Veterinary Services

Serving the pets of Virginia and beyond!

LOCATIONS

We offer a wide range of services to your pet.

We provide complete veterinary services at our hospitals in Loudoun and Clarke counties and Winchester, VA and via our In-Home Veterinary Care services. Simply put, we have multiple locations and avenues to make sure that your pet can receive the care they need when they need it, and where they need it. Below you’ll find an outline of our services and information on our locations and mobile services.

Browse our services below!

Wellness Care

From their first visit and every visit thereafter, wellness care is the most important thing you can do for your pet. Overall wellness care means focusing on their longterm health both physically and mentally. We’ll work with you on a plan that gets them on the right diet for their lifestyle, the right vaccination schedule, parasite preventatives, and a wellness schedule for ongoing care. During every single visit, a nose-to-tail examination by one of our veterinarians can identify problems before clinical signs are visible.

Wellness exams may include heartworm and internal parasite screening; our veterinarian may also recommend a blood profile, urinalysis, and electrocardiogram to monitor your loved one’s health.

We’ll be sure to get your pet on a proper schedule and diet, and be ready for any changes in the baselines of their health.

Surgical Care

During the toughest of times, we’ll be there. Our veterinary team offers a wide range of surgical solutions, both routine and complex, for your pet. Almost all procedures are possible for either one of our veterinarians or a traveling board-certified surgeon, including, to name a few:

  • Spay
  • Neuters
  • Growth (mass) removal
  • Abdominal Exploratory
  • Foreign body removal
  • Bloat (GDV)
  • Knee surgery (TTA or TPLO)

Before the operation, we’ll be sure to answer any and all questions you may have about the day-of protocols, and what to expect. Once released, we’ll provide full take-home information that you’ll need to make sure you are fully aware of how to get ahold of us for any and all questions you may have.

We go above and beyond, period.

Pre-operative blood work (either Young Healthy or Older Pet is done):

Young Healthy Pet

These tests do a complete blood count, measure certain chemistry values and assure proper blood clotting function. These tests are required to check the functioning of the internal organs to ensure your pet can appropriately handle the anesthetic agents that will be used during the procedure. The blood tests are usually done a day or so before the surgery.

Older Pet

We check a full set of chemistry values for older pets for liver, kidney, pancreas and other body chemistry values, a full complete blood count (CBC) and thyroid test to ensure no hidden conditions exist which might cause us to postpone a procedure and for all anesthetic agent safety reasons.

Hospitalization Per Day:

Hospitalization is the charge for us to take care of your pet during the day; to be closely monitored by technicians and doctors throughout the surgery, and following the surgery. An assistant sits with your pet until they are completely awake from anesthesia and showing normal temperature and vital signs.

Hospitalization includes a clean cage, clean towels, and cushions to make a soft, comfortable bed before and after the surgery. We also feed your pet once their procedure is finished and they are awake. Dogs are walked, cats get litter boxes.

Intravenous (IV) Catheter:

The I.V. catheter is placed into a vein by a Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT) with the help of an assistant. The catheter is important for a number of reasons. Anesthesia lowers blood pressure as well as making your pet unaware of what is happening.

The catheter allows fluids to flow directly into your pet’s bloodstream to help keep blood pressure at a proper level. It allows additional medications (if needed) to quickly get into the body for quick effect via direct injection through the catheter so that in the case of a rare adverse anesthetic event, the doctor and anesthetist (LVT) can correct the problem immediately.

The catheter stays in place until your pet is awake, stable and fluids are no longer needed.

Fluid Setup (IV):

The fluid setup charge provides for a new bag of fluids and a new fluid line specifically and only for your pet. These are attached to the fluid pump to allow the hydrating fluids to flow directly into your pet’s bloodstream via the IV Catheter, before, during and after the anesthesia and procedure.

Note: The other method for delivering fluids is under the skin. However, this does NOT allow the use of a fluid pump and NOT provide the same positive effect on blood pressure as fluids delivered via IV catheters.

Fluid Pump:

Every pet can respond a bit differently to anesthesia. The fluid pump allows for the accurate dosing of fluids via an IV catheter before, during and after the surgery and can be quickly adjusted, if needed, to ensure proper hydration and blood pressure.

Vital Signs Monitoring:

Vital Signs Monitoring is always part of every anesthesia process (surgery or dental). We do not add an additional charge to do so and in many ways is the most important thing we do.

The electronic monitor shows blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen concentration, EKG (how the heart is doing) and CO2 level monitoring. The anesthetist carefully observes your pet throughout the surgery looking at the monitor, manually checking heart rate as well and personally and directly observing a variety of body responses to the surgical procedure and anesthesia – in other words, we double-check what the electronic monitoring reports.

We use heated surgical tables and other warming devices as needed to help maintain correct body temperature before, during and after the procedure. These are temperature controlled to NEVER burn your pet.

