• Acupuncture – Most commonly used for chronic pain relief, this technique may provide comfort for your pet.
• Anesthesia – If surgery is on the horizon, anesthesia is a critical concern!
• Behavior Counseling – Pet’s manners need adjustment?  Talk to us!
• Puppy Classes – Give your new puppy the head-start you both deserve.
• Boarding – We’re happy to take over when you are away.
• Dentistry – Bad breath got you down?  Let us help!
• Diagnostic Laboratory – We have the latest tools to diagnose the problem quickly.
• Euthanasia – We provide help and understanding with this most difficult of decisions.
• Exotic Pet Care – We also treat those other little (and sometimes not so little) creatures.
• Home Visits – If you cannot come to us, we will still try to help.
• Internal Medicine – We provide diagnostics and care for most medical problems.
• Microchips – The best method of being sure you will be reunited with your lost pet.
• Nutritional Counseling – Fat Cat?  Finicky Dog?  We have solutions.
• Pain Management – No pet should suffer needless pain – we can offer relief.  
• Pharmacy – We stock most medicines your pet will need.
• Radiology – Our digital x-ray unit is cutting edge technology.
• Surgery – Our Laser surgery means less pain and better outcomes for your pet.
• Ultrasonography – An important tool in our diagnostic regime.
• Wellness Care – An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

 

Acupuncture
Acupuncture is defined as the insertion of needles into specific points on the body to cause a desired healing effect. It is a technique for relieving pain and for improving the function of many organ systems. While acupuncture is not a cure-all, it can often produce good results when used to complement more traditional Western medical therapies.

Dr. Ted Cohn, a graduate of the Colorado State University acupuncture accreditation class, performs veterinary acupuncture at University Hills Animal Hospital. Dr. Cohn believes that acupuncture is particularly valuable in helping to relieve musculoskeletal pain and inflammation such as that found with arthritis or joint sprains. It may also be a helpful adjunct for patients with partial paralysis of a limb or significant post-surgical pain.

 

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Anesthesia & Oxygen Therapy
At University Hills Animal Hospital, our doctors use the safest anesthetics and anesthesia protocols available. For major surgical procedures, such as spays or neuters, we use gas anesthesia, which is the safest and most controllable form.

During an anesthetic procedure, our healthcare team continually monitors your pet’s vital signs. If any of these signs are less than optimum, we take immediate steps to ensure your pet’s well being. For optimum safety, we may recommend a pre-surgical blood test for all patients. In older or otherwise higher-risk patients, we recommend additional tests including x-ray, ultrasound or EKG exams to ensure that your pet is a good candidate for anesthesia and surgery.

University Hills Animal Hospital can also provide oxygen therapy for pets that have serious difficulties due to certain medical conditions. In these patients, it is important to provide high concentrations of oxygen if the heart or lungs are compromised by disease or trauma. Our staff continually monitors the progress of pets that require oxygen therapy.

 

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Behavior Counseling
Behavior problems are the number-one reason pets are relinquished to animal shelters each year. At University Hills Animal Hospital, we can help you solve behavior problems so you can understand your pet better and enjoy your pet more.

We offer behavior consultations for dog-behavior problems including digging, destructive behavior, inappropriate urination or defecation, barking, eating of feces and more.

We can also help with cat-behavior troubles such as litter-box problems, inter-cat aggression, staying up at night and scratching furniture.

After diagnosing your pet’s problem, we will recommend appropriate treatments, including behavioral modification and/or medication. Depending upon the problem, we may also refer you to one of several behavioral specialists that work with our veterinary staff.

 

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Puppy Socialization Classes
When you adopt a new puppy, you are making a lifetime commitment. At University Hills Animal Hospital, we offer Puppy Socialization Classes designed to give your puppy a head start on becoming the pet you want him or her to be. This fun experience will help strengthen the bond between you and your new family member.

Puppy socialization classes focus on behavioral wellness and help to define normal and acceptable behaviors of puppies. You will learn to implement concrete training and management plans that will help your pet develop these behaviors. Health care information is provided within the lesson plan and is equally important to help ensure many years of love and companionship.

Puppy socialization class will bring you and your puppy closer together, as well as help your puppy learn how to interact with you. Your puppy’s behavior is developed in response to its experiences. Positive experiences at a young age greatly decrease the likelihood of a puppy becoming anxious or aggressive as an adult.

