My pet advice on vaccinations

    Say you've just adopted your first puppy or kitten, and the shelter informs you that they have been vaccinated with their first round of shots. You think, okay that's great; I don’t have to worry about that for another year. WRONG! You must complete the full series of vaccinations, usually 3 separate rounds, before your puppy or kitten is fully protected for the year. It is important to get your pet vaccinated each year, until in my opinion your pet(s) reaches 7 years old (mature adult).

    Once your pet has reached 7 years old, I recommend doing no more vaccines, and instead perform blood work. My reasoning behind this is, if your pet has been vaccinated for 7 years straight, they usually have built up enough antibodies for their whole life, so vaccines are no longer needed. In fact, vaccines for sick and/or elderly animals can actually be harmful. This is due to older animals not being able to process the vaccine properly. It’s simply just too much stress for their bodies to process.

    So if your pet is 7 years or older, my pet advice would be to have a Profile (Checks for organs function), CBC (Complete blood count), and T4 (Checks thyroid) blood panel performed. These blood tests usually enable you to catch potential issues before they are a big problem. Just like vaccines were preventive care, now blood work is preventive care.

    Some Veterinarians may require you to get a Rabies shot because it is required by law, but there is a way around this. If you encounter a Vet that tells you that your pet must have a Rabies shot, tell them to do a rabies titer. They will probably be shocked that you know about this, but should be willing to perform the blood test instead of the vaccine. The rabies titer is a blood test that is sent out to a lab where they check the cells to see how many antibodies for rabies your pet currently has. If they have high enough antibodies, they do not need another vaccine for a whole year.

    Blood test titers can be performed for most vaccines your pet(s) receive yearly, so if you are a person who does not like a lot of vaccines, you can go this route for your pet(s).

   Please return next week to learn more about keeping your pet(s) happy and healthy.

Keeping fleas away and other parasites!

    Now your home and your pet(s) are flea free, but what about other parasites they can catch? It is always better to prevent your pet(s) from catching fleas or other parasites than having to get rid of them, as you know after reading how much work it is to get rid of fleas.

    Some common parasites your pet(s) can encounter that are preventable with monthly treatment are heartworm disease, ear mite infestation, different types of mange, roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms. Another common parasite that can be prevented is tapeworms. The only way your pet(s) can have tapeworms is if they eat a flea. So, if you are using a monthly flea control product, they will not encounter tapeworms.

   Heartworm disease is the most severe out of all them. They catch the disease from a mosquito biting them. If nothing else, your pet(s) should be protected from heartworm disease monthly. Heartworm disease is treatable in dogs, but it is expensive and tends to be painful for the owner and the pet. If you are interested in reading more about heartworms and the treatment process, here is a good website http://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/canine-heartworm.html. Unfortunately, at this time there is no treatment available for cats.


     The other parasites listed above are all treatable, but treatment can be expensive and painful for your pet. If you are interested in learning more, please visit http://www.petsandparasites.org/dog-owners/overview/ or ask me in the comment section listed below.

     After finding out that your pet(s) can be affected by several parasites that can be prevented, why not prevent it from happening, and save time, worries, and unnecessary veterinary bills? Here is a list of some common all in one monthly preventive medications:

Revolution (topical)
Advantage multi (topical)
Trifexis (oral) 

    Each medication can only be purchased at a vet hospital, because your pet(s) have to be tested for heartworms before it is administered. The test only requires 3 drops of your dog’s blood and usually is not too expensive. This is a very important step, because if you give a heartworm preventive to a dog that is already infected, it can cause severe complications, or even death. Although there is no treatment for cats yet, there is a heartworm test for them. Some veterinarians may require your cat to be tested before selling you the heartworm preventive, and others may not.



Please return next week to learn more about keeping your pet(s) happy and healthy.

Keeping fleas away for good!

          The three months are over and you have finally gotten rid of the fleas, but you are afraid they are going to come back. Just because you have gotten rid of the fleas on your pet and in your house, does not mean they are not around outside your house. Refer back to my last post if you missed how to get rid of fleas in your house for cheap.

