Senior Pet Care

Protecting the love you share.

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Senior Pet Care

Protecting the love you share.

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Hospice and Palliative Care

At Senior Pet Vet, we offer animal hospice and palliative care services for pets with life limiting or incurable diseases. Dr. McCaffrey is a certified Hospice and Palliative Care veterinarian. She has pursued rigorous advanced training in this field and welcomes the opportunity to help you and your pet companion though this life stage.
Animal hospice includes the following services:
  • Care focused on providing pain control and physical comfort to the pet, as well as educational support and emotional comfort for caregivers.
  • A “Hospice Team” of veterinary professionals and support service providers that offer assistance in providing quality of life for the patient that includes palliation of pain and preparation for death.
  • A veterinarian serving as a teacher, enabling family members to care for their pets medical and emotional needs at home.
  • Time for families to adjust to their pet’s progressive disease and say goodbye in a kinder, more personal way.
Many pet parents choose hospice care in order to participate in decision making about their pet’s end-of-life needs, giving the entire family time to prepare for the pending goodbye to their companions and to plan for a peaceful death.
If you have the resources to support comfort care, the time and desire to care for your pet during the last days or weeks of their life, and a good support team in place, then hospice care may be the right choice for you and your pet.
To learn more about the animal hospice and palliative care services offered by Senior Pet Vet and whether they are the right fit for you and your pet, please call us at 201-870-3867.
For additional resources and a list of Frequently Asked Questions about animal hospice and palliative, visit the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care (IAAHPC)’s website: https://www.iaahpc.org/for-the-professional/faq.html

In Home Diagnostics

Senior Pet Vet offers a variety of diagnostic services performed for your pet in the comfort of your home.
  • Full Service Laboratory
    • Fine-needle biopsy of tumor
    • Senior blood screen
    • Disease monitoring bloodwork: Kidney disease, Diabetes, Endocrine disease, etc
    • Complete blood count
    • Ear and Skin culture
    • Tick Disease Testing
  • Doppler Blood Pressure Reading
    • Used for diagnosing and managing patients with hypertension
  • Digital Radiology
    Screenings include:
    • Chest (Thoracic) Radiographs
      • Heart Disease (Congestive Heart Failure, Heart Enlargement)
      • Lung/Airway Disease (Pneumonia, Chronic Cough, Tracheal Collapse)
      • Effusions (fluid in the chest)
    • Abdominal Radiographs
      • Bladder/Kidney stones
      • Cancer (Metastatic Screening, abdominal tumors, etc)
      • Effusions (fluid in the abdomen)
    • OrthopedicRadiographs
      • Cancer (bone tumors)
      • Arthritis Screening
      • Post-operative Cruciate Repair

Veterinary Acupuncture

Acupuncture has been practiced in both animals and humans for thousands of years in China. It involves the insertion of thin needles into specific points on the body in order to stimulate a therapeutic effect. Modern research shows that acupoints are located in the areas where there are a high density of free nerve endings, mast cells, small arterioles and lymphatic vessels.
A great number of studies indicate that stimulation of acupoints induces the release of beta-endorphins, serotonin and other neurotransmitters. Stimulation of these acupoints can induce the following effects:
  • Pain relief
  • Promotion of tissue healing
  • Regulation of gastrointestinal motility
  • Anti-inflammatory effects
  • Imunoregulation
Clinical trials indicate that acupuncture can be effective in the following conditions:
  • Arthritis
  • Back pain
  • Muscle soreness
  • Seizures
  • Laryngeal paralysis
  • Diarrhea
  • Vomiting
  • Constipation
  • Skin problems
  • Kidney and liver disease
  • Geriatric weakness
  • Quality of life, cancer, and hospice care
The length and frequency of treatments depends on the problem and condition of your pet. A positive response is generally seen within 1-3 treatments. We recommend initially committing to a minimum of 3 treatments in order fully assess the response of your pets condition. Treatments can be done weekly, monthly, or even further apart depending on the severity and chronicity of the condition. We offer a variety of acupuncture techniques including dry needles, aquapuncture and electroacupuncture. The appropriate method will be determined on a case-by-case basis.