What to Expect When You Visit
When you enter our clinic, we hope your first experience is a warm and welcoming greeting!
After that, one of our veterinary assistants will take you and your pet into an exam room and ask you a series of questions about the problems your pet is experiencing, what has been done prior to this visit, what medications your pet is currently receiving and what your pet has received previously. We will request medical records from your primary veterinarian with your permission. However, we may need clarification about how you feel your pet responded to various treatments.
It is recommended (and very useful) if you can bring all your pet’s medications with you at each exam. This helps us tremendously in creating a treatment plan unique to your pet’s individual needs and preventing us from prescribing medications previously deemed ineffective.
The veterinary assistant will then perform a series of initial diagnostic tests which may include testing tear production (STT), the pressure inside the eye (tonometry), and a fluorescein stain of the eye.
Once we have gathered your pet’s information and history, Dr. Sigle will perform an ophthalmic exam on your pet. She will first examine the front part of the eye (cornea, anterior chamber, iris and lens) using a device called a slit-lamp biomicroscope. This device is similar to what is used with pediatric patients in humans since we need to take the machine to the patient instead of the patient to the machine. This allows Dr. Sigle to get a magnified view of these structures and to localize and better characterize any issues in the front of the eye.
The next part of the exam entails looking at the back of the eye: the vitreous, retina and optic nerve. For this part of the exam Dr. Sigle will use an indirect headset and lens. This allows her to see the retina and the optic nerve in the best fashion to diagnose disease in the part of the eye that is not readily visible without this equipment.
Following the initial examination, Dr. Sigle will discuss her findings and provide recommendations and options for how to treat your pet’s condition. These recommendations may include (1) medications to start immediately based on a diagnosis; (2) additional diagnostics; (3) or surgery that would be recommended based on the specific diagnosis. If there is more than one treatment option, we will review each with you so you can make the best decision for your pet.
You will be provided with an estimate for any surgical procedures we recommend and for any additional diagnostics recommended beyond the initial diagnostics included in the initial evaluation.
Payment Options
Payment is due when services are rendered. Other options for payment include:
Care Credit: Care Credit offers dependable financing for your pet’s care. You can submit an application online quite easily. Please feel free to ask our front desk for details about options.
Pet Insurance: We are more than happy to try and facilitate your reimbursement through your pet insurance provider. Most pet insurance companies require you to submit the documents and we are happy to provide them to you. With Trupanion Pet Insurance we can submit our claims directly to them for reimbursement. Please ask our team for details.