Don't gamble with your pet's health, keep him or her on prevention for parasites. Treatment is always more problematic and more expensive. Heartworm prevention is to be given once a month throughout the entire year. It will not only protect against heartworms, but hookworms and roundworms that are present all year round and have the potential to infect humans. Each female roundworm can lay 100,000 eggs per day and the eggs live 4-5 years outside, even in winter, so continue the Iverhart Plus once a month...EVERY month. Make sure your dog is TESTED for heartworm before restarting the Iverhart Plus preventative tablets.

Scratch, SCRATCH, SCRATCH. Is your pet itchy? Shaking his ears, rubbing his face or butt, licking his feet, biting all over? These are primary signs of allergic dermatitis, the most common cause of veterinary visits. Most allergies are caused by inhalant allergens, and this time of year the weeds are pollinating, ragweed pollen is high, and the mold counts are  VERY high. People get hay fever signs: sneezing, stuffed sinuses, red eyes, but dogs get the itchies. Food allergies are the second most common cause of skin allergies, with the culprits being:beef, dairy products, wheat, soy, chicken, and lamb. Rarely will you see gastrointestinal signs, mostly you will find itchy ears especially. Cats will show extreme itchiness around the face as a sign of food allergies. Don't let your pet scratch or rub until he gets his skin infected. Come in for an exam and a consultation to make sure he first doesn't have fleas, and then a full skin workup. Most allergies can be CONTROLLED (not cured) with medication and/or hypoallergenic diets.

Did you know that 80% of dogs and cats have some form of periodontal disease by the age of two years old?  Bacteria, food particles, and saliva combine to form a sticky paste called plaque which is soft. It soon calcifies to form tartar which is hard and needs to be scaled off professionally. Tartar digs deep into the gum and destroys the dental ligaments and even the root and supporting bone. Also, it at this time that clumps of bacteria enter the blood stream and are swept into the circulation to go to the kidney, liver, heart, and brain. It is thought that kidney disease (the # 1 killer after cancer and car accidents) is caused 75% of the time by bad teeth.  This all goes on under the gum invisible to the naked eye which, is why the scraping that groomers perform is just cosmetic since the subgingival pocket is where the disease occurs.  This requires deep scaling and a general anesthetic to get the job done right. We strongly recommend your dog and cat get their teeth checked and cleaned if necessary. We discount our anesthetic fees by about half in order to make this life saving procedure more affordable for our clients. Call for information.

It is now summer, so It is important to have the Frontline on your pet NOW as the parasites are heavily feeding, and the temperatures and humidities are causing rapid life cycles. Tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme, Erlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis have increased in this area at an alarming rate. Over 1000 cases have been diagnosed in Cook County in the last two years! Stay protected and keep your pet safe as well.