It is a misconception that a recent food change is the cause of a food allergy. Most pets have eaten a food for years before they reacted to it. There is no age or sex predisposition to developing a food allergy, it can occur in any pet. Usually signs of a food allergy are year round, unlike pollen allergies that are seasonal. In cats, Siamese or Siamese mixes may be predisposed for food allergies.

There is no blood test or skin test to diagnose a food allergy. You must put the pet on a food elimination diet trial which may take 8 to 12 weeks. No other foods can be fed during this diet trial.

Novartis, the maker of Interceptor and Sentinel heartworm preventatives, had a voluntary plant closure due to some problems in their human medication lines. They are unable to ship any Interceptor or Sentinel at this time. We are not sure when these medications will be available again. We still have a small amount of them in stock.

We are recommending Trifexis as your heartworm preventative this year. Trifexis has the same active ingredient (milbemycin) for heartworm, hookworms, whipworms and roundworms as both Interceptor and Sentinel, but adds spinosad to kill fleas. Unlike Sentinel which uses an insect growth regulator to stop fleas from reproducing, spinosad kills fleas starting within 30 minutes and lasts for 30 days. This will keep live fleas off of your dog!

Make sure your dog has a meal before you give the Trifexis to make sure it is absorbed well.

We also have Proheart injectable heartworm preventative this year. Proheart is given as a single injection in our office and lasts 6 months, so you don’t have to worry about missed pills.

If you want to order the Interceptor of Sentinel form online sources, please remember that they can’t order these drugs either, and some online sources may turn to counterfeit medications to fill your order. For more information on online pet pharmacies go to:
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm048164.htm

Cats are less likely than dogs to show signs of arthritis. Being both a predator as well prey, cats are adapt at hiding signs of illness or weakness including signs of arthritis. Risk factors include being overweight and advancing age. Here are some signs of arthritis you can watch for in your cat.

not jumping up or down as well or as high
making smaller jumps
less graceful, acts “stiff” or “creaky”
doesn’t use the litterbox , especially if it means they have to go up or down steps
sleeping more, not changing positions or locations often
coat looks matted or unkept
over-grooms some areas, especially over joints
doesn’t sharpen claws often
doesn’t interact with other people or cats as well as in the past
spends more time alone

Radiographs (x-rays) may or may not show how bad the arthritis is, but is a good starting point in evaluating your pet. Cats can not take many types of pain medications, so it can be difficult to decrease their pain. NEVER give your cat Tylenol or any other pain medication. A single Tylenol tablet can kill your cat. You can use Cosequin (glucosamine) in cats, but this is a medication that takes weeks before you will see results.

We can not stop our cats from growing older, but we can help them by avoiding weight gain and using medications such as Cosequin to keep them moving.

Heartworms are dangerous parasites that are spread by mosquitos from one dog to another. The mosquito injects the heartworm larvae into the skin. After several months, the larvae get into the bloodstream and make their way to the heart and the blood vessels that go into the lungs. There they become adult heartworms and reproduce, putting thousands of immature larvae into the bloodstream to be picked up by other mosquitoes and spread to other dogs.
Heartworms can be deadly to your pet. The adult heartworms can interfere with the blood flow of the heart and lungs and cause inflammation and damage to both the heart and lungs. Dogs may not show obvious symptoms initially, but they can develop coughing, labored breathing, and heart failure from heartworms.

Luckily, heartworm disease is totally preventable. We can do a blood test to make sure your dog does not have heartworms, then put your pet on heartworm preventive medication. If your dog is less than six months old, we do not need to test it before starting heartworm prevention.
For adult dogs, if they have never been on heartworm prevention or if their preventive medicine was stopped during the winter months when there are (almost) no mosquitoes, then the dog should be tested in spring (late March or April) and then started on heartworm preventive from April through early December (We continue heartworm preventive into the cooler months because it can be warm in November, like last year, and also the larva hiding in the skin are not affected until they migrate into the blood stream). If your dog’s annual exam is later in the summer or fall, it is a good idea to come in in Spring to get it tested for heatworms.
Many dogs are kept on heartworm preventive year-round, since the types of heartworm preventives we use also control important intestinal parasites. Those dogs on year-round heartworm preventive can be tested every other year for heartworms.

