The tick disease flood of 2024 continues! Anaplasma and Lyme are now TIED on our positives tally sheet! Any guesses what our final season numbers will be?? Make sure you pick up your heartworm and tick prevention soon!
How to Remove a Tick...Even though we are in October there are still ticks roaming our wooded areas! Ticks are active in weather 4’C and above. Make sure to check your pets daily for these pesky arachnids and be on top of your pets tick prevention!
Fecal Testing 💩‼️TRIGGER WARNING - POOP‼️...We are so excited to have this new machine from Zoetis! For the longest time our technicians have been running fecal exams manually by examining fecal slides under a microscope, this took up about 20 minutes of their time with their already busy day. With this new machine all it takes is 5 minutes and the machine runs the rest! After scanning, the machine takes pictures of the parasite eggs it finds so we are able to print it out and show the owners!
Come wrap and sterilize surgical packs ✨
Come give subcutaneous fluids to a patient ✨
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How to administer the fluids:
- The bag must be higher than the patient, hang it a couple feet above
- One person holds the patient still while the other inserts and holds the needle in place during the procedure
- Remove the cap off the needle, tent the skin over the shoulder blades
- Hold the needle parallel to the patient’s body and insert it into the negative pocket of the tented skin
- Let go of the skin and hold the needle in place
- Open the fluid line by rolling the lock upwards, the fluids should now be flowing
- Measure on the right side of the bag how much fluids to give
- A lump of fluid will form under the skin, it will be absorbed over the course of a few hours
- Once you have administered the correct amount stop the fluids by rolling the lock down firmly
- Remove the needle from the skin and apply pressure for 5 minutes where the needle was placed or else the fluids will leak out
- Place the cap back onto the needle safely
- Remember to change the needle once used, we keep the needle wrapper on to indicate that it is a new needle
- Bring the used needles to your vet clinic so they can discard them properly
This video shows a new 1000ml bag at the end of giving fluids the bag is now 800mls which means we have this patient 200mls of fluids. Store the fluid bag in a safe place until next administration.
Come set up a subcutaneous fluid bag ✨
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Subcutaneous fluids are fluids given under a patient’s skin; it is a very simple procedure that can be done either at home or in clinic. This is commonly done on patients with excessive fluid loss from persistent diarrhea/vomiting or on patients with chronic kidney disease/renal failure. Giving fluids under the skin allows the body to absorb it gradually over a long period of time.
Heartworm Testing❤️🪱
‼️Trigger Warning- Needles‼️
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Ever wondered what happens when you bring your dog in for the heartworm and tick disease test? Throughout the day we collect small blood samples and send them out to the laboratory each evening. At the lab, they work their magic and determine if there is any evidence of heartworm or tick borne diseases. The next day, we review each individual result and then notify the pet parents. If negative, pet parents are free to start their heartworm and parasite prevention for the season. Remember to continuously treat for parasites and give heartworm prevention until November for optimal protection.
Someone or something has come out of hibernation… Who could it be?
Hints: Above 4’C & early spring time
Watch out on our instagram story to find out!
Microchip💉
‼️Trigger Warning - Needles‼️
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Ever wonder what pet microchips are all about? Watch this video on what tools are involved, how we scan and administer a microchip!
The purpose of microchipping is for your pet to have permanent identification. Each chip has a unique 15 character number that is shown on a specific microchip reading device once scanned (NOT a GPS). If your pet was lost and someone brought them to any vet clinic, the clinic staff would scan for a microchip, see the number and find it in the system. That number is linked to it all your personal information - your name, phone numbers, address and your pet’s information!
The actual chip is the size of a small grain of rice. Once inserted under the patient’s skin it will stay there forever. Typically microchip implants happen at the time of spay and neuter surgery when the pet is under anesthesia, if an owner has a pet that is already spayed/neutered and wanted a microchip, we would spray the area with a numbing spray, wait for the spray to take effect then administer.
Microchipping saves lives! Consider microchipping your pet at their spay/neuter surgery!
Come perform a urinalysis✨
This cute little critter was found to be the culprit causing one of our patient to be itchy!
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Sarcoptes scabiei (also called Sarcoptic mange) is a skin parasite that burrows itself in the host’s skin making the host very itchy leading to scabbing and hair loss. It is highly contagious and can be transmitted to humans and other animals in close contact.
Throwback to one of our patients waking up very happy after her spay! Clearly her pain levels were well controlled 😄 😍
Microfilaria (baby heartworms)
Sadly we have confirmed our first heartworm positive this year. In this video you can see the microfilaria, or "baby heartworms" in the serum of a blood sample.
