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Frequently Asked Questions:
What services do you offer besides spaying and neutering? What don’t you do?
At what age do you recommend spaying or neutering?
What’s the big deal about spaying and neutering?
What shots does my new puppy need?
What shots does my new kitten need?
What shots does my adult dog need?
What shots does my adult cat need?
Does my dog really need those expensive Heartworm Pills? Even in winter?
What about Heartworms in cats?
What’s the best thing for fleas and ticks?
Should I have my cat declawed?
Q. What services do you offer besides spaying and neutering and what don’t you do?
A. Aside from running a low cost spay/neuter clinic, we run a vaccination and out-patient clinic. We do annual physicals, vaccinations, heartworm & leukemia testing and clean teeth. We treat any illness or injury that can be treated on an outpatient basis, such as skin problems, ear infections, cat bites, etc. If a patient requires hospitalization, intensive care, extensive diagnostic procedures or complex surgery, we may refer you to a larger hospital that has the equipment, facilities and staff to give these cases the attention and care they deserve. Specializing in this way is part of what allows us to keep our overhead and, therefore, our prices down.
Q. At what age do you recommend spaying or neutering?
A. As soon as possible! We schedule our patients to be spayed or neutered at the time of their last puppy or kitten vaccinations (3-4 months). We routinely spay or neuter orphans for human societies and rescue organizations as early as six weeks of age. The younger the patient, the less anesthesia required, the faster the procedure, the fewer the complications and the shorter the recovery period. Please refer to the Project Spay/Neuter Early Spay FAQ for further details.
Q. What’s the big deal about spaying and neutering?
A. PET OVER POPULATION!!! Most people don’t realize how serious this problem is. To say that there are too many pets and not enough homes doesn’t begin to convey the magnitude of the problem. The leading cause of death in pets in the United States is not disease, illness nor injury. The leading cause of death is being killed in our nation’s pounds and shelters. Five million dogs, cats, puppies and kittens are killed just because there aren’t enough homes to go around. That’s about five percent of the entire pet population each year. So PLEASE, PLEASE .. spay and neuter your pets. Encourage everyone you know to do the same. If your pets are spayed and neutered, consider “sponsoring a spay” for someone who cannot afford it.
Q. What shots does my new puppy need?
A. Puppies need vaccinations every three weeks from weaning until about 15 weeks of age. We vaccinate at each visit for Parvo, Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza. At the first visit on or after 12 weeks of age, we give the Rabies vaccination. Puppies receive medication for heartworms and intestinal worms at each visit along with flea control, if necessary. We recommend spaying or neutering at the last visit and we’ll send you home with your own supply of heartworm prevention medication and flea & tick control products.
Q. What shots does my new kitten need?
A. Kittens need vaccinations and worming every three weeks from weaning until around fifteen weeks of age. We recommend testing for Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus at the first visit to make sure you’re starting with a healthy kitten. Kittens 5 to 8 weeks of age are vaccinated for Feline Distemper and Upper Respiratory Viruses (called a CVRC). At the next visit at 9 to 11 weeks, they’ll get another CVRC and their first leukemia vaccination. At the last visit, at 12 to 15 weeks, they get their last CVRC, Leukemia and Rabies vaccinations. We recommend spaying or neutering them at that time. We then recommend Revolution™ monthly for life to control fleas, heartworms and intestinal parasites.
Q. What shots does my adult dog need?
A. That varies somewhat depending on your dog’s lifestyle, risk factors and where you live. We recommend vaccinating adults for rabies every three years. Other vaccines will vary from every six months to every three years. Your vet can tailor the ideal schedule for your specific pet.
Q. What shots does my adult cat need?
A. That varies somewhat depending on your cat’s lifestyle, risk factors and where you live. We recommend vaccinating adults for rabies every three years. Other vaccines will vary from every year to every three years. Your vet can tailor the ideal schedule for your specific pet.
Q. Does my dog really need those expensive Heartworm Pills? Even in winter?
A. Absolutely! Heartworms have reached epidemic proportions in the entire southeastern United States. If you don’t keep your dog on heartworm pills, you run at least a one in three chance that your dog will get heartworms. Heartworm disease is always fatal if not treated. The treatment, a derivative of arsenic, is expensive, lengthy and very risky. Some dogs do not survive the treatment. Those that do have three times the risk of heart disease and stroke. Since the disease is spread by mosquitoes, prevention must be given year round in all but the coldest climates.
Q. What about Heartworms in cats?
A. Heartworm Disease in cats has become a real concern. We recommend Revolution™, given once monthly for life, to control fleas, heartworms and intestinal parasites.
Q. What’s the best thing for fleas and ticks?
A. We recommend Advantage™. It’s safe for cats, young puppies and kittens and pets with health problems and it works! If you have problems with ticks, we recommend Frontline™ or Top Spot™ for dogs, not for cats, as we’ve seen a few problems. These products are available only through your veterinarian and are a little expensive. However .. compared to the old method of flea control (dip, spray, treat the carpet, treat the yard), they really are no more expensive, they save lots of time and trouble and they work much better. Don’t be fooled by over-the-counter copies - they just don’t work and are not nearly as safe.
Q. Should I have my cat declawed?
A. Simple answer - NO!!!! But the reasons behind that simple answer are far more complex. Aside from the initial pain, it has led to the deaths of far too many cats. The surgery itself, if done properly, involves removing the last bone of each toe (equivalent to removing the ends of our fingers at the first joint). That hurts!! If done improperly, the nails can re-grow or become abscessed, even years later, from bone chips remaining from crushing off the bone rather than carefully dissecting it out at the joint. Declawed cats are more likely to develop serious behavioral problems, such as failure to use the litter box and biting. Serious biting - not nipping. Cat bites often become seriously infected. That hurts, too! About 17% of all cats, declawed or not, stop using their litter box at some point in their life for reasons we don’t understand. And it is almost impossible to correct. Who wants a cat that urinates on the carpet in their house? No one! Can you make a declawed cat an outdoor cat? No because they can’t defend themselves without claws. I see them in the clinic, either beaten up by other cats or mauled by dogs. Many die. About 17% of humans develop allergies to cats at some point in their lives. It’s much harder to find a home for a declawed cat and, again, you can’t put them outside. I’ve had to put too many declawed cats to sleep because of litter box problems, biting or allergies to ever consider declawing another cat. The answer is simple ... learn to trim their nails. It’s done with inexpensive human nail clippers and, if done properly, the cat can’t damage anything or scratch anyone.
Ask your vet to show you how. Got questions that aren’t covered here? Please e-mail us and we’ll do our best to get you a clear and understandable answer!
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