Our quality class curriculum will give you a well-rounded education in both puppy behavior and health. After attending a socialization class, your puppy will be primed to go out into the world and be the best pet possible.

 

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Boarding
University Hills Animal Hospital has an indoor, climate-controlled boarding facility where we provide boarding services for dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and pocket pets.

Our highly responsible boarding staff provides for the comfort, safety and entertainment of all pets staying with us. Dogs are walked outdoors several times a day, and cats are exercised daily in the cat ward (our cat and dog areas are separate).

Our veterinary staff supervises the boarding facility so they can quickly examine and treat any boarding pet that develops a medical problem. The staff is trained to report any abnormalities to our veterinarians such as lack of appetite, weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, sneezing or any other medical problem.

We feed our boarding guests Hills diets, but we are happy to accommodate your pet in any way. Be sure to let us know about special requirements such as medication, frequent walks and special diet or treats. Please feel free to stop by and visit our boarding facility at any time.

 

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Dentistry
Regular professional cleaning is important to maintaining your pet’s dental health. Our veterinarians and specially trained technicians use modern, safe ultrasonic scalers as well as traditional hand instruments to clean and polish each tooth thoroughly, above and below the gum line. Next, we apply antibacterial and fluoride treatments to help treat inflammation, strengthen enamel and reduce tooth sensitivity. Dental x-rays are taken so that each tooth can be carefully inspected for hidden disease processes.

 

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Diagnostic Laboratory
In-Hospital Diagnostic Lab
University Hills Animal Hospital maintains a full-service in-hospital laboratory. This allows us to run blood, urine, stool and other tests more quickly so that your pet can be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner.

We continually evaluate our lab equipment and techniques by running control studies on samples sent to outside labs. This strict quality control helps to ensure that we are receiving accurate and consistent results.

Other In-Hospital Diagnostics
We employ numerous other diagnostic instruments and methods including electrocardiography (ECG), blood-pressure measurement, intraocular pressure testing for glaucoma, and various scopes for examination of pets’ eyes and ears.

Outside Diagnostic Labs
We utilize the services of various outside diagnostic labs to perform tests that are too sophisticated or difficult for an in-hospital lab. Wellness tests are sent to outside labs to save you money.

All of our outside labs are certified by government and/or professional organizations and must maintain the highest standards of accuracy and precision.

 

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Euthanasia
Saying goodbye to a long-time friend is never easy, and the topic of euthanasia can be difficult and painful for loving pet owners. At University Hills Animal Hospital, we are here to help you through this process with compassionate care and empathy.

Euthanasia may be an option when age or illness begins to affect your pet's quality of life. We will thoroughly and truthfully evaluate the outlook for your pet so that you can make the best decision to ensure your pet's comfort and dignity.

Euthanasia is performed only after a thorough discussion and careful consideration of all alternatives, bearing in mind what is practical, morally acceptable and your wishes regarding quality of life for your pet. Once the decision is made, rest assured that we will carry out the procedure compassionately, humanely and speedily.  We will always try to accommodate your needs to make this an easier time, including making arrangements for home-visit euthanasia.

 

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Exotic Pet Care
University Hills Animal Hospital provides care for all types of pets that have unique needs and require special knowledge, including ferrets, reptiles, birds, rodents and rabbits.

Dr. Ted Cohn has worked as an on-call veterinarian for the Denver Zoo and has extensive experience in caring for many species of birds, non-poisonous reptiles and exotic mammals. In addition, all of our veterinarians provide care for pocket pets, rabbits and ferrets.

 

 

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Home Visits and Pet Pickup/Delivery Service
For pets that are unusually stressed by veterinary visits, University Hills Animal Hospital can provide non-emergency home visits. Keep in mind, however, that these visits may be restricted by the nature and severity of your pet’s illness. Seriously ill patients often need more intensive care than can be provided in the home environment.

On occasion, we may perform home-visit euthanasia. If you feel this alternative may be a more comfortable approach for you and your pet, please discuss it with our staff.

Pet pickup and delivery service may be available if you are unable to transport your pet to our hospital.

Please note
Because home visits and pet pickups/deliveries are very time consuming, we may not always be able to meet your immediate needs. If you anticipate requiring one of these services, please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to accommodate you.

