Services
Animal Medical Services
Preventative Care
Preventative care is vital to keeping your pet happy and healthy. Learn what steps you can take to care for your pet.
Animal Medical Services
Preventative Care services at Animal Medical Services
Flea and Tick Preventative
Fleas and ticks are not just annoying. They carry potentially deadly diseases for both you and your pet. We have many options when is comes to keeping these pests away.
Are natural remedies for flea/tick/heartworm prevention safe to use on my pet?
Although natural remedies may offer some protection or repellency against parasites, they are not nearly as effective as prescription products. In addition, natural remedies often need to be applied far more frequently than once a month, making them less convenient as well. Some, such as garlic, may actually be harmful to your pet.
Just because a product has “natural” on its label doesn’t mean it’s safe. Consult with us before using any over-the-counter preventives on your pet.
One all natural product we do recommend for you house is “Flea Busters”. This silica based powder cuts the carapace or outer shell of the flea, so that they dehydrate and die. Since large numbers of fleas are in the environment as well as on your pet, this product can help to break the flea life cycle.
Why should I buy flea/tick/heartworm preventives from a veterinary hospital when there are other, cheaper places to get it?
If you purchase preventives from sources other than a veterinary hospital or a website affiliated with a veterinary hospital, you don’t have any guarantee that the product is authentic or that it has been stored and shipped properly. When you order from your veterinarian, you’ll have the added benefit of being able to rely on his or her expertise and knowledge of your pet’s medical history. Finally, Animal Medical Services can assist you if you purchase our products and then have concerns with a product or a reaction. Store or online retailers are unlikely to be much help with returns or product failures.
I’ve never seen a flea or tick on my pet. Why should I bother putting my pet on preventives? Isn’t this an extra expense that’s just not worth paying for?
Vaccinations
On a regular basis we see the benefit of routine vaccination: deadly cases of Parvovirus that could have been prevented, pets who are in quarantine due to expired Rabies vaccine, even cases of Tetanus in large animals. Your pet faces enough threats to his or her health. Preventing the disease through vaccination makes humane and monetary sense. We will assess the risk your pet faces for each disease and will only recommend the vaccines we believe are appropriate.
Vaccines we have available:
For Dogs: Rabies, Distemper, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Hepatitis-Adenovirus combination, Leptospirosis, Lyme Disease, Bordetella/Kennel Cough
For Cats: Rabies, Feline Distemper, Calicivirus, Rhiniotracheitis combination, Feline Leukemia Virus
For Horses: Rabies, Eastern/Western encephalitis Tetanus combination, Flu-Rhinotracheitis, Pneumabort/Herpes, West Nile Virus, Salmonella, Streptococcus equi (strangles)
For Cattle/small ruminents: Rabies, Clostridial combinations; Shipping Fever (Triangle 9), E. coli, Pinkeye
Other: Ferret specific Canine Distemper and Rabies.
Why should you allow us to do your pet’s vaccinations?
Purchasing your vaccines from feed stores and catalogs is risky. Vaccine handling is essential to it’s effectiveness. With a store or catalog bought vaccine you have no certainty of proper storage prior to your purchase. Our vaccines come directly from the manufacturer to us, shipped on ice. We apply strict quality control. Our manufacturers stand behind their vaccines. With store bought vaccines, if your pet contracts the disease they were vaccinated for you have little recourse. Furthermore, vaccines are not benign. They can be at least ineffective if not given properly or can even be harmful to your animal. The small cost savings you may receive from purchasing and administering your own vaccines will not be realized if you have one case of disease breakthrough or complication like a vaccine reaction or abscess.
Please contact us if you have questions about your pet’s vaccines.
Can I call and have you send a copy of my pet’s rabies certificate and proof of vaccinations to the kennel where my pet will be staying?
We’d be happy to send proof of vaccination to your pet’s kennel. Just let us know the fax number or email address.
You may also print copies of any of you pet’s records, including a “pet id card” by logging into EPetHealth.
Heartworm Prevention
When they bite, mosquitoes can transmit heartworm infection. And those heartworms can wreak havoc on your dog or cat. These parasites can severely and sometimes fatally damage the heart, lungs, and blood vessels. Some pets may not show any signs of infection; in those that do, symptoms can vary widely.
In dogs, signs of heartworm disease can range from coughing, fatigue, and weight loss to difficulty breathing and a swollen abdomen (caused by fluid accumulation from heart failure). Canine heartworm infection can also lead to a life-threatening complication called “caval syndrome” (a form of liver failure); without prompt surgical intervention, this condition usually causes death.
Although often thought to not be susceptible to heartworm infection, cats can indeed get heartworms. Cats can suffer from a syndrome referred to as heartworm-associated respiratory disease (HARD); the symptoms can be subtle and may mimic those of asthma or allergic bronchitis. Signs of respiratory distress, such as rapid or difficult breathing, wheezing, and panting, are common. Other symptoms include coughing, vomiting (typically unrelated to eating), and loss of appetite or weight. Heartworm infection is more difficult to diagnose in cats than it is in dogs.
