Our Services

We recommend a wellness exam at least once a year for your pet, and twice a year for senior pets. Your pet will be thoroughly and professionally examined by one of our experienced veterinarians.

We will also probably discuss diet. Obesity is an epidemic in our pets too and can shorten their life span and lead to illness and pain. Dry dog and cat food are for the convenience of the owner, not the health of the pet. Much like they are saying on the human side- the less processed the food, the better and dry food, regardless of the quality of the ingredients going into the food, is about as processed as you can get. Dry foods are also very high in carbohydrates which can lead to obesity, diabetes, allergies, inflammation, and many other problems. Lightly cooked foods like Fresh Pet or Farmers Dog are an improvement, and commercial frozen raw diets like Instinct, Primal, and Stella & Cheweys are probably optimal. Home made raw or lightly cooked diets are difficult to get the vitamins and minerals balanced. Even changing part of their diet to less processed foods can help improve their health and decrease inflammation.

Our pets often hide their pain and by the time the owner notices something is wrong, the disease has progressed. Bringing video of your pet moving around the house, including slow motion for lameness can help us diagnose painful conditions. Wellness exams can catch these conditions before they can get to advanced stages and give you a better outcome for successful treatment.

Remember, one of your dog or cat’s years is equivalent to approximately 7 human years! Proactive and preventative health provides your pet a longer quality of life. Studies have shown owners who do regular wellness exams on their dogs and cats, result in a longer life span for their pet.

Just like human children, your young puppy or kitten needs to be examined by a veterinarian to evaluate that it is growing up healthy! This is a great time to ask Dr. Best questions about your puppy or kitten.

In addition to a comprehensive exam, your puppy or kitten will receive the minimum vaccinations needed to protect it against devastating diseases like Parvo, Distemper (dogs), Feline respiratory disease, and Rabies. Your kitten can be tested to determine if it has feline AIDs and feline leukemia. Young puppies and kittens are also evaluated for parasites and if necessary, wormed.

We will also discuss nutrition for your growing pet!

Senior Wellness exams are recommended for dogs over 7 years of age, and cats over 8 years of age. In addition to a comprehensive exam, a complete blood cell count and a blood chemistry profile evaluates kidney and liver function, blood sugar levels, calcium and phosphorous levels, and electrolyte balances. These tests help us determine if your dog or cat is having issues with his kidneys, liver, is anemic or has other aging diseases like diabetes.

A heartworm test is conducted every year to confirm that your dog is still clear of infection. A thyroid (T4) test is done on your cat to reveal any thyroid disease.

We now know that by 8 years of age, 60% or more of cats have arthritis.

We welcome birds of all types, ferrets, rabbits, and other pocket pets.

They also tend to hide signs of illness as long as they can, so regular exams can help find problems before they become critical.

Bloodwork is often needed to get more information about their health.

Let’s face it, when you make the decision for your own surgery, you look for the best hospital and staff to provide you peace of mind. With experience helping thousands of pets, Best Friends Veterinary Hospital has the know how to help dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets, and other pocket pets.

Our clinic is pleased to provide your pet with the latest developments in surgery equipment. Radiosurgery provides your pet with the minimum amount of tissue destruction during the procedure. This translates to rapid post-surgery healing and less pain. It decreases the risk of infection, provides quicker recovery.

Our clinic uses Companion Therapy Laster to provide a surgery free, drug free, noninvasive treatment to reduce pain and inflammation and increases the speed of healing. This process uses a beam of laser light to deeply penetrate tissue without damaging it. This induces a biological response in the cells called “photo-bio-modulation” and can be used for acute or chronic issues.

In addition to standard surgeries, we also offer Ovary Sparing Spays and Vasectomies for canines. Research is indicating that early spay and neuter have an adverse effect on longevity with increased cancer and arthritis especially in large breed dogs.

Ovary sparing spays- we leave the ovaries and remove the entire uterus including the cervix. They still go through a heat cycle but don’t have any bleeding and can’t get pregnant, but there could be injury if a male dog breeds her.

One of the most devastating diseases that a dog or cat can develop during its lifetime is dental disease. Unfortunately, dental disease in its various stages is also one of the most commonly seen problems our office, increasing a pet’s discomfort and pain level, and impacting the sinuses and eyes.


