Day & Evening Pet Hospital

Veterinarian Palm Harbor

Call: 727-785-7200
511 Magnolia Ave
Palm Harbor, FL 34683

Lyme Disease in Cats

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Lyme Disease is actually not that common in cats.  However, it is one of the most common tick-related diseases so it is important to know about.

Lyme Disease comes about by a bacteria in a tick which is then carried over to your cat.  If the tick is attached and feeding on your cat for at least 18 hours, your cat is susceptible to getting  this disease.

If this disease is left untreated in your kitty, you can expect him to have many more significant health issues.  Some of these include major kidney problems leading up to kidney failure.  If your cat experiences kidney failure, he or she will have problems with constant and uncontrolled urination, diarrhea, vomiting and become pretty skinny.

However, there is a way to see if your cat might have Lyme Disease before it gets that bad.  Here are some early symptoms:

  • Fever
  • Loss of appetite
  • Stiff walking (this disease can cause lameness in a particular leg or legs)
  • Sensitive to any petting

If any of these symptoms occur, it is important to bring your cat into the clinic to get a thorough physical exam.  The vet will want a complete history of your cat’s health.  The vet will thoroughly check your cat, including the area where the tick bit.  The skin around the area where the tick bit is also an indication of your cat’s current health.  Is the wound still open?  Does it look infected?  (These are signs you can notice at home, too, before bringing your cat in.)

Lyme Disease is treatable.  Most likely your cat will be put on some antibiotics for a few weeks.  It is obviously up to the vet to determine how serious your cat’s case is, in which case additional treatment might be necessary.

You can prevent this disease.  There are many different tick prevention products out there.  Let the vets at the hospital recommend one that will work for your pet.

 

Lyme Disease in Dogs

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It is important to know about Lyme Disease for your dog’s health.  It is one of the most common tick-related diseases.

Lyme Disease comes about by a bacteria in a tick which is then carried over to your dog.  If the tick is attached and feeding on your dog for at least 18 hours, your dog is susceptible to getting  this disease.

If this disease is left untreated in your pup, you can expect him to have many more significant health issues.  Some of these include major kidney problems leading up to kidney failure.  If your dog experiences kidney failure, he or she will have problems with constant and uncontrolled urination, diarrhea, vomiting and become pretty skinny.

However, there is a way to see if your dog might have Lyme Disease before it gets that bad.  Here are some early symptoms:

  • Fever
  • Loss of appetite
  • Stiff walking (this disease can cause lameness in a particular leg or legs)
  • Sensitive to any petting

If any of these symptoms occur, it is important to bring your dog in to the clinic to get a thorough physical exam.  The vet will want a complete history of your dog’s health.  The vet will thoroughly check your dog, including the area where the tick bit.  The skin around the area where the tick bit is also an indication of your dog’s current health.  Is the wound still open?  Does it look infected?  (These are signs you can notice at home, too, before bringing your dog in.)

Lyme Disease is treatable.  Most likely your dog will be put on some antibiotics for a few weeks.  It is obviously up to the vet to determine how serious your dog’s case is, in which case additional treatment might be necessary.

You can prevent this disease.  There are many different tick prevention products out there.  Let the vets at the hospital recommend one that will work for your pet.

Ear Mites in Cats

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Unfortunately, ear mites are common.  They are external parasites that cause infections.

This can cause excessive scratching.

Your cat can be seen to scratch his or her ears so much that they can actually draw blood and injure themselves from all the scratching.  Some can scratch at their ears so much that they can really injure their own ear drums/canals.  With the mites being so itchy, they can even shake their heads back and forth to try to get them out.

This is pretty common in young cats as it is contagious–it can easily pass from mother to her kittens and/or from kitten to kitten.  However, any age of cat can get ear mites.  The mite can spread throughout the body if left untreated, though it is commonly found in the ear.

Some symptoms include:

  • itching ears, head, neck
  • shaking his/her head a lot
  • small brown crusty specks in the ear canal
  • scratches on the ears
  • crusting on the neck
  • black crusts in the outer ear

Your vet will give your cat a thorough physical and run certain tests.  He will take a skin scrape sample and an ear swab.

The treatment is routine and very well known.  Please bring your cat in immediately and we can help you and your pet live healthy.

Love, Day and Evening Pet Hospital

Nail Trims.

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Well, have you ever thought of trimming your own dog’s or cat’s nails?

It may seem pretty scary at first but you can do it!  It is simple and something you can save some money on.

Firstly, get yourself some clippers.  You can go to any local pet store and they should have them.  We use trimmers that are the “guillotine” style.  These are easiest to use in order to get a proper trim.

Next, you need to know where to trim and how far back you can go.  If your dog has clear nails, you can see some pink in them.  This is the “quick” of the nail.  If you cut part of that, the nail will bleed so you will want to cut just before that part of the nail.  The nail should be cut from underneath and not from the top down.

As a tip, you may want to trim a nail, wait a few minutes and trim the next one.  You don’t have to do the whole paw in one sitting.  As a first nail trim this would probably be a better approach anyways!  Give your dog a small part of a treat after each paw or something like this to keep him or her interested somewhat.

Another tip for you (especially if your dog is a puppy), start rubbing his paws a bit just while you are holding him.  Get him used to you touching his feet.  Your pet’s feet tend to be pretty sensitive and most don’t like to be touched there!  However, if you practice by rubbing his paws every once in a while he will get used to it and it will make your job that much easier.

It is important to keep your dog’s nails trimmed whether you do it yourself or we do it for you.  If their nails get too long, dog or cat, they can get certain infections.  It’s good to do at least once a month.  (By the way, if you are interested in doing this yourself we can show you how at the clinic.)

Happy Trimming!

 

Should My Dog Use Certifect®?

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There are so many tick, flea and lice products out there for your pet.  We would like to tell you about a very effective one we like.  Firstly, Certifect® is a product for DOGS ONLY.  So, dog-owners, please read on.

Frontline® has been around for a very long time.  Well, Certifect is a product of the makers of Frontline®.

What Certifect® does is very specific.  It kills fleas, flea larvae and chewing lice.  When it is applied it also detaches and kills ticks that are on your dog.  It starts killing ticks within 6 hours of applying it to your dog.

Certifect® is great because it not only kills any existing pest situation, it also is a preventative.  It prevents re-infestations of ticks and fleas.  It prevents all flea stages from developing at all.  It lasts for one month as a tick preventative and 3 months as a flea preventative.  So, if you live in an area where your dog could potentially get ticks, you should apply Certifect® once a month.  Otherwise, it is safe to say you can use this product every 3 months as a flea-only preventative.

You can use this product on your dog as long as he or she is 8 weeks old.

It is waterproof, but do not give your dog a bath within the first 24 hours of application.  If your dog gets a bath or goes for a swim after the first 24 hours, he or she will still remain protected!

Click here to watch how to apply it.  There is also a coupon the company gives out for you to bring in to your vet.  Print yours and bring it in!

Love,

Day and Evening Pet Hospital Vets and Staff