General Medicine

Providing Preventive and Immediate Care

While prevention is our first goal, we all know that our pets can get hurt or sick. Because we are a complete, full-service veterinary hospital, we offer not only preventative services for your pet, but our veterinarians are skilled at treating your pets’ illnesses when they arise. We practice high-quality medicine that focuses on your whole pet-specific areas include dermatology, cardiology, endocrinology, ophthalmology, internal medicine, and oncology. Continuing education is important to all of our doctors and we strive to always offer you the most current medical therapy available.

Cardiology

Our veterinarians and staff are dedicated to providing outstanding cardiac care for your dog, cat, bird, or small mammal. We can provide diagnostics, treatment, and management of most cardiac conditions. For more advanced cases, we partner with a mobile cardiologist, Dr. Janet Olson at Veterinary Cardiology Specialists, to provide high level cardiac care within our own practice.

We offer the following cardiac diagnostics:

• Laboratory Tests: In addition to routine blood work, we can perform specific blood tests including the Cardiopet proBNP test to assess your pet’s cardiac health.
• Digital Radiographs: We can perform digital radiographs of your pet’s heart and lungs to identify abnormalities or to provide monitoring for an existing condition. A board-certified radiologist reviews all of our radiographs.
• Electrocardiogram (ECG): For pets with abnormal heart rhythms, a Lead II electrocardiogram may be performed to evaluate the electrical activity of the heart. For advanced cases, a specialist may evaluate the results or recommend advanced diagnostics such as a six-lead ECG or a Holter monitor.
• Pulse Oximetry: Pulse oximetry evaluates your pet’s oxygen saturation and is an important diagnostic tool for pets in congestive heart failure. This is also used to monitor pets on oxygen therapy.
• Ultrasound: We have an in-house ultrasound to allow us to detect serious abnormalities such as a dilated heart, pericardial fluid (fluid around the heart), or masses associated with the heart. For echocardiography (advanced ultrasound of the heart), we recommend a consultation with our cardiologist.

Please inform us if your pet is experiencing any signs of a cardiac condition, including:

• Difficulty breathing or labored breathing
• Increased respiratory rate
• Coughing
• Exercise intolerance or other significant changes in activity
• Fainting
• Weakness
• Restlessness or inability to be comfortable, especially at night

Endocrinology

Abnormalities of the endocrine system are very common in pets. We frequently diagnose and manage the following diseases:

• Hyperthyroidism:

  This condition is most often diagnosed in cats, and is a disorder resulting from the excessive production and secretion of thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland. Common clinical signs of hyperthyroidism include weight loss, increased appetite, hyperactivity, restlessness, hair coat changes, increased water consumption and urination, vomiting, and diarrhea. We can manage your cat’s hyperthyroidism with medical therapy using methimazole. We can also provide referrals to several facilities in the Twin Cities that provide radioactive iodine (i131) therapy for treatment of hyperthyroidism.

• Hypothyroidism:

  This condition is most often diagnosed in dogs, and is a disorder in which the thyroid gland does not produce the normal amount of thyroid hormones. The most common clinical signs include lethargy, mental dullness, inactivity, weight gain, hair coat changes, and cold intolerance. We can manage your dog’s hypothyroidism with medical therapy using thyroxine. 

• Addison’s Disease:

  Addison’s Disease or hypoadrenocorticism is a metabolic disease in which the adrenal glands are not functioning appropriately to produce important compounds such as glucocorticoids or mineralocorticoids. A deficiency of glucocorticoids typically causes gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, abdominal pain, and weight loss. Other signs may include weakness, shivering, lethargy, difficulty walking, dehydration, or an increase in water consumption and urination. This condition can be very serious and requires prompt medical management. We can provide complete laboratory testing for this condition including routine blood work, baseline serum cortisol levels, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation testing. Medical therapy is most often accomplished with a combination of an injectable mineralocorticoid called desoxycorticosterone pivalate (DOCP) and an oral glucocorticoid called prednisone. 

• Cushing’s Disease:

  Cushing’s disease or hyperadrenocorticism is an endocrine disorder in which there is an excess amount of cortisol (a glucocorticoid) in the body. The most common clinical signs in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism include increased water consumption, increased urination, increased appetite, panting, abdominal enlargement, bilateral hair loss, muscle weakness, and lethargy. We can provide complete laboratory testing for this condition including routine blood work and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation testing. We can also perform an abdominal ultrasound to visualize your pet’s adrenal glands if necessary. Medical therapy is most often accomplished with either trilostane or mitotane, though for some cases, surgery may be recommended.

• Diabetes Mellitus:

  This is a common endocrine disorder of both dogs and cats. It is characterized by a lack of insulin or an inability of insulin to function properly leading to an increase in blood glucose in the body. Increased water consumption, increased urination, increased appetite, and weight loss are the hallmark signs of diabetes mellitus. Other clinical signs may include a loss of appetite, weakness, depression, neuropathy, and abdominal pain. If these signs go unnoticed, pets may become severely ill. We can provide complete laboratory testing for the early diagnosis of this disease. Management of diabetes mellitus generally consists of dietary changes and insulin therapy, though our doctors will discuss the most appropriate therapy tailored specifically to your pet if your pet is diagnosed with this condition. Click here to learn more about Diabetes Mellitus.

  We value client education at St. Francis. If your pet is diagnosed with any of these lifelong diseases, we will provide you with the resources and support for you to understand the disease and feel comfortable with your role in your pet’s care.

For more information on general medicine, our services, or to request an appointment, please call our office during business hours: (651) 645-2808