Riverside Pet Hospital
159 River Street
Rutland, VT 05701
+1(802) 773-4771
Volume No. 5, Issue 1, 4/00
 
 

Mosquitos carry the deadly canine heartworm. This time of year we do a quick blood test to be sure your dog does not have heartworms. This allows you to start the heartworm prevention before the mosquitos arrive. A safe convenient once a month pill will prevent this disease.

We are now able to prevent flea infestation in most pets. By starting a flea preventative in spring you can avoid fighting off fleas in the height of the season; July through September.

When the ground warms up parasites become active and can infect your pet. Sometimes you see these worms in your pets' stool, but often there are no symptoms. Spring is a good time to bring in a stool sample for us to check.

During the last few years we have seen an amazing number of new products become available to treat your pets. Since these companies are spending millions of dollars in advertising it is difficult to get the truth about safety and efficacy. To help you out with all this confusion we offer the following guidelines.

• PROGRAM: Its very safe and very effective at prevention. It also comes in a great injection for cats that lasts 6 months.

• SENTINEL: This is just PROGRAM with the heartworm prevention INTERCEPTOR

• ADVANTAGE: This is a topical that is placed on the skin and is within the fatty layer. It eliminates and prevents fleas for about 1 month.

• FRONTLINE: This is also a topical liquid. It works similarly to advantage but also kills most ticks including the lyme tick.

• SHAMPOOS & SPRAYS: Remember these? We still recommend baths for severe flea problems and some sprays are very good for young animals

• OVER THE COUNTER FLEA TREATMENTS: Some of the topical flea products sold in stores are DEADLY to cats. If it looks like ADVANTAGE of FRONTLINE it might be something totally different

Revolution is supposed to prevent heartworms, fleas, some ticks, ear mites, and mange. We prefer to wait a year before using anything new. Sometimes there are problems with new products that aren't discovered until a large number of animals try it.

We are very excited to ANNOUNCE that we now have ULTRASOUND and ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY equipment at the Riverside Pet Hospital. This means that we will be able to utilize this state of the art diagnostic tool to help us diagnose and treat your pets' health problems. Ultrasound and echocardiography are completely painless and noninvasive methods for diagnosing disease. Here are some examples of uses for this equipment:

• heart disease diagnosis -this is the only way to get a full diagnosis;

• pregnancy diagnosis-we can even count the babies!;

• bladder and kidney problems;

• foreign bodies (balls, bones, corncobs, sponges etc.)

We have seen three cases of lyme disease in dogs in the last 6 months. These are dogs that have not been out of the state of Vermont. This is a NASTY disease. Most dogs show a sudden onset of lameness and a fever. If treated dogs recover quickly but if treatment is delayed they may never recover fully. Be sure to bring dogs in if you see these symptoms. Also we DO recommend Lyme vaccine if you see ticks on your dogs. Please call if you have any questions about Lyme disease.

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