Preventive Care

• Dental Care
  When you think about it, there really are some things in life that are "no-brainers". In the veterinary profession for example, the need for your pet to undergo a routing dental procedure is as close to being a no-brainer as any I can imagine. Oral disease is so broad (approximately 80% of all dogs and 70% of all cats) and
• Vaccination
  2. Summer reminders: Make sure your pets have plenty of clean, fresh water at all times! If your pet spends time outdoors during the day, make sure he or she has access to a shady spot. If your pet is traveling with you on vacation, make sure your pet has an up-to-date identification tag in case he or she gets lost and bring along proof of rabies vaccination. If your pet should accidentally bite someone, you will be glad you had the documentation.
• Veterinary Ophthalmology
  Symptoms of FIP include swollen abdomen, discharge from the eyes and/or nose, paralysis of the hind legs, convulsions, personality changes, eye disease, general illness, fever, weight loss, anorexia and anemia.
• Behavioral Counseling
  "Regular preventive health care for the early detection of ailments is extremely important for all ages but especially for older cats where changes and disease progression can occur within a short period of time. Medical and behavioral problems in older cats usually have a specific underlying cause that can be managed if detected early."
• Nutritional Counseling
  This often starts with using medications called corticosteroids (prednisone, dexamethasone, triamcinolone, etc.) to stop the itching caused by inflammation. The term can be confusing as we often hear about “steroids” used as performance enhancing drugs. (This is an entirely different group (which includes testosterone, stanozolol, diabanol etc.) which builds muscle but has no effect on inflammation.) (It is not used to treat skin disease.) Corticosteroids have a very rapid anti-inflammatory effect. They can be used safely for short periods of time in otherwise healthy pets. Frequently even when used this way the pet will have increased thirst and increased appetite and often urinates both more volume and more frequently. This group is not a good choice for long term permanent use as there can be many undesirable side effects with frequent long term use.
• Comprehensive Examination
  To your pet to keep the flea problem away. You should also perform appropriate flea extermination procedures in your house and yard to keep the fleas from creating a large population as the weather begins to warm up. Last, but actually most important, you should make sure your pet has had a thorough physical examination within the last 12 months. If not, call and schedule an appointment to have this done.

Illness Treatment

• Parasites Treatment and Control
  With Spring approaching, it is time to make sure your preventive health program is providing the proper protection for your pets. This is the time to have your pet's yearly heartworm test done. Keep giving them their monthly Heartguard Plus
• Behavioral Disorder Treatment
  A bout with canine distemper can leave a dog's nervous system irreparably damaged, along with its sense of smell, hearing, or sight.
• Pain Management
  ALEVE - The pain medication Naproxen is ten times more toxic than ibuprofen. Only one or two tablets are toxic to the average size dog.
• Vomiting Treatment
• Diarrhea Treatment
• Skin Condition and Allergy Treatment
  We hope everyone's holiday season was enjoyable. We will be back to our regular Monday-Saturday schedule again now that the holidays have passed. Fortunately, this winter has not been as wet as last year's. Despite the;more normal climate, many of our patients are exhibiting problems attributable to being indoors with the heaters on. You may have noticed your pet's coat becoming more dry than usual over the past couple of months. One reason this can occur is the decrease in humidity in the household when the heater is running. Yes, it cat be pouring rain outside and below normal humidity inside! Symptoms you might observer are increased itching, flakes, or increased dander. A few steps can help lessen the impact. For dogs: bathe your dog as little as needed to keep its coat clean using a hypoallergenic shampoo and moisturizing rinse ( Allergroom followed by Humilac works well) and brush your dog's hair often to remove dead hair and dander. Do not use baby shampoo since the pH is even more different from dog skin pH than adult shampoo is. Finally, make sure to provide proper nutrition. Your pet needs high quality food providing adequate energy for the winter. We are now carrying foods designed to help with chronic skin problems. Ask about them next time you are in. For cats, don't bathe the cat unless necessary to remove grease, oil, or dirt ( cats usually do this pretty well themselves), comb and/or brush your cat frequently to remove loose hair and dander, and use a pet conditioning rinse (like Humilac ) when you do find it necessary to bathe your cat. Do not use oils or lotions designed for people, these tend to gum up the cat's hair. Feed good quality cat food with plenty of energy for their winter needs. If you find your pet is scratching excessively, or making visible bald spots or sores, do not blame that on just dry skin. There are many causes of skin disease in both cats and dogs. If the problem is this severe, call and set up an appointment for us to examine the pet.
• Upper Respiratory Illness Treatment
  If you are planning on leaving your dog in a kennel this summer while you're at the beach or mountains, you should have him vaccinated to obtain protection against Kennel Cough. Sometimes called "Canine Cough", tracheobronchitis is a contagious upper-respiratory disease whose symptoms include coughing, sneezing, hacking and retching. The disease is spread through the air by organisms that travel considerable distances and infect any susceptible dog. One of the most common areas of infection are boarding kennels. So if you're leaving Fido at a kennel for a couple of weeks this summer, make sure you have him or her vaccinated prior to admission to the kennel.
• Intestinal Foreign Object Removal

