Advanced Veterinary Care

At Atlantic Animal Hospital & Pet Care Resort, we know that caring for your pet is more than just routine checkups and vaccinations. Whether your furry friend is experiencing pain, aging, or needs specialized care, we offer alternative animal care treatments that go beyond the basics to ensure your pet lives a long, happy, and healthy life.

Common Advanced Care Procedures

Our veterinarians offer the following advanced care options for your dog or cat:

Pet Pain Management

No one likes seeing their pet in pain, and thankfully, there are many ways to help. Pain management for pets can include medications, physical therapy, and even non-invasive options like laser therapy. Our team works closely with you to develop a pain management plan tailored to your pet’s needs, ensuring they remain comfortable, active, and enjoying life as much as possible.

Laser Therapy For Dogs and Cats

Pet laser therapy is a fantastic option for reducing pain and inflammation. Laser therapy for cats and dogs is a non-invasive treatment that uses light to stimulate cells and promote healing. It's especially helpful for pets with arthritis, recovering from surgery, or suffering from chronic pain. The best part? Veterinary laser therapy is painless and can offer fast relief, with most pets feeling the benefits after just a few sessions.

Pet Acupuncture

Acupuncture isn’t just for humans; there's also animal acupuncture! This ancient Chinese practice involves placing tiny needles in specific points of the body to relieve pain, improve circulation, and promote healing. Veterinary acupuncture is particularly beneficial for pets with chronic pain, arthritis, and even anxiety. Don’t worry—most pets tolerate the needles really well, and some even find the sessions relaxing.

Pet Behavioral Therapy

Does your pet struggle with anxiety, aggression, or other behavioral issues? Our veterinary team can help. Our veterinarians work with you and your pet to address underlying problems and improve their behavior. Whether it’s separation anxiety, fear of loud noises, or aggression toward other animals, our veterinarians will create a plan to help your pet feel more comfortable and confident.

Cryotherapy For Pets

Cryotherapy, or cold therapy, is a fantastic option for reducing swelling, pain, and inflammation. This treatment uses extremely cold temperatures to target areas of discomfort, promoting healing and offering relief from conditions like arthritis, injuries, and even post-surgery recovery. It's quick, safe, and helps your pet feel better ranging from a few days to a few weeks.

Platelet Rich Plasma Treatment (Autologous Conditioned Plasma)

Proteins in the blood have primary roles in promoting effective healing and repair after an injury. Many proteins involved in the healing process come from the components of blood called platelets.

Platelets are small, colorless, cell fragments in the blood. They are formed in the bone marrow and are freely passing through the bloodstream in a resting state. However, when an injury occurs, the platelets become activated and start to gather at the injury site to release beneficial proteins called growth factors. This is the beginning of the healing process.

Autologous Conditioned Plasma is a specific blood product made by concentrating a patient’s own platelets and growth factors in a small volume of plasma. ACP can then be used as a concentrated version of the patient’s own growth factors to improve signaling and recruitment of cells to an injury site and optimize healing.

The veterinarian or technician will take a blood sample using a needle and a specially designed syringe. The blood then goes through a rapid spinning process that separates and concentrates the platelets and other beneficial growth factors in the plasma portion of the blood. The plasma containing these platelets and growth factors is injected into the injured muscle, tendon, ligament, joint or wound.

ACP has been used for many years in orthopedic procedures in people, including joint replacement, fracture repair, and joint fusions. ACP has been reported to improve bone and soft tissue healing in these types of cases. In addition, ACP may help prevent excessive blood loss, decrease the risk of infection, enhance wound healing, and reduce pain such that less pain-relieving drugs are required by the patient. ACP is a superior option for those pets that cannot tolerate NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications) to manage their discomfort.

ACP uses the patient’s own natural healing properties to treat the injury. Side effects utilizing ACP are very uncommon. Although some have reported pain at the site of injection for several days after the treatment.

Stem Cell Therapy

We offer stem cell therapy for dogs and cats suffering from osteoarthritis, hip dysplasia and other degenerative diseases. This new state-of-the-art medicine is now being performed right here in Wilmington and we are proud to be one of the few hospitals that offers this incredible and innovative technology!

Adipose(fat) derived stem cell therapy allows for a minimally invasive procedure to harvest adult stem cell cells from animals who are seeking pain relief. This technology does not involve embryonic stem cells. The procedure uses the animal’s own adult stem cells from fat tissue to heal and repair, therefore there are no ethical or FDA issues as the method is extremely safe. If you have pet insurance, some companies may cover up to 80% of the cost.

Regenerative medicine procedures for orthopedic conditions have recently been performed on athletes such as New York Yankee’s pitcher Bartolo Colon and PGA golfer Tiger Woods. Plasma and stem cell treatments allow for a natural process to speed healing time and reduce inflammation, improving general well-being of the patients. Now, with the help of MediVet Biologics, animal owners seeking relief for their beloved pets have a new cutting edge option in regenerative medicine.

Owners report improvements in range of motion and mobility in three to ten days. The stem cells will continue healing from weeks to months and the effects last a year or more. Depending on the extent of the joint injury and the age of the animal when they first receive regenerative medicine, some animals may need periodic re-treatment.

Advanced Pet Care in Wilmington

At Atlantic Animal Hospital & Pet Care Resort, we’re committed to providing advanced vet care options that help your pet feel their best. Whether it's through innovative treatments or holistic pet care, we're here to support your pet's health. If you're looking for advanced pet care near you, call us at (910) 256-2624 or book an appointment online below!