All About Dogs & then some..

Flea Control

Poochstuff — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 07:04:23 GMT

New once-a-month flea products from your veterinarian work well enough and fast enough that even if you have a heavy flea infestation, you won't need to fumigate your house or spray the yard. Simply treat your your pets. Fleas jump on pets, fleas die. As simple as that.

Revolution

Applied to the skin like Frontline or Advantage, Revolution i kills fleas and also prevents heartworms. It is easy to use, highly effective, and less expensive than using a monthly flea product in addition to a monthly heartworm product. We usually recommend Revolution in preference to the alternatives, especially for cats.

Using Revolution for cats
Acrobat download

Frontline

Frontline is one of the most effective flea medication we've got and unfortunately one of the more expensive. The product has been around for a long time and we are starting to see some resistance, which is a concern and the reason we recommend using Frontline Plus rather than Frontline TopSpot. Frontline Plus contains (S)-methoprene, an ingredient that prevents reproduction by fleas that aren't killed by Frontline alone.

Because Frontline depends on natural skin oils to spread itself around, it's best to wait about two days after bathing before applying the product and avoid bathing or swimming for a couple of days afterwards.

When used monthly, Frontline does a decent job of controlling ticks and is the only satisfactory product for tick control in cats.

Frontline spray

Frontline Spray works the same as Frontline Top Spot. It must be sprayed all over the body, so it is more difficult to use than spot treatment but works much faster. For cats and small dogs, Frontline spray is also much less expensive. Using Frontline spot treatment for cats costs about twelve dollars a month; the spray costs about a dollar- a huge difference. Frontline Spray is the least expensive way to effectively control fleas on cats and small dogs.

Discount prices on Frontline at