Heart of Texas Specialty Care

Internal Medicine is a specialty branch of veterinary medicine involving the treatment and management of more complex conditions affecting pets’ internal organs that often coincide with chronic illnesses. Conditions that cannot be effectively managed by your family veterinarian alone will often receive a consult or be referred to an internal medicine specialist to receive a second opinion or to pursue more advanced care options.

Medical oncology teams within our Thrive Pet Healthcare community work closely with referring and primary care veterinarians to provide advanced cancer treatment for pets. Your pet’s oncology team can perform a thorough evaluation, utilizing state-of-the-art diagnostics to gain a deep understanding of the disease behavior. From there, a personalized treatment plan will be determined to treat or manage your pet’s cancer. 

Chemotherapy is a form of treatment for many types of cancer in dogs, cats, and other animals – including humans! It involves the use of powerful drugs that can delay or prevent the spread of cancerous cells, alleviate symptoms of cancer, and with some types of cancer, even achieve remission (when the cancer and its symptoms are no longer detectable). 

Should your pet’s dental or oral condition be complex, unresponsive to interventions on the general practice level, or require specialized treatment/equipment unavailable at your family vet, a consult with a specialized veterinary dentist is typically recommended. Working in collaboration with your primary care veterinarian, a dental specialist can help give your pet the best chance of a full and lasting recovery.

While most primary care veterinarians perform general dental examinations, teeth cleaning, and tooth extractions, a veterinary dental specialist is a veterinarian that has completed advanced residency training with targeted education and experience within the field of animal dentistry and oral surgery. In the United States, veterinary dentists who have completed all reviews and exams set forth by the American Veterinary Dental College earn the status of Board Certified Veterinary Dentist™ or Board Certified Equine Veterinary Dentist™. These doctors are often depicted with “DAVDC” after their name.

Pet dental specialists have the skills, knowledge, experience, and resources to tackle complex, acute, and chronic conditions of the teeth, gums, and jaw. They are the oral surgeons, endodontists, orthodontists, and periodontists of the veterinary world!

While some surgeries are available through your primary care hospital, some advanced or complex procedures require advanced skills, training, intensive care before or after surgery, and specialized equipment. Similar to the training for human medical doctors, veterinarians can choose to do additional training, publish research, and take an exam to achieve “board certification” in an area of expertise. Our specialty teams work closely with your primary care veterinarian to ensure an exceptional experience for you and your pet. 

Our community’s outstanding orthopedic veterinarians and surgeons use breakthrough research within the field to implement advanced therapies, such as CrCL surgeries like TPLO surgery, fracture repair, and innovative devices. These are all designed to help improve or conserve your pet’s mobility following traumatic accident, illness, or age-related condition.  

Pet owners commonly refer to CrCL surgery as an ACL surgery, however CrCL surgery is the medically accurate term. ACL surgery is the human equivalent treatment.

A common form of cruciate or knee surgery is TPLO surgery. Your pet’s orthopedic veterinarian will be able to help decide which type of CrCL surgery is ideal for your pet. It's important to note that these surgeries are commonly referred to by pet owners as ACL surgery, however CrCL surgery is the medically accurate term. ACL surgery is the human equivalent treatment.

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TPLO surgery changes the angle between the thigh bone and the shin bone. The goal is to lessen how much the tibia shifts forward during a stride and it is achieved through an incision, rotation of the tibia, and then insertion of a bone plate. TPLO surgery helps create a stifle (knee) that is stable without the torn cruciate ligament. The medial meniscus is also evaluated at the time of surgery and if torn removed. At times, a releasing incision of the meniscus is done to help prevent a future tear.

Cardiology is a branch of veterinary medicine concerned with diagnosing, treating, and managing conditions related to the heart. This includes a pet’s blood vessels, circulatory system, and sometimes their lungs.

The heart is one of your pet’s most essential organs, continually pumping blood containing oxygen and nutrients to the rest of the body. In most heart-related problems, either damage or deterioration occurs to either the heart valves or heart muscles.

No matter what type of heart problems your pet may have during their life, our Primary, Specialty, and Emergency Care teams have the skills and resources to help your pet have the highest quality of life possible through treatment and hands-on management.

Computed Tomography (CT) scans use many X-rays at different angles to create 3D cross-sectional images of the body in very high resolution. This advanced radiographic equipment is an excellent diagnostic tool, allowing both soft tissues and bones to be evaluated in just one image.

CT scans are very effective in detecting tumors and identifying diseases in a pet’s thorax, nasal cavity, and abdomen. Since the pet must be completely still throughout the scan, anesthesia is typically required.

Ultrasound is one of the most common diagnostic imaging procedures used to detect and monitor disease in pets. Ultrasound uses sound waves at different frequencies to produce detailed images of the heart and other internal organs.

This non-invasive diagnostic method does not utilize radiation and in many cases does not require sedation, limiting adverse effects on the patient and allowing us to conduct scans on an outpatient-basis.