Preventative care is essential to catch health issues early and keep your animal in the best health possible. We believe that the best preventative care for your pet involves  annual wellness exam. We thoroughly examine the ears, mouth, throat, teeth, legs, skin, hair, heart, and lungs to address potential health problems early.

Your pets are part of your family, and we treat your animals like family every time you visit us.We provide quality diagnostics and treatments, and give your pets the outstanding care they deserve to help them lead a long and healthy life.

We encourage you to always follow the directions on your pet’s medication and only use medicine that have been prescribed by a veterinarian. Never save left over medicine for future use. Do not give your pet human pain killers or medications as animal physiology is different than that of humans, and some common human medications can be deadly to animals. Only use medicines that has been prescribed by a veterinarian. Keep all medications out of reach of children and pets.

We offer surgical services for large and small animals in all 3 clinics.

Economics of Early Preg-testing the Beef Herd

With high feed costs and good market prices for cull animals it makes sense this year to identify and cull open cows early.  Annual feed costs per cow are now close to $700 per cow including $220+ for the winter feeding period depending on winter grazing conditions.  Cull cow price is typically higher in August and September allowing cows to be sold for more money and open heifers to be marketed as feeders. 

Cows due to calve March 1 can be ultrasounded for pregnancy in August or September and identified by colored ear tag for stage of pregnancy (green=March 1-20, yellow=Mar 20-Apr 10, red=April 10-30, etc).  Sorting the cow-calf pairs also creates the opportunity to precondition the calves to set them up for better health at weaning.  Poor-doing, thin, or cows with bad feet and udders can also be culled or brought home to be better managed.

For more information on the economics of preg-testing especially in a dry year see the following article from the SDSU extension service Importance of Pregnancy Detection During a Dry Year (sdstate.edu)

Darrel Kraayenbrink DVM