Internal Vet Specialist

Internal Medicine

Our internal medicine services at the Austin Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center cover a variety of health concerns for your pet. Our doctors see patients on a referral basis from general practitioners and strive to manage your pet’s health concerns in communication with your family veterinarian. A collaborative, team approach with the referring veterinarian is employed to ensure that your pet receives the best care possible.

The internal medicine department often treats conditions that are unusual, difficult to manage or have associated complications that require more advanced diagnostics and/or therapies. These conditions may include but are not limited to:

Endocrinology

Evaluation and treatment of hormonal conditions including diabetes mellitus, Cushing’s disease, Addison’s disease, thyroid related disorders, and calcium/electrolyte disorders.

Gastroenterology

Evaluation and treatment of conditions of the gastrointestinal tract including stomach, small intestines, large intestines, liver, and pancreas.

Hepatobiliary disease

Evaluation and treatment of liver disease, including hepatities and other hepatopathies, and diseases of the gallbladder.

Respiratory disease

Evaluation and treatment of respiratory disease, including upper airway disease such as tracheal collapse and lower airway disease such as asthma, bronchitis, or pneumonia.

Cardiovascular disease

Evaluation and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease, and hypertension. Our internal medicine team will consult with the cardiology team when appropriate.

Kidney disease and urinary tract disorders

Evaluation and advanced treatment of kidney failure, kidney disease, proteinuria and lower urinary tract disease.

Hematology

Evaluation and treatment of blood and bone marrow related disease (anemia and other disorders of both red and white blood cells).

Infectious diseases

Evaluation and treatment of a variety of tick borne, bacterial, fungal, protozoal and other infectious diseases.

Our internal medicine team works in conjunction with a highly skilled team of radiologists to fully understand the patient’s history and clinical findings to allow optimal diagnostic evaluation and therapeutic recommendations based on the whole clinical picture. Collection of tissue samples is facilitated by ultrasound guided techniques as well as fluid collection from body cavities (abdominocentesis, thoracocentesis and pericardiocentesis).

Endoscopic evaluation including gastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, and rhinoscopy. Endoscopic evaluation is considered a minimally invasive procedure which allows visualization of the organ of interest via video and facilitates the ability to obtain biopsies and other samples for diagnostic purposes.

Bone marrow aspiration procedures. Bone marrow samples are often needed for evaluation of animals with anemia and other disorders related to red or white blood cells.

Internists work in conjunction with other specialists including surgeons, neurologists, cardiologists and oncologists to best determine the diagnostic procedures needed to obtain a diagnosis in complicated medical cases. This allows full consideration of the patient as a whole. In addition, your internist will devise a treatment plan to best address the health concerns of your pet and will work closely with you and your family veterinarian.

For more information, please speak to your referring veterinarian or call 512-343-2837.

Internists

Department Information

Our Internal Medicine service is open Monday-Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm.

Forms

Internal Medicine AVES questionnaire for owners

Download the PDF Version

Your Name (required)

Your Email (required)

Patient Name (required)

Basic history:

Has your pet traveled outside of Texas in the past? If so, where and how recently?

If you know what kind of food your pet is eating, what brand or flavor is it?

If you don’t, can you tell us if it is a dry food, a canned food, or a homemade food?

When was your pet changed to its current diet (estimations are okay such as "many years ago" vs "few weeks ago")?

Is your pet currently getting monthly flea, tick, and heartworm preventive? If so, what is the product?

To your knowledge, has your pet had any blood transfusions?

YesNoUnsure

Other than the pet we are seeing here today, how many other pets do you have and what kind of pets are they? (ex: 1 other dog and 2 cats)

Current Concerns:

Write the best description of how long your pet’s current signs have been happening. (some examples of clinical signs: coughing, sneezing, vomiting, not eating, being lethargic, etc)

Options: my pet is acting normally, few days, few weeks, few months, few years

On a scale of 1-10, please write how severe your pets clinical signs were when they started

1 = totally normal for your pet

10 = most severe signs you’ve ever noted

On a scale of 1-10, please write how severe your pets clinical signs are at the current time

1 = totally normal for your pet

10 = most severe signs you’ve ever noted

Based on any previous veterinary treatments (special diets, medications, therapies) for the current problems, have you noted any improvement in clinical signs at home?

YesNo

If yes, do you remember which treatment or medication you feel helped?

Based on any previous veterinary treatments (diets, medications, therapies) for the current problems, have you noted any worsening of clinical signs or development of side effects?

YesNo

To your knowledge, has your primary veterinarian sent over records for today’s visit?

YesNo

Is there any other emergency or veterinary clinic we should contact to get all of your pets information for the current problem?

FAQs

How do I schedule an appointment with AVES?

Appointments can be scheduled for Monday through Saturday during regular business hours by calling 512-343-2837. We recommend speaking to your primary care veterinarian about a referral before making an appointment. We do recommend scheduling as soon as you can as appointments tend to fill up 1-2 weeks in advance.

What do I need to bring to my pet’s appointment?

We recommend that you bring all medications in their containers (or a list of those medications) that you pet has been taking. In general, medications do NOT need to be stopped before your appointment. Also, please bring any records (blood work results, x-rays, etc.) that you have from your veterinarian – even if they already sent them over. It is always best to have copies with you in case the information does not make it here prior to your appointment. All animals should be fasted the morning of the appointment or we may not be able to perform certain diagnostics that day. The exception is animals who have diabetes – they should be fed and receive their insulin as usual.

If my pet stays in the hospital, when can I visit?

We know how hard it can be to be away from your pet. If your pet has to stay in our hospital, you can certainly visit. Our visitation hours are between 9 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Please call ahead and we will arrange the best time to visit with your pet.

SPECIALTIES

SURGERY & ORTHOPEDICS