Frequently Asked Questions

Making an appointment is always preferred. This allows our hospital to manage our time well and provide you and your pet with the attention you both deserve.

We currently do not offer boarding services. We do offer grooming services. Please give our office a call to schedule your appointment.

Please bring your pet to the hospital at 7:15 am. Plan to spend 10 minutes or so with a technician to answer your questions, review your pet’s surgery, sign our consent forms, and discuss a time for pick-up.

Please withhold food after 9:00 pm the night before your pet’s surgery.

Every pet’s visit is unique and tailored to your pet’s health conditions, vaccine needs, and even your lifestyle. We understand that shopping around is a great way to find the best pricing for your family, but remember… the treatment plans you receive are not always ‘apples to apples.’

Be sure to inquire if the vaccines quoted are 1-year or 3-years… this is the most common misunderstanding when shopping around. One doctor may seem less expensive than another, but you’ll find that the vaccine quoted is only good for one year. Three-year vaccines are a better value and better for your pet in that they are vaccinated less frequently.

Ask about the office visit or exam fee as well. Oftentimes, a low exam fee is simply a loss leader, and you may be overcharged for other services.

If your pet needs surgery, be sure to ask about what is included. Important factors such as pre-anesthetic bloodwork, placement of an IV catheter, and IV fluid administration during your pet’s procedure all alter the cost of surgery. Again, make sure you’re comparing equal services.

During a routine examination, your veterinarian will ask questions about your pet’s diet, exercise, thirst, breathing, behavior, habits, elimination patterns, lifestyle, and general health. They will also perform a physical examination of your pet.

Based on your pet’s history and the examination, your veterinarian will make recommendations for specific preventive medicine treatments such as vaccination, parasite control (including preventive treatments for fleas, ticks, intestinal parasites, and heartworms), nutrition, skin and coat care, weight management or dental care.

Florida law clearly states that prescription drugs sold by a veterinary prescription drug retail establishment pursuant to a practitioner’s order may not be returned to the retail establishment’s inventory. The concept behind that is that retail pharmacies, including our practice, cannot take back prescriptions because they cannot verify and validate that the identity, strength, quality, purity, or potency of the drug product is what is on the label and, therefore the safety or effectiveness is in question. In addition, once the medication leaves with the patient, the prescriber has no assurance that the product was stored properly, which again could affect the identity, strength, quality, purity, or potency of the drug product. Click here to view the FDA web page regarding the proper disposal of medications. Locally, Cypress Pharmacy participates in the “Dispose of My Meds” program, where you can drop off expired or unwanted prescription medications.

Your veterinarian will recommend that a fresh sample of your pet’s feces (bowel movement) is examined as part of every wellness exam. This sample will be processed and microscopically evaluated for the presence of parasite eggs. They will also recommend heartworm testing on a schedule appropriate for your geographical part of the country.

Early Detection Bloodwork is also generally recommended.

Some typical blood work screens include a CBC (complete blood count), biochemistry panel, urinalysis, and thyroid hormone testing. Within each category, your veterinarian will advise on how extensive the testing should be.

Pets cannot tell you how they are feeling, so the disease may be present before you are aware of it. To further complicate matters, as part of their survival instincts, most pets will hide signs of subclinical disease (i.e., a disease in its early stages and only causing minimal symptoms). This means a health condition can become highly advanced before your pet shows any obvious or recognizable problems.

We accept MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, Cash, Checks and CareCredit. We do not offer payment plans or have in-house charge accounts.