Welcome
Belchertown Veterinary Hospital & Canterbury Tails Veterinary Clinic
Wellness Exams
We perform annual wellness exams for all current pets at our practice. This allows us to make sure your pet is at their best health and that nothing is going unnoticed. When completing a comprehensive exam, our doctors look for:
Eyes- Signs of disease, discharge or tearing, abnormal movement or reaction to light, eyelid abnormalities or retinal disease.
Ears- Signs of ear infection including pain, gland swelling, redness, odor, mites, ear canal tumors, and ear drum disease and rupture.
Mouth- Bad breath, level of calculus on teeth, gingivitis, oral tumors, gum color, tonsils, and dehydration.
Heart- Heart rate, arrhythmias, and murmurs/valvular disease.
Lungs- Wheezing, crackling, muffled heart sounds and increased airway sounds.
Abdomen- Increased abdominal organ enlargement, liver, spleen, and kidneys; bladder size, pain, or stones; intestinal thickness or gas; discomfort on palpation or excessive fluid.
Legs- Muscle symmetry, grinding sounds or fluid in the joints; limitations in range of joint motion, painful bones or joints and lameness.
Coat, Skin, and Nails- Overall condition and quality of coat; lumps and bumps; excessive dander; saliva-stained fur; fleas/ticks; skin rashes and infections; overgrown nails; tapeworms, fecal matting, or anal gland abnormalities.
Lymph nodes/Thyroid- Any irregularities or changes in size.
Puppy/Kitten Exams
Each comprehensive exam is scheduled with plenty of time for the exam itself as well as any questions you might have. We provide additional time during new puppy and new kitten exams for the unique needs of pets at this life stage. This is when we determine the vaccine protocol appropriate for your new pet. We also offer recommendations on many important issues regarding young animals in a new environment.
.jpg)
Senior Pet Care
Our veterinarians provide life long care specific to your pet's life stage. Senior pets have different needs than those just starting out. We have many services just for them such as: senior lab work profiles to detect the onset of illness, dental work, arthritis treatment/prevention, and as much more is as needed. To us, the key is customizing care for each individual patient to keep your pet happy and healthy throughout their life.
Exotic Pet Medicine
The exotics we see here at the Ware office include rabbits, ferrets, rats, chinchillas, mice, hamsters, and gerbils by Dr. Cleary. These exotics, plus guinea pigs, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, & reptiles are seen by Dr. Greenberger at our Belchertown location. We do not see birds.
Consults
We are happy to provide a variety of consults for both preventative health & sick visits. For example:
Behavioral: We practice Fear Free medicine at Belchertown Vet & Canterbury Tails, and believe in taking the stress out of vet visits, as well as out of the home and life. If you are having behavioral challenges with your pet, we can determine if a symptom is medically caused or a behavioral issue. Some behavioral issues can be corrected by simple home training with some suggestions from our doctors. If there is a more complicated behavioral issue we have professionals to refer you to.
Nutritional: Excess weight can exacerbate or cause many health issues in pets, and our doctors are here to help make sure you have the best nutritional plan for your pet. For illness, sometimes an ongoing medical problem can be treated in part or full by feeding the proper diet. We have many prescription diets in stock for the treatment of your pet. We can also order special food as is necessary if it is not something we normally carry and will have it in stock once we know that it is an ongoing part of your pet's care, upon request.
Orthopedic: Although we do not perform orthopedic surgeries, we do orthopedic consultations. We can determine the necessary procedure to correct issues and refer you to the appropriate specialist should it be necessary. We also x-ray for Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) certification. We use state of the art digital radiography at our facility.
Quality of Life: If your pet is elderly or ailing, we will be here for you to schedule a quality of life consult to discuss if it may be time to consider palliative care or euthanasia for your beloved companion. We will support you in every way that we can in helping you make these end-of-life decisions. We offer euthanasia and cremation services when the time is appropriate for your beloved pet.
Very caring vet! They have cared for my little Yorkie since we had him and they call to check up on him after visits. I love that...They are thorough and professional, and very loving people towards pets. Highly recommend.
Geoffrey G.