Tarter and bacteria build up on your pets’ teeth and can lead to tooth loss, abscesses, and sinus infections. It can even lead to more serious diseases such as kidney, liver, and heart infections. Especially, for our older dogs and cats, regular dental care can lead to longer and higher quality life.

Did you know that getting lost is the #1 cause of death for pets? 1 in 3 pets go missing during its lifetime? Without an ID, 90% of lost pets don't get home.

HomeAgain Microchipping is a safe and simple procedure that gives you peace of mind that your pet has a permanent, lifetime ID, giving him the best chance to get home. A microchip is more reliable than a collar and a tag because there is no chance it will fall off.

Best Friends Veterinary Hospital boards a variety of animals, including dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets and other pocket pets. Dogs and cats are housed in separate areas. Our cat room is at the front of the hospital with a large viewing window where they can have stimulation without the worry of dog interaction.

Large and small dogs are kept in separate kennel areas. Each owners’ pet has individual play time in our large grassy, privacy fenced area. If you are boarding dogs together, and they can be fed together, they can keep each other company in the same kennel area, and have playtime together.

We offer a product called Zylkene to our dog, cat, and bird boarders that is a natural product that helps decrease stress and fear while they are here boarding.

No one likes it when their pet is in distress. Whether they’re uncomfortable or in pain, you want to do everything you can to help.

Therapeutic laser treatment promotes healing by reducing inflammation and pain. Help your pet feel better today!

We use the laser on all of our surgeries (except tumor removal), and we use it for ear infections, injuries, lick granulomas, bladder infections, abscesses, arthritis, after our dental cleanings, and many other things. There are no side effects, is quick and painless, and can definitely improve healing and decrease pain.

Shockwave therapy sends sonic pulses to a specific area of the body, resulting in the stimulation of blood vessels. This has been shown to reduce chronic inflammation, promote pain relief, and encourage the healing process.

I can help heal the joints (partial ACL tears), ligaments, and fractures.

Animals experience very low levels of testosterone after being neutered or spayed, which may lead to reduced muscle mass and other side effects like weakness, inactivity and weight gain, and arthritis. Testosterone therapy increases the amount of testosterone to normal levels, restoring healthy muscle mass and bone density.

We are now offering homeopathic treatments for acute and chronic conditions.

Homeopathy is the original evidence based medicine that uses the law that like treats like using ultradiluted remedies that are very safe and well tolerated.

Acupuncture is a form of complementary medicine that involves stimulating specific points on the body, called acupoints, to achieve various healing effects in the body.  Acupuncture is used to alleviate pain and to treat different physical, mental, and emotional conditions.  Most commonly in acupuncture the acupoints are stimulated by insertion of needles.  Acupuncture is an integral part of traditional Chinese veterinary medicine (TCVM) and has been successfully practiced in both human and animals for over 3,000 years.  The other branches of TCVM consist of traditional Chinese food therapy, traditional Chinese herbal therapy, and tui-na massage therapy. 

            Acupuncture stimulates the body to heal itself by activating certain physiological changes.  In ancient Chinese medical terms, diseases cause imbalances in the energies in the body and acupuncture is able to restore this balance, and therefore restore health and wellbeing.  In Western medical terms, studies have found that acupuncture can stimulate nerves, increase blood circulation1, regulate blood pressure2, have anti-inflammatory effects3, cause release of neurotransmitters such as opioids, noreepinephrine, and serotonins4, increase stem cell levels5, as well as restore and modulate the immune system6. 

            Dr. Yen is trained in both traditional acupuncture methods and an advanced acupuncture method called Balance Method acupuncture (BM acupuncture).  BM acupuncture uses strategic placement of needles in all four feet/legs to allow stronger stimulation in the body for quick results.  Another benefit in using BM acupuncture is that acupoints that are far away from the painful area can be successfully used to alleviate pain.  This is especially beneficial when treating immediately after surgeries or if there’s a lot of local pain present. 

