Since periodontal disease is one of the most common infections in pets. It is important for you to realize what an integral part you can play in helping to prevent the disease.

While it is certainly recommended to start training a puppy or kitten at a very young age to accept home care efforts, even an older pet can be taught to tolerate the car. Each pet owner relationship is different, so we realize that not every pet will allow having its teeth brushed daily, but we would like to encourage you to try the best you can. By providing regular home care, you can help slow down the deposits of plaque (with bacteria) and tartar that contribute to periodontal disease, infection, and tooth loss.

• Start out slowly: get your pet more accustomed to have its head handled gently for short periods of time, with a “reward” after.
• Increase this contact to gently holding the muzzle closed with one hand while you lift the lips with your other hand. With cats and some dogs, even caressing the side of the closed mouth can be a more pleasant experience at first.
• Once they are calm with facial handling, using cotton gauze or swab or even a small toothbrush rub the outside of the lips, then even the tooth surfaces themselves, once you lift the lip.
• You can progress from here by using a flavoured veterinary toothpaste (let them choose the flavour, if you can!), and even building to a regular, circular brushing movement of a soft-bristled toothbrush.

Even with the best efforts, some pets won’t tolerate brushing well, and don’t do anything that could cause them to bite you or that would be overly stressful to them! Sometimes oral solutions, gels, and even waxy materials can be applied carefully to pets’ mouths to help fight periodontal disease, so determine what extent of home care you can provide your pet, and try your best.

Remember that even with meticulous home care, this is still just one part of a complete periodontal care program for you pet, which will also include professional periodontal cleanings when recommended by your veterinarian. But minimizing the amount of plaque and tartar that build up on the tooth surfaces, you can decrease the amount of work that will be needed during those visits. Another benefit may be early detection of other oral/dental problems, such as broken or discoloured teeth, or even oral masses, because you are regularly examining your pet’s mouth!

Fleas and ticks are bloodsucking parasites adept at inviting themselves into your home. Dogs and cats are the ideal hosts for these parasites. A female flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs in her lifetime. Many people overlook the serious health problems that fleas and ticks can transmit to pets and humans.

Fleas and ticks can cause several serious health problems. Ticks can transmit Lyme Disease, a serious condition that can infect people too. Fleas can cause Flea Allergy Dermatitis, a type of allergy that causes excessive itching, scabs, sores and hair loss. Fleas can also carry Tape Worms, which can infect dogs, cats and humans after ingesting just one flea. The veterinarians at Sitara Animal Hospital will tailor a flea and tick preventative program that is appropriate for your pet’s individual lifestyle and travel plans.

Heartworms, Dirofilaria immitis, belong to the same class of worms as roundworms. In fact, they look a bit like roundworms, but that is where the similarity ends. Heartworms spend their adult life in the right side of the heart and the large blood vessels connecting the heart to the lungs. Heartworms are found in dogs, cats, and ferrets. They also occur in wild animals such as California sea lions, foxes and wolves. They have rarely been found in people.

Adult heartworms in the heart lay very tiny larvea called microfilariae, which then live in the bloodstream. These microfilariae enter a mosquito when it sucks blood from an infected animal. In 2-3 weeks, the microfilariae develop into larger larvae in the mosquito and migrate to the mosquito’s mouth. When the mosquito bites another animal, the larvae enter the animal’s skin. The larvae grow and after about three months finish their migration to the heart, where they grow into adults, sometimes reaching a length of 14 inches. The time from when an animal was bitten by an infected mosquito until adult heartworms develop, mate, and lay microfilariae is about 6-7 months in dogs and 8 months in cats.

It is much easier to prevent heartworm infection than it is to treat it which is why at Sitara Animal Hospital heartworm prevention is part of our regular deworming program and is recommended once monthly from May until October of each year.

At Sitara Animal Hospital we realize each pet is as unique as you or I. Carrying multiple brands of veterinary prescription foods and life stage diets allows our veterinarians to make the best decision regarding your individual pet’s health.

When it comes to identifying pets, there are a multitude of choices. Microchipping is the best way to identify your pet for its lifetime.

When your pet comes to Sitara Animal Hospital for a microchip, there will be a form that our staff will fill out for you. Basic information such as your address, phone number, e-mail address and an emergency contact will be collected. A description of your pet, including any tattoo numbers or other identifying marks, will be included on the form, as well as any medical conditions that may become an issue if he or she gets lost. The microchip, containing a number that is unique to your pet, will be implanted in between your pet’s shoulder blades. Not sure if your pet has a microchip? No problem, you can bring them in to Sitara Animal Hospital and we can scan them for you.