Most heartworm preventive medications that we use are given once a month. Our basic heartworm preventives that we have used for years have been Interceptor and Sentinel brands, but we may not be able to get more Interceptor and Sentinel from the manufacturer for a while (we still have some in stock, though). (The Sentinel killed heartworms and kept fleas from multiplying but did not kill them.)
We are getting a new heartworm preventive monthly tablet, called Trifexis, that also kills fleas very quickly, before the fleas can multiply. It has the same heartworm and intestinal parasite control as Interceptor and Sentinel.
Proheart injection has become available again! This is an injection that is given every 6 months to prevent heatworms, so you do not have to remember to give any monthly tablets at home.. Proheart was taken off the market for several years for further testing, but has again been approved by the FDA to be given every six months. It should be started in healthy dogs before they are 7 years old. Dogs on Proheart injections can be tested for heartworms every 2 years. Proheart does control hookworms.

Fleas can be carried inside on your clothes or a friends clothes. Fleas will not stayu on humans, but they will use us as a transport to get to your pets. Mosquitos spread heartworm microfilaria from one animal to another as the feed on blood. Most mosquitos are outside, but who hasn’t encountered one or more of these blood thirsty insects buzzing around inside.

While your indoor pet is less likely to be hit by a car or be in a fight with a stray, they are just as likely to get dental disease, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or other serious diseases. It is often too late to treat many of these health problems one your pet acts sick, but many can be helped if they are detected early on. Yearly exams can help your pet live a longer healthier life!

Your pet is not very likely to tell you when the feel a little bit under the weather, so please don’t wait until they are deathly ill for an exam.

Don’t wait until your cat or dog needs to take medication, train them now to take a pill. There are several easy ways to teach them how to accept medications. The key is to find a soft treat that they really like. “ Pill Pockets” are a soft tasty treat that most pets really like. Use these as treats and train your pet to take them by giving 3 small pieces, one right after the other, without anything in them. Offer these when your pet is hungry, and praise them for taking the treats. You can use any small soft food treat for this. Practice daily for at least 2 weeks, then offer the treats less often, but always with praise. You can also use a less than 1/2 inch round piece of cheese, hot dog, cream cheese, peanut butter if you need a better motivator for your pet. Make sure you find a treat that your pet really likes. Start practicing when your pet is still a kitten or puppy if possible. Once your pet is accustomed to taking the treats, you can hide the pill or capsule in one of the treats. Give the first one with nothing in it, followed fast by the treat with the pill in it, the quickly offer the last treat with nothing in it. Praise your pet for taking the treats. It just takes a little preplanning and training to get your cat or dog to take medication easily.

If you have a cat who becomes upset when another cat returns from the veterinary clinic, try to rub both with the same scent – try cooking vanilla – to help keep both calm. You can also keep the returning cat in their travel cage or in a separate closed off room for a couple hours after returning to prevent the non-recognition from occurring. Your kitty may not be happy about the confinement, but avoiding a cat fight that will create problems between the cats for days is well worth the effort. The cats should remain separated for however long it takes for them to return to their usual relationship. Continue the gradual reintroduction until peace occurs between the cats.

This non-recognition aggression does not appear to occur in dogs.

Ticks can spread diseases such as Lyme disease, or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

You can prevent ticks from attaching to your dog by using products such as Frontline Plus or Preventic Collars. Over the counter flea and tick collars do not work very well.

To remove a tick from your dog you should use fine pointed tweezers to grasp the tick close to the skin and gently pull free. Applying rubbing alcohol to the tick, or squirt the spray starter fluid (which is ether) onto a swab and rub the tick may help to loosen it’s mouthparts first. NEVER REMOVE A TICK WITH YOUR BARE FINGERS! You could expose yourself to a disease that the tick was carrying.

