Disaster preparedness

     We recently had a hurricane scare when Irene moved through.  Fortunately, our area was spared, but as we enter hurricane season, it is important to be prepared for disasters.  Planning is the most important aspect of dealing with a disaster or evacuation scenario.  Pet owners should take steps to find alternate housing, either with  friends, pet friendly motels, or boarding facilities in the event of emergency.  Additionally, find veterinary offices in the same areas in case your pet needs medical care.  Have a copy of your pets' medical records and vaccination history readily available.  Keep a list of these phone numbers in an easily accessible place.  Make sure that you have a properly functioning crate/kennel for each pet in the household so that you may safely transport them in the event of an emergency.  Make sure you have enough food (dry food is recommended) and water (make sure the bottles are shatterproof) for your pets.  If your pet requires a prescription diet or medication, be sure to have ample quantities on hand.  Pets should have identification tags with current information and/or be microchipped.  Make sure all family members are familiar with the emergency preparedness plan.  With careful planning you can minimize the impact a disaster or emegency has on you and your pet.

Online pharmacy now offered through MVP

     There are numerous internet pharmacy options available for our pets.  You may have even used one in the past.  Standard online pharmacies such as 1800PetMed offer many, but not all products that your pet may need.  The issue with these pharmacies is that product is diverted through a third party and thus manufacturer guarantees are minimal to non existent.  In order to better serve our clients, Midlands Veterinary Practice has partnered with the veterinary direct online pharmacy VetSource.  VetSource will offer our clients the ease of home delivery; competitive pricing with standard online pharmacies; a reminder system for the next dose your pet needs; the option of single dose purchasing (something not availabe through other online pharmacies); and full manufacturer backing of product guarantess (also not available through other online pharmacies).  We will begin our foray into this online pharmacy world slowly, of course, and will initially offer heartworm and flea medications as well as several additional items.  We will be expanding these offerings with time.  Clients interested in signing up should go to http://midlandsvetpractice.vetsourceweb.com/index.pml.

Heartworm disease

     The southeast a hot spot of a multitude of pests and diseases.  One of the most important issues facing our pets is heartworm disease.  Heartworms are, literally, worms that reside in the heart and associated vessels of both dogs and cats.  Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitos.  The life cycle begins in an infected dog with circulating immature forms of the heartworm that are taken up into the mosquito along with a blood meal.  Inside the mosquito these go through several larval cycles.  The mosquito then feeds again and injects these larval stages into your pet.  These larval stages migrate through the body until they reach the heart and finish their maturation process into adult worms.  These worms interfere with the heart and associated blood vessels, leading to a host of consequences including potential death.  One of the most common clinical signs of active heartworm disease is coughing.  The only way to diagnose heartworms in dogs is a simple blood test (diagnostics for cats are much more difficult).  Should your pet test positive for heartworms, treatment is availabe.  All dogs should have yearly heartworm testing, and a current (within one year) negative heartworm test is required to refill heartworm prevention for dogs.  In our geographic location, heartworms are considered endemic, and monthly prevention should be given each month throughout the entire year.  There is a misconception that only outdoor dogs are susceptible to heartworms; this is a fallacy.  Every dog is susceptible, as there is no such thing as a mosquito free environment.  We also recommend monthly heartworm protection year round for cats, but to due to species differences cats do not require yearly heartworm testing.  There are a multitude of products available on a prescription basis that are extremely effective for the prevention of heartworms in your pet.  It should be noted that there several holistic methods purported for heartworm prevention, none of which have any scientific basis of support.

Insuring your pet's health

     Health care costs are constantly rising for both pet and human health care.  Veterinary medicine is in a unique time period with a huge explosion of cutting edge diagnostics and technologies entering into day to day practice life.  Our goal at Midlands Veterinary Practice is to provide pets access to the best medical care availabe, either through us primarily or through referral to board certified specialist.  We feel that all pet owners should investigate obtaining pet insurance as a means of countering some of the costs of health care for our pets.  Pet insurance is similar to human insurance in that you can choose various amounts and or types of coverage to carry.  There are extensive lists of conditions that are covered by pet insurance as well.  Pet owners should understand pet insurance does not typically have co pays, as human insurance does.  Initial payment will still need to be made, and the receipt of services, along with a explanation of the treatment from the providing veterinarian are then submitted to your insurance company for approval and subsequent payment for the amount covered.  There are multiple pet insurance carriers in existence, and we encourage you to investigate several different ones in order to find the plan that best suits you and your pets.  Veterinary Pet Insurance and Trupanion are the two we commonly discuss with clients.

VPI link:
http://www.petinsurance.com/affiliates/PPCGoogleAdwords.aspx?ec=CI0133&src=adwords&gclid=COzlpqKlwKoCFQHf4Aodaloq6A

Trupanion link:
http://www.trupanionpetinsurance.com/?gclid=CJOBpL2lwKoCFUff4AodWEu65w

Don't leave home without it...

     All of us value our pets, and the possibility of having a pet lost, displaced, or stolen is a situation we hope we never have to handle.  But we can't follow our pets around 24/7 (I'm not sure we really want to know all of the things they are getting into, anyway), and we certainly can't control every facet of their lives.  One of the ways we can try to protect our pets is by having a HomeAgain microchip implanted.  This microchip is approximately the size of a grain of rice.  The microchip is implanted under the skin in the area between the shoulder blades using a large gauge needle.  Pet owners should be careful not to manipulate the injection site for 24 hours to allow the microchip to firmly be seated in the underlying tissue.  Each microchip has a unique identification code linked to it.  Pet owners register their pet with HomeAgain's national pet registry, and the microchip can be scanned by any pet organization, animal control agency, or veterinarian.  Should your pet ever be displaced from you, this unique identification code could be read and you could be contacted to be reunited with your pet.  HomeAgain will aid you in creating lost pet posters, and will send out real time lost pet alerts in your area.  Some people may be hesitant to consider microchips for their pets if they are indoors or rarely unsupervised, but all it takes is a single incident and without a microchip, the chances of recovering your lost pet significantly diminish.  Contact our office for further information regarding pricing, or to set up an appointment to have your pet microchipped.