Preventative Care for Your Pet

PREVENTATIVE CARE FOR YOUR PET

Vaccines - Vaccines are extremely important especially in kittens and puppies. Properly vaccinating (making sure to appropriately schedule vaccine appointments) your kitten or puppy will help prevent fatal diseases like Distemper and Parvo for dogs, and Panleukopenia and respiratory diseases for cats.

With any vaccine/drug an allergic reaction is very rare but can happen. Monitoring your pet after their vaccine appointment is important. If any swelling of the face, difficulty breathing, uncontrollable vomiting or diarrhea, or even collapse occurs immediate veterinary attention is necessary.

Diet - Maintaining your pet at an ideal weight is vital and cannot be emphasized enough! Being at an ideal weight prevent many diseases and has been proven to prolong life. Heart and respiratory diseases, diabetes, joint problems can all be related to excessive weight. A proper diet and the right amount of food can help with a healthy weight. Certain brands of food are more trustworthy to the veterinary community as the quality control and research is superior. Please ask us for more specific information.

There are several ways to help your pet loss weight, aside from exercise and weight loss diets. You can add water/low sodium broth to your pet’s food to help him/her feel satiated. Feed the correct amount of food but split over several meals throughout the day. Take a portion of his/her kibble, mix with water in a paper cup and freeze. Once frozen, peel away the paper cup and give as a treat (this will help your pet feel fuller by encouraging him/her to eat slower and adds water to his/her food). You can try canned food, in the same variety as the dry kibble he/she is eating, which can help him/her both feel fuller, without introducing additional proteins or ingredients. You can offer low calorie foods as treats (avoid table scraps), such as green beans, carrots, low fat yogurt, water, ice cubes (even made from low-sodium broth).

Contact us to help you determine how much your pet can get to reach his/her daily caloric allowance.

Dental care is vital to your pet’s health. Brushing teeth with dog or cat formulated toothpaste every day to 2-3x a week can help prevent further tartar build up on the teeth. However, brushing alone will not get rid of large pieces of tartar already on the teeth. A general anesthetic dental cleaning is necessary to fully clean the teeth. This is the same type of cleaning that is recommended for people every 6 months. Lack of dental care can cause chronic pain in the mouth, tooth abscesses, and bacteria to circulate in the body which can cause diseases of major organs. These are just a few of the medical problems that can arise without proper dental care.

Each year the incidence of heartworm disease increases in all states, including Colorado. Heartworm is a worm that gets into the blood system that can clog the heart and lungs. It is transmitted by mosquitoes. We recommend heart worm prevention during the hot summer months of May to October, and a heart worm blood test is required once a year in April. The heartworm prevention medication that we carry also contains a dewormer for certain intestinal parasites. These can be transmitted to humans. If your pet is around very young children or pregnant women, year-round heartworm prevention (January to December) is best. This will help decrease the risk of transmission to people as your dog will be dewormed every month.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that has become more prevalent with the increase of wildlife (squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, foxes etc) in our own backyards. This disease can cause kidney failure and can be fatal without treatment. It is transmitted from infected wildlife by their urine and feces; therefore, contact with contaminated grass, bodies of water, and wildlife can be risks. There is a vaccine for dogs that can begiven to help prevent the disease.

Canine Influenza - according to the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association),80% of all dogs may contract and exhibit some symptoms of this disease. The mortality rate of dogs contracting the disease is 5-8%. Colorado has consistently been one of the top 3 states in the number of confirmed cases. Some dogs develop a bacterial infection that could cause a severe pneumonia. There are many bacteria that can cause pneumonia. Dogs may often be severely infected and not show any signs of illness.

Bloodwork before an anesthetic procedure as well as preventative annual blood work provides a lot of medical information that cannot be found on a physical exam. This includes kidney/liver values a red and white blood cell count. Several diseases can be detected with bloodwork that are not always obvious with a physical exam alone. We hope this general information is helpful with keeping up to date with your pet’s health.

Please contact us for further information or with any questions or concerns. Thank you for bringing your pet in to us!!