FAQ

Calling to schedule an appointment is strongly recommended as walk-ins cannot always be accommodated. Often, we can oblige same day requests for care. For your convenience, you may call the hospital directly or schedule an appointment online at any time, night or day.

Boarding limited solely to medical-needs patients or medical-needs patients.

We do not offer grooming services at LazyPaw Animal Hospitals.

We do not offer pre-paid, once size fits all wellness plans. We tailor our care and preventative treatments to your individual pet’s needs.

Unlike human health insurance, pet insurance is billed through third-party vendors. Payments for services rendered by LazyPaw Animal Hospitals are due at the time of treatment. Various pet insurance carriers offer reimbursement directly to owners all or a portion of their pet’s medical bills. We recommend you carefully evaluate several different providers to ensure you choose a plan best for your pet and your family.

Estimates are valid for 30 days unless a patient’s medical condition changes. Clients are always advised well in advance of services being rendered to any anticipated increases in estimated costs for care.

We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, CareCredit, and Cash.

What species of animals do you see?

Per Texas state law, a current doctor-client-patient relationship is required to be in place for medication refills to be made. Your pet must be examined at least once annually by a LazyPaw Animal Hospitals clinician to remain current.

Yes. Texas pets can become infected with heartworms year-round due to mild temperatures.

All heartworm preventatives we recommend are to be administered once monthly and year round.

We carry three types of prevention and can recommend a specific one based on your pet’s individual needs: Heartgard Plus, Trifexis, and Revolution.

To ensure that unlikely breaks in coverage do not occur and so that positive testing animals can be treated appropriately as soon as possible.

Your pet should be given food and insulin as normal the night prior to their appointment. Do not feed or give your pet insulin prior to arriving the morning of his or her drop-off appointment so a baseline zero measurement of glucose can be taken. Do bring your pet’s food, insulin and syringes so we can administer both at the hospital.

A CBC, complete blood count, measures the number of red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells present to aid in evaluation of the overall health of our patients.

A General Chemistry is a blood test that evaluates your pet’s liver and kidney levels, electrolytes, and blood sugar.

A glucose curve evaluates the fluctuation of blood glucose levels throughout the day to monitor diabetic patients’ sugar regulation so that therapeutic prescriptions for insulin can be made.

A T4 is a blood test that evaluates your pet’s thyroid function.

An iSTAT is a patient-side, blood analysis machine able to rapidly measure kidney enzymes, electrolyte and blood sugar levels facilitating fast, accurate assessment of critical patients. It is also used to cost effectively monitor patients undergoing therapy for kidney dysfunction.

Based on the life cycle of parasites, we may not see evidence of them in just one fecal test.

Unless specified on the label or communicated to you by the prescribing doctor, it is usually good idea to give medications with a small amount food. This is especially true with most antibiotics, heartworm preventatives, deworming medications, steroids and NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs).

You should never have extra antibiotics! You should always give the full antibiotic prescription until gone unless otherwise directed.

State and country health requirements differ necessitating different types of examinations, laboratory work, microchip implantation and vaccinations depending upon where you are intending to travel. If traveling domestically, we recommend contacting public means of transport as well as the state(s) you will be travel to or through to ensure your pet is compliant with local laws well in advance to ensure all requirements will be met well in advance of travel. Any licensed veterinarian can write a domestic health certificate.

If planning travel abroad, contacting all providers of transport (planes, trains and automobiles) in addition to import/export authorities in all countries you will be visiting or traveling through should be done well in advance, sometimes 6-12 months in advance of planned travel. We recommend looking up the most current information to see what your pet needs prior to travel. A licensed veterinarian who has an additional certification by the USDA is necessary; not every licensed veterinarian can do an international health certificate.

A health certificate is a certificate stating that the veterinarian examined your pet and found he/she free from communicable diseases, parasites and is deemed healthy enough for travel at the time of examination. Please schedule an appointment for a physical exam to obtain a domestic health certificate.

Just like with kids, pets are often better behaved away from their owners. We also don’t want them to associate getting shots and treatments with their owners. Our loving staff treats your pets like their very own.

Congratulations! Bringing home a new baby is a lot of work. To start them off on the road to great health we recommend an initial veterinary medical examination during which advice on socialization, grooming, play and exercise is provided. We are a free resource for your growing babies behavioral and health needs. To this end we also encourage growing puppies and kittens to come in for regular, free weight checks to assess growth and development while familiarizing them with their health care team. For more information, check out our blog page to learn more about the Things you need for your new puppy  and Things you need for your new kitten.

Getting your puppy used to meeting lots of people and being in new situations builds confidence and socialization skills. Puppy training classes are an additional great way to introduce them to other dogs in a safe, controlled environment.

Puppy and kitten owners are encouraged to bring their pets in once monthly for short, positive interactions with our veterinary team members to familiarize them with the sights, sounds and smells of our hospital to promote future fear-free visits. As an added bonus during this free socialization session, kittens and puppies are cuddled, weighed and assessed for proper growth and development.

Review the feeding chart on your pet’s food label, and feed the daily amount of food recommended for your pet’s age and growth stage divided into 2-3 separate feedings per day to aid in digestion.

We generally recommend neutering or spaying your pet around 4-6 months of age if you do not plan to breed or if they do not have any underlying health conditions which may preclude surgery.

Spaying and neutering has health and behavioral benefits. Please see The Importance of Spaying/Neutering Your Pet for more information.

Elective surgical procedures are typically booked at least a few days in advance.  However, we are able to accommodate urgent procedures as needed.

Elective surgeries are performed on Monday’s, Thursday’s and Friday’s while emergency surgeries are performed as the situation presented demands.

Your pet should not be fed anything after 7PM the night prior to the procedure and nothing the morning of the procedure unless otherwise directed by your pet’s doctor. Water intake should never be restricted unless otherwise directed. If you pet is on any medications, please bring those with you in the morning of your pet’s scheduled procedure.

We perform elective and emergency surgical procedures including spays/neuters, dentals, mass removals, cystotomies, foreign body surgeries and more. For more information, please contact our office.

We want to make sure that your pet has fully recovered from anesthesia prior to releasing them for the evening.

An E-collar prevents your pet from licking, chewing or otherwise physically disrupting healing surgical sites and wounds. It is intended to promote rapid healing and prevent post-operative complications. Most pets learn to tolerate wearing one after a day’s worth of practice.

We place an intravenous (IV) catheter in all patients prior to anesthesia for means of administration of fluids and medications during their stay. To properly prepare the skin to reduce the chances of infection, a small area above the vein is shave and aseptically prepped before IV placement.

Our manufacturer guarantees the vaccine for 1 year.

We take precautions prior to giving vaccinations to prevent reactions if we are aware of them. We can also discuss your pet’s lifestyle to decide if certain vaccines should be given.

Texas state law requires that all domestic cats and dogs be current on their Rabies vaccine.