Infection Treatment

• Leptospirosis Treatment
• Parvovirus Infection Treatment
• Feline Retro Virus Treatment
  Feline Leukemia (FeLV), a complex of diseases causxed by the feline leukemia virus, is the number one disease killer of cats in the U.S. today. The virus, which is contracted from an infected cat, enters a cat's body through the eyes, nose, and mouth. From there it travels through the blood stream, infecting tissues and organs.
• Bacterial and Viral Infection Treatment
  Not all itchy pets have allergies. Other conditions including mite infestation, contact with irritants, dry skin, seborrhea, auto-immune diseases, yeast infections, fungal infections (ringworm), and bacterial infections of the skin can result in a pet that itches excessively. It is important for us to rule these other causes out and if they are present treat them before initiating diagnostics and therapy for allergic skin disease.
• Ear Infection Treatment
  Ear Cleaning - Don't wait until you start to detect strange odors coming from your pet's ears - a tell tale sign of ear infection. To avoid damaging the eardrum, clean only that part of the ear that you can see. A small amount of wax in the ear is important to help protect the ear canal from foreign objects.
• Anal Gland Infection Treatment
• Urinary Tract Infection Treatment
  Although the litter box habit is deeply ingrained, there are several instances in which a cat may stop using the box. With its sensitive nose, any cat would be turned off by a box that isn't scooped frequently. Cleaning the box of its contents on a daily basis may solve the problem. If this fails, consider whether your cat is ill. Increases in water intake or urinary tract infections can cause changes in litter box behavior. If you suspect that Kitty isn't feeling well, give us a call. If your cat gets a clean bill of health, judge such factors as type of litter or household changes.

Chronic Condition Treatment

• Hip Dysplasia Treatment
• Obesity Treatment
  In our article "Caring for your canine of feline senior citizen", we mentioned that being overweight has a significant influence on the health of an older pet. Some of the problems associated with overweight pets are...
• Diabetes Treatment
• Thyroid Disease Treatment
  To rule out any medical problems that could cause nonspecific behavioral signs (i.e. - hyperthyroidism can cause agitation and increased motor activity in cats.)
• Epilepsy Treatment
• Knee Problems Treatment
• Heart Disease Treatment
  The major health risks attributable to excess weight in pets are the same as those seen in people - heart failure and arthritis. The leading causes of death in larger dogs is heart failure and euthanasia due to excessive arthritic pain. In overweight cats, severe liver disease is quite common and often fatal.
• Kidney Disease Treatment
  ADVIL - Repeated doses of ibuprofen can cause gastrointestinal irritation and hemorrhage as well as kidney damage. Large doses will cause death.
• Periodontal Disease Treatment
  Some bacteria found in the mouth of pets suffering from periodontal disease can be transferreded to the liver, kidneys or heart resulting in complications of these vital organs.

