Medics for man's best friend

Published April 17, 2015
By Senior Airman Keenan Berry
509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- When your pet feels ill or under the weather, the Vet Clinic is here to solve the matter. Much like humans, animals suffer from ailments and diseases disrupting health. From an injured paw to heart worm disease, vets are dedicated to ensuring Whiteman pets are healthy and happy.

The Vet Clinic provides care 24/7 to military working dogs (MWD) and preventive health care three days a week to privately owned animals. Preventive health care consists of vaccines, minor sick calls, heart worm and, flea and tick prevention. Minor sick calls include skin issues and gastro intestinal issues.

The veterinary technician is the first person the pet sees before the veterinarian.

"I take the temperature, pulse rate and respiration rate of all the animals and then I provide them with vaccines," said Danielle Garrow, Vet Clinic veterinary assistant. "After the initial exam is completed, the technician will notify the veterinarian of any concerns we have."

The veterinarian addresses the concerns with the owner, runs any tests if necessary and notifies them of any vaccinations or solutions they can consider to ensure their pets health improves.

The clinic examines an average of 10-30 patients per day, varying upon the season. They would normally see numbers close to 30 during the summer due to annual vaccinations.

Pets typically need rabies vaccination. In the first year of life, the vaccine is good for one year. After that, they receive a vaccine that can last for three years. It's important to booster the vaccine every year to prevent the spread of rabies from animals to humans. There is a combination vaccine for distemper (which is an upper respiratory and neurological virus), adeno virus (pertaining to liver), parainfluenza and parvo virus (which are intestinal viruses). There is a vaccine for leptospirosis, which is a water-borne bacteria capable of causing kidney failure. Like rabies, this virus is capable of spreading from pets to humans. Bordetella is a disease capable of spreading from close contact with other pets such as boarding or grooming.

The Vet Clinic is limited to certain ailments they can handle due to protocols.

"We only provide care to chronic progressive diseases which are long term such as skin disease, said Joanna Kuecker, Vet Clinic veterinarian. "We are not authorized to perform surgical procedures, handle broken bones, neuter or provide dental care. However, we are authorized to perform dental on the MWDs."

Installations Vet Clinics provides a convenience for owners who are in-processing from other installations.

"We have a new computer based system which is an international database allowing other installations to view records," Kuecker said. "The owner of the pet tells the clinic their previous duty location and the information is obtained. It's better for continuity."

The Vet Clinic is able to print copies of the records for the owner to provide to any off-base veterinarians. The owner is the only individual who can obtain copy of veterinary records. This is for security under the Health Information Protection Assurance Act regulations to ensure PII is accounted for.

If someone wants to know information on an animal, they would have to receive consent and verification from the owner to proceed with their request. The Vet Clinic prefers to know if the owner decides to give the pet to someone else, that way they can transfer the records into their name.

The Vet Clinic takes pride in ensuring MWDs and privately owned animals receive convenient and efficient health care that will keep them mission capable.

"MWDs are a huge part of the installation's security as far as detection of explosive devices and contraband," said Kuecker. "With this in mind, our goal is to ensure they are in their best health to fulfill their required duties. With privately owned pets, our goal is to ensure they are taking care of for the mental welfare of the Airman."