About Us		Services		Staff		Clinic		Other		Contact Us

Wellness	Routine physical examinations are an important part of your pet's ongoing health care.  Because companion animals age more quickly than people, they need to be seen by a doctor more often than we do!  We recommend a complete physical exam for your pet yearly.  This can help detect health problems early, before they become more serious and more costly. In addition to a physical exam, it is also important to provide regular screening for  heartworm and intestinal parasites.  Depending on the pet's life stage, we may also recommend routine evaluation of blood and urine to screen for diseases or organ dysfunction not evident from other routine tests. Companion animal wellness also entails regular preventative medicine, including keeping vaccinations up to date, and providing adequate monthly preventative against heartworm disease, intestinal parasites, fleas and ticks.
Senior Wellness	Pets age faster than humans do.  A good esimate of your pet's age in "human years" can be found  by taking her breed and size into account. When you see how quickly companion animals age compared to us, it becomes clear how important it is to have them examined yearly.  Can you imagine a human senior citizen going to the doctor only every 6-10 years? As your pet ages, it becomes more important to stay attuned to clues that can indicate organ-related or metabolic disease.  These can include changes in eating, drinking and elimination habits, vomiting, weight loss and behavior changes.  These changes can be subtle and can go unnoticed, or they may simply attributed to "getting old".  But old age itself is not a disease.  These signs may instead be early indicators of disease that can be treated.  Identifying these conditions early can help extend the life of your pet. In addition to a yearly physical exam, routine lab analysis can provide an even better picture of your pet's health.  A Senior Wellness Profile provides "baseline" normal values for your pet when she is healthy.  Later, if disease process starts to develop, changes from the baseline can help identify disease early, even before clinical signs are apparent. At Park Grove Pet Hospital, we are committed to keeping your elderly companion healthy and happy as long as possible.
Puppy & Kitten	Few things are more exciting than bringing a new puppy or kitten home!  But you probably have a full list of questions and concerns, especially if this is the first furry friend in your home.  At Park Grove Pet Hospital, we'll take the extra time to help you through your new family member's first few months. At your puppy or kitten's first visit, we'll discuss all the things you need to know to start him or her out right.  These include intestinal parasites and de-worming, appropriate vaccination schedule given the activities you plan to engage in with your new friend, flea, tick and heartworm prevention, feeding and nutrition, housetraining or litter box training, socialization and behavior, introduction to already existing family members (both human and non-human), grooming, nail trimming and tooth brushing, and spay or neuter. Then we'll work out a schedule of all the visits your puppy or kitten needs throughout childhood and give you a copy to take home, so you'll know when you need to come back.  (If Donna is around, chances are she'll take pictures of your new baby to send to you as well ...)
Medicine	Of course we hope your pet never gets sick, but if he or she does, we have a comprehensive set of diagnostic tools available.  Our lab features on-site bloodwork, urinalysis and fecal examination, as well as microbiology and cytology.  We also offer routine and contrast x-ray service, and ophthalmic and dermatologic tests. Should more advanced diagnostics be necessary, we have regular access to board-certified radiologists for x-ray consultation, ultrasonography and echocardiography.  We also have access to orthopedic specialists for consultation and surgery. If your pet develops more serious or life-threatening organ-related or metabolic disease which requires hospitalization, we have on-site capability for intensive and critical care, including intravenous fluid therapy and medications, blood pressure and pulse-oximetry monitoring, oxygen therapy and pain management. We also provide a variety of chemotherapy protocols for patients diagnosed with cancer.
Surgery	We perform a wide variety of routine soft-tissue and orthopedic procedures, including spay and neuter, declaw, abdominal surgery, tumor removal and minor fracture fixation.  These surgeries are performed on-site with sterile equipment in a dedicated surgical facility. We use the safest and most updated methods to minimize risk to your pet.  We always recommend a pre-surgical exam and lab tests to detect conditions that might indicate greater anesthetic risk.  This gives us the capability to select anesthetic drugs tailored to your pet's specific needs.  We also employ a wide variety of pain management protocols, both at the time of surgery and to go home afterward. During surgery, a technician is dedicated to monitoring your pet's blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration rate and oxygenation, so that adjustments can be made if necessary.  All our surgical patients also receive intravenous fluids throughout the procedure.  Following surgery, your pet recovers in a padded, heated area under the watchful eye of the technician. If necessary, we also have access to board-certified surgeons who will travel to our site to perform more advanced surgeries or procedures requiring specialized equipment.
Dentistry	It is estimated that 85-90% of companion dogs and cats suffer from some degree of dental disease.  This can lead to infection which can cause bad breath, deterioration of gums and teeth, and also more serious systemic illness such as heart, liver, kidney and lung disease. Dental disease begins as plaque, a bacterial film that forms on the teeth and gums.  Unchecked, plaque hardens into tartar, which advances along the tooth roots until it compromises the periodontal ligaments which hold the teeth in place.  The teeth then become loose and infected. At Park Grove Pet Hospital, we can show you simple care techniques you can use at home to help prevent plaque build-up and maintain healthy teeth and gums.  We'll also check your pet's teeth at each annual exam.  If tartar is becoming a problem, we provide full-service dental services in our clinic, including scaling and polishing, application of OraVet (a plaque preventative product), oral x-rays, tooth extraction and minor oral surgery. Your companion's dental care is as important as yours is!  We'll help you stay on top of it, to ensure healthy teeth and gums for the life of your pet.
Behavior	As much as we'd like them to, companion animals don't always act the way we'd expect.  Understanding why our pets behave the way they do can be a very difficult and frustrating process. Whether through surrender or euthanasia, problem behaviors result in the loss of as many companion animals as do medical conditions.  We become frustrated at destructive or unwanted behaviors that we don't understand.  Our pets sense this and become anxious or fearful, which intensifies the behavior, resulting in damage to the human-animal bond. Fortunately, this process is usually reversible with time and effort.  We provide guidance on a wide range of behavioral issues, including puppy and kitten socialization, training, aggression, phobias and anxiety-related behavior, and inappropriate elimination.  We can help you understand and change problem behavior, so you and your pet can enjoy one another's compaionship again.
Exotic Pets	At Park Grove Pet Hospital, we treat all types of companion animals -- even the less traditional ones. If you need medical care for your ferret, rabbit, hedgehog, guinea pig, hamster or gerbil, rat or mouse, chinchilla, bird or reptile, you've come to the right place.
Community	Park Grove Pet Hospital serves as the impound facility for animals picked up by Cottage Grove Animal Control.  If your pet is missing, please call us at (651) 459-9663, or stop in to see if he or she was brought in to us. If we determine your pet is at our facility, we will fax information to the Cottage Grove Police Department.  Once you have gone to the Police Station to pay an impound fee and returned with a receipt, we can send your pet home with you. All impounded animals are examined by a doctor, and given vaccinations and any other treatment deemed medically necessary.  Animals not claimed within 7 days are available for adoption.  Contact us if you are interested in providing a home for one of these potential companions! If you live in St. Paul Park, Newport or the surrounding area and your pet is missing, please call the Woodbury Humane Society at (651) 730-6008, Animal Ark in Hastings at (651) 438-9195, or contact your local Animal Control.