 

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Internal Medicine
University Hills Animal Hospital provides medical services that cover all areas of internal medicine, including the disciplines of:

• Cardiology
• Ophthalmology
• Neurology
• Dermatology
• Gastroenterology
• Oncology
• Endocrinology
• Trauma Medicine

   

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Microchips
Microchips have helped reunite thousands of pets with their families. A microchip is a small electronic chip about the size and shape of a grain of rice. It is injected under your pet's skin, quickly and with minimal discomfort, with a hypodermic needle.

Your pet’s unique chip number is registered with a national database that keeps your contact information on file. Once “chipped,” a small handheld scanner passed over the back of the pet will display the microchip number.

If your lost pet is brought to an animal shelter or to most veterinary offices, it will be scanned, then the database will be contacted and your pet will be identified. The finder will then notify you so that your pet is returned as soon as possible.

 

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Nutritional Counseling
While all pets benefit from a balanced diet, some pets require special food as their nutritional needs change due to age or a specific medical condition.



We can help you choose a diet that will meet your pet’s nutritional requirements and help keep your pet happy, healthy and active. Many of our healthcare team members have special training in Hills Prescription® foods and other diets that we offer.

 

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Pain Management
Veterinary patients feel pain and discomfort under the same circumstances people do. To that end, we give medications before and after surgery — and any other time that it is needed — to help keep our patients comfortable.

Pain management is part of every health-management protocol at our hospital because we believe that recognizing and alleviating pain in animals is the essence of good patient care.

 

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Pharmacy
University Hills Animal Hospital has a fully stocked onsite pharmacy and can fill most prescriptions in a timely and efficient manner. We also maintain close ties with local pharmacies so we can special order medications that are difficult to obtain or require special formulation.

 

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Radiology
University Hills Animal Hospital has a fully equipped in-house radiology department. Our radiology equipment includes one of the newest and most advanced digital x-ray machines available. Digital radiography allow us to take high-quality x-rays providing more rapid and accurate diagnosis. Our experienced veterinary technicians have gone through specific training in taking radiographs (x-rays). This training helps us maintain the comfort of your pet, as well as expose our staff and patients to less radiation.

Occasionally, we will recommend the use of special contrast dyes to enable us to see certain disease conditions. These dyes are safe for your pet, and our staff is specially trained to work with these materials.

Our radiology equipment undergoes regular inspection by the State of Colorado to certify that we meet all radiation safety requirements for the protection of the environment, our staff and our patients.

 

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Surgery
University Hills Animal Hospital provides a wide array of surgical services, from spays and neuters to complex soft-tissue and orthopedic surgery.

We are pleased to offer our patients surgery performed with the CO2 surgical laser. This state-of-the-art instrument is a safe and comfortable alternative to a traditional scalpel blade. Because of its accuracy and precision, only a small layer of tissue is removed, leaving the surrounding tissues unaffected.

For your pet, this means less bleeding and less pain during and after surgery, less swelling, decreased risk of infection and a faster recovery time.

Because of the many advantages of laser surgery, we use the laser for most surgical procedures at no extra cost to you.

Please note that for some specialized procedures, we may call in an outside surgeon or refer you to a veterinary surgical specialist. Your pet’s safety and favorable outcome is always our most important consideration.

 

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Ultrasonography
The veterinarians at University Hills Animal Hospital use ultrasound to visualize internal organs, take biopsies, assess pregnancies, drain fluid from the chest or abdomen, and diagnose and assess heart disease. The information provided by an ultrasound exam helps us diagnose disease more accurately and gives us details that x-rays alone cannot supply.

Ultrasound imaging is a very safe, non-invasive technique in which the veterinarian holds an ultrasound probe against the side of the pet’s body. The ultrasound works by converting sound waves to a two-dimensional image on a screen. A specialized ultrasound exam of the heart, called an echocardiogram, allows us to evaluate your pet’s beating heart.

 

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Wellness Care
At University Hills Animal Hospital, we strive to prevent illness whenever possible. As part of that goal, we believe that the time and effort invested in Wellness Programs can offer great rewards for both pets and owners.

Our Wellness Plans are designed specifically for your pet and include a comprehensive physical exam, internal parasite testing, heartworm prevention, vaccination program, spay and neuter surgery, dental care and early-detection blood tests for all life stages.

 

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