Emergency Care

• Wound and Fracture Care
  Woods behind the Allen's house. Being a terrier, Ruffles raced to the attack but the raccoon was not as slow as the terrier thought. The encounter was quick and each combatant landed several bites on its opponent before they disengaged. Ruffles continued to bark defiantly at the retreating intruder unaware that he had lost a square inch of his right ear flap and had two deep puncture wounds on his right shoulder.
• Poisoning Treatment

Surgery

• Veterinary Surgery
  A professor at the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine claims to have developed an injectable contraceptive made from a natural protein found in pig ovaries. He claims that just three shots permanently sterilizes a female dog without any known side effects thus eliminating the need for the dog to undergo invasive abdominal surgery. A dosage for cats is in the developmental stages. Of course, the FDA needs to study the tests and determine that they are safe for veterinary usage.
• Spaying and Neutering
  As we move into the Fall season, I would like to take this opportunity to let our valued clients know what our practice has been doing to maintain the high standards we strive to provide to your loving pets, our patients. In addition to the regular continuing education meetings of the Napa-Solano Veterinary Medical Association and the various Veterinary Journals that I subscribe to and read each month, I have and will be participating in additional continuing education meetings. This Spring, I spent four days over a long weekend at a comprehensive conference on new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for small animals. From October 19 through 22, our entire staff and I will participate in the Wild West Veterinary Conference. That conference provides continuing education covering topics for Veterinarians, technicians, receptionists, and office managers on various topics on medical, diagnostic, surgical, and animal care techniques for dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, and other small animals. The staff also participated in Vet Expo on September 17, 2000. Although occasionally these meetings will mean we are unavailable for one or two days, the benefit of sharpening our skills so we may provide excellent current care for your pets is well worth the inconvenience. For those of you with computers, we continue to update and upgrade our Internet site with new original articles and links to other sites that provide accurate and valuable information regarding a wide variety of pets. As of September, we have had over 8000 visitors from 57 countries visit our site. Please drop by and check it out. The address is http://www.community.net/~petdoc We are also doing our part in supporting community activities regarding pets. As we have for the last several years, we are providing care for the animals of the Benicia Vallejo Humane Society at greatly discounted prices. We have also been active participants in the CVMA feral cat-altering program. Under this program there is no charge to the caretaker for having spay or neutering procedures done on cats that meet the criteria of being feral. Beginning in October, we will also be participating in the Low Income Owner/Cat Caregiver cat-altering program. Under this program we will be able to offer, free of charge, spay and neuter surgery on up to three cats owned by a person who can verify low-income status by presenting their valid California Medi-Cal card. We hope providing these community services will help reduce the numbers of unwanted pets that our city and county must have euthanized each year, as well as reduce the population of free roaming cats which act as a reservoir of disease which endangers all of our pets.

Lab and X-Rays

• Laboratory Services
  Hormonal - Hormonal imbalances are often caused by malfunctions of the thyroid, adrenal, pituitary or other glands. A blood test is usually required for correct identification.
• X-Ray
  I am a practicing Advanced Veterinary Medical Center in El Sobrante, California, USA. The practice includes small animals including dogs, cats, pocket pets, birds, and reptiles and most other things that can make it through the door. We offer a variety of medical and surgical services for our clients pets. We have on site digital radiography and a comprehensive in house laboratory, which allows us to do a variety of hematology, cytology, blood chemistry, microscopic evaluation, and other tests.
• Microchipping
  E. CARE OF LEGS-- A leg band's purpose is for identification. They should be removed to prevent problems. Large birds can now be permanently identified using microchips without risking damage to the legs. Scales on a bird's legs and feet may thicken and form a hard - tight crust. These can be removed by applying a skin moisturizer and then working the scales off with the fingers or lifting them off with a forceps. String or lint can wrap around the leg or toe of a bird and cut off circulation. If you see discoloration of the leg or toes or a depression around the bird's leg - seek Veterinary assistance.

General Pet Care

• Boarding
• Grooming
• Senior Pet Care
  3. This issue of our newsletter is primarily dedicated to the care of our senior pets. On page two, we have published a chart that shows when your pet is considered a senior. Some may think that a six year old St. Bernard is not a senior but I assure you, that considering their life expectancy, a six year old St. Bernard is beyond middle age! Beginning senior screenings early will hopefully boost your pet's anticipated life span so those wonderful eyes of theirs' can keep shining on you.