Northgate Animal Hospital is here for you.
Below is everything you need to know before your first visit with Northgate Animal Hospital. We want to make this an easy and relaxing experience for you and your companion. To ensure the best care possible, please click the button below and take the time to fill out the form completely.
When you arrive:
Please do not hesitate to ask for help bringing in any of your furry friends – great or small – from the parking lot.
For the safety of your companion, please have all dogs on a leash and all cats in carriers. A busy parking lot and lobby can be full of surprises.
You will be greeted by one of our friendly staff and assisted with filling out the paperwork which is so important to gather and maintain information about your companion’s health – present and the past.
Choosing a veterinarian is an important and emotional decision!
Our furry companions are family members, and we all want to do our best to take care of them. All of us at Northgate Animal Hospital are here because we love animals! We have gathered a healthcare team of people who are genuinely happy to see each furry friend who walks through the door!
When you arrive you will be greeted by smiles, laughs, oohs, and aahs over your furry friend’s unique and individual specialness. Wagging tails, lolling tongues, bouncing paws, and goofy exuberance are all met with enthusiasm and encouragement! For the more timid and worried fur kids, we try to calm and coax with patience and treats. For some, they just want us to leave them alone, and that’s ok too. Even if your companion is not feeling well, we want to show our genuine concern and help your furry friend feel loved.
Any newly adopted rescue animal will receive a free exam the first time you visit our hospital.
In appreciation for their contributions to our lives, we are now offering a 10% discount to Police Officers, Fire Fighters, and Teachers in addition to our Military and Senior discounts.
Our whole purpose for being in veterinary medicine is to care for our four-legged furry companions.
Health Evaluation
Your veterinary technician (nurse) will accompany you to an exam room to begin getting to know your furry friend. Your technician will gather a history from you, discuss your initial questions, and weigh your companion on a scale just outside the exam room. Kitties will be weighed in the exam room. It is also critical for your technician to take your companion’s temperature. Body temperature is a vital piece of information in helping your furry friend if they are sick and if it is a wellness visit, it is critical to record normal baseline temperatures for reference when they are not feeling well.
For wellness visits, your technician will discuss any recommended routine care such as vaccines, heartworm testing, fecal analysis, and wellness bloodwork.
If your companion is showing signs of illness, your technician may discuss preliminary diagnostics which will be addressed and recommended by your doctor such as bloodwork, urinalysis, fecal analysis, and X-rays.
Your technician will review all information with your attending doctor, who will then come in to meet you and your companion. Your doctor will discuss your questions and concerns and perform a complete physical exam which includes the following:
An overall assessment of demeanor and appearance – is your companion bright and alert, responsive, quiet, lethargic?
- A stethoscope will be used to listen to heart and lungs
- An ophthalmoscope will be used to examine eyes
- An otoscope will be used to examine ears
- Lymph nodes, bones, joints, spine, abdomen, skin, coat, teeth, weight and body condition (weight in reference to size) will be evaluated and discussed with you.
Health Assessment
If this is a wellness visit, then the appropriate routine care will be completed, and we will celebrate your furry friend’s health with treats and lots of praise!
If this visit is for health concerns, your doctor will thoroughly discuss possible diagnostics and treatments based on your companion’s physical evaluation. Your technician will prepare and review a comprehensive estimate with you. Often complete diagnostics can be performed within 30 minutes while you wait. Sometimes we will ask you to leave your companion with us to perform diagnostics and begin the appropriate treatments.
Please visit our staff page to see pictures and read about everyone so that familiar faces will greet you on your first visit!