primary side effects are drowsiness, although some pets can experience excitability.
- Benadryl (diphenhydramine). This is effective in pets, but we do NOT recommend trying to give this to your pet orally. Pets detest the taste of Benadryl. However, Benadryl is available in injectable form which you can use insulin syringes to administer, or we can have it compounded into a transdermal ear paste which has shown to be effective.
- Hydroxyzine. This is a precursor to Zyrtec, which is metabolized in the liver to the active form of Zyrtec. Because this was around much longer than Zyrtec, it is very inexpensive. However, it must be given twice daily, or even three times daily in some cases.
Steroids are extremely effective in pets, but they have undesirable side effects. The most common undesirable side effect of long-term use is the development of diabetes. We generally will try to minimize the length of time your pet has to be on steroids, or if your pet's allergies are year-round, we will try to get to the lowest effective dosing to minimize the risk of diabetes.
Immunosuppressants.
The most commonly used immunosuppressant used in pets for allergies is cyclosporine. This is an expensive drug whose side effects include anorexia and in rare cases, bone marrow suppression, but it can work very effectively and is usually used when steroids are either not effective or if your pet cannot tolerate steroids.
The most commonly used immunosuppressant used in pets for allergies is cyclosporine. This is an expensive drug whose side effects include anorexia and in rare cases, bone marrow suppression, but it can work very effectively and is usually used when steroids are either not effective or if your pet cannot tolerate steroids.
Immunotherapy.
This is done only when your pet has had an allergy test and we know exactly what environmental allergies your pet has. These are allergy shots, customized for your pet to desensitize your pet to whatever they are allergic to. We have had very good results with these, with very few side effects.
Removal of the allergens.
If your pet is allergic to something in their environment that you have some control over, if you can remove the source, then that will often fix the problem. This would include things like fleas, laundry detergents, down comforters, pillows, etc. If you cannot remove the source, but you can minimize your pet's exposure to it, that will also help. Examples would be keeping the windows closed if your pet is allergic to outdoor pollens, using allergy filters in your ventilation and HEPA air filters to minimize dust mites, or feeding your pet canned food only or keeping their dry food in the freezer until feeding if your pet is allergic to storage mites.
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Nutrition
Pets are obligate carnivores, necessitating a diet rich in meat. Studies indicate that pets thrive on diets abundant in protein from meat sources while being limited in carbohydrates. Given that many pets lead sedentary lifestyles, excessive fat in their diet can lead to health issues. Optimal pet nutrition involves diets high in moisture and protein, such as canned or raw diets. At Baker's Bridge Veterinary Clinic, part of our mission is to assist you in recognizing and fulfilling your pet's nutritional requirements. We can also create tailored diet plans to aid in weight management, promoting a healthier and happier life for your pet.
