4019 Cattlemen Road • Sarasota, FL 34233
1. How do you prevent Fleas and Ticks? What do I need to do?
To control fleas and ticks you have to treat both the pet and the environment (your house and your yard). Frontline Plus is the best monthly treatment for your pet because it is the only treatment out there that kills flea eggs and larvae in addition to killing adult fleas. It is also quite waterproof and maintains its strength better than its competitors over the course of the month. If you have an infestation it is best to treat your house and yard yourself or have a professional treat them two times at a two week interval to wipe out the life cycle of the pests.
2. What are dentals for?
Dental cleanings for animals are just like the dental cleanings that people get once or twice a year. We scrape the teeth and under the gum line to remove tartar and then polish the teeth smooth and apply fluoride as well as another protective product called Oravet. Because pets do not brush and floss daily like people do, they get a thick buildup of tartar and bacteria that can lead to gum disease, abscesses and even more dangerous and potentially life threatening problems such as kidney failure, heart disease, spinal cord disease and strokes.
3. How many times a day should I feed my dog? What is the required amount?
It is best to feed your pet twice daily for better health of the digestive system. A good rule of thumb for the amount to feed is one cup or one can (or combination thereof) for each 20 pounds of body weight divided into two meals a day.
4. Why are vaccinations for cats and dogs important?
Vaccines protect animals against contagious diseases that can cause serious and sometimes fatal diseases. Because of vaccines many Americans live without fear of terrible diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, and others. The same is true of our pets. Because rabies is a very fatal disease that people can get as well as animals, there is a law requiring that all pets be vaccinated against the rabies virus yearly or every three years if a vaccine approved for three years is used. There are many other diseases that are more commonplace in the environment that can cause harm to your pet such as distemper, parvovirus, hepatitis, parainfluenza, and bordetella. We recommend vaccinating your pet against these pets using the purest annual (not three year) vaccines available to both protect your pet and avoid potential reactions.
5. Why are Heartworm tests necessary?
Heartworm preventatives are very important to protect your pet from a potentially fatal disease that is epidemic in our area. The manufacturer recommends yearly testing to make sure your pet did not catch this disease for some reason (the pet spit out or vomited the monthly preventative or the pet owner forgot to give the preventative). If you use our recommended preventative, Heartguard, and have purchased it regularly from an approved source (your veterinarian) and therefore can get records to show this, the manufacturer will pay for any treatment of heartworms as well as hookworms and roundworms if your pet should test positive. The manufacturer can confidently offer this guarantee because Heartguard works so well to protect your pet.
6. Why are fecal examinations and bordetella vaccines need to be done twice a year?
Bordetella vaccine protects against the organism found in 85% of pets with upper respiratory infections. It is highly contagious and can travel in the air to infect pets in the same neighborhood. The vaccine does not offer strong protection for a year like many vaccines do and therefore needs to be boosted every 6 months. It is especially important if your pet is going to be around other animals in a defined area such as a boarding kennel, groomer or dog park. Some breeders even vaccinate every 4 months because their pets are in such animal intensive environments, but every 6 months is adequate for pets. The same is true for fecal examinations to make sure a pet hasn’t picked up an intestinal parasite while walking, sniffing and licking the ground as many pets do.
7. Why do some pets need blood work done every 6 to 12 months?
Pets older than seven years of age are considered geriatric in terms of aging in their body (it is five years for giant breeds of dogs). At this point in their life it is important to have comprehensive blood work, known as a geriatric profile, done to both get a baseline of your pet’s health on file and to sometimes catch illnesses before they become a more serious problem. Practicing preventative medicine in this way can give our pets a better quality of life as well as prolong the lives of our pets by a number of years. Pets who take certain medications also need blood work done at regular intervals to make sure it is safe to continue to refill the medicine or to see if the dosage needs to be adjusted.
8. Why should I buy prescription pet food as opposed to grocery store food?
The important thing to consider with pet foods is the quality of the ingredients in the pet food. Nutrition is as important to the health of our pets as it is to our children and ourselves. There are many different foods and quality levels of foods available in grocery stores and pet stores as well as at veterinary offices. Your veterinarian can offer advice and direction in helping you choose the diet that will be best for your pet. Some animals have health problems that require a special diet to control the problem and help the pets quality of life. These foods are often called prescription foods because they are only available through veterinary offices. Not all pets require a prescription diet, but they all deserve a high quality food that will keep them healthy and vibrant.
9. Why are spays and neuters important?
Pets who are not spayed (females) or neutered (males) have a significantly higher chance of certain complications and illnesses as they age. These include prostatitis, ovarian cysts, infected uterus, testicular cancer, breast cancer and more. Research over many years has shown that the younger a pet is spayed or neutered, the lower the chance of later having one of these problems. In addition, many pets develop undesirable habits such as marking with urine, escaping and roaming wild, and aggression after they go through puberty. These traits can be lessened by spaying and neutering at any time, but can often be avoided altogether by spaying or neutering at a young age. Finally, there are far too many unwanted pets that end up euthanized in shelters or dying young on the streets because of pet overpopulation. We can lessen the severity of this by having our pets spayed or neutered.
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