Our Services

Digital X-Ray

At Cardiff Animal Hospital & Wellness Center we are proud to be on the cutting edge of medical technology. Radiology is a technique and diagnostic tool that we use to look inside the body in an entirely non-invasive way. X-rays allow us to create images of all the body’s organs.

In other words, the use of radiology gives us a view of the internal organs in your pet’s body that we otherwise could not see. It’s a valuable diagnostic tool that helps veterinarians detect and prevent illness.

The use of radiology is safe, and our entire staff is highly trained. It is our goal to provide your pet with the highest level of medical care possible, and this is just one of the many ways we achieve that.

In-House Laboratory

Our in-house laboratory allows us to perform an array of diagnostic tests that help us care for your pet. This ranges from simple laboratory tests to more complex diagnostic tools that help us in treating your pet.

Ultrasound

Ultrasound uses sound waves to offer a non-invasive, painless, and radiation-free method of imaging your pet’s internal organs. This is one of the many ways we are dedicated to providing your pet with the best care possible.

By using ultrasound, we have yet another powerful tool at our disposal to detect, diagnose, and prevent illness in your pet.

Pain is a terrible thing. Cardiff Animal Hospital & Wellness Center wants to alleviate as much pain and discomfort in our patients as possible. In an effort to bring you the highest quality care, we are dedicated to providing top-notch pain management.

When our pets are in pain, so are we. It’s an awful feeling to know that your special friend is hurting, especially when there isn’t anything you can do to help them. It is our goal to eliminate as much pain as possible and to give these pets a better quality of life.

Therapeutic (“Cold”) Laser Therapy

Cold Laser is a state-of-the-art alternative therapy to assist with pain and healing. It can be used after surgeries to help increase blood flow to local areas, improving healing. It can also be used for chronic pain, helping to increase blood flow to those areas. Ask your pet’s veterinarian how your pet would benefit from our Cold Laser Therapy.

Acupuncture

Medical Acupuncture works by using therapeutic effects of needling. The needles activate nerve fibers by the point of insertion. These stimuli then bring changes that help to balance nerve signaling and neurotransmitter activity from the “periphery”(ie.acupuncture point) of the central nervous system (ie. the brain and spinal cord) and autonomic system (ie. centers that govern processes like glandular activity, immune status, digestion, mood, and more). Acupuncture also helps release tension from the muscles and enveloping fibrous network called “fascia.”

Regenerative (Stem Cell & PRP) Therapy

Stem Cells have been proven to help animals suffering from a variety of conditions like arthritis and tendon or joint issues. This procedure is a regenerative process that allows your pet to better cope with their changing bodies. Stem cells hold immense promise for medical treatment because they can take on the traits of all kinds of cells and then replicate many times over.

The regenerative cells that are collected do several things: they release chemicals that help decrease inflammation; they send out chemicals to the body to bring healing cells into that area, and they have the potential to regenerate damaged tissue.

Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), although relatively new to the Western world, is a medical system that has been used in China to treat animals for thousands of years. It is an adaptation and extension of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) used to treat humans. Speaking broadly, Chinese Medicine is a complete body of thought and practice grounded in Chinese Daoist philosophy. Though it can be traced back over two millennia in recorded history, it, like any medical system, continues to evolve today, and current research on acupuncture and herbal medicine is beginning to shed light on its mechanism of action.

The Four Branches of TCVM

Once a particular type of disharmony or disease pattern is identified, treatment often proceeds through a combination of treatment modalities.

Though the terms Chinese Medicine and acupuncture are often used interchangeably in the West, acupuncture is only one modality or “branch” of TCM and TCVM. There are four branches of TCVM – Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Food Therapy and Tui-na (Qi-gong, a form of Chinese meditative exercise, is the fifth branch of TCM that is excluded from TCVM because it cannot be performed by animals).

✓ Acupuncture is a treatment that involves the stimulation of points, typically achieved through the insertion of specialized needles into the body. Acupuncture points typically lie along the body’s Meridian Channels along which Qi flows. Most veterinary acupuncture points and Meridian lines are transposed to animals from humans, though knowledge of some “classical points” defined on particular species have been retained and are used to this day.

✓ Herbal Medicine utilizes herbal ingredients listed within the Chinese Herbal Materia Medica in particular combinations or formulas to treat particular disease patterns. Herbal formulas are administered orally and are typically given in powder form to horses and other large animals and tea pill or capsule form to cats and dogs.

