As the weather cools off in the fall and winter, there are still seasonal safety concerns for your pet.  Halloween candy can pose serious threats to your pet.  Chocolate has compounds in it that are toxic to dogs and cats.  Much sugar free candy and gum (as well as some low calorie muffins and cookies) are sweetened with xylitol, an artificial sweetener that can be deadly to your pet.  Holiday baking and leftovers from celebratory meals can cause problems ranging from mild gastroenteritis/colitis to life-threatening pancreatitis.

Even in cold weather, we still see problems with flea and tick infestations.  Last year we were seeing significant flea problems in December, so keep your pet on a safe and reliable flea and tick prevenatative.  Also, make sure to keep your pet on year-round heartworm prevention -- it only takes a day or two of mild fall weather for mosquitoes to be out and about, spreading infection.

Allergies continue to plague people and pets into the fall.  If your pet is constantly licking and scratching, or developing a hot spot, call our office for an appointment or advice.

COMING SOON.....Pet Portals!   

Pet Portals are private, secure websites that contain your pet's health information and are available as a free service from the Animal Hospital of Waynesboro.  You can use your Pet Portal to conveniently manage your pet's health online at any time of night or day.  Use your pet portal to:

• Remind yourself with an email when to give that heartworm or flea preventive tablet.  Medication Minders make it easy!
• Order refills of prescriptions and special diets - even when we're not open.
• Request an appointment or boarding reservation.
• Print your pet's vaccination record.
• Ask us questions or communicate your concerns via Pet Mail - an easy-to-use messaging system available only from your Pet Portal.  Our staff monitors Pet Mail each day that we're open for business and will make sure your questions are answered quickly.

How can you get a Pet Portal?  It's easy!  Simply give us your email address and we'll email you a password and a link to our website.  To get your Pet Portal, simply click on the link to our website, select "Pet Portal login", and enter your email address and assigned password.  It's that simple!

Canine Flu / Influenza Vaccine

Canine Influenza, or dog flu, was first diagnosed in 2004.  Since that time - it has been found in about 30 states, including Virginia.  It was found in Fairfax this summer and one case was diagnosed recently in the Shenandoah Valley.  The virus is highly contagious and all dogs are at risk because it is a new virus that dogs have no immunity to.  About 80% of dogs infected will develop symptoms which are similar to kennel cough but more severe (high fever, nasal discharge and can lead to pneumonia).  About 5% of canine influenza cases may be fatal.

Canine flu can NOT be spread from dogs to people - it only spreads from dog to dog.  In May, 2009 a vaccine with a conditional license for canine influenza became available.  This means the vaccine did not go through the full safety testing that most vaccines go through before being released.  They did perform a study on several hundred dogs that showed it to be safe, however, most vaccine safety trials are much larger than this.  This is different than the new flu vaccine in people - there has been a flu vaccine for many years for people that only needed to be slightly changed.  There has never been a flu vaccine for dogs.

Like the flu vaccine for people, the dog flu vaccine will not prevent getting the flu.  It has been shown to lessen the severity of symptoms and decreases the length of time that a dog shows symptoms and sheds the virus.

The Animal Hospital of Waynesboro currently has the vaccine in hospital.  It requires 2 vaccines given 2 - 4 weeks apart under the skin.  At this time, we are recommending it for animals at high risk including those that travel to affected areas of the country, those that visit boarding or grooming facilities and dog parks.  Because the flu spreads like kennel cough, we recommend that all dogs that get the bordatella vaccine receive the flu vaccine as well.  Dogs that have been examined in the last year and are otherwise healthy and up-to-date on their other vaccinations can receive the canine flu vaccination without a doctor's appointment.  New clients or dogs that haven't been examined witin one year will need a doctor's appointment and physical examination.
 

Wellness Labwork

Consider having wellness labwork done at your pet's next appointment.  We have packages available that include blood chemistries, complete blood counts, heartworm tests, urinalysis, and/or fecal tests for our patients.  These affordable packages can be an economical way to gather additional information about your pet's health for little more than the regular cost of yearly parasite checks.  Discussion with your veterinarian can help determine which tests are appropriate for your pet.

Wellness labwork can be very helpful in detecting disease processes at an early stage and allowing us to start treatment prior to significant damage being done.  Some things we have detected with wellness labwork include early kidney disease (infections or chronic renal failure), liver inflammation (from toxins, long-term medications, or infections), diabetes, and parasitic infections.  Doing bloodwork on an overall healthy animal can provide us with important baseline information, allowing us to pick up on subtle changes over time that could indicate a problem.  We can also use wellness labwork as a pre-anesthetic screening tool, to make sure there are no underlying problems prior to anesthesia for a dental cleaning, growth removal, or other surgical procedure.