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Golden Age Blood Tests -How old is your pet in people years?
National Pet Dental Health Month
February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Because of this, we are inviting you and your pets to come to our hospital for a free dental exam. We believe that dental care is important enough for you to take the time to do this. During this examination we'll look for evidence of tooth and gum infections, oral tumors and any other abnormality in your pet's mouth.
Unfortunately for most pets, oral disease is the most frequently diagnosed and most frequently ignored health problem. Doggie and kitty breath is not just an annoying smell but can be signs of a real serious health problem. Periodontal disease can cause not only mouth pain and odor but also leads to kidney and heart disease, both very serious complications of poor oral health. Completing a plan to control and prevent dental disease can add years to your pet's life.
If your pet does have a problem with his mouth and teeth, dental procedures scheduled during February will be discounted by 20% making it even more affordable to care for your pet's teeth.
We want your pet to give you joy for a long time to come. Fortunately, simple preventative care and routine dental cleanings can aid in reaching this goal. Just call us during office house to schedule your pet's appointment ¾ or after hours leave a message with our answering service and we'll get right back to you.
Its not too early to think about flea and tick protection.
As soon as the snow melts the ticks will be out and fleas will soon follow.
To protect your pet and save some money.......
Save20% and get a free bottle of shampoo when you buy 2 Preventic collars.
Save 15%- Buy a 6-pack of Advantage for flea control- get a 7th application free.
Save 15%-Buy a 6 pack of Frontline from tick and flea control-get the 7th application free.
Golden Age Blood Tests- What's This All About?
Pets live longer today. Twenty years ago when we opened our first practice in Hyde Park, 12 was very old for a dog and a 15 year old cat was ancient. Today we routinely see dogs in their mid teens and cats living over 20 years. Think of the progress, in only 2 decades the life span of dogs and cats has increased 25%. If they could do that for us we'd all be dancing the jig at out hundredth birthday!
Why is this so? Two main reasons; better nutrition and better medical care. Nutrition wise we have pet foods made specifically for different phases of our pet's lives; puppy and kitten hood, adult, and senior. We also have foods that are made especially to combat disease; diets to prevent kidney and bladder diseases, hypoallergenic diets to conquer skin allergies and other diets to help with heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Medically we've kept at bay the infectious killing diseases of the past; few dogs or cats today die of distemper, the rate of death from leukemia in cats is way down and the kennel cough epidemics we used to see in our boarding kennels have all but disappeared.
That's a great success story- can there be anything left to do? Sure there is! When our pets live longer they start to have the same problems we get when we age; heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, thyroid disease, kidney problems. What then can we do about this?
Early detection is the key to disease control in both humans and our pets. If we detect these diseases before they've done much damage we can control them and make the "golden years" enjoyable for both you and your pet. There is nothing sadder than seeing a pet who hasn't had a physical for a number of years come in with an advanced illness. As I treat the ailing pet and do the best I can I always think to myself how much better a job I could have done and how much better the outcome would be if I had been allowed to find this illness earlier, soon after it began, before it had caused so much damage.
We'd like to help your pet live longer. We've convinced our laboratory to offer low cost blood screening to all healthy pets over 7 years of age. We call this our "Golden Years" blood panel. It will test for disease of the kidney, blood, liver, bone marrow, lymph nodes, thyroid and certain types of cancer. The cost of this screening test is only $46 which we feel is an excellent saving. A similar test on an ailing pet would cost close to $80! But because we're using it as a screening test the laboratory has agreed to reduce the price they charge to us and we're happy to pass the savings along to you.
We can do this test any time you bring a healthy senior pet in for an examination. You also may bring him in just for the blood test without an examination, something our technician will be happy to do for you. This is a good insurance for your friend's health, and a good bargain besides...please, consider it seriously.
Every springtime clients call use and request the heartworm 'shot.' Every year I have to tell them that there is no 'shot' for heartworm. One day maybe, but not today. But wait, this spring will be different, there is a shot to prevent heartworm! In the biggest breakthrough since the introduction of the once a month heartworm pill, Fort Dodge Laboratories recently received approval for ProHeart, an injection for the prevention of heartworm disease. One ProHeart injection lasts a full 6 months. That's right, one little shot every 6 months; no struggling with monthly pills, no following your pet around to make sure he doesn't spit out his medication and if repeated every 6 months, no need for a yearly heartworm test. Even better, the price is no more than you would pay for 6 months of heartworm pills. We've been using ProHeart since July and both we, our clients and our patients have been extremely happy with it. So, this spring when you bring in your pet for his annual heartworm test, ask us whether ProHeart is the best choice for your dog's heartworm prevention.