Services

• Annual Examinations
• When Your Kitty Is Sick
• In-House Laboratory
• Consultations & Referrals
• Surgery

• Dental Care
• Grooming
• Boarding
• Fees

At Albuquerque Cat Clinic, we recommend that your cat be examined at least once a year. Before the exam, you will fill out a history form that will help the doctor pinpoint any potential problems. During the course of the exam, the doctor will look over your cat’s skin, teeth, eyes and ears. She will also listen to the heart and lungs, and palpate the abdomen to detect abnormalities. Further examination of specific systems may be necessary if anything unusual is found. If the exam is normal, any vaccines that may be recommended or required can be administered.

Twice-yearly exams are strongly recommended for patients over seven years of age and for patients with a chronic illness or disease. Because cats age much faster than humans, this would be the equivalent of a person getting an exam every 3-4 years. If your cat is over seven years of age, you will receive reminder cards from us every six months.

At Albuquerque Cat Clinic, we do not administer vaccines or perform elective surgical procedures without a current examination. These are serious medical events in your pet's life, and it is imperative that we know the health status of the car prior to performing them.

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We understand it is a very stressful event when your beloved pet becomes ill or is injured. We at Albuquerque Cat Clinic will do our best to help you understand you cat’s medical problems and treatment options.

When you bring in your sick or injured cat, we will ask you to fill out a thorough history form to help us discover the cause of your pet’s problem. A complete physical exam will then be performed. At this point, the doctor may recommend further lab tests or x-rays to aid in diagnosis. When a diagnosis is reached, you will be informed of the best treatment options for your pet’s condition.

We will make every effort to provide you with accurate estimates and a realistic prognosis prior to proceeding with any diagnostic or treatment. Our goal is to return a healthy cat to you, with no surprises on the bill.

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In order arrive at a diagnosis in the shortest amount of time possible, Albuquerque Cat Clinic is equipped with state-of-the-art hematology and blood chemistry analyzers, as well as other diagnostic laboratory equipment. The following tests can be performed in-house on the same day as your cat’s examination.

• Complete blood count: This test counts the component cells of your cat’s blood and can reveal problems such as anemia, dehydration and infection.

• Serum chemistry analysis: These tests provide us with information about the status of your cat’s kidneys, liver, blood sugar and other metabolic functions. Combined with other tests, these can provide us with invaluable information about your pet’s overall health.

• Urinalysis: This can provide clues to the presence of a urinary tract infection, information about kidney function and reveal the presence of urinary crystals.

• Fecal analysis: This test primarily looks for the presence of the eggs of intestinal parasites in the stool.

• Thyroid panel: Commonly, the thyroid glands of older cats becomes overactive, which can lead to serious heart and kidney disease. This panel screens for hyperthyroidism.

• Cytology: This is the examination of body cells or fluids to detect cancer, infection or other problems.

• Fungassay: A test to determine if your cat has ringworm, a common fungal skin infection.

There may be times when the tests that need to be performed cannot be done in our in-house lab. In these situations, the appropriate samples will be submitted to a local lab that can perform the tests. Results from these tests generally take several hours to several days to get back.

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There may be situations in which your cat’s condition may require either equipment or expertise not possessed by the staff at Albuquerque Cat Clinic. If this occasion should arise, the doctor will either consult with or refer you to specialists who can help arrive at a diagnosis or treatment plan for your cat.

Dr. Walker is a current member of the Veterinary Information Network, or VIN. VIN has dozens of specialists available for consultation on an immediate basis daily, as well as hundreds of other general practitioners. This is an invaluable resource for Dr. Walker, and allows her to keep up with the most current and sccurate information regarding any feline health issue.

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Any procedure involving general anesthesia inherently carries certain risks. Albuquerque Cat Clinic strives to reduce these risks in the following ways:

• We recommend pre-anesthetic blood profiles on every patient that undergoes anesthesia or sedation, and we require it on all patients over the age of seven years. If we are able to detect latent problems prior to the administration of an anesthetic, we are much more likely to have a safe, successful anesthetic event.

• Every patient undergoing surgery is placed on a machine that monitors his or her heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen levels, temperature and respiration.

• All invasive surgical procedures are performed in a surgical suite using autoclave-sterilized instruments and proper sterile technique.

• We intubate all cats undergoing anesthesia and use isoflurane gas anesthesia.

• In all cats, we place an intravenous catheter and give intra-operative IV fluids. This, along with intubation, allows us to respond quickly in case of a problem. The fluids also help maintain blood pressure during the procedure to protect vital organs.