We have a minimum of three people in each surgery. The Veterinarian doing the surgery, the Licensed Veterinary Technician monitoring the anesthesia and the assistant who also observes vital signs and records these every five minutes until your pet is awake. The assistant also stays with your pet near their cage until they are fully awake with stable body temperature.

Anesthesia Pre-Med:

Anesthesia pre-med is an intramuscular injection of sedating drugs, given prior to the placement of an IV catheter. The sedation lowers stress levels and relaxes your pet enough so that preparing them for surgery is easier for all.

Anesthesia Induction:

Anesthesia induction is the next step and causes your pet to be relaxed enough to place a breathing tube down their airway (Intubation). The intubation allows us to assist their breathing during the procedure. All of this is checked by the LVT and the Doctor. The intubation protects the lungs from any contamination (such as vomiting) which can happen during anesthesia and avoids the possibility of pneumonia. The intubation is the way the gas anesthesia and oxygen is given to your pet during the procedure, without intubation you cannot safely and accurately give gas anesthesia and oxygen.

Pain Management Injection:

All of our patients are administered a pain management injection during surgery. All surgery is painful, especially abdominal surgery such as spays and pain medications are required to make them comfortable and pain-free after the surgery. Pain Management is not optional.

Anesthesia First 30 Minutes:

Gas anesthesia is better than injectable anesthesia. Gas anesthesia can be carefully and finely adjusted as needed depending on your pet’s response to the anesthesia. Injectable (into the muscle) anesthesia is not adjustable and remains longer in the body and we do not use it as the primary anesthesia. When gas anesthesia is turned off at the end, your pet wakes up fairly rapidly and is alert much sooner than with injectable anesthesia.

As they awaken, their swallow reflex returns and that is the signal to remove the intubation which has been protecting the airway and the lungs. Once the swallow reflex returns, the danger of foreign material such as saliva or vomiting (rare) getting into the lungs and causing pneumonia is passed. There are usually at least two people present during the initial awakening process, more for larger dogs.

Anesthesia Additional per 15 minutes:

Depending on the length of the procedure we charge anesthesia in 15-minute additional increments.

Dental Care

According to the American Veterinary Dental Society, 70% of adult cats and 80% of adult dogs show symptoms of oral disease. Exceptionally bad breath, brownish plaque at the base of the teeth, excessive drooling, sore or bleeding gums when eating or chewing, and decreased appetite can all be signs that a pet’s teeth require attention. Maintaining strong dental health and a regular cleaning program not only assures that your pet’s mouth and teeth will remain in excellent condition, but will also help to prevent infections that can spread through the bloodstream to affect major organs such as your pet’s liver, kidneys, and heart.

We perform dental services at all of our locations. Dentistry is done under general anesthesia and therefore requires blood testing to be done within 30 days of the procedure to ensure screening for various health issues.

  • Teeth cleaning and polishing
  • Tooth extractions
  • General exams of the mouth sometimes not possible when the pet is awake.

As with all anesthesia, a minimum of two licensed professionals are present at all times to perform the procedure while another monitors anesthesia and vital signs. Vitals signs monitored continuously and are recorded every five minutes.

The following is including in part of every dental treatment plan we provide to each client before doing a procedure:

This dental treatment plan includes all of the items we routinely include and do to ensure the safety and comfort of your pet.

Please read the detailed explanation of each and every item to understand what we are doing and why. If you price compare the treatment plan and find lower costs elsewhere please ask the lower cost estimate provider if their estimate specifically includes everything we do and if not, why.

Our goal is to educate you and ensure the safety and comfort of your pet and that you understand why almost none of these items are optional.

IMPORTANT: Detailed explanation of each item on the following pages.

Pre-dental exam:

The doctor does the pre-surgical exam prior to the procedure. The exam is free of charge. We ensure all our patients appear healthy on the day of the procedure by double checking heart, lungs, and vital signs prior to giving any medications.

Pre-operative blood work (either Young Healthy or Older Pet is done):

Young Healthy Pet

These tests do a complete blood count, measure certain chemistry values and assure proper blood clotting function. These tests are required to check the functioning of the internal organs to ensure your pet can appropriately handle the anesthetic agents that will be used during the procedure. The blood tests are usually done a day or so before the surgery.

Older Pet

We check a full set of chemistry values for older pets for liver, kidney, pancreas and other body chemistry values, a full complete blood count (CBC) and thyroid test to ensure no hidden conditions exist which might cause us to postpone a procedure and for all anesthetic agent safety reasons.

Hospitalization Per Day:

Hospitalization is the charge for us to take care of your pet during the day; to be closely monitored by technicians and doctors throughout the surgery, and following the surgery. An assistant sits with your pet until they are completely awake from anesthesia and showing normal temperature and vital signs.

