Do any of you remember many WETTER springs than the weather we've seen this year? According to the zoonotic disease seminars I attended at this year's TNAVC conference, our wet and cool spring weather will allow many of the common parasites that plague our pets to run rampant this year. And parasites are a bigger deal than you might think, because many of the diseases they cause are zoonotic diseases - and THAT means that they are transmissible from your pet to you. Here are the ones you need to be aware of, to protect all of your family members, both human and pet:
Heartworms: While this parasite has been a serious health issue in our area for the past few years, this year we are expecting a bumper crop of the insect that carries heartworm disease - the mosquito. Mosquitoes thrive in damp weather and they are capable of living indoors as well as outside - so even if your pet is mostly a house pet, heartworm preventative medication is needed, year-round. Why year round? Because as people become more transient, either moving around or vacationing in warmer climates, they are bringing heartworm disease from warm places where it has always been a year-round problem, back to the Chicagoland area. Over the past 5 years, we have detected heartworm disease every month of the year, and our diligent clients have told us that they've found mosquitoes every month of the year, too. Simply using your heartworm preventative from April through December is NOT ENOUGH, folks! My dogs are on preventative medication year-round and yours should be, too. If you have a cat that sneaks outside a lot, put that cat on heartworm preventative, too. Trust me on this - I perform far too many autopsies on pets who have died suddenly, and often find their hearts packed with heartworms. This disease truly is a silent killer, and 2009 will be a bad heartworm year.
Intestinal worms and parasites: If you were a worm parasite, you'd LOVE damp weather! Dry conditions kill stool parasites off relatively quickly, while cooler temperatures and dampness allow them to live longer in grass and soil. Remember that there's no easier or faster way for your pet to pick up intestinal parasites from other pets - or from wildlife - than to be hanging out in areas where a large number of other pets also hang out. Especially if you take your pet to area dog parks, pet day care centers, or forest preserves, if you engage in dog training, or if you live in an area where everyone walks their pets in the same area, this year all of those places will be absolutely rampant with parasite eggs and larvae. And if you feed wildlife in the same area your pets have access to, the parasite problem can be worse! DO remember that wildlife carry many parasites that are transmissible to dogs, cats, and humans. There are documented cases of children and adults developing horrible skin disease, organ disease, and even losing their eyesight, due to animal parasites that have migrated through their bodies. Hookworms, roundworms, Giardia, raccoon roundworms, and more can be transmitted from your pet to you! Your best weapons against intestinal parasites? Having a stool sample checked at least once a year (three times a year if your pet visits dog parks or pet day care centers) and making sure that the heartworm preventative you use also treats common intestinal parasites. Our first choice product? Heartgard Plus. DO remember that if you elect to purchase your heartworm preventative from an on-line pharmacy rather than from your veterinarian, any guarantee associated with the use of that product will no longer be valid.
Ticks: Starting with Lyme disease, ticks carry a laundry list of diseases within their bodies. All can be transmitted to your pet (or you!) when the tick bites through the skin to suck blood from your pet. Ticks adore cool and damp weather, so it's critical to be aware of ticks during the spring and fall months in our climate. The best way to prevent these parasites from infecting your pet and bringing baby ticks into your home is to use an appropriate topical medication that kills the ticks before they suck blood and reproduce. Right now, we are removing ticks almost daily from patients!
Fleas: Flea infestation risks for our companion animals begin in the spring and continue clear into late fall in Chicagoland. Wildlife carry fleas, too, and can transmit these to your pets. Fleas bring the risk of skin infections and "hot spots," or areas on the skin that the pet chews raw. And, fleas also carry tapeworms! It's worth your time to make sure that your pet is flea-free, and we strongly recommend the use of a good prescription grade topical during the months of the year that fleas pose a problem. After carefully evaluating the many prescription products available, we have settled on Frontline as the best first choice product. That's the one that all of us who work at Knollwood use for our at-risk pets.
Leptospirosis: Most of you have read about my dog Lizzie's horrible bout with Leptospirosis last year. It left her in complete kidney failure (if you didn't read about it, she described it in several columns for her many fans on this website). Don't let leptospirosis happen to your pet! We had to treat not just Lizzie, but every pet in the household, and all humans, too - it was a nightmare that none of us EVER want to repeat. This deadly "bug" became a big problem in our area after last year's floods, and it will continue to be a risk this year for any pet who enjoys splashing in wet areas, running through the forest preserve, or even just poking around in your garden. Please, make sure to vaccinate your pets for leptospirosis! While no vaccine is one hundred percent effective, the risk of developing Leptospirosis is great enough that we are recommending vaccination for high-risk pets. If you are not sure of your pet is a risk for this disease, come into the clinic for a FREE consultation with one of our veterinary Nurses.
I'll close with an update on some of the topics that I discussed in my last column. Most of it is GOOD news, fortunately. First, about our staff: Nurse Tina finished her vet school interviews and was accepted by FOUR veterinary colleges - that's a Knollwood record! We wish she wasn't leaving us at the end of June to attend the combination DVM/MPH program at Colorado State University, but we know that she has a bright future ahead of her and we wish her the best. Former Knollwood Nurse Katie will be finishing her first year at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in May and will be working with us all this summer. We'll also enjoy seeing more of Nurse Nikki this summer, since she will be attending college only part-time over the summer. And, we have filled the new Nurse position that will open up this fall and are actively interviewing for the Nurse Assistant positions that will also become available this fall. Nurse Assistant Ashley J. will be leaving us to enter the military this fall, so we are also looking for a new Hospital Assistant. Please send anyone qualified our way!
Our hospital spruce-up has proceeded a bit - Katie came back to work for us on her spring break and she, Nikki, and Chani finished painting all the exam rooms and the front reception area. We hope you like our new "look" as much as we do! Still coming: the final touches in the reception area and a full re-paint this summer in all of the working areas of the hospital. We wish we could afford to replace all the floors, but that will have to wait for another year and a better economy. We DID get our new dental table and are appreciating the added comfort it brings our largest patients. And, client and cat-lover Mrs. Livesay, owner of former KPR kitty Sabrina, has once again been gracing our front office with the beautiful flowers she brings us every week all spring long.
Our reduced-cost dental program was a big success this spring! We filled up all of our available dental promotion spots, cleaned a lot of teeth, fixed a lot of sore gums, and sent a lot of pets home with fresh breath, sparkling white teeth, and happy owners. Look for our follow-up promotion, in November.
One challenging note: we are looking at a BIG change in Doctor staff this summer. Dr. Papacek has notified me that she will be having some extensive hand surgery on both hands, beginning in mid-July of this year and continuing through possibly the end of her contract in November 2009. So, you will be seeing MY - and only my - smiling face in the hospital, all the hours and all the days, starting on July 20th. We have temprarily secured the services of a veterinary surgeon during this time - a former Knollwood Doctor who many of you will remember - since it will be nearly impossible for me to see patients and do surgery at the same time. We are also seeking to hire an experienced veterinarian on a part or full time basis, so that we can extend our hospital hours for you. We'll keep you posted, and I'll try to keep that smile on my face!
Dr. Mitchell