            Acupuncture will give the best results when used along with herbal therapy.  See herbal therapy (link) section for common conditions that can greatly benefit from using acupuncture and herbs together.ption

            Dr. Yen uses both traditional Chinese herbs as well as western herbs to support her patients.  Know that for best healing results herbs and acupuncture should be used together as they are synergistic.  Acupuncture and herbal therapy are helpful for (but not limited to) the following conditions:

●        Having unacceptable or unwanted side effects from medications - acupuncture and herbal therapy can either help decrease the usage of certain medications (ie. pain medications) or even completely eliminate the need for them in certain cases.

●        Musculoskeletal conditions - arthritis, pain, disc disease, muscle spasms, spinal issues such as spondylosis, syringomyelia, muscle weakness, etc

●        Neurological conditions - paresis/paralysis, seizures, degenerative myelopathy (DM), fibrocartilagenous embolism (FCE), meningitis, etc

●        Gastrointestinal conditions - diarrhea, stomach ulcers, constipation, vomiting, irritable bowel disease (IBD), pancreatitis, etc

●        Dermatological conditions - skin infections, auto-immune skin conditions, itching, skin allergies, alopecia, etc.

●        Respiratory conditions - allergies, asthma, bronchitis, collapsing trachea, etc.

●        Heart conditions - mitral valve disease, dilative cardiomyelopathy, heart murmur, etc.

●        Liver/gallbladder conditions - chronic hepatopathy, hepatitis, gallstone, cholangiohepatitis, copper storage disease, non-specific liver value changes, etc.

●        Kidney/bladder conditions - chronic kidney disease, kidney stones, bladder infection, cystitis, bladder stones, urinary leakage, etc.

●        Support for cancer patients - acupuncture can stimulate the immune system to fight cancer and support good quality of life.  Many herbs have anti-cancer properties.  Holistic medicine is a great adjunct therapy to use along with chemotherapy and other conventional cancer treatments.

●        Generally, any chronic conditions can benefit from acupuncture and herbal therapy  - geriatric weakness, Cushing’s disease, diabetes, and certain behavioural issues.

“Let food be thy medicine.” - Hippocrates

        Traditional Chinese food therapy is based on the knowledge that every food has an energetic, flavour, and organ system/meridian associated with it, and by using this information you can prevent and treat health conditions.  For example, a dog can be generally considered as healthy, but prefers the warmth and the sun, sleeps more during the winter time, and is prone to loose stool when there is a change in his diet.  Using food therapy we can use foods that are warming in energetics, that are able to strengthen the digestive system, and maintains Qi or vitality.  Over time, this supportive diet can restore optimal health in the dog so that he is energetic whether the weather is cold or hot and that his digestion is so strong that diet changes do not change the quality of his stool anymore.   Without this knowledge, one might mistakingly feed such an individual foods that is cooling and dampening, which over time can lead to lethargy in cool weather, cold extremities, and chronic diarrhea.  Our goal is to prevent this from happening and that dis-ease and illness do not occur in the first place.  In traditional Chinese food therapy we aim to support the body with wholesome, appropriate foods for the individual to achieve optimal health and wellbeing. 

Tui-na (pronounced twee-nah) massage is an ancient form of massage that stimulates acupressure points or surface areas of the body, restoring physiological balance and promoting circulation.

The use of tui-na enhances the effects of acupuncture and herbal clinical results.

Most of the techniques in tui-na are easy to learn and can be used daily as part of the follow-up care program for pet owners to do at home.

Additionally, the pet patients enjoy the hands on TLC at home and this helps strengthen the human-animal bond.

Flower essences are liquids that hold the specific vibrational healing energies of different flowers, and sometimes of plants, trees, crystals, or other natural sources.

Flower essences do not have a smell.

What is special about flower essences is that they are excellent at supporting emotional wellbeing.

For example, if an accident just occurred an animal could become stuck in the emotional state of shock.

The animal’s physical state could be okay - it was just a little bruise on the side of the body.

However, the emotional state of shock can make it so that the animal just wants to hide and refuses to eat or drink.

Then the appropriate flower essence, which in this case is Star of Bethlehem, can help the animal recover from this emotional shock. There are various flower essences for various emotional states.

Dr. Yen mostly uses Bach flower essences to support her animal patients.

