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Volume
II, Issue V May 2006 IN THIS ISSUE •
The Cat Diseases
Often Equated with Human AIDS •
What’s the Best Flea
& Tick Product? • Healing Springs Connects Veterinary Medicine with the Digital Age • Shop at Healing Springs Online • New Trail Riding Club |
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Take advantage of
our FIV / FeLV Clinic These diseases contribute
to more feline deaths than any other disease.
Healing Springs will partner with Idexx Laboratories to create this special day for testing
and awareness of FIV / FeLV (the feline immune system diseases). We will be
distributing special education materials from Idexx
Laboratories. Testing will be discounted to $20 per cat. Vaccinations will be discounted to $10 per cat. A $5 rebate
coupon from Idexx will be given
for cats under 2 years of age. All Day June 13 Walk-in or Call for an Appointment (276) 236-5103 |
The
Cat Diseases Often Equated with Human AIDS Feline immunodeficiency
virus (FIV) is the feline form of HIV (the virus that creates AIDS). While FIV is just as serious for cats as AIDS
is for humans, first understand that FIV only infects cats. Humans, dogs, and other animals CANNOT
catch FIV from cats or by any other means.
FIV cats are dangerous to other cats, but they pose no danger to
humans. Just as the name implies, the
feline immunodeficiency virus works to weaken a cat’s immune system. The FIV cat reaches a point where it can no
longer fight off or recover from normal diseases. When testing for FIV, the
veterinarians of Healing Springs simultaneously test for the feline leukemia
virus (FeLV). While these are separate
and distinct viruses, they both work to suppress a cat’s immune system, they
both create the same symptoms, and they both are highly contagious. Together, FIV/FeLV contribute to more feline deaths than any other disease. How FIV / FeLV Spread FIV / FeLV spread more
easily than their human counterpart. Cats can spread these and other diseases
through saliva. Stressed cats often
exchange saliva when they encounter one another by hissing at each other. Even cats separated by a screen door can
exchange feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus. The viruses also spread through bite wounds
and sexual contact. What to Look for: The FIV / FeLV infected cat
needs to be diagnosed as early as possible. While these diseases are often fatal,
proper treatment and care can help them lead happy lives over normal, long,
lifespans. Veterinary testing serves
as the only way to diagnose FIV / FeLV.
Outward signs exist, but FIV / FeLV present no sure symptoms. Some cats do not present outward signs of
illness for weeks, months, and even years after they become infected. All this time, the disease can be
progressing within them, and they can be spreading the disease to other
cats. This is part of the reason why
routine testing as part of general wellness screening is so important. Possible outward signs
include: • Vomiting • Diarrhea • Weight loss • Weakness • Bite wounds • Infected wounds • Not drinking water • Fever • Bleeding or pale gums • Behavioral changes • Grooming changes • Dull or matted coat • Swollen lymph nodes • Mouth sores Veterinary Care: With proper care, infected
cats can live long, happy lives. The
first step is identifying an infection.
Infected cats often show no outward signs initially, but a single
blood test conducted at Once FIV / FeLV has been detected, veterinarians can help you setup
special disease management strategies designed to lengthen the healthy,
enjoyable life of your cat. Treatments
and strategies may include: • Drugs that can boost
the immune system • Diligent vaccinations
against secondary infection • Excellent nutrition
(usually Science
Diet) • Semi-annual wellness
screenings • Isolation indoors • Spaying and Neutering
(to prevent escapist and disease spreading behaviors) An FIV vaccine is available,
but it is usually reserved for multiple cat
households that have presented with one or more FIV infections. The FIV vaccine has two problems: (1) it is
not 100% effective and (2) it causes the cat to always test positive for FIV
in the future whether the cat is really infected or not. Since the FIV
vaccine causes false positives on blood tests and since it does not protect
100%, the vaccine can actually cause an infected cat to not receive proper
care after an infection. For this
reason, vets usually reserve the FIV vaccine for high risk
situations. Summary: Feline immunodeficiency
virus / feline leukemia virus (FIV / FeLV) contribute to more feline deaths
than any other disease. They work by
weakening a cat’s immune system. They
are highly contagious and can be spread just from
one cat hissing at another. Symptoms
are not a reliable means for monitoring a cat’s health status. Annual or semiannual wellness screenings
will enable you to identify FIV / FeLV in a timely fashion. With timely identification and a good care
plan, many FIV / FeLV cats live out normal lifespans, happily. |
Vets recommend
Science Diet over all other pet foods.