✓ Food Therapy is the use of diet to treat and prevent imbalance within the body. It utilizes knowledge of the energetics of food ingredients to tailor diets for individual animals.

✓ Tui-na is a form of Chinese manual therapy in which different manipulations are applied to acupoints and Meridians to promote the circulation of Qi and correct imbalances within the organ systems. From a conventional medicine perspective, Tui-na can be thought of as corresponding to a combination of acupressure, conventional massage, and chiropractic techniques. Tui-na is most commonly used to treat acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions and is also useful as a preventative medicine therapy because it promotes balance in the body. It can also be used in conjunction with and to enhance acupuncture and herbal treatments.
Although veterinarians must receive specialized training in the techniques and applications of Tui-na, once mastered, several Tui-na techniques can be taught to caretakers for home treatments.

Integrative Medicine

TCVM and traditional western veterinary practic TCVM is often viewed as a form of complementary therapy and is best when used in conjunction with Western Veterinary Medicine (WVM). Both TCVM and WVM have their own strengths and weaknesses. TCVM is a holistic approach that is suited to assessing the well-being of the whole patient, and treatments are generally non-invasive with few side effects. However, TCVM lacks the tools necessary to pinpoint illness to specific disease-causing agents like pathogenic bacteria or viruses, and treatments are better suited for chronic conditions than acute ones. On the other hand, WVM utilizes the tools of modern science to diagnose the disease with great precision, and Western drugs and procedures are powerful and fast acting.

However, its insistence on detailed diagnosis may come at the expense of getting the larger picture. Furthermore, while modern medicine can perform miracles for trauma and acute injuries, it has little to offer chronic conditions like liver failure and atopy which can be treated effectively with acupuncture and herbal medicine. In many ways, TCVM and WVM each have​ what the other lacks. Thus, the best medical system involves the integration of the two systems, so that the strengths of one can compensate for the weaknesses of the other.

During the planning of your pet’s hospice care, we encourage you and your family members to ask questions. As the advocate for your pet, it is up to you to make decisions for creating an end of life plan that will allow for a peaceful and dignified passing. We understand that this is one of life’s most difficult times and we believe that making informed decisions is the best way to put your mind at ease.

Saying goodbye to your pet can be extremely difficult. The process can be emotionally and mentally draining. We don’t want you to be alone at the end stages of a pet’s life, and we promise to do everything we can to make it easier on you and your pet. Most of all, we promise to treat each case with compassionate and understanding care.

Knowing when the time is right can be a difficult choice. There are many factors that go into deciding to euthanize a pet, and it is a personal issue that differs from pet owner to pet owner. But every pet owner is inevitably faced with making that tough decision, and we want to be there alongside you to aid in any way we can.

If you have special requests, please let us know, and we will be sure to accommodate them. Dealing with the end of a pet’s life is never easy, but we want to do whatever we can to make the process less complicated.

Depending on the severity of your pet’s skin issues, medical bathing may be recommended once or twice a week. Typically, pets dealing with allergies, skin disorders, or any other medical issue related to the skin may require a medicated bath. Shampooing may be time-consuming, but it can provide many benefits like decreasing the length of time needed for antibiotic therapy; reducing the numbers of bacteria and yeast on the skin, and decreasing the number of allergens that can be absorbed from the skin surface.

Part of keeping your pets healthy is keeping them clean! No one minds sharing a home with pets when they smell good so regular baths ensure that your pets are allowed in your home. However, there are other times that your pets need to be bathed! Some animals need extra baths to help with their sensitive skin. Not to mention, any time that your lovely dog meets a skunk!

Whether you don’t like to bathe your pets yourself or you simply don’t have the right setup, we are here for you! Here at Cardiff Animal Hospital & Wellness Center, we are proud to offer many options to keep your pets happy and healthy!

Please contact us today to learn all about our different grooming options. We also offer many different grooming choices. We also do our best to accommodate your special requests so be sure to speak to us about what you are looking for. We are certain that we will be able to help you!

At Cardiff Animal Hospital, we believe that regular checkups and wellness exams are critical to your pet’s well-being. These wellness exams give us a chance to evaluate the overall health of your pet while also giving us a baseline for their own unique bodies and tendencies.

Not only do these exams keep us up-to-date with your pet’s health, but they also allow us to detect potential problems before they become serious. Your pet will be thoroughly examined by a veterinarian, and this checkup gives us vital information to help keep your pet healthy.

Regular wellness exams also make your pet more familiar with our veterinary hospital, which makes future visits easier on them and you.