Hospitalization includes a clean cage, clean towels and cushions to make a soft, comfortable bed before and after the surgery. We also feed you pet once their procedure is finished and they are awake. Dogs are walked, cats get litter boxes.

Intravenous (IV) Catheter:

The I.V. catheter is placed into a vein by a Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT) with the help of an assistant. The catheter is important for a number of reasons. Anesthesia lowers blood pressure as well as making your pet unaware of what is happening.

The catheter allows fluids to flow directly into your pets bloodstream to help keep blood pressure at a proper level. It allows additional medications (if needed) to quickly get into the body for quick effect via direct injection through the catheter so that in the case of a rare adverse anesthetic event, the doctor and anesthetist (LVT) can correct the problem immediately.

The catheter stays in place until your pet is awake, stable and fluids are no longer needed.

Fluid Setup (IV):

The fluid setup charge provides for a new bag of fluids and new fluid line specifically and only for your pet. These are attached to the fluid pump to allow the hydrating fluids to flow directly into your pets bloodstream via the IV Catheter, before, during and after the anesthesia and procedure.

Note: The other method for delivering fluids is under the skin. However, this does NOT allow the use of a fluid pump and NOT provide the same positive effect on blood pressure as fluids delivered via IV catheter.

Fluid Pump:

Every pet can respond a bit differently to anesthesia. The fluid pump allows for the accurate dosing of fluids via IV catheter before, during and after the surgery and can be quickly adjusted, if needed, to ensure proper hydration and blood pressure.

Vital Signs Monitoring:

Vital Signs Monitoring is always part of in every anesthesia process (surgery or dental). We do not add an additional charge to do so and in many ways is the most important thing we do.

The electronic monitor shows blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen concentration, EKG (how the heart is doing) and CO2 level monitoring. The anesthetist carefully observes your pet throughout the surgery looking at the monitor, manually checking heart rate as well and personally and directly observing a variety of body responses to the surgical procedure and anesthesia – in other words we double check what the electronic monitoring reports.

We use heated surgical tables and other warming devices as needed to help maintain correct body temperature before, during and after the procedure. These are temperature controlled to NEVER burn your pet.

We have a minimum of three people in each surgery. The Veterinarian doing the surgery, the Licensed Veterinary Technician monitoring the anesthesia and the assistant who also observes vital signs and records these every five minutes until your pet is awake. The assistant also stays with your pet near their cage until they are fully awake with a stable body temperature.

Anesthesia Pre-Med:

Anesthesia pre-med is an intramuscular injection of sedating drugs, given prior to the placement of an IV catheter. The sedation lowers stress levels and relaxes your pet enough so that preparing them for surgery is easier for all.

Anesthesia Induction:

Anesthesia induction is the next step and causes your pet to be relaxed enough to place a breathing tube down their airway (Intubation). The intubation allows us to assist their breathing during the procedure. All of this is checked by the LVT and the Doctor. The intubation protects the lungs from any contamination (such as vomiting) which can happen during anesthesia and avoids the possibility of pneumonia. The intubation is the way the gas anesthesia and oxygen is given to your pet during the procedure, without intubation you cannot safely and accurately give gas anesthesia and oxygen.

Pain Management Injection:

All of our patients are administered a pain management injection during surgery. All surgery is painful, especially abdominal surgery such as spays and pain medications are required to make them comfortable and pain-free after the surgery. Pain Management is not optional.

Anesthesia First 30 Minutes:

Gas anesthesia is better than injectable anesthesia. Gas anesthesia can be carefully and finely adjusted as needed depending on your pets response to the anesthesia. Injectable (into the muscle) anesthesia is not adjustable and remains longer in the body and we do not use it as the primary anesthesia. When gas anesthesia is turned off at the end, your pet wakes up fairly rapidly and is alert much sooner then with injectable anesthesia.

As they awaken, their swallow reflex returns and that is the signal to remove the intubation which has been protecting the airway and the lungs. Once the swallow reflex returns, the danger of foreign material such as saliva or vomiting (rare) getting into the lungs and causing pneumonia is past. There are usually at least two people present during the initial awakening process, more for larger dogs.

Anesthesia Additional per 15 minutes:

Depending on the length of the procedure we charge anesthesia in 15 minute additional increments.

Dental Radiographs (X-rays)

Some teeth are very obviously in bad shape and need to be removed, these teeth do not require x-rays to make this decision. Other teeth LOOK fine but underneath have rotten roots or other issues which can only be seen by dental x-rays. The only way to take dental x-rays is when your pet is under full anesthesia. Older pets tend to have more bad teeth. Some breeds of dogs, especially small breeds are VERY prone to bad teeth due to genetics. We only want to put your dog under anesthesia once, which is why we need the x-rays.

Surgical Extractions:

Any surgical extractions needed (IF ANY) require different amounts of time and different costs. We charge extract time in five minute increments. Hopefully, we have no extractions but this cannot be known until AFTER tartar is removed from the teeth and dental x-rays are done (as needed).

