Blue Cross Vet offers a variety of Veterinary services.
Many of these services are outpatient procedures (they go home the same day) while others require hospitalization.
Regardless of the procedure, every patient is carefully monitored, provided food and water
(if allowed), kept clean, and have their progress tracked throughout the day.
Families are welcome to call and inquire about any testing, procedures, or find out more about their pets status while at the clinic.
Every patient will be seen and assessed by Dr. Riggleman while in the hospital, while she and her staff will keep you posted with any changing events and updates.
Many Veterinary services are listed and explained below.
Many of these services are outpatient procedures (they go home the same day) while others require hospitalization.
Regardless of the procedure, every patient is carefully monitored, provided food and water
(if allowed), kept clean, and have their progress tracked throughout the day.
Families are welcome to call and inquire about any testing, procedures, or find out more about their pets status while at the clinic.
Every patient will be seen and assessed by Dr. Riggleman while in the hospital, while she and her staff will keep you posted with any changing events and updates.
Many Veterinary services are listed and explained below.
Soft Tissue Surgery
Laceration repair
This service encompasses many aspects of treatment. Soft tissue surgery includes procedures such as spays, neuters, de-clawing, wound repair, lump removal, etc. Many of these are outpatient procedures with smooth and relatively quick recovery times assisted by antibiotics and anti- inflammatory pain relievers.
Internal/Diagnostic Medicine
Internal medicine can be used as a generalization for treatment of issues such as diabetes, arthritis, heart/lung problems, gastric upset, epilepsy etc. Internal medicine is the 'catch all' category for the treatment of sick patients due to many ailments. Patients will be assessed, then diagnosis and prognosis will be discussed and explained to the owner, and the patient will be under doctors care as needed for treatment and monitoring.
Emergency Services
Emergency Christmas Eve C-Section Schnauzers
On call emergency services are provided by Dr. Riggleman to established patients only. If critical care is needed for reasons such as hit by car, poisoning, bloat, c-section or any other life-threatening emergency, Dr. Riggleman can be reached at the phone number given on the clinic message machine at 208-756-3331, just follow the prompts on our answering machine.
Please note that an additional charge will be incurred for after hours emergency calls.
Preventative Care
'Happy' the hound dog puppy, in for vaccinations
Preventative care are actions taken to prevent serious illenss and or deteriorating health. This includes puppy vaccinations, yearly adult vaccinations, de-worming, yearly blood chemistries, thyroid panels etc. Results of some of these tests can be obtained within a matter of minutes by special equiptment in the clinic, others must be sent out to another labratory. Information from these tests or keeping your pet vaccinated increases it's chances of staying healthy and/or giving the doctor answers to what is best for the patient.
Dermatology
'hot spot' on a dogs neck
Dermatology refers to the study of the skin. This service covers the common itchy/scratchy pet, fleas, ticks, ringworm, general or localized hair loss, mange, rashes, thin hair due to hormonal imbalances or internal issues and much more.
Dentistry
Before and After a dental prophylaxis
Dentistry has come to the forefront of many Veterinary services. It has been found that teeth, and their health, contribute immensely to the health of your pet. Infected, abscessed, loose or broken teeth can be extremely painful and can cause animals to stop eating, loose weight, quit grooming themselves, have bad breath and even cause heart problems. Dentistry entails procedures such as, dental prophylaxis (just like people get at their dentist), removal of retained baby teeth, tooth repair, tooth extraction etc.
Opthamology
This service refers to the study of the eye. Many services include; eye staining to check for abrasions, treatment of eye infections, treatment of glaucoma, enucliation (removal of the eye), cherry eye surgery, proptose surgery (eye comes out of socket) etc.
Infectious Diseases
Stabilization, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment is provided to animals with infectious diseases such as; FIV (Feline Immunodefiency Virus), FeLV (Feline Leukemia), Parvo Virus, FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), Upper Respiratory infections etc.
Reproduction
Standard Poodle Puppy 1 day old
Animal reproduction includes many veterinary services such as; canine stud collection, semen evaluation, canine artificial insemination, cesarean sections, assistance in whelping/queening, vaginal smears and cytology, blood level progesterone testing and ultrasound.
Ultrasound
Confirmed pregnancy on a dog
Dr. Riggleman is equipped with an ultrasound machine which can assist her immensly in viewing internal structures. Ultrasound can help detect tumors, find fluid in the chest/abdominal cavity, detect if organs such as the kidneys and liver appear to be normal, or viewing the uterus of a pregnant mother.
Digital Radiology
A dogs dislocated elbow
Blue Cross Vet has stepped to the forefront of veterinary medicine with its new Digital Radiology machine. Digital Radiology uses the help of a computer to process the image once taken and instantly displays it for the Dr. to see. This process is much easier as opposed to using x-ray film, processing it using a dark room and waiting 10 minutes for development and drying. Digital radiology is not only much more efficient, but also give a clearer picture for the doctor to evaluate, faster processing time to avoid lulls in diagnosis and more forgiveness for re-taking pictures. Radiology is a common procedure in the clinic. Radiographs can be taken of any species of animal brought the in to be examined. This service determines; fractures, foreign body ingestion, proper gastro-intestinal movement, heart & lung health, bone cancer evaluation, placement of bone stabilization devices, pregnancy, OFA certificates etc.