Gemmotherapy is a specific form of herbal therapy that uses young instead of mature plant parts for therapeutic effects.

Some call it plant embryonic therapy.

Gemmotherapy tinctures are made from glycerin extract from buds and young shoots from immature plants and typically contains some alcohol.  Gemmotherapy is able to drain and detoxify at the cellular level.  This is powerful as true healing can only occur when toxins are drained out of the cells in the body.  The drainage systems of the body include the kidneys and bladder (via urine), intestines (via stool), uterus (via menstration), skin (via sweating), lungs (via breathing), and the liver (depending on pathway, can then go via urine, skin, or stool).  This means that there will likely be slight detox symptoms when using gemmotherapy.  However, gemmotherapy is very gentle and effective and when using gemmotherapy Dr. Yen will make specific prescription and direction tailored to the individual pet’s body condition and needs.

One condition that Dr. Yen has found gemmotherapy to be especially helpful when other supportive therapies have been exhausted is degenerative myelopathy.

At Best Friends Animal Hospital we are proud to provide specialized lab testing through the VDI laboratory.  The tests include the following:

-    Cancer Panels

Cancer monitoring panels - using indexes of abnormal DNA proliferation and inflammation, these panels can be used as part of general screening panel to know whether cancer should be suspected in individuals or used as part of a monitoring program to confirm effects of cancer treatments over time. 

GI lymphoma panel - it is often difficult in cats to differentiate between irritable bowel disease (IBD) and GI lymphoma as the clinical symptoms are similar, ultrasound images can be similar for both conditions, and fine needle aspiration results are often inconclusive.  In general, biopsy of the intestines is necessary for definitive diagnosis but this is quite invasive.  With the GI lymphoma panel it is possible to use a blood test to differentiate between the 2 conditions.  This panel is also able to monitor for GI vitamin status as well as disease progression.  See here for more information.

Calcium panel - many cancers causes abnormal elevation in calcium level in the blood.  This panel helps differentiate whether high calcium in the blood is from a cancer origin or not by testing for total calcium, parathyroid hormone 1-84, and vitamin D levels.  This panel can also be used to look for reasons for abnormally low calcium level in the blood. 

-    Gastrointestinal Panels

Advanced GI panel - this is an extensive panel that tests for GI vitamins and minerals (vitamin D, vitamin B12, folate, magnesium), blood protein values (albumin, globulin, total protein), as well as pancreatic enzyme (pancreatic lipase), and indexes for gastrointestinal lymphoma (TK1, CRP or HPT).  This panel is able to find out if a pet has pancreatitis, IBD, GI lymphoma, protein losing enteropathy (PLE), essential vitamin deficiencies, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).  This panel cannot confirm whether a pet has exocrine pancreatic insufficiency or not as it does not contain TLI level. 

BI Microbiome Testing - this is a stool test that is able to tell whether there is microbiome dysbiosis present in the pet or not. 

-    Nutritional Panels

Essential Vitamins - VDI lab is able to test for essential vitamins that are not commonly available at other diagnostic laboratories.  These include vitamin D (which commonly is deficient in cancer patients), vitamin B12 (which is commonly deficient in patients with digestive diseases), folate (often abnormal in digestive disease), and magnesium (is necessary for over 600 biological pathways in the body).

- Specialty Panels

DJD panel - serum hyaluronic acid (HA) level lets us detect whether there is sufficient HA in the body of a patient, which in terms help us detect or monitor degenerative joint disease (DJD).  Additionally, the panel tests for indexes of inflammation to let us know the severity of joint inflammation provided that the patient does not have severe liver disease.  This panel can be used to detect DJD as well as monitor for treatment efficacy.

-    Toxicity Panels

Fur Mineral Analysis - the fur holds information that lets us know if there is long period of exposure to pollutants or dietary deficiencies for micro or macro-minerals in dogs and cats.  This test is able to look for heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead) as well as 25 additional minerals.   You can gleam additional information regarding the function of glands in the body based on the mineral results.  Based on the results additional recommendations can be made at how to remove heavy metals in the body if necessary as well as providing specific mineral or organ support that the body needs.