Day & Evening Pet Hospital

Veterinarian Palm Harbor

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

Treat Ear Infections For Real

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If you are continually treating ear infections at home, listen up.  This can make things so much easier for you and your dog will thank you for it.

Firstly, most ear infections are simply inflammation of the ear canal that often causes pain and irritation.  Yeast and other bacterial infections often accompany this inflammation and are the focus of most ear infection treatments.

Most ear infections are started by your pet having:

  • ear mites
  • allergies
  • water trapped in their ear
  • plant material in their ear (grass, etc.)
  • very heavy or floppy ears
  • narrow ear canals

Symptoms of your dog having an ear infection include, but are not limited to:

  • head shaking
  • excessive ear scratching
  • red and/or swollen ears
  • odor coming from their ears
  • discharge
  • won’t let you touch their ears

Claro® is a prescription treatment that can be prescribed by a vet to handle ear infections.  It contains 3 active ingredients that each fight ear infections in their own way.  One ingredient fights the harmful bacteria, the other fights yeast and the last fights to reduce the swelling, itching and other discomfort.

It’s a one-dose treatment administered by one of our vets so you don’t have to deal with medications at home.  It’s extremely effective and convenient.

Call us today to set up an appointment to get your dog seen on their ear infection and to see if Claro® is what your dog needs to live a happier and healthier life.  To learn more about Claro® you can click here.

When Your Dog Itches All the Time

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Does your dog itch all the time?  Do you think he or she is in pain because of all the itching?  When your dog is in pain, it can be trouble not only to him, but to all the family.  If your dog’s itching is due to a medical condition, we can help.

Here are some usual symptoms that your dog may have a medical condition:

  • Excessive scratching, biting, chewing or licking
  • A lot of rubbing, rolling or scooting
  • Chewing their feet
  • Hair loss
  • Recurrent ear problems
  • Sores or darkened colors on the skin or redness of the skin
  • Body odor

Apoquel® is a drug that can be used to help eliminate excessive itching.  It’s a tablet that works at the source of the allergic itch to give your dog the fastest relief possible, regardless of the type of allergy.

Apoquel® starts to relieve itching in just 4 hours.  It will effectively control the itch within 24 hours.  It’s also able to be prescribed for long-term use.  It can also be used in conjunction with other allergy shots your pup may already be on.

The four most common things that can give your dog allergies are as follows:

  • fleas
  • environment (pollen, mold, dust, etc.)
  • food
  • skin contact with allergens (i.e. shampoos, insecticides, carpet cleaners, etc.)

These are obviously common in your dog’s day-to-day life.  If your dog does have any of the symptoms listed above, please bring your dog in.  If they are having an allergic reaction, it’s much faster, easier and less costly to control in the beginning.

To learn more about Apoquel® click here.

Please call us to set up an appointment for your dog!

Love,

Day & Evening Pet Hospital Staff

When Your Dog is Older and Moving Slower

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Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD).  This is defined as progressive and permanent long-term deterioration of the cartilage surrounding the joints.

This differs from Arthritis.

Arthritis is the medical term for inflammation of the joints.  Osteoarthritis is used for when your pet has chronic joint inflammation caused by deterioration of joint cartilage.

There is no cure for osteoarthritis.  However, if you can recognize the signs early enough, it is treatable.

You can ask yourself these questions to see if your dog needs to be screened for osteoarthritis:

  1. Is your dog less interested in participating in usual activities?
  2. Does your dog seem less alert?
  3. Does your dog lag behind during walks?
  4. Is your dog sleeping more?
  5. Does your dog have difficulty getting up or lying down?
  6. Has your dog gained weight?
  7. Does your dog seem less interested/harder to greet you when you get home?

We, at Day and Evening Pet Hospital, choose Galliprant® to help your dog manage osteoarthritis and so they can be more active.

Early management with Galliprant® is important.  Once pain sets in, your dog will move less and can even gain more weight.  More weight can put even more pressure on their joints which can lead to more problems.

Galliprant® is a tablet that has been proven to be safe and effective.  It’s usually given once a day (see one of our vets for the prescription for your dog).  It has been proven to target the pain and inflammation caused from osteoarthritis.

Pet Identification

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Earlier this month it was National Pet ID Week (April 15th-21st).  Having your pet with an identification tag is more than important, it can be life-saving!

Returning lost pets, as you have seen our Facebook page, can be more difficult than it has to be without an ID tag on your pet.  Sometimes it has taken weeks to find the owner of one of the lost pets who have made their way to our clinic.  However, if they had an identification tag they would have been returned much quicker (but thank goodness they were returned to their owners in the end!).

An additional step to take if you don’t much care for the jingle-jangle of an ID tag–get your pet microchipped.  We always recommend both forms of identification.  This is because the ID tag itself is very easily noticed and your neighbor or anyone finding your pet can easily see they are lost and can be easily returned (always put a reachable phone number on your pet’s tag).  Just getting micro-chipped only is not easily noticed on the outside.

When you microchip your pet, a small rice-sized computer chip is inserted under the pet’s skin between the shoulder blades.  As soon as the chip is implanted in your pet, we register that number here at the clinic. That number goes into their national database, where your information is linked to your pet.  If you change addresses or phone numbers, this is easily changed (always keep this information updated).

Keep in mind any pet (even indoor pets) can get lost.  Getting your pet proper identification in case this were to ever happen is being properly prepared for a swift return home.  Our microchipping is not expensive and is a very fast procedure.  No appointment is necessary.

Please have proper identification for your pet. You will thank us later!

Pet Health Awareness Events – May 2018

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National Service Dog Eye Examination Month

Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month

May 3rd
National Specially-abled Pets Day

May 6th-14th
National Pet Week®

May 6th-14th
Be Kind to Animals Week®

May 12th
National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day

May 12th
International Migratory Bird Day

May 19th
Endangered Species Day

May 23rd
International Turtle Day