Name that Critter!

Can you identify this parasite? If you guessed Scabies, you would be close. This parasite is in the same family of mites - it's the pesky EAR MITE.

These little critters feed on the lining of the ear canal causing an intense inflammation. The ear responds to this inflammation by producing an excess of wax which leads to secondary infections of the ear with yeast and bacteria which thrive in the waxy environment.

Ear mites are very active little creatures that are highly contagious from pet to pet. The mites prefer the dark moist environment of the ear canal but can sometimes be found on the head, neck and feet of the pet. This happens when the mites become dislodged by the pet shaking it's head and scratching at the ears. This is how they can then be transferred to another pet. If one pet in your family has them, it won't be long before others become infected.

Cats are most commonly affected by these mites and cats that go outdoors are at greatest risk. If your cat has a significant amount of dark wax in the ears, mites are the most likely cause. If you try to "scoop out" some of the cat's wax with a Q-tip you will noticed a severe itching response from an infected cat.

Dogs can also be affected but this is much less likely that with cats. Most dogs with wax in the ears have either yeast or bacterial infections unrelated to ear mites. Blindly treating your dog's ear problem with ear mite drops is almost always unsuccessful.

Early signs of infection are increased shaking of the head and scratching of the ears. More advanced signs of infection include excessive wax accumulation and painful infection of the ears. If any of these signs are observed your pet should be examined and treated as soon as possible.

There are several therapies available for the treatment and prevention of reinfection for both cats and dogs that can be tailored to your pet's lifestyle and your ability to medicate your pet's ears.

If you suspect your pet has ear mites or any other problem with it's ears, call and schedule an appointment ASAP. The longer the problem goes untreated, the more difficult the problem will be to resolve. Your pet will thank you for taking care of this uncomfortable pesky problem.

WORMS around us!

How would you like to wake up in the morning and find an 18" worm in your bed? That is exactly what happened to one of our clients earlier today. This client has 3 cats that sleep in bed with her. She suspected the cats to be the source of the worm and brought it to us for identification. The owner was correct, this worm was vomited-up by one of her cats. This particular worm is a type of tapeworm known as Spirometra. Cats and dogs get this worm by eating frogs. Spirometra infections can cause chronic diarrhea and weight loss. Needless to say, the owner made immediate arrangements to have her cats dewormed.

That's the worm next to my hand in the picture and it truly measured 18" when stretched out. The black end of the worm is the head (scolex).

Spirometra tapeworms are just one of many intestinal parasites that potentially plague our pets. Many of the parasites can also infect people, and all of the parasites have the ability to cause medical problems for our pets. All of our pets should be regularly examined for intestinal parasites to help protect their health. Pets that spend time outdoors should have a feces sample tested for worms 3-4 times each year. Indoor pets, such as the above 3 cats, should be tested at least once each year. Frequent testing and early diagnosis is just smart medicine.

There are several medications available to help prevent some of the more common parasites. These preventatives are frequently combined with products to help control fleas and ticks. Be sure to get your pets tested regularly and on proper preventative medication, don't wake-up to find your pet's worm sleeping on your pillow.

Pet Insurance - What's out there?

There are few things more frustrating, or heartbreaking, to a veterinarian than to have a patient denied critical medical care by the owner due to a lack of ability to pay for the pet's needed care. With today's rising veterinary costs, and our currently weak economy, this is becoming a too frequent problem.
Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem - PET INSURANCE!
There are several pet insurance plans available to the pet owner. As would be expected, each plan has different restrictions, qualifications, coverage options, benefits schedules and premium payment plans. There are plans administered by humane organizations, pet food companies, corporate veterinary hospital chains and private corporate providers. Of all the plans, only one has stood the test of time. That plan is VPI (Veterinary Pet Insurance), which has operated without interruption since 1983. VPI was founded by a group of forward thinking veterinarians in California that developed a plan that would work well with the veterinary community.
We began offering VPI insurance to our patients in 1985. Since then, many of our clients have utilized their pet's insurance plan to provide for needed orthopedic surgeries, neurologic surgeries, bladder surgeries, cancer chemo-therapy and treatment of a host of more routine medical problems. Insurance in some of these cases made the difference between life and death for the owner's pets.
VPI offers a variety of coverages to help provide whatever level of care you may need. VPI's basic policy offers coverage for illness and injuries, which includes associated diagnostic tests, hospitalization, surgery and medications. They also offer wellness care coverage which partially reimburses you for routine care such as vaccinations, dentistries, spaying/neutering, deworming, heartworm & flea preventatives, etc. Additionally, they have a major-medical policy to cover chronic long term illness care and a policy to cover cancer and attendant cancer therapies.
VPI offers a variety of premium payment plans to help make insurance affordable to virtually everyone.
While we have an established comfort level with VPI, we will gladly assist you with any insurance plan you may have.
As I said earlier, there are multiple insurance plans, any of which may be a life-saver for your pet. We owe it to our pets to be able to provide for their care when they need it most.

Monday in the Veterinary World

Monday is the day of the week that usually presents the greatest challenges. There is a natural tendency for pet owners to take a "wait and see" approach to their pet's medical problems during the weekend. If the problems don't resolve with home therapy, a phone call to our hospital is the first order of business come Monday morning. Naturally, we try to accommodate all of our clients' and patients' medical needs as quickly as possible which can present some real scheduling challenges if our Monday appointment book is already full.
Today was one of those Mondays with all appointments filled before close of business Friday. Therefore, I came to work this morning prepared for a scheduling challenge. However, good fortune smiled on us, and we had no Monday morning emergencies. This made for one very pleasant Monday with a good steady work flow and little stress.
We saw lots of healthy happy pets for their annual exams, several patients for post-operative rechecks and a couple of new patients with some troublesome skin and ear problems. We also scheduled another patient for reconstructive knee surgery with our surgical specialist Dr. Berger.
We want to congratulate our patients Kalua & Mandy on their recovery and healing following their orthopedic surgeries.
All in all, a very satisfying day.

The weekend is a great time for contemplative reflection. Each veterinary work week is filled with both happy and sad events, successes and disappointments. The goal is to learn from each and every case and to keep moving forward with a positive attitude. Sometimes the disappointments are particulalry difficult to overcome. Such was the case with "Kato". As I wrote earlier, Kato was diagnosesd with a cancerous growth at the base of the heart. Following 2 good days at home, he developed an acute gastric dilitation (bloat) and had to be euthanized. Our sympathies go out to Kato's family. We will all miss this wonderful patient.Due to the relatively short life span of the average veterinary patient (12-14 years), 6-8% of our patients pass away every year. With a base of approximately 4000 patients, that means we can expect to lose the lives of about 250-300 patients each year. That translates to almost 1 patient every day. Many of these pateints we have taken care of since they were puppies and kittens. They are like family to us and their loss is quite heartbreaking.Fortunately, this negative aspect of veterinary medicine is well compensated by the outright joy we experience everyday with new puppies, kittens and older new patients coming into our hospital to become part of our veterinary family. The trust our clients place in us with their pet's medical welfare is what motivates us and helps to keep a smile on our faces. We hope that our sincere enthusiasm for our patient's care is felt each time you come into our hospital.The bottom line is: through all the sad times and all the happy times, "We love what we do".