Here’s why. |
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Huge Yard Sale Benefit for Pets Shop, Sell, or Donate Saturday, June 17 8 AM – 3 PM Church of the Good Shepherd, Hwy 58, Baywood
Area All proceeds benefit Healing Springs’ H.E.L.P. Fund – a charitable
fund created to help pet owners provide extensive veterinary care to sick or
injured pets. •
Shop and
Enjoy this Huge Yard Sale, or •
Set up
your own items at the yard sale for a $10 set-up fee, or •
Bring
donations the day of the event. For more information or to reserve a set-up, call Jennifer
Roberts Day: 236-5103 Evening: 236-0904 Your help is greatly appreciated. |
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What’s the Best Flea & Tick Product? We are noticing a growing trend
among retailers to redirect Frontline Plus buyers toward other products. To do this, they provide factual
information in favor of the other product without providing the
factual information in favor of Frontline Plus. When weighing all the pros and cons of each
product, the vets of Understanding the
Blood Sucking Enemies Fleas Cause More Problems than Itching Ounce for ounce, few
creatures can inflict more discomfort than the flea. Besides feasting on your pets and making
their lives itchy and miserable, fleas can cause a serious condition called
flea allergy dermatitis. When too many
fleas suck the blood of your young, old, or ill pet, anemia can result. Signs of anemia include pale gums,
weakness, and laziness. Fleas can give
your cats rickettsiosis. Cats may show no symptoms, but they can
pass rickettsiosis to humans. In humans, the disease can cause severe
headaches, high fever, delirium, and depression. Fleas can also transmit plague, tapeworms,
and cat scratch disease. You can help control fleas
in your environment with usual home activities. Vacuum frequently all areas used by your
pets including floors and furniture.
This will suck up some of the flea eggs that have fallen from your
pet. Regularly wash your pets’ bedding
and blankets with the hottest water the material will allow. Mow and rake your lawn in all areas
frequented by your pet.
Ticks Carry Diseases Dangerous to Pets and
Humans Ticks work to make their
blood sucking relationship with your pet as comfortable as possible. Unfortunately, ticks carry even more
diseases that are problematic for both pets and humans: • Lyme
disease: a bacterial infection that affects both dogs and humans. Signs include lameness, fever, loss of
appetite, and fatigue. • Babesiosis: makes mature dogs
sick and kills puppies in 4 to 12 weeks.
Babesiosis responds to a number of
veterinary treatments, but may require a blood transfusion in the later
stages of the disease. • Ehrilichiosis: an infectious blood
disease that attacks your pet’s white blood cells and cripples the immune
system • Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: A danger to both humans and dogs. Signs include fever, loss of appetite,
lameness, depression, vomiting, and diarrhea.
If dogs infected with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
do not receive treatment, the virus can cause more severe symptoms and death. • Cytauxzoonosis: a sudden, severe, and usually fatal disease in
cats.
