Happy Monday! We have unfortunately been experiencing intermittent phone and internet outages. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.
Thank you!
The Team at Allen Animal Hospital.
We love our amazing and compassionate Techs. They are dedicated to giving every pet the best care possible and work harder than you could imagine to do that. Please help celebrate National Vet Tech week with Allen Animal Hospital!
What's less fun (and more fatal) than a Monday? HEARTWORM DISEASE. 💔〰️
Here are some important facts about heartworm disease, prevention, and testing.
❤ Heartworm disease affects over 1,000,000 pets each year in the U.S. It can absolutely be DEADLY.
❤ Luckily, heartworm disease is PREVENTABLE by giving a tasty chewable or topical medication such as Heartgard, Sentinel, Simparica Trio, Revolution, or Interceptor once each month.
❤ DON'T THINK PREVENTION IS NECESSARY FOR YOUR PET OR YOUR SITUATION? THINK AGAIN. Heartworm disease is caused by worms that are transmitted through MOSQUITO BITES (which, as we all know, enter our houses).
❤ Prevention medication costs less than the INTENSIVE AND EXPENSIVE treatment required to attempt to save your pet's life if they do contract heartworms.
❤ Heartworm disease generally takes about 6 months from initial exposure to be detectable. For this reason, a heartworm test (using a blood sample) should be done EVERY YEAR for dogs, and when symptoms are present for cats.
We will continue to post information about the dangers, prevention options, and signs of heartworms, as well as fleas and ticks, throughout the coming months.
Fellow humans, it is TICK SEASON! These little buggers may be small (even as small as a pin head), but they can have a grave impact on you and your family… four-legged and two-legged members alike!
Ticks primarily reside in wooded or grassy areas--similar to a lot of our backyards in Michigan--while waiting for a suitable host to walk by and stealthily crawl on.
Some of the diseases spread to humans and dogs by ticks in the Midwest include lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, tularemia, powassan disease, ehrlichiosis, and many others. Symptoms like fever, headache, vomiting, heart palpitations, and muscle stiffness/aches often accompany these diseases in humans. In some people, severe reactions can include recurring headaches, loss of muscle mass, memory problems, arthritis, respiratory failure, organ failure, blood clots, and even death. Our furry friends also experience similar symptoms, so it’s crucial they receive medical attention right away!
The best way to prevent ticks is year-round prevention. This includes oral medications such as NexGard or topical medications like Frontline, both of which can be prescribed by your veterinarian and picked up at the Allen Animal Hospital year-round.
These ticks were recently removed from a patient at our clinic--they’re not the first and they most certainly won’t be the last we will see this year! If you notice a tick on your pet, contact us right away at 248-476-0570 so that it can be removed in its entirety and the tick can be sent to a lab to test for any diseases it may be carrying!!
Learn more here: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/index.html
What is a Purpose Bred Dog and why do we need them?
Like the name implies, these dogs are brought into the world with a pre-determined purpose in mind.
Dogs of a certain size, health, temperament, trainability and drive are needed for specific, demanding jobs such as explosives detection, narcotics detection, arson detection, Live find and Human remains detection Search and Rescue dogs, and
dual purpose patrol dogs etc.
Many of the dogs used in the US for the above mentioned purposes are purchased overseas. There is a movement to purposefully breed more domestic working dogs that can be used here at home so that we do not have to rely on other countries in order to have enough dogs to perform these important jobs.
Months and months of training and thousands of dollars are spent preparing dogs for these careers. For this reason, it is important to ensure working dogs come from generations of healthy bloodlines so they can have long, comfortable and useful careers.
“Why do more dogs need to be brought in the world, can’t we use dogs already here?” some wonder. A huge percentage of shelter dogs have behavioral or reactivity issues (often through no fault of their own) that preclude them from having the mental stability required for a working career. In addition, many have physical/ orthopedic ailments that would limit their ability, stamina or longevity.
Occasionally, rescue dogs can fill the need. The Beagle Brigade which are dogs (usually beagles and hounds) that detect agricultural contraband coming into the US uses a lot of pound dogs. Hundreds of dogs must be screened by trained personnel to find an appropriate candidate. Once s/he passes the temperament and preliminary physical exam testing, s/he goes through rigorous additional health screening. Only a small percentage of dogs “make the cut”.
Most detection dogs must start their training when they are quite young, often, as early as 8 weeks of age.
If an agency is going to invest $15,000-20,000
As we welcome in 2021, we’d also like to welcome our new patients and clients. Welcome to the Allen Animal Hospital family!!
Look what the stork dropped off....
Eight smoosh-faced rescue dogs in desperate need of medical care and homes. They will receive the medical care they need with us at the Allen Animal hospital then be placed in permanent homes through Michigan Pug Rescue and Wags and Whiskers Rescue Group.
Any monetary donations (cash/checks/credit cards) to help defray their medical expenses will be gratefully accepted at AAH.
Please watch for periodic updates!!!
Thank you!!!
Grazi and Valley, celebrating National Black Dog Day with shenanigans! How is your dog celebrating? Grazi also honored the day with a wellness check and a canine flu vaccine.
Safely Removing a Tick
Ticks are out in droves in S.E. Michigan!
Dogs need tick prevention as part of a complete health care program to help prevent Lymes disease, ehrlichiosis and other tick borne diseases.
Call the clinic to order tick prevention, today!
Super Bowl Sunday Search & Rescue training fun!
Grazi finds a bone! You can tell he found it because he barks and exudes happiness!
Meet Grazi this Saturday at REI Northville. You can support Michigan Search and Rescue by buying a calendar or t-shirt at our booth!
At the Allen Animal Hospital, we LOVE taking care of pets! We welcome several new patients this week, along with a very special senior (Buffy Barber, the poodle, 16 years young and long time patient!)
Below, in order, are Dodger Fedewa, Ava McDonald, Coco Parrinello, Sophia Vargo, Roxie Kalinski and Buffy Barber.
This is a place where care runs deep. Every patient plan is created with your unique family in mind!
