Ponsonby Tails January 2008
Friday, Jan 18, 2008
In this issue:
New Opening Hours
Pet Microchip Month
6 Month Pet Wellness Exams
Fleas - Summertime Nuisance
FIV Vaccine
New Opening Hours!
From Sunday 13th of January we will now be open Sundays!
Hours of operation:
Monday-Friday: 8am-6:30pm
Saturday: 9am-4pm
Sunday: 10am-2pm
Car Parking On-site:
Just off Williamson Ave
Dedicated for our clients only
No need to try to find street parking.
Pet Microchip Month!
The thought of losing a pet is hard to contemplate, but if the unthinkable does happen, how prepared are you? Your pet is now astray, and very sadly, many strays are never reunited with their owners since they cannot be reliable identified.
The good news is that in addition to the traditional collar and engraved tag (which doesn't always stay in place), you can have your pet permanently identified with a tiny microchip, giving you the best chance of being reunited with your pet in such cases. Also any pets traveling abroad often require microchipping to allow them to be easily identified.
The procedure involves using a straightforward injection to place a tiny chip (smaller than a grain of rice) under the skin of your pet, which carries a unique identification number. The number on the chip can be "read" using a special scanner, allowing your pet to be individually identified. Veterinary practices, the police, and animal welfare organizations routinely scan all strays hopefully ensuring that if the unthinkable happens, you and your pet can be speedily reunited. So - don't delay - ask us about microchipping your pet today.
For the month of January (Pet Microchip Month) we are offering microchip implantation and life-time registration for the discounted price of $50 (normal price $91).
6 Month Pet Wellness Exams
It's not easy keeping our pets healthy. After all, dogs and cats are frequently exposed to organisms that can cause disease or illness. Not only that, they age much faster than people. On average, most dogs and cats reach adulthood by age two. Age four, many pets are entering middle age. And by age seven, most dogs, particularly large breeds, are entering their senior years. Because dogs and cats age on average seven times faster than people, significant health changes can occur in a short amount of time. And, the risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, heart disease, metabolic problems and other serious conditions all increase with age.
Many pet owners are not aware that taking their dog or cat to the veterinarian once a year is the same as a person seeing their doctor or dentist once every seen years. The best way to protect your best friend is with twice-a-year pet wellness exams. This enables one of our veterinarians the opportunity to detect, treat, or ideally prevent problems before they become life threatening.
Pet wellness exams include screenings for a variety of potential diseases dependent on your pets age, pet's environment, medical history,
current health status and potential risks your pet faces. Examples of health screenings include:
Adult Dog/Cat (1-6 years):
Immunization
Parasite check
Dental exam
Blood panel (CBC)
Chemistry Panel
Urinalysis
Additional exams for Senior Dogs/Cats (7+ years):
Osteoarthritis check
Renal disease check
Thyroid check
Chest X-rays
Fleas- Summertime Nuisance
Fleas are the most common parasite of companion animals. Fleas feed on the blood of their host; a female flea can ingest the equivalent of more than 15 times its body weight. Several thousand eggs are then laid by these adult female fleas - pupating in the soil, but also in the carpet and bedding around your home. All flea species develop similarly via four stages: eggs (laid 24 to 36 hours after first meal), larvae; pupae (most resistant life stage) and adult. The life cycle of the flea can be complete in as little as 14 days or prolonged up to 140 days depending mainly on temperature and humidity.
Flea infestation can disrupt the general well-being of your animal causing itchiness, red skin, and hair loss. Constant scratching may also lead to a skin infection. The most harmful effects of fleas are blood loss (especially in puppies and kittens), flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), transmission of tapeworms, and transmission of bacterial diseases. Once a home becomes infested with fleas, control can be difficult and time-consuming. A better way to manage fleas is through continuous flea prevention. You can break the flea life cycle and prevent future generations by killing the adult and larval stages on contact with a spot-on product like Advantage-Multi™ by Bayer or Frontline-Plus™ by Merial. These spot-on products are applied to the skin between the shoulder blades once every 4 weeks. Flea shampoos, flea powders only kill the adult fleas on contact and have no residual activity. This means your dog can go back outside, and more fleas can immediately jump onto your dog. Flea collars only kill adult fleas and are not very effective.
Feline AIDS (FIV) Vaccine
In New Zealand up to 30% of cats test positive to Feline AIDS infection, many of which die from FIV related illnesses each year. Although FIV is very similar to the human HIV virus (destroying the immune system leaving the animal susceptible to opportunistic infections) humans cannot contract Feline AIDS (FIV) from infected cats.
Cats become infected if they are bitten by an infected cat (ie. from cat fight wounds) as the disease is transmitted in cat saliva. If your cat often roams outdoors they are at higher risk of contracting the disease. FIV is a progressive and eventually fatal disease with no known treatment or cure.
A vaccination is now available to prevent this disease. Cats require three vaccinations initially (2-3 weeks apart), then annual boosters (along with the annual Tricat vaccination). Cats 6 months of age and over require a small in-house blood test first to be sure they are not currently infected with the FIV virus. Currently there is no blood test available in N.Z. to differentiate between vaccinated and infected cats; therefore it is recommended that your cat is implanted with a microchip prior to vaccination to reduce the risk of being mistakenly identified as suffering from this disease. If you have any questions regarding FIV or would like to initiate the vaccination course, please contact us at the Veterinary Centre.