Signs include loss of appetite and depression followed by one to three
days of fever. Death may follow in
another one to three days. Ticks
also have four stages of life: egg, larval, nymphal,
and adult. Female ticks lay their eggs
in dense vegetation. The eggs hatch
into larvae. The larvae move into tall
grass or shrubs to wait for an animal to pass by. Only when they catch an animal and take
their first blood meal can they move to their next stage of life. After one blood meal, they will drop off
the animal and begin their transformation into the nymph stage. As a nymph, they look for another
host. After catching a host and
obtaining the next blood meal, ticks can transform into the adult stage. Some species of ticks can survive for years
without a blood meal. Tick products
that can kill ticks in multiple stages of life provide your pet with a good
advantage. As
with fleas, yard work can keep down the tick population in your
environment. Ticks like tall grass,
tall weeds, and brush. Trimming bushes
and mowing lawns actually hinders ticks’ ability to detect and catch your pet
and discourages ticks. Likewise,
keeping your pet out of areas with tall grass and weeds, especially areas
frequented by deer, will help your pet avoid ticks. Product
Comparison Now
that we have highlighted the importance of flea and tick control, let’s talk about the products available to protect your
dogs and cats. Whole Body Protection & Waterproofing Almost
gone are the days of ineffective flea collars and toxic baths. The newest generation of flea control
products such as Frontline Plus and K9 Advantix
allow you to apply the product to one spot on the back of neck, and the
product literally travels through your pet’s skin to provide whole body
protection. Because the protection is
working from inside your pet’s skin, the protection literally cannot be washed off.
Unfortunately, some inexpensive products such as those you might find
in the grocery store do not provide whole body protection. Even though they have
been repackaged in applicators to look like new technology, they only
provide protection in the spots where you applied the product. In essence, these inexpensive products are
about the same thing as the old fashioned flea
collars. Frontline Plus Works Well for a Full Month,
Others Do Not Most
of the better products can only be applied once per
month, but they are not fully effective for the whole month. When you measure effectiveness by the
number of fleas on an animal, Merial reports that
Frontline maintains its effectiveness over thirty days better than the other
top products (K9 Advantix, Advantage, and
Revolution). Frontline Plus proves
100% effective against fleas the first week of application and remains more
than 90% effective during the fourth week of application. Advantage drops steadily to less than 80%
effectiveness by the fourth week.
Revolution drops suddenly in the fourth week to less than 50%
effectiveness. K9 Advantix
drops steadily to roughly 50% effectiveness by week four.
Frontline Plus Kills Fleas and Ticks in
Various Life Stages Frontline
Plus also proves superior at killing both fleas and ticks in multiple stages
of life. Only Frontline Plus and K9 Advantix kill ticks in all four stages of life. Revolution kills adult ticks only. Advantage and Sentinel do not kill
ticks. Only Frontline Plus breaks up
the flea’s life cycle by killing eggs, larvae, and adults on contact. Advantage and K9 Advantix
do not kill flea eggs. Revolution does
not kill flea larvae. A Good Flea Repellent Wouldn’t Leave a
Bunch of Fleas on the Dog The
retail distributors working to switch buyers from Frontline Plus to K9 Advantix point out that K9 Advantix
does not just
kill fleas and ticks, it repels them.
However, this added feature must not be terribly effective after 21
and 28 days, because a controlled trial found more fleas on K9 Advantix dogs than with any other product in the study. K9 Advantix Kills
and Repels Mosquitoes, But Not Enough K9
Advantix also protects dogs from mosquitoes by repelling
and killing them. Mosquitoes transmit
heartworms to cats and dogs. Without
proper treatment, heartworms eventually kill the pet. Unfortunately, the makers of K9 Advantix have offered no evidence that the product stops
100% or even 90% of mosquito bites 14 days into the month. Since the product does not seem to offer
full protection from mosquitoes, pets will still need to be on regular
heartworm protection such as Interceptor or Revolution. Interceptor and Revolution are 100%
effective against heartworms when used as scheduled. Therefore, the mosquito-repelling feature
of K9 Advantix does not reduce medical costs or
provide your pet with more protection against heartworms than Interceptor or
Revolution. As noted above, K9 Advantix provides one of the lowest levels of flea
protection. Therefore, the repellant
and mosquito killing features of K9 Advantix do not
outweigh the fact that Frontline Plus provides better flea protection. Conclusion Frontline
Plus and K9 Advantix are the clear leaders in the
battle for the title of best external parasite control product. K9 Advantix
offers protection against mosquitos, but not enough
to save you from needing heartworm protection, and the efficacy of this
product after 7 days is questionable.
