Although self-referral appointments are accepted, our clinic acts as a referral veterinary dermatology specialty practice. Your family veterinarian's referral information will include valuable information for us regarding your pet's health, history, diagnostic test results, and response to treatments. This information will help us efficiently diagnose your loved one's skin condition. We work together with your primary veterinarian to provide continuity of care. With each visit, we will provide discharge information including diagnostic results and treatment recommendations of your pet's care to your primary veterinarian. We expect that routine veterinary services (health certificates, vaccines, etc.) will continue to be provided through your primary veterinarian.
Fill our referral formOnce your primary veterinarian has asked for a specialist consultation, we will contact you to arrange an appointment for an initial examination for your pet. This comprehensive examination often takes an hour. Our dermatologists will determine if your dog, cat or horse will benefit from allergy/skin testing, video-otoscopy, skin biopsies, LASER surgery or other procedures.
At V.A.D.E.R. Clinic, we provide intradermal (skin) allergy testing, which is considered the “gold standard” in both human and veterinary medicine. This means that when you bring in your pet, we will systematically test different allergens (things that pets are usually allergic to) under their skin and see what they react most to. This test, combined with serological (blood) testing lets us create a serum tailored to your pet. The serum is meant to gradually desensitize your pet to what they are allergic to and helps to make them more comfortable and healthy faster.
For more information about allergy testing see our FAQ:
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Cytology is a useful and fast way to get information and diagnose a skin condition for your pet. Skin samples that are carefully taken from your pet during their exam at V.A.D.E.R. Clinic are either stained or unstained and examined under a microscope. The results of what we see can give us a better idea of how to diagnose and choose the best treatment for your pet within your appointment time. For example, some of the most common conditions we see are
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infections or overgrowth. These are easy to treat and see fast results with the right diagnostic, making cytology the most rewarding in-house test that we use.
A skin biopsy is when a small sample of your pet's skin lesion is taken and tested in a lab. During your pet's exam, a member of V.A.D.E.R. Clinic will expertly choose the best location and take the biopsy. This kind of test is very important because it can provide us with the most information on your pet's condition in the shortest period of time. By using this test, we can categorize and diagnose your pet's skin disease, and give a complete history to a pathologist. Our dermatopathologist works alongside our dermatologists at V.A.D.E.R. Clinic to make accurate diagnoses and choose the best treatment.
Diagnostic otoscopy is one of the most important tools for getting to the bottom of ear diseases. Disorders of the external ear are common in dogs, cats and even horses (head shakers). The Storz Video-Otoscope at V.A.D.E.R. Clinic allows us to easily look into the ear from the outside and identify the underlying problem. Using diagnostic otoscopy, we can also document the ear examination which can help you and your veterinarian to better understand your pet's ear condition. This technology greatly assists our team when taking biopsies or performing ear flushes and treatments deep inside the ears.
LASERs are instruments that use a very precise beam of light to make incisions and remove unhealthy tissue. The LASER seals nerve endings and cauterizes blood vessels so there is less pain after surgery, less blood loss during surgery, and a quicker recovery for your pet. At V.A.D.E.R. clinic, we are proud to carry both a CO2 and Diode LASER which allows our team to perform a variety of surgeries such as skin and ear tumour removal.
Phovia® is a non-invasive, drug-free therapy that harnesses the power of fluorescent light energy to provide anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and wound healing effects. Combined with the chromophore gel, the Phovia® blue LED light unit, stimulates the release of fluorescent light energy at various wavelengths of visible light that penetrate multiple layers of the skin simultaneously enhancing the activity of mitochondria (powerhouse of the cell) to support the skin’s own healing mechanisms. Phovia® promotes the production of healthy collagen, increases blood flow and enhances tissue repair, leading to faster healing of wounds, surgical incisions, and other injuries. Phovia® Light Therapy has been used successfully to address dermatologic conditions including:
Clinical studies have shown that it can speed healing time by 50%. This can reduce not only the length of discomfort for your pet but also minimize/eliminate the need for other medications such as systemic antibiotics and corticosteroids. Phovia® protocols will be tailored to the individual patient based on your veterinarian's recommendation. Most of the time, protocols will consist of weekly treatments until resolution is noted.