Photo Credit: Cute Cats and Dogs
Here comes the sun!
Welcoming a new kitten or adult cat into your home is an exciting adventure! It’s important to have a safe space for your new family member, one that includes food and water dishes, a bed, scratching posts, cat towers, toys, treats, and a litter box.
Now is also a great time to ensure your existing pets are all up to date on their preventive care, and make an appointment for the new pet at the veterinarian. Kittens can start getting vaccines as early as 6 weeks of age, and the recommended vaccine schedule is 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks of age. In multi-cat households testing the new addition for Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency Viruses is extremely important as these can be transmitted to cats already at home. This quick test takes less than 20 minutes, and is run on a small blood sample obtained during the visit.
DID YOU KNOW?!
The heart of a shrimp is located in its head
April showers bring May flowers, but also brings back pesky parasites
Warm weather means sunshine, walks, swimming, and trips to the dog park. However, it also means that fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes are out too.
Fleas are small flightless insects that live off the blood of mammals and birds. They are seen year- round, and can be very hard to get rid of due to their life cycle. Not only can fleas cause our pets to be itchy, but if they are ingested they also pose a risk of transmitting tapeworms to your pet. Keeping your pet on monthly preventives year round is needed to keep your pets safe.
Ticks and Minnesota go hand in hand, unfortunately. Ticks can be out and about any time the temperature is above 32 degrees fahrenheit. Here in MN we can see them year-round. The main bacteria spread through ticks up here in our state is Lyme Disease, but ticks are also carriers of Ehrlichia, Anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. Frontline and Nexgard are both great prevention options for Ticks. Since we see warm days throughout winter we recommend giving prevention year round.
Humans use bug repellent to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes, but even that seems to not always do the trick. Our pets are always at risk to be the prey of a mosquito bite. To transmit heartworm disease, it just takes one mosquito that is carrying the heartworm larva. If your pet is not protected with preventative medicine such as Heartgard Plus, your pet could contract heartworm disease from that one bite.
We recommend dogs at our clinic be tested annually to see if they have had any exposure to heartworm and tick borne diseases (lyme, ehrlichia and anaplasmosis). This is a small blood sample that can either be drawn at your pets annual exam, or at a separate time with technicians in the clinic. Annual testing paired with prevention is what we recommend to keep your pet happy and healthy year after year.
DAYS TO CELEBRATE
APRIL DAYS:
World Penguin Day – April 25th
Eeyore’s Birthday – April 28th
Save the Frogs Day – April 27th
National Animal Advocacy Day – April 30th
MAY DAYS:
Save the Rhino Day – May 1st
International Wild Koala Day – May 3rd
Star Wars Day – May 4th
National Pet Week – May 5th-11th
National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day – May 8th
Mother’s Day – May 12th
Dinosaur Day – May 15th
Endangered Species Day – May 17
Memorial Day – May 27th
Sea Turtle / World Turtle Day – May 23
JUNE DAYS:
National Animal Rights Day – June 2nd
Hug Your Cat Day – June 4th
National Best Friends Day – June 11th
Remember to check us out on social media! Follow us on all the sites below!
Facebook: Champlin Park Pet Hospital
Instagram: champlinpark_pethospital
Twitter: @champlinpets
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We would greatly appreciate it.
