Sorry it's been so long!

I just wanted to say sorry that it's been so long since I was last blogging.  I'm going to make sure I continue to blog once at least once a week...
I recently had a question about using human medications in our pets.
There are many human medications that are safe for use in pets. However, not all medications are safe.  Even ones that we deem relatively harmless can have serious consequences.  For example, Tylenol (acetaminophen) is toxic to dogs and extremely toxic to cats.  Aspirin is also toxic to cats.  Both of these cause severe irreversible kidney damage.
Because animal liver and kidneys are different from people's, it is hard for a lay person to determine the right dosage for many medications.  Often pet dosages of medications are drastically higher or lower than what a person of the same weight would be.  For this reason it is ALWAYS best to call your vet before giving any of your medications to your pet.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" or Parvovirus

Today's topic is parvovirus- This is an especially important topic because we have had 5 puppies come in with parvo in the last week.  The saddest part of this is that parvo is often a deadly disease and it is preventable.  Here is an overview of parvo:
Parvovirus is a very sturdy virus; it can live in the environment for years.  In Washington, we are told that parvovirus can live outside on the ground for up to 10 years.
The most common clinical signs of parvovirus infection are severe vomiting and diarrhea.  This is because the virus attacks cells that are quickly being replaced.  The cells that change the quickest in a dog's body are the cells that line the GI tract and the ones in the bone marrow that make new blood cells and fight infection.  The reason why parvo is deadly is that it quickly dehydrates the dog.  Even on IV fluids, we cannot always keep up with the dehydration and other losses from the GI tract.  There are other complications from parvo as well, including making the dog more likely to get a bacterial infection on top of the virus.  This usually just makes the animal sicker.
Because parvo is a virus, there is no specific treatment to combat it.  The treatment of choice for parvo is a stay in the hospital.  Parvo usually runs it's course in about a week, but during that time the dog needs IV fluids and as much support as it can get.  Even with these measures, parvo has a high mortality rate.
The saddest thing about parvo is that it usually affects young animals and puppies are especially vulnerable because they do not have a fully functioning immune system to fight the infection.
 The good news is that a fully vaccinated dog should be immune to parvo, so the best way to deal with parvo is to vaccinate and to make sure your pet is vaccinated the right way.  The only way to be sure your pet is fully vaccinated is to talk with your vet.  In the case of parvo the old saying definitely holds true, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

Dental Month

February is National Dental Month, in honor of this, we at Jackson Hwy Vet Clinic are giving a $25 dollar discount for each done dental until March 31st.  Come in and have your pet's teeth checked!

We are open!

We are open today and plan to be open, barring any unforseen changes in the weather or power outages. Just drive safe, there are many branches and power lines down.

We are closed

Due to a power outage, Jackson Hwy Vet Clinic is closed for the rest of the day.  The power should be back on sometime tonight, so we should be open again tomorrow, regular business hours.  The phones do not work with the power off, so please call us back!Thanks for the understanding!

We are OPEN!

We are open again! The roads are passable (we aren't having any freezing rain) and our drive way is plowed (THANK YOU kindly neighbor), so we are open regular business hours again.  We are returning a back log of messages, so if you called, please feel free to call again and we will be here!
DRIVE SAFE- there are still areas of freezing rain and ice.

Vaccines

Today I'm going to write about why we give vaccines and a brief overview of each vaccine.  I will talk about each individual disease we vaccinate against separately.
Puppies and kittens are on different schedules, and obviously get different vaccines.  I will start with dogs.
Dogs are usually started with vaccines at about 6 weeks of age, and are boosted until about 15 weeks of age.  The reason for vaccinating until a certain age is that the puppies should get some protection from their mother and that protection starts to wane between 10 and 12 weeks of age.  We need to make sure that the puppies immune system is responding, which is why we go so long.  The reason why we recommend starting so early is that not all the puppies in a litter get even amount of protection, especially in large litters.
The recommend, or core, vaccines for dogs include: distemper virus, adenovirus (which causes a form of hepatitis), parvovirus, parainfluenza (which causes severe upper respiratory disease) and rabies.
The non-core, or optional, vaccines are leptospirosis, bordetella (kennel cough) and coronavirus.

Kittens are usually vaccinated between the ages of 6 weeks and 12 weeks.  Cat litters are usually smaller than dog litters.  Cats usually do not have more than 6 to 8 kittens, while some dogs can have 12 to 15 puppies per litter.  This means that cats are more likely to get protection from their mother and that protection wanes faster, which is why we vaccinate them less.
The core vaccines for a cat are: rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, panleukopenia, chlamydia and rabies.
The non-core vaccines are leukemia.
The vaccine that is available, but not recommended for cats is FIV vaccine.

There are a lot of people worried about over vaccinating their pets.  The immune response for each part of the vaccine varies and different parts are due on different schedules.  Once your pet is past the initial series of vaccines, the immune response lasts for at least a year, but beyond that it depends on a lot of factors which is why it is important to talk to your veterinarian about the best vaccine schedule for your pet .  They will be able to help you determine your animals level of risk and plan the best time to re-vaccinate your pet.