Frontline Plus does the best job of killing fleas and ticks in
multiple life cycles, and it does the best job of staying effective for the
entire month between treatments. For
these reasons, Frontline Plus currently holds our title for best flea and
tick control product. |
Siphotrol Plus
II helps kill fleas, ticks, and other pests in your home and garage. Insecticidal
yard spray kills fleas and ticks in your lawn. For
immediate relief of severe, existing flea infestations, consider Frontline
Spray. K9-Advantix
contains chemical toxic to cats |
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Healing
Springs Connects Veterinary Medicine with the Digital Age In the very near future,
Healing Springs will launch an online service that allows you unprecedented
access to the medical records of your dogs, cats, and horses. This new aspect of our website is called Pet Portals.
The medical records of your dogs, cats, and horses will be available
to you, and you only, via a secure,
password-protected website we set up for each client. With one easy glance, you can now see what
services your pet has recently received and what needed services are coming
up. You will receive e-mail reminders
about upcoming services (you may disable this feature). When you see an upcoming service due, such
as a certain type of vaccination, you can click on it to get information
about the service. Healing Springs’
Pet Portals will also enable you to order prescription refills online,
request appointments online, and participate in an online pet forum. You can instruct Pet Portals to remind you
to do things at home such as give your cat heartworm protection or to give
your pet its monthly Frontline. Best
of all, Healing Springs will provide this service completely FREE of charge. To
see a sample page and for more information, visit our website |
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Shop
at Healing Springs Online Healing
Springs now offers the convenience of shopping online with the satisfaction
of supporting a hometown veterinary hospital.
Visit the Healing • Education: We noticed a growing trend among online
discount stores to attempt to redirect customers from the products we
recommend to other, less effective products.
Our store combines commerce with education to empower you to make the
best possible shopping decisions. We
will never direct you to an inferior product just because the profit margin
is higher. • Price: The stores advertising great discount
pricing on the t.v. are actually charging more than
Healing Springs. You can buy Frontline
Plus for $5 to $9 less per box in our lobby than you
can buy it at these t.v. promoted websites. If you buy on-line and add UPS shipping to
our prices, we come out about the same as the big t.v.
advertised website. • Convenience: More and more, people are driving in from up
to 60 miles away to have their animals treated at • Please visit the WebStore now
and fill out the Customer Survey at the bottom. |
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New
Trail Riding Club
The non-profit equestrian
organization, Iron Mountain Trail Riders has been recently
revived and is actively seeking new members. The organization includes a diverse group
of riders: families with children, endurance and competitive trail riders,
recreational trail riders, horse camp owners, equine health practitioners, back country horsemen, trail advocates, hikers, and
outdoorsmen. Iron Mountain Trail
Riders welcomes all horse and trail enthusiasts. “With the many issues facing
our public lands like budge cuts, forest re-planning, increased recreational
use and manpower shortages this group has come together to preserve the
trails we ride,” states club Secretary Nancy Sluys. President Gina Hagis
notes that the organization promotes volunteerism, education, recreation, and
family fun. The Iron Mountain Trail
Riders goals and activities include: • Trail work days, often
with camp outs • Working with the
Forest Service to maintain and keep trails open • Organizing family
trail rides and other fun events • Educational clinics
and seminars • Coggins, vaccination
and animal ID clinics • Chainsaw certification
course You are invited to monthly
meetings of the Iron Mountain Trail Riders every 3rd Wednesday of
each month at 7pm at the |
Square
Bales Better than Round Bales for Horses, but Cows Don’t Care |
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The Animal Health Bulletin is a FREE service of Healing (276) 236-5103 Visit our website at www.HealingSpringsAnimalHospital.com |
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Administrative: Request an article topic. Click
Here. To ask questions about a
specific pet, call Healing Springs at (276) 236-5103. You have permission to forward this bulletin in its
entirety to a friend. If you did not receive the Animal Health Bulletin
directly and would like to begin receiving them, simply enter your
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update your e-mail preferences or unsubscribe. The Animal Health Bulletin is developed and
distributed with the assistance of Brazzell Marketing Agency specializing in healthcare marketing. © BMA 2006 |
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