Services and Hospital Amenities
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| Pictured is Dr. Currigan performing a pre-op exam on dental patient “Chloe“ |
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| Veterinary Nurse, Melinda, and Certified Veterinary Technician, Lori, getting a blood pressure reading on “Reebok”, who has high blood pressure that is fortunately well-controlled daily with medication |
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| A cake from his owners in celebration of “Mr. Pooper’s” completion of chemotherapy for lymphoma |
- Thorough and extensive patient histories
- Thorough physical examinations.
- Routine vaccinations based on risk of exposure and in accordance with the most current American Association of Feline Practitioners guidelines
- Radiology – Although they are becoming more commonplace in veterinary medicine in recent years, we are proud to have been one of the first feline hospitals in the country in 2003 to have been practicing with a state-of-the-art digital radiology system. The digital technology allows us to digitally enhance and annotate images, take on-screen computer software generated measurements of organs, bones, etc., and e-mail images for consultation to a radiologist or other specialist. Digital radiography also has a wide exposure latitude that delivers more diagnostic information by allowing us to adjust the contrast to view both bone and soft tissue in just one film taking. The system is also much more environmentally friendly versus traditional radiography because it eliminates us having to deal with film processing chemicals. Digital radiography has been used in human medicine for over twenty years, but is relatively new in veterinary medicine. In late 2010, we had a major upgrade to our digital radiology system installed. Capturing images is now even faster (great for the cats that prefer less time hanging out in radiology!), and the even better detail on the radiographic images is incredible.
- Oxygen cage/oxygen therapy
- Quality state-of-the-art medical diagnostics
- Chemotherapy
- Routine dental prophylaxis, dental x-rays
- Digital dental x-ray system: separate from (but complements) our regular digital radiology system mentioned above. The digital dental system enables us to have improved images of the roots of all feline teeth and any pathology of those roots. Additionally, the digital dental radiology system allows us to process the images more quickly, thus reducing patient anesthetic time.
- In-hospital pre-surgery blood screening tests
- Declaws – now less painful with laser surgery. Click to read our library article on Scratching Behavior
- Behavior Counseling
- Nutrition Counseling
- Blood pressure checks (especially important in geriatric cats)
- Therapy laser: A therapy laser is a medical laser that uses light energy to stimulate healing and/or reduce inflammation. It can be an important component of a treatment plan in a number of areas of veterinary medicine. Click here to read our library article on Complementary Options Available at Cat Hospital of Chicago.
- Acupuncture: Acupuncture is the stimulation of specific areas (‘acupoints’) on the body with very fine needles. Acupuncture stimulates release of neurotransmitters that are beneficial to the body’s normal function. Acupuncture can be used to treat a variety of medical conditions, often as an adjunct to, and in conjunction with modern Western medicine. Our staff veterinarian, Dr. Daphne Thompson, is a graduate acupuncturist with additional training in Chinese food therapy. Click here to read our library on Complementary Therapy Options.
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Patient receiving post-op
therapy laser treatment over
incision area to help speed healing |
Patient receiving acupuncture
for a broken spine |
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Pictured here are Dr. Pohl obtaining a blood pressure on a cat in the exam room, and Dr. Currigan holding “Mr. Bill Red” (18 years old at the time) who actually appears to be more interested in getting into his carrier (on the right) to go home than being given “TLC”. |
- Cardiologist on-site every 2-3 weeks to see referrals & perform cardiac ultrasound examinations on patients referred by our own doctors. Dr. Buoscio travels to multiple hospitals throughout the city to provide cardiac consultations.
- Veterinary ultrasonographer, Dr. Kristi Pampel, on-site every one to two weeks to perform abdominal ultrasounds, and ultrasound-guided biopsies when indicated, on those patients referred to her by our own veterinarians.
- Anesthetic monitoring that is state-of-the-art and updated regularly as new and better drugs become available for use in cats.
- Surgery – including the use of isofluorane gas anesthesia (currently considered to be among the safest anesthetics available in veterinary medicine) and use of our surgical laser (see below). Additionally, we provide state-of-the-art intra-operative patient monitoring (see anesthetic monitoring above). Most surgical procedures do not require an overnight hospital stay. For more detailed information on some of our more commonly performed surgical procedures, see our library articles entitled Ovariohysterectomy (Spay) In Cats, Onchyectomy (Declaw) In Cats, Castration (Neuter) in Cats, and Dental Cleaning Under Anesthesia For Cats.
