Similar to how your primary care physician may refer you to a specialist for a specific issue or specialized test, your family veterinarian may consult a veterinary specialist to diagnose and treat certain conditions in your pet. Internal medicine professionals, or internists, contribute to a better knowledge of illnesses affecting an animal’s internal systems by gathering as much information as possible through medical history, clinical symptoms, laboratory testing, and imaging studies.
What is a specialist in veterinary internal medicine?
A board-certified expert in veterinary internal medicine is a licensed veterinarian who has obtained further training in understanding how your pet’s internal body systems operate and in diagnosing and treating the myriad severe illnesses that can affect those systems’ health.
Internal medicine specialists have additional training in the following areas can be found here:
Immunology
Diseases Infectious
Nephrology/Urology
Neurology
Respiratory Conditions
Oncology
Endocrinology
Cardiology
Gastroenterology
Clinical hematology (study of the blood)
Why do I need to consult a veterinary internal medicine specialist for my pet?
Just as your primary care physician may occasionally refer you to a specialist, your general practitioner veterinarian may determine that your pet needs the assistance of a specialist to assist in diagnosing or treating a complex medical issue. While, like with human health, your available practitioner veterinarian may manage many aspects of your pet’s care, there are moments when a specialist is required. You can trust a Moreno Valley vet who understands when to recommend you, and your pet for additional expert diagnostic or treatment work is compassionate and is committed to delivering the best care possible for your pet.
While your veterinarian may be able to discuss your pet’s care with a specialist in some cases, it may be essential to refer you and your pet to a specialist for a more complex diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, board-certified veterinary internists may have access to advanced diagnostic and therapeutic tools that general practitioner veterinarians do not have.
In what situations does a veterinary internal medicine specialist intervene?
Board-certified internal medicine specialists from sites like www.sunnymeadvet.com are trained to detect and treat the most serious diseases and health problems that affect dogs. Additionally, they are specially prepared to care for pets with various health problems. Pets’ lives are being extended as a result of improved veterinarian care. As a result, an increasing number of aged pets, similar to old humans, are afflicted with various sickness states that can be extremely difficult to manage. For example, a cat diagnosed with diabetes may also be suffering from renal failure, and a dog diagnosed with heart failure may also be suffering from cancer.
Internal medicine physicians are uniquely prepared to treat these challenging illnesses. In other cases, a younger animal may have a condition that was previously thought to be incurable but is now treatable, if not curable.
Will my regular veterinarian remain involved?
Often, your pet’s primary physician will continue to oversee his or her veterinary care, particularly if your pet has many disease states or illnesses. In other cases, your referring veterinarian will assume primary responsibility for your pet’s medical care. It is determined by the nature of your pet’s illness and health problems.
Conclusion
In many veterinary offices, the general practitioner veterinarian is also a board-certified specialist in internal medicine. General practice veterinarians, on the other hand, are highly educated medical professionals who must maintain their licensure throughout their careers. When a specialist’s aid is required, he or she is only a phone call or in-person visit away.
