Internal Medicine

Our Internal Medicine Specialists

A small animal internal medicine specialist can provide health care for your pet when you and your pet’s regular veterinarian decide it would be advantageous to seek more aggressive diagnostic tests, therapeutic interventions, and/or a second opinion. Our internists, have advanced knowledge of internal diseases including those involving the stomach and intestine, kidneys, bladder, endocrine system (including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, Cushing’s disease, and Addison’s disease), liver, respiratory conditions, diseases of the heart and lungs, and cancer treatment in dogs and cats.

Due to their advanced training beyond veterinary school they are also skilled in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques that include endoscopic procedures of the esophagus, stomach, intestines, nasal cavity and urinary tract. Additionally, ultrasound of the abdomen and heart, contrast radiographic studies, ultrasound guided biopsies, bone marrow aspirates and biopsies are regularly performed. It is the appropriate interpretation of these results that allows implementation of a solid treatment plan for your pet.

Your initial ninety minute appointment with an internist will include a detailed review of your pet’s history, a thorough physical examination, and a discussion of recommended diagnostic and treatment plans for your pet. Most diagnostics not requiring general anesthesia can be performed the same day as your appointment as well as any treatment that may be required. We strive to work with you, your pet, and family doctor to provide the best possible care and help to provide answers needed to make informed decisions.

Meet Our Internal Medicine Specialists

Hear from some of our internal medicine team as they speak about the specialty.

Transcript

Dr. James Dougherty: “In total medicine is the study of the diseases of the body for the most part. So we deal with diseases of the lungs, diseases of the liver, the reproductive system if they have one, the intestinal tract, the urinary tract.”

Dr. John DeBiasio: “It is a very interesting field. I think of all the specialties it is the least defined. So there’s always something new. Always, there’s not as many typical cases for instance. So no two cases seem to present the same way. There’s a lot of detective work that goes into it. And I really like to think about things and mull over and look at a lot of different ways that a case can go one way or the other. And try to figure things out.”

Dr. James Dougherty: “In this building, for internal medicine, not only do we have all the radiology equipment that’s run by Petra, we have the standard radiograph machine, we have the CT scanner, and then in conjunction with the MRI people, we have an MRI in here as well. We also have a full suite of endoscopic equipment, so there’s a whole compliment of endoscopes, so we can pretty much scope any area that from the nose, mouth, upper GI tract, lower GI tract, urinary tract. We have a number of ultrasound machines here. Most of the time we use the radiologist for that. But often times we’ll use it as well, to help us get urine samples or other samples that we might be aspirating.”

Dr. John DeBiasio: “Internal medicine is one of the, I would say, core specialties in that a lot of the other sub specialties rely on us as sort of the deciding, in terms of where it goes.”

Dr. James Dougherty: “Something comes in, and it’s coming into internal medicine and we notice something that’s not quite right neurologically, then we just find Dr. Northington and he’s always very willing to take a look, do a neurologic exam, tell us what he thinks about that, find a skin lesion, we’ll go to Dr. Farver, ask the dermatologist what does she think that is, what should we do about it, how can we treat it, she’ll consult, usually right on the spot. And most of the doctors will consult right on the spot.”

Dr. John DeBiasio: “We’ll commonly bounce ideas off each other, a case will come in for one of the surgeons and then they’ll find a problem that is not just surgical and they’ll want that worked up. When we work closely together, it’s very easy to consult with each other, here we all work very well together and are very friendly together here.”