When you call to make an appointment, one of our friendly team members will record some basic information about you and your pet so that you’ll have less to do when you arrive. We’ll then ask you to fill out the online history form. This information can really help in making a diagnosis. Please complete this prior to your pet’s appointment to help us make your check-in proceed smoothly. With your permission, we will ask your pet’s primary care veterinarian to provide recent medical records.
If your pet is receiving medications prescribed by their primary care veterinarian, please follow their instructions. To better evaluate ear infections, it may be helpful not to apply medication in the ear canal the morning of your appointment. When the skin is involved, do not bathe your dog the morning of an appointment.
When your pet arrives at our comfortable office, we will do our best to make them feel at home. Please allow at least one hour for your initial appointment. The doctor will review your pet’s history, perform a thorough examination of your pet’s skin and ears, and explain our recommendations for diagnostic tests and treatments. We’ll also do our best to answer all of your questions.
Some pets and procedures (like intradermal allergy testing) may require sedation or anesthesia. Most often we will schedule these for another day when your pet has not eaten. For intradermal allergy testing, certain medications need to be stopped ahead of time. These include injectable cortisone (up to 8 weeks), oral Prednisone (up to 4 weeks), antihistamines (up to 2 weeks), and topical skin or ear medications that contain cortisone (up to 2 weeks). Atopica, Cytopoint, and Apoquel do not appear to interfere with allergy testing.