          Just like you treated the inside of your house, you must treat the outside as well. I would recommend having your normal pest exterminator take care of the outside.  You may be thinking why would I need to treat my yard if my animal is indoor only? Well the lovely flea can actually jump on your pants or shoes without you even knowing. This is how fleas come back in to your home, either on you or your pet(s), and the cycle starts all over again.

Advantage II

Frontline Plus

           In order to prevent this from happening, my pet advice you would be to use a monthly topical flea medication. Your veterinarian can recommend a particular brand for you that would be the safest for your pet(s).  Some common brands are Frontline Plus, Advantage II, and Advantix II.                                                                    

K9 Advantix II

    Some brands protect more than just fleas, some do fleas and ticks (If you would like more information on a particular product ask me or your veterinarian). There are other brands not listed above that protect your pet not only from fleas and ticks, but other parasites. Before applying any topical flea medication, make sure to thoroughly read the label.  Please DO NOT buy topical flea medication from drug stores, big chain retail stores, or grocery stores. The medication they offer is not safe, and could end up costing you a lot of money in vet bills.

          
     Fleas are a common recurring problem for animal owners, but if you follow my steps you will be flea free forever. In addition to recommending topical flea medication monthly, other parasites can affect your animal as well. Please return next week to learn more about keeping your pet(s) happy and healthy.

Cheap way to get rid of fleas for good!

      Tomorrow is here and you start to see more fleas popping up on your kitten or puppy you just gave a Dawn flea bath to yesterday. You think to yourself, well I guess the Dawn trick did not work. Wrong! It did but that’s only just one step in getting rid of the lovely flea. Treating the environment is an essential step to getting rid of fleas for good. You must wash and dry all bedding your pet lays on at least every two days for about three months. This includes your bed if your pet lays on it. Also if you have carpet, you are going to have to vacuum virtually every day for about three months. Once you vacuum the key step is to take the vacuum bag outside to the trash. If you leave it in your inside trash the fleas are going to find their way back into your house. If you follow my pet advice, you will be flea free in no time.
   
    Fleas have a long life cycle that’s why it requires at least three months breaking the cycle. During those three months you are still going to see fleas because the eggs they dropped in your house are hatching. For every flea you see there are hundreds of eggs, larvae, and newly hatching adults. Please view the diagram of the flea life cycle below and return next week for the last  discussions on the lovely flea. 

Getting rid of fleas on kittens and puppies the safe way!

           One stormy afternoon, you are driving home from work and you spot what looks to be a five week old puppy. You pull over to check it out and it is a puppy trying to get shelter from the rain. You decide to bring the puppy home with you and will call around the shelters tomorrow to see if anyone has reported the puppy missing. Once you get the puppy home, you notice the poor wet cold puppy has fleas all over. You think to yourself, well I have some topical flea medicine but upon reading the label you notice the age restriction. Well I can’t use the topical flea medicine, so what now? 

         There are a few things you can do to help your puppy or kitten before they are the recommended age for topical flea medicine. Using a flea comb (metal comb) to manually take off the fleas, which would require you to pop (kill) them between your thumb nails or with the flea comb. Another safe option for puppies and kittens is Dawn original (blue) dish soap. Now it is not recommended to get a kitten or puppy wet, but in this case it’s better than them becoming anemic because the fleas are sucking up all their blood.

      My pet advice recommendation would be bathing the kitten or puppy in a small sink with the water running before you put them in. Do not fill the sink up with water! Quickly wet the kitten or puppy with some lukewarm water (using a cup or spray hose), then apply a small amount of Dawn. Massage it in well and let it sit for about a minute or so. You have to scrub pretty good because the fleas are going to try to hide under the fur. Once you do not see any more fleas, rinse the kitten or puppy completely and wrap in a warm towel.

     If you have a hair dryer put it on the lowest sitting and keep far away from their face. Make sure not to point the hair dryer too close to them either. If you are going to use a hair dryer you have to be very careful not to overheat them, so just do a quick blow dry and then wrap them back in the warm towel. The fleas are gone today but what about tomorrow? 

Metal Flea Comb

Dawn Original Dish Soap