Canine Adult Visit Schedule

Young Adult Dogs (1-3 Years)

Young Adult First Year: Approximately 1 Year and 4 Months

           - Complete Physical Examination Annually

           - Heartworm Test: Blood Parasite Screen

           - Fecal Floatation: Intestinal Parasite Screen

           - Vaccine: DHPP 1 Year Booster Distemper / Hepatitis / Parvovirus / Parainfluenza 

           - Vaccine: Bordetella - Kennel Cough (Six Month Boosters For Boarders / Groomed Pets)

           - Vaccine: Rabies 3 Year  Booster - Tag and Certificate 

           - Continue Heartworm Prevention and Flea / Tick Prevention

Young Adult Second Year

           - Complete Physical Examination Annually

           - Heartworm Test: Blood Parasite Screen   

           - Fecal Floatation: Intestinal Parasite Screen

           - Vaccine: DHPP 3 Year Booster Distemper / Hepatitis / Parvovirus / Parainfluenza

           - Vaccine: Bordetella - Kennel Cough (Six Month Boosters For Boarders / Groomed Pets)

           - Continue Heartworm Prevention and Flea / Tick Prevention         

Young Adult Third Year

           - Complete Physical Examination Annually

           - Heartworm Test: Blood Parasite Screen

           - Fecal Floatation: Intestinal Parasite Screen

           - Vaccine: Bordetella - Kennel Cough (Six Month Boosters For Boarders / Groomed Pets)

           - Continue Heartworm Prevention and Flea / Tick Prevention

Mature Adult Dogs (4-8 Years)

Mature Adult Fourth Year:

           - Complete Physical Examination Annually

           - Heartworm Test: Blood Parasite Screen

           - Fecal Floatation: Intestinal Parasite Screen    

           - Vaccine: Bordetella - Kennel Cough (Six Month Boosters For Boarders / Groomed Pets)

           - Vaccine: Rabies 3 Year  Booster - Tag and Certificate

           - Continue Heartworm Prevention and Flea / Tick Prevention

Mature Adult Fifth Year:

           - Complete Physical Examination Annually

           - Heartworm Test: Blood Parasite Screen

           - Fecal Floatation: Intestinal Parasite Screen

           - Vaccine: DHPP 3 Year Booster Distemper / Hepatitis / Parvovirus / Parainfluenza

           - Vaccine: Bordetella - Kennel Cough (Six Month Boosters For Boarders / Groomed Pets)

           - Continue Heartworm Prevention and Flea / Tick Prevention

           - Mature Adult Wellness Panel (Blood) Recommended At 5 Years

Mature Adult Sixth / Seventh / Eight Years:        

           - Complete Physical Examination Annually

           - Heartworm Test: Blood Parasite Screen

           - Fecal Floatation: Intestinal Parasite Screen 

           - Vaccines Boosters as appropriate on rotational basis

           - Continue Heartworm Prevention and Flea / Tick Prevention

           - Mature Adult Wellness Panel (Blood) Recommended At 7 Years

Senior Adult Dogs (9+ Years)

           - Senior Adult Ninth Year And Beyond:

           - Complete Physical Examination - A Six Month Senior Examination Follow-up Recommended

           - Heartworm Test: Blood Parasite Screen

           - Fecal Floatation: Intestinal Parasite Screen

           - Vaccines Boosters as appropriate on rotational basis

           - Continue Heartworm Prevention and Flea / Tick Prevention

           - Recommend Senior Wellness Panel (Blood / Urine) Once Yearly At 6 Month Exam

Examinations, Vaccinations and other Wellness Procedures

Initial vaccination series and their boosters are an important part of preventative health care for our patients. Our protocols for vaccinations are a basic set of guidelines to assist us in performing a consistent method of evaluating patients' vaccination needs. As such, they are flexible on an individual basis as determined by our doctors. Some patients will not be vaccinated according to our guidelines and some patients will receive vaccinations in addition to the basic core vaccinations listed in the guidelines - these will be recommended as dictated by the doctor's evaluation of the individual patient.

In some instances a patient's vaccination booster times may become misaligned from their physical examination visits -- For active patients current on their Complete Physical Examination schedule we do offer Staff Appointments: a Staff Appointment consists of a scheduled 20 minute appointment with the Veterinary Assistant who will take a brief history and record your pet's vitals (Weight, Temperature, Pulse and Respiratory Rate). As long as your pet is not experiencing any symptoms of illness, the preventative services will be provided by the Veterinary Assistant (with the exception of injection vaccinations which are administered by a Veterinarian). In addition to the fees for the services, a separate fee is applied for Staff Appointments. If your pet is experiencing any symptoms of illness or if a screen test returns a positive result (Fecal Float, Heartworm Test etc), you will be informed of the need to wait for the veterinarian to become available in order to assess the situation and make recommendations - a fee will be charged for the services provided as deemed appropriate by the veterinarian (Courtesy Consultation, Brief Consultation, Illness / Injury Examination etc).

As a professional veterinary medical facility, we are held to a higher standard of care by both the licensing board and the public at large versus the minimum standards of a rabies clinic or other low cost vaccination only events. To ensure appropriate medical care and compliance with the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Practice Act, our hospital policy requires all pets meet our active patient requirements prior to receiving vaccinations, surgical or dentistry procedures or other medical care. We do not provide Staff Appointments for 'rabies only', 'vaccine booster' or other medical procedures to pets which do not meet our active patient definition. All animals receiving our defined preventative care services must be our patients with a relevant full physical exam having been performed by our veterinarians under our guidelines.

Additional Information

• We do carry the 4 way Leptospirosis Vaccine (Fort Dodge) and the Lyme (Merial, Recombitek) Although we generally don't use them as Core vaccines.
• We also avoid administering more than one injectable vaccine at a single visit for puppies and adults under 10 pounds. We recommend a follow-up visit in two weeks - and we charge a Split Vaccine Appointment fee along with the vaccine fee.