Attached female tick.

Why does this happen? Dogs like attention, and Fluffy has learned that if he jumps up to greet people, they will pay attention to him. It doesn’t have to be good attention, anything that gives your attention to him is good, even negative attention. Fluffy doesn’t care that Mrs. Smith kept saying, “no, no, don’t jump”, all Fluffy cared about was that she was paying attention and petting him. So, do not reinforce the behavior by talking, touching or even looking at the dog while they are jumping. Stand still and ignore them, it isn’t any fun to jump on something that isn’t responding to you if you are a dog.

Does punishment work for this? In order for punishment to work you must meet 3 rules:
It must occur EVERY time the unwanted behavior occurs. In this case, Mr. Smith punished Fluffy by kneeing him, but neither Mrs. Smith or Ms. Jones gave any punishment to Fluffy.
The punishment needs to occur within a few seconds of the behavior. Mr. Smith reacted right away to the jumping with striking Fluffy in the chest, so this rule was met.
The punishment needs to be strong enough to stop the behavior, but to strong will frighten the dog. Fluffy ran away from the blow to his chest and is now afraid to go near Mr. Smith, so the punishment was too strong. Fluffy doesn’t understand that he was punished for jumping, he thinks Mr. Smith is too rough to play with and will now “punish” Mr. Smith by not going to him.

So, if punishment isn’t the way to go, how can you stop this behavior? Training is the way to go. Teach your dog to sit and do not allow anyone to interact with him unless he is sitting down. Tell Ms. Jones that it is NOT OK for Fluffy to jump and that she is not allowed to look at, touch, or speak to Fluffy unless Fluffy is sitting down.

You can also teach your dog to go to a “go to spot” away from the door each time the doorbell rings. Place a rug or dog bed on the floor away from the entry area. Teach your dog to “go to” this spot and stay for a treat and attention. Fluffy may not leave this spot until you release her with a verbal command. Practice this behavior daily. Send Fluffy to this “go to” spot each time the door bell rings. Ask a friend to come over and ring the doorbell, but not come in, until Fluffy learns this new trick. Once your guests have entered, then Fluffy can greet them by sitting down to receive a treat or attention. If Fluffy is not sitting, then there is no reward given. This will take some time and training, but it is well worth the effort. You may need to put Fluffy on a leash for better control while you are training Fluffy to sit to get petted. Dogs do whatever it takes to get your attention, so you have to teach your dog that good behavior will win them more attention than jumping will. Good manners in dogs must be taught, they don’t just happen.

2. Make sure you have the correct size product for your pet.

3. Make sure you use cat products on cats and dog products on dogs.  Do not use dog only products on cats, it could be fatal to your cat.

4. Treat every pet.  It doesn’t matter if you do not see fleas on them, treat all of them at the same time.

5.Treat your home.  Most of the fleas are in the egg, larva, or pupae stage (95%), only a few are the adult fleas which are on your pet (5%).  Use an      Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) to kill the immature fleas.  Adulticides only kill adult fleas, and they rae mostly on your pet.

6. Clean /vacuum everything, (before you use any flea products in the home) under the chairs, sofa, beds.  Run pet beds through the washer.  Immature fleas are underneath things, not out in the open.

7. Keep cleaning and treating for fleas for at least 4 to 6 months to eliminate all of the fleas.

8. Keep treating all the pets for 4 to 6 months, or better yet  - all year round – to prevent fleas from returning.

9. You may not see the fleas when they are present in small numbers, but their population will grow fast, so treat you pets before you see the problem.  The easiest treatment for an itchy pet is to apply a flea treatment.

10. Choose a name brand product such as Frontline,  Revolution, Advantage.  When these products are purchased from a veterinarian, they will be suported by the manufacturer.  Products purchased from a store or over the internet could be counterfeit products (yes, it is a big business to produce fake flea products).. Your veterinarian will have purchased the flea product from the manufacturer.