Teeth can have one, two or three roots. The more roots, the more time required to remove a tooth. Usually, a very diseased tooth is easier to remove that a tooth that is less diseased but still needs removal. The more extractions, the longer the anesthesia time.

We also need additional dental x-rays at times to ensure all tooth roots are removed from a tooth socket during an extraction as tooth roots mistakenly left behind can be VERY painful.

Ultrasonic Scaling/Polishing:

We do the scaling (removing tarter and debris) as the first step in restoring a set of clean teeth. After everything else is done, we polish to whiten and brighten the teeth. In between, we do the x-rays and any needed extractions.

Antibiotic Injection:

Antibiotics to take home and an antibiotic injection will be at the discretion of the surgeon, depending on what is found during the surgery. If the surgeon feels that antibiotics are necessary to aid in the recovery, they will also be given and prescribed.

Pain Medication to go home:

Pain medication will also be sent home for the recovery period to keep your pet comfortable and happy which helps with a quicker recovery. Also, not optional. Usually NOT needed for a cleaning only.

Antibiotic to take home:

Usually, if the teeth are in really bad shape your pet has already been started on antibiotics prior to the dental procedure. However, more may be needed based on the Veterinarian’s findings during the procedure.

Pharmacy

Need something for your pet? We’ve got you covered. You’re able to get the medication you need in our hospital or from our online store. We have options to make your life easier. We carry a variety of heartworm, flea and tick preventatives for your convenience. We also have a full in-house pharmacy of oral, eye, and dermatology medications onsite to make it easy to get the proper medications for your pet.

At House Paws, we obtain our medications from reputable veterinary distributors. Whenever possible our prices are comparable to online and other large discount stores.

All clients can choose to have their medication refills mailed to them as has always been done for House Call and Farm Call clients.

Refills

Please email or call to request a medication refill.

House Call and Farm Refills: admin@housepaws.com

Lovettsville Refills: lovettsville@housepaws.com

Round Hill Refills: roundhill@housepaws.com

Berryville Refills: berryville@housepaws.com

Winchester Refills: winchester@housepaws.com

FDA Resources

FDA Consumer Resources

Purchasing Pet Drugs Online: Buyer Beware

Diagnostic Imaging

Quick diagnosis leads to quick treatment, and that’s important to us. We have the latest in radiography and ultrasonography at our disposal. These imaging modalities in tandem with our in-house laboratory, provide us a window into your furbaby’s well-being.

Digital Radiography (X-Ray)

A radiograph (X-ray) is a type of photograph that looks inside the body and reveals information that may not be discernible from the outside. Radiography can be used to evaluate your pet’s internal organs like the heart, lungs, and abdominal organs, as well as bones. When it comes to accurately diagnosing your pet, radiology can be an extremely valuable tool in our diagnostic arsenal.

Ultrasonography

Ultrasonography, or ultrasound, is a diagnostic imaging technique similar to radiography (X-rays) and is often used in conjunction with radiography and other diagnostics. It allows us to visualize certain organs very thoroughly, including the heart, kidneys, liver, gallbladder, bladder, spleen, and intestines. It can also be useful to detect and monitor pregnancy. We work closely with specialists – people who have dedicated their entire lives to imaging – so you get the most out of this fantastic diagnostic tool. 
These services are available at the following locations:
Digital X-ray
  • Round Hill
  • Berryville
  • Winchester
  • Lovettsville
Ultrasound
  • Two portable units – available at all locations and at your home and farm
  • Board Certified Radiologist review of x-ray and ultrasound modalities at all locations
  • Board Certified Internal Medicine traveling ultrasound veterinarian available at all locations for imaging and diagnoses.
In-House Laboratory

Our pets are unable to tell us what’s wrong, but proper laboratory tests can help us get to an answer quickly. We do more than just offer you state-of-the-art diagnostic tests, we choose the tests that will guide us toward the perfect, tailor-made solution.

In-House Blood Testing

We have in-house machines to quickly provide basic blood testing information which we use when your pets are sick and getting results soon serves your pet better. These are also useful for when ill pets are hospitalized. The basic capabilities include Complete Blood Count, Full Chemistry and Blood Clotting Tests.

  • Lovettsville
  • Round Hill
  • Berryville
  • Winchester

Outside Reference Lab Tests

All of our locations have outside veterinary reference lab accounts. We use these to provide certain information we don’t normally obtain from In-House testing and when routine lab results can wait for a next day result. There are also many lab tests available via a reference lab that needs to be run from time to time that is best performed or can only be performed at a reference lab.

We have two locations and an in-home service.

We proudly serve pets in Lovettsville, Round Hill, and mobile services all over Northern Virginia. To contact us or request an appointment, find the location nearest you below.