SAY HELLO TO our two new doctors, Kirsten
Love and Sabra Lucas. Kirsten is a recent graduate of the University
of Minnesota. In addition to seeing dogs and cats Kirsten will
be our primary avian doctor and will assist Dr Ross with reptiles.
Kristen is involved with Toastmasters International. Sabra, who
is a recent graduate of Ross University, will expand our cat practice
when we move into the new hospital with its cat-only care facility.
She will also see dogs and will back up Kirsten with bird appointments.
Sabra has a degree in commercial design and has helped run her
family's business. Both of our new doctors will be starting July
7.
DR Amy is leaving Sylvania Vet. We are
sorry to see her go and wish her well. Dr Amy's last day will
be July 16. She was married June 28 in Manhattan Kansas, congratulations
Amy.
FIREWORKS AND SUMMER STORMS can cause a
great deal of anxiety in our dogs. Pets that are affected by the
light and noise of both man made and natural heavenly displays
will pant excessively, shake, bark, dig and chew. We have cared
for dogs that have jumped out of a second story window during
a thunderstorm. We have tranquilizers and sedatives that can help
your dog through these trying episodes. In a pinch you can give
an anxious dog Benadryl at 1 mg per pound. That should be enough
to make it drowsy and get it through the anxiety.
DENTAL DEFENSE SYSTEM IS now in all Iams
and Eukanuba products. This is accomplished by adding a special
chemical that binds the chemicals that build tartar. The same
product is in a highly palatable dental chew toy, Greenies. We
carry the Iams line of pet foods and Greenies. Dental care is
the single most important home health care procedure you can do
for your pet. Ask us for details on how you can prolong your pet's
life by providing advanced dental care at home
CATS ARE NOT SMALL DOGS seems like a very
basic statement but many people treat these two pets the same.
Cats do not learn like a dog but can be trained. They are mostly
nocturnal and are more independent than the pack oriented dog.
Cats develop diseases that are different than anything a dog might
encounter. Where a dog is likely to have a problem with low thyroid
function, a cat is more likely to develop hyperthyroid. Cats develop
two immune system diseases, feline leukemia and feline immunodefeciencey
virus that are similar to human aids. Dogs do not have a similar
disease. It is because of the differences between dogs and cats
and the fact that cats stress easily that we are creating a unique
cat environment in the new hospital. Dr Sabra has joined the American
Association of Feline Practitioners. Her membership should enable
us to stay on the leading edge of feline medicine and surgery.
DECLAWING A CAT is a significant surgical
procedure. It will not cause your pet undue pain or behavioral
problems afterward. All of our declaw patients receive pre- and
post-surgical pain medication and all of our declaw patients are
released with pain medication for their first few days home. We
do not hesitate to recommend declawing a cat if it is doing damage
to the household. If you are diligent you can prevent most of
the damage a cat with claws can do. You must regularly trim your
cat's nails, you must teach it to use a scratching post and not
allow it on your furniture. There will be some damage but it will
be minimized. If you elect to declaw your cat we strongly urge
you to elect to have us use our surgical laser. There is less
or no bleeding, less post surgical pain and a quicker return to
normal function. We do not have to use a tourniquet to stop circulation
to the toes during surgery and pinch the nerves with the restricting
pressure. If you would like to get a sense of the impact of a
tourniquet, put a tight rubber band on a finger just behind the
nail. The discomfort will start quickly and you will want to remove
the rubber band in 3-4 minutes. A declaw tourniquet will be applied
for about eight minutes.
SARS IS NOT A CONCERN when it comes to
our pets. They can neither become infected with the virus nor
can they transmit the disease to humans. There are viruses in
the same Corona virus family as SARS but they are not alike. The
feline virus causes intestinal disease and can mutate to cause
FIP. The canine virus causes an intestinal disease. We vaccinate
dogs against corona virus. We do not recommend FIP vaccine for
cats.
LEARN WHAT IS NORMAL for your pet at each
stage of its life. How much food does it eat daily, how many ounces
of water is normal. When does it make its regular trips outside?
How long can it go between trips? Changes in these basic parameters
can be the first sign of chronic illness. If you pet has a weight
problem, a useful tool to aid in designing a diet is a diet diary.
Each day write down everything eaten and jot notes about behavior
and activity. You can then schedule a diet consultation. Over
weight dogs and cats do not live as long.
PET LOVERS NEWS IS A NEW, free pet related
newspaper that is being published by a SylvaniaVet client, Laurie
Cohen. Dr Bob will be writing an article in several of the issues.
His first column is in the inaugural issue to hit the streets
this month.
WE NO LONGER recommend the regular daily
usage of aspirin for dogs. The side effects of stomach irritation
and ulceration, delayed blood clotting and the ultimate destruction
of joint cartilage are probable and too severe for us to suggest
the chronic use of aspirin for dogs. An occasional dose for sudden
pain or fever is still ok. There are several safer anti-inflammatory
medications to use if your dog has chronic pain or lameness. Ask
us about Rimadyl, Etogesic and Deramaxx if you have been using
aspirin for your dog.
PETS AT SYLVANIA VET are available for
adoption. We have a young adult boxer and several cats available
for adoption. If you are interested in any of these orphans stop
by and we will be happy to show them off.
NEW HOURS ARE ABOUT TO START at Sylvania
Vet. Saturday, July 26 will be our first 2-doctor Saturday. We
will be scheduling appointments until 5 PM. We will also be scheduling
surgeries for Saturdays. Wednesdays and Thursdays our hours will
be extended until 8PM. Our new 5- doctor practice makes the added
hours possible. Be sure to tell your friends about our extended
non-emergency hours. These are hours that our client survey indicated
you wanted.
RECENTLY, several of our hard working drug
dogs were presented for serious weight loss. Unknown to us the
sheriff's drug dogs had been switched from the high performance
Iams we had been recommending to an all-natural diet. Our experience
with these dogs has caused us to recommend that 
you
not consider feeding a diet called Solid Gold. Several years ago
a dog was presented to Dr Bob more than 30% underweight. It was
eating 3 pounds of canned VETS and Strongheart dog food. Switching
the dog to a healthier, more nutritious diet enabled the dog to
recover its lost weight. The type of food you feed your pet does
matter.
