Preventative Care
Puppies and kittens can start their vaccines at 8 weeks of age. They will require booster vaccines every 3 to 4 weeks until they are 16 weeks old. After their initial vaccines, they will need boosters every year for certain diseases.
Cats and kittens with an unknown history should be tested for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus. These viruses can be transmitted from the mother during pregnancy or from exposure to other infected cats.
Heartworm disease is transmitted by mosquitoes and can be prevented by giving a once a month treatment. These preventatives include Trifexis, Heartgard, Revolution, and Interceptor.
Flea and Tick products will keep your pets free of skin parasites and help prevent disease. Using a monthly preventative such as Scalibor, Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution is recommended. These topical medications are applied to the skin and work for 4 weeks. Don't bathe your pet for two days before and for two days after applying these medications. Certain products sold at grocery/department stores can be less expensive, but many can cause serious side effects. For this reason, many of those over the counter products are not recommended. Please consult with our staff if you have any questions about these medications.
Intestinal Parasites are common in puppies and kittens. We use a dewormer to treat for roundworm and hookworm, which are common parasites. We strongly recommend bringing in a stool sample for every pet to screen for other parasites, such as whipworms, tapeworm, coccidia and giardia. When cats go outdoors, they are commonly infected with parasites from eating other small animals. For this reason, we recommend giving a routing dewormer to cats 3 to 4 times a year.
Yearly Care
Both dogs and cats need yearly exams to monitor their health and update their vaccines. We recommend bringing in a stool sample once a year to check for intestinal parasites.
For adult dogs, we also recommend a yearly 4DX test. This test screens for heartworm disease, and three tick diseases including lyme, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis. Early detection can prevent your dog from developing symptoms of these diseases.