Treatment for heartworm infection is far more expensive than prevention—and it can actually kill your dog. There is no approved treatment for cats. Some cats spontaneously rid themselves of the infection; others might not survive it. And even one or two adult heartworms in a cat can cause serious problems.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to keep your dog or cat safe: by administering monthly heartworm preventives. Most heartworm medications also protect your pet against other parasites, such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, ear mites, fleas, and ticks. We can recommend the best regimen of prevention for your pet.
Why do you require a heartworm test if my pet is on preventative?
Things don’t always work the way they are supposed to! It is possible for a previous heartworm test to have given a false negative result if the infection was recent. Even if a pet has been on preventative for years, manufacturing errors occur, resulting in ineffective medication. We have also been called by people who have found a stash of pills in a hidden spot, where their pet ran and spit them out after they were “sure” they had swallowed them.
If we did not test annually, the result of all of these situations would be a pet who would carry heartworm disease for years without our knowledge.
The end result? A dog or cat who was supposed to be protected, dying from heartworms.
We follow the American Heartworm Society guidelines. This independent panel of parasitologists, publishes recommendations based on the current prevalence of heartworms in the US.
Why does heartworm treatment cost so much?
I’ve been late several times when giving my pet a heartworm preventive. Should I be concerned?
Unfortunately, if you were late or missed a dose even once, your pet could have become infected if he or she was exposed during that time. Call your veterinarian, and explain the situation. Depending on how many doses have been late, they may recommend that you have your pet tested for heartworm infection, then put your pet on a regular preventive schedule. You should also have your pet retested in seven months, as recommended by the American Heartworm Society. (For heartworms to be detected, they need to be five to seven months old.)
If remembering to give your preventative is a problem, call us for ideas. We can help you set up email, text or even telephone reminders.
Why does my dog/cat need to have a blood test before starting heartworm medication?
Heartworm Prevention
When they bite, mosquitoes can transmit heartworm infection. And those heartworms can wreak havoc on your dog or cat. These parasites can severely and sometimes fatally damage the heart, lungs, and blood vessels. Some pets may not show any signs of infection; in those that do, symptoms can vary widely.
In dogs, signs of heartworm disease can range from coughing, fatigue, and weight loss to difficulty breathing and a swollen abdomen (caused by fluid accumulation from heart failure). Canine heartworm infection can also lead to a life-threatening complication called “caval syndrome” (a form of liver failure); without prompt surgical intervention, this condition usually causes death.
Although often thought to not be susceptible to heartworm infection, cats can indeed get heartworms. Cats can suffer from a syndrome referred to as heartworm-associated respiratory disease (HARD); the symptoms can be subtle and may mimic those of asthma or allergic bronchitis. Signs of respiratory distress, such as rapid or difficult breathing, wheezing, and panting, are common. Other symptoms include coughing, vomiting (typically unrelated to eating), and loss of appetite or weight. Heartworm infection is more difficult to diagnose in cats than it is in dogs.
Treatment for heartworm infection is far more expensive than prevention—and it can actually kill your dog. There is no approved treatment for cats. Some cats spontaneously rid themselves of the infection; others might not survive it. And even one or two adult heartworms in a cat can cause serious problems.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to keep your dog or cat safe: by administering monthly heartworm preventives. Most heartworm medications also protect your pet against other parasites, such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, ear mites, fleas, and ticks. We can recommend the best regimen of prevention for your pet.
Dermatology
Skin problems are common in dogs and cats and can be caused by hormonal disorders, allergies, infections, or parasites such as fleas and mites. These issues can be particularly difficult to treat and should be addressed promptly.
We can often diagnose a skin problem by simply examining your pet. Some dermatologic diseases or conditions do require additional diagnostic procedures to ensure a correct diagnosis. Depending on your pet’s symptoms and the results of our physical exam, we may run blood work or perform a urinalysis, skin scraping, or biopsies.
Contact us if you notice your dog or cat scratching excessively or if he or she develops any bare patches, scabs, scaling, redness, inflammation, lumps, or bumps.
Endocrinology
Endocrinology is the study of hormones and there are several common endocrine disorders found in dogs and cats. Hypothyroidism is often diagnosed in dogs. Hypothyroidism indicates that the animal has low levels of circulating thyroid hormone. The opposite is true for cats. They are frequently diagnosed with high levels of circulating thyroid hormones.
Additional endocrine problems include Cushing’s Disease and Addison’s Disease.
There are many signs observable in pets with endocrine disease. These signs include (but are not limited to) the following: abnormal energy levels, abnormal behavior, abnormal drinking, urinating and eating behavior, excessive panting, skin disorders, and weight gain or loss.