USA Weekend Magazine Article
Love your pet? Take it to a vet
Visits are down, illnesses up.

Pet households that make no trip at all to a veterinarian in the course of a year jumped by 8% for dogs and a confounding 24% for cats compared with five years ago, the American Veterinary Medical Association reports.

Meanwhile, illnesses that can be prevented are on the rise. Just two examples: flea infestation and heartworm disease, both far more costly to treat than prevent.

Most owners don’t know the exam begins as a pet walks in. The vet checks the pet’s gait for arthritis, even neurological ailments. While petting, the vet feels for lumps and notes coat quality. Seemingly benign questions (“How much does your pet drink?”) seek clues to diabetes or kidney disease.

Some owners believe they would know if a pet were sick. This is often false, especially for cats, which are masters at masking illness. Up to 15%, one survey reports, mistakenly feel they can Google any vet solution.

- March 15 USA Weekend Magazine. Written by Steve Dale.
http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20130315/HOME05/303150015

 

Hurricane Season Tips

Keep your pets safe during the hurricane season!  Check out these websites in case of emergency or evacuation - www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/animals and www.huntingtonpatch.com.

 

Huntington Animal Shelter in East Northport will be accepting animals in case owners need to go into shelters.  Also, the ASPCA plans to open shelters at the Suffolk Community College in Riverhead and the Brentwood Recreation Center at 99 Third Avenue.

 

Be careful and stay safe!

 

Heartworm Disease

We would like to make our clients aware of the risk of heartworm disease and how to prevent it.  Heartworm disease develops when a dog is bitten by a mosquito carrying heartworm larvae.  Heartworm disease can cause heart failure, lung disease and sudden death.

Recently, there have been two heartworm-positive dogs in our area. Preventing heartworm disease is easy.  There is a simple in-house bloodtest that gives results in minutes.  The test also checks for lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichia ( tick-borne diseases).  Once you have a negative result, you can easily prevent heartworm disease by giving your pet a once-a-month heartworm pill.

Due to the recently diagnosed heartworm-positive dogs in our area, we are recommending that all dogs be tested yearly even if they have been on heartworm prevention.  Call and make an appointment today to schedule a heartworm test and remember: Prevention is the most important thing you can do for the health of your pet!

 

10 Tips for Winter-time Pet Care

 

Brrrr…it’s cold outside!  The following guidelines will help you protect your companion animals when the mercury dips. 

 

1. Keep your cat inside. Outdoors, felines can freeze, become lost or be stolen, injured or killed. Cats who are allowed to stray are exposed to infectious diseases, including rabies, from other cats, dogs and wildlife.

 

2. During the winter, outdoor cats sometimes sleep under the hoods of cars. When the motor is started, the cat can be injured or killed by the fan belt. If there are outdoor cats in your area, bang loudly on the car hood before starting the engine to give the cat a chance to escape.

 

3. Never let your dog off the leash on snow or ice, especially during a snowstorm—dogs can lose their scent and easily become lost. More dogs are lost during the winter than during any other season, so make sure yours always wears ID tags.

 

4. Thoroughly wipe off your dog's legs and stomach when he comes in out of the sleet, snow or ice. He can ingest salt, antifreeze or other potentially dangerous chemicals while licking his paws, and his paw pads may also bleed from snow or encrusted ice.

 

5. Never shave your dog down to the skin in winter, as a longer coat will provide more warmth. When you bathe your dog in the colder months, be sure to completely dry him before taking him out for a walk. Own a short-haired breed? Consider getting him a coat or sweater with a high collar or turtleneck with coverage from the base of the tail to the belly. For many dogs, this is regulation winter wear.

 

6. Never leave your dog or cat alone in a car during cold weather. A car can act as a refrigerator in the winter, holding in the cold and causing the animal to freeze to death.

 

7. Puppies do not tolerate the cold as well as adult dogs, and may be difficult to housebreak during the winter. If your puppy appears to be sensitive to the weather, you may opt to paper-train him inside. If your dog is sensitive to the cold due to age, illness or breed type, take him outdoors only to relieve himself.

 

8. Does your dog spend a lot of time engaged in outdoor activities? Increase his supply of food, particularly protein, to keep him—and his fur—in tip-top shape.

 

9. Like coolant, antifreeze is a lethal poison for dogs and cats. Be sure to thoroughly clean up any spills from your vehicle, and consider using products that contain propylene glycol rather than ethylene glycol. Visit the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center more information.

 

10. Make sure your companion animal has a warm place to sleep, off the floor and away from all drafts. A cozy dog or cat bed with a warm blanket or pillow is perfect.

 

CIV

Please Be Advised!

 

There has been an outbreak of Canine Influenza Virus (CIV) on Long Island. Two area animal shelters have been temporarily closed due to this outbreak, Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Kent Animal Shelter.

 

Some signs of CIV include a cough or nasal discharge. CIV can be spread by direct contact, cough or sneeze, or via contaminated surfaces. CIV can progress in up to 20% of cases and is fatal in up to 8% of cases.

 

There IS a vaccine for CIV that we are able to administer here at North Shore Veterinary Hospital.

It is the Nobivac Canine Flu H3N8. “This vaccine was developed by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal health in response to concerns about the spread of canine influenza and a 2006 call to action from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), according to the company. It is made from inactivated virus and intended as an aid in the control of disease associated with Canine Influenza virus infection. Norbivac is administered over two doses, two to four weeks apart, and may be given to dogs 6 weeks of age and older”.

(From Advanstar Communications, June 9, 2010).

 

If you have any questions regarding CIV, please ask your Veterinarian!

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