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| Pictured here is Dr. Pohl performing a c-section on a stray shelter cat that initially presented to us in complicated labor. Dr. Pohl delivered two healthy kittens prior to performing a hysterectomy on the queen (mother cat). Also shown are pictures of the queen and her two healthy kittens post-operatively …Bring out the cigars! |
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Dr. Currigan performing a sterile surgical procedure (lump removal and biopsy) using the surgical laser (with one of our Certified Veterinary Technicians on the right, monitoring blood pressure on our anesthetized patient as well as other anesthetic parameters) |
- Appropriate and aggressive post-operative pain relief for all surgical procedures
- Pain relief as needed for any animal, surgical or otherwise, felt to be in pain. We pride ourselves on being aggressive in the area of pain management.
- Patient weights taken at each visit
- Strong geriatric program
- Strong referral network with Chicagoland area specialists (internist, cardiologist, neurologist, surgeons, ophthalmologist, dermatologist) for problems requiring specialist attention
- Computer microchip implant identification systems -referred to by some as “immunizing against homelessness”. When a pet is microchipped, a tiny capsule, about the size of a grain of rice, is injected under the skin of the cats’ neck. It is no more painful than any other injection. At Cat Hospital of Chicago, we have a scanner (as do most shelters and many veterinary hospitals) that reads the digital number on the chip inside the capsule. If your cat is picked up as a stray and is taken to a shelter or a veterinarian with a scanner allowing them to read your cat’s microchip number, a quick call to the microchip company is all it takes to get your information, and your cat will soon be home safe. Microchipping is permanent. We recommend microchipping, in addition to safety collars and tags for all cats, and especially for any cats who spend any time out of doors, as well as those “escape artist” type cats.
| Pictured to the right is Veterinary Nurse Melinda petting and comforting “Woodrow” after his dental procedure. |
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Other Hospital Amenities
- Hospitalization in a quiet and comfortable setting as needed for our sickest patients
- Separately ventilated isolation wards for our patients with potentially “contagious” diseases
- Heated cage floors — especially appreciated by our sick and post-op recovery patients, as well as our hospitalized geriatric arthritic cats
- Cages also include “portholes” (similar to small “cubbyholes”) which the cats just love – where they can hide or curl up and sleep
- All hospital cages are within view of our treatment area, thus facilitating easy monitoring of our hospital patients
- Disposable individual litter boxes, food, and water bowls for all patients — eliminating any disease transmission possibilities via urine, stool, or saliva
- Comfortable padded bedding for all hospitalized cats
- No barking dogs!
- Individualized attention to the special needs of all patients, such as cage-frightened or cage-aggressive cats. When these kitties require hospitalization for any reason, we make every effort to give them their own cageless space if available – such as our entire isolation area or ‘procedures room’ when not in use. These areas, although visible from our entire treatment area, are also quieter and thus less scary for some of our patients. Even if housed in these ‘non-caged’ areas of the hospital, patients are always given beds and ‘portholes’ or ‘condos’ in which to hide.
Pictured below are two pictures of ‘Kenny’, a frequent visitor to our hospital for treatment of his chronic sinus issues. Kenny is very afraid and aggressive when he is caged. Thus, he is never caged, and instead is given full run of our procedures room, with accommodations to make his stay as comfortable as possible for him. He likes the bottom of his carrier, prefers to be covered, and guards his food dish well!
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- Cat Hospital of Chicago is a long standing member of VIN, Veterinary Information Network, because we choose to provide the best current health care available for your cat. We live in a rapidly changing world. Like all health care professionals, we face rapid change – new diseases, new technologies, new drugs and new treatments emerge every month. Remaining up-to-date with these changes is important, so we can offer the best care for your cats and best serve you. We also face new challenges such as monitoring emerging and exotic diseases like West Nile virus, and the threat of bioterrorism. As a member of VIN, we have constant access to a vast veterinary medical library and access to an online worldwide community of over 14,000 veterinarians, including hundreds of specialists. Additionally, to aid you in the search for information we both can trust, we recommend you explore VeterinaryPartner.com, a service provided by the Veterinary Information Network – the same information resource our hospital trusts.
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| Pictured here is Veterinary Nurse, Kari, working with a patient in a separately ventilated isolation ward. |
Accepted forms of payment at Cat Hospital of Chicago include: CASH, PERSONAL CHECKS, VISA, and MASTERCARD. We are also pleased to offer Care Credit. This is an outside company that provides a line of credit to be used for veterinary services which allows payment options to those clients who may be interested and qualify through Care Credit.