• Pain management is not optional at Albuquerque Cat Clinic. All of our patients undergoing procedures believed to cause discomfort will receive, both at the clinic and at home, adequate medication to control the discomfort. We use a multi-modal pain management approach that assures your pet the most comfortable recovery possible. This includes preemptive pain medication in the anesthetic protocol, pain medication in the IV fluid drip, local anesthetics when appropriate, and easy-to-administer oral medications in the post-operative period.

Patients scheduled for non-emergency or elective surgery should have food withheld after midnight the night beforethe procedure. These patients should be dropped off as early as possible on the day of the surgery. Depending on the type of procedure performed, the patient may either be picked up after 3:00 pm the same day or may be required to be hospitalized overnight.

The primary goal of overnight hospitalization is simply confinement to decrease the likelihood of complications and discomfort. There are no staff members at Albuquerque Cat Clinic to monitor these patients after regular business hours. If for any reason you or we are not comfortable with this situation in your particular cat’s case, we will recommend transfer to one of the emergency clinics for observations and continued care until the following morning. Charges incurred at the emergency clinic are the responsibility of the patient’s owner.

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The most important thing that you can do to help your cat lead a long, healthy life is to obtain appropriate dental care. Poor dental health can lead to serious chronic problems, such as poor nutrition, heart and kidney disease.

At Albuquerque Cat Clinic, we believe an annual dental cleaning is as important as an annual exam. We can determine during the annual exam the correct time to begin annual prophylaxis. This is usually between three and five years of age.

Dental prophylaxis is a one-day procedure. Your cat is placed under general anesthesia and all teeth are thoroughly cleaned and polished, both above and below the gum line. Any cavities are noted and treated, and any teeth that have advanced decay are extracted. Afterward, a fluoride treatment is applied and the mouth is rinsed with an antiseptic solution.

In cases where deep cavities are present or teeth must be extracted, a round of antibiotics will be needed to take care of any residual infection. In these situations, some cats experience some discomfort for several days following the procedure. As with surgical procedures, this discomfort is managed with injectable pain relievers (analgesics) post-operatively and with an oral medication for you to administer at home.

Find out more about Your Cat's Dental Health

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Grooming services offered by Albuquerque Cat Clinic include baths, brush-outs and shaves. Baths and brush-outs, if at all possible, will be done with the cat awake. Shaving almost always requires sedation or, more frequently, general anesthesia. Sedation and anesthesia for grooming will be subject to the same requirements for bloodwork as surgical procedures.

We will make every effort to have cats dropped off for grooming in the morning ready to be picked up by early afternoon. Please be aware that if you cat has very long or thick hair, they may not be dry by this time.

Due to the time requirements of these services, they are offered as a convenience only to clients who obtain their medical services from Albuquerque Cat Clinic. If you would like to transfer care of your cat to us, and no medical services are necessary at the time, we would be happy to groom your cat after performing a complete physical examination to ensure that no health problem is overlook. Rabies and upper respiratory vaccinations must be up-to-date for your cat to obtain grooming services at Albuquerque Cat Clinic.

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Boarding will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to clients who obtain medical services at Albuquerque Cat Clinic. Because boarding space is limited, it is recommended that boarding arrangements be made as far in advance as possible, especially during holidays and summer vacation.

Our kitty condos offer two options to provide for the comfort of your pet. One of our spacious cages allows ample room for your cat to eat, sleep and use the litter box. For an additional fee, two adjacent cages may be connected, giving your pet a resting bench and separate litter box area.

We provide your cat with Hill’s Science Diet food appropriate to his or her stage of life. If your cat requires a special diet, please bring adequate food for the duration of the stay.

In the future, Albuquerque Cat Clinic plans to add luxury boarding to our array of services. Please look for this great new feature in the next couple of years.

All cats boarded at Albuquerque Cat Clinic must be accompanied by proof of current vaccinations, including rabies, panleukopenia, calicivirus and feline viral rhinotracheitis. Feline leukemia vaccination is recommended depending on your cat's lifestyle. Parasite control will be instituted if necessary at the time of drop-off at the owner’s expense.

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Payment for services is required at the time of discharge. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover for your convenience.

We also accept CareCredit at Albuquerque Cat Clinic. This is a line of credit that you may apply for to help cover your pet's medical expenses. Often you may repay the charges with no interest. To apply for CareCredit, visit www.carecredit.com, or call 1-866-893-7864

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