Internal Medicine
Olympia Veterinary Services proudly partners with the team at Specialty Vet Med to offer Internal Medicine Services. Learn more about them at their website: http://www.specialtyvetmed.com/.
Veterinary internists are the experts who are trained to identify and treat uncommon and complicated medical disorders. The specialty of Internal Medicine includes gastroenterology, hepatology, endocrinology, infectious diseases, urology and nephrology, respiratory medicine, hematology and immunology, and geriatrics.
Problems for which a pet may be referred to an internist include:
- Enigmas and challenging cases
- Vomiting, decreased appetite, regurgitation, and lethargy
- Diarrhea, hematochezia (blood in the feces), and tenesmus (straining to defecate)
- Liver disease and increased liver values
- Endocrinopathies (diabetes, Cushing syndrome, hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Addison’s disease, etc.) and endocrine neoplasia (adrenal tumors, insulinoma). Additional information about diabetes and Cushing syndrome is below.
- Polyuria (increased urine volume), polydipsia (increased drinking), pollakiuria (increased urination frequency), stranguria (straining to urinate), dysuria (difficulty urinating), hematuria (blood in urine), urinary tract infections, and urolithiasis (bladder and kidney stones)
- Kidney dysfunction, proteinuria (protein in the urine), and azotemia (increased kidney values)
- Hypertension
- Coughing, sneezing, reverse-sneezing, gagging, nasal discharge, epistaxis (nasal bleeding), increased respiratory noise, and difficulty breathing
- Hyperlipidemia (high triglycerides and/or high cholesterol)
- Anemia (low red blood cell count), polycythemia (high red blood cell count), leukopenia (low white blood cell count), leukocytosis (high white blood cell count), and thrombocytopenia (low platelets)
- Laboratory abnormalities of electrolytes, calcium, glucose, protein, blood cells, liver values, kidney values, cholesterol, urine protein, etc.
- Geriatrics: Internists are particularly well suited to manage the medical needs of patients when multiple organ systems are affected as is common is older patients. Additional information about geriatrics is below.
- Fever of unknown origin and infectious diseases
- Patients who have not responded to therapy as desired
What does an internist do?
- Critical evaluation of prior diagnostics and prior treatments
- Thorough hands-on evaluation of the patient
- Laboratory testing to include both routine and advanced diagnostics
- Imaging: ultrasound, radiographs, CT scans, fluoroscopy
- Advanced diagnostic procedures: endoscopy, bone marrow aspiration, ultrasound-guided biopsies and aspirates, laparoscopy, continuous glucose monitoring of diabetics, etc.
- Interventional procedures: structure dilation, foreign body removal, urolith removal, rhinoscopic fungal treatment and debulking of tumors, feeding tube placement, etc.
- Medical management for both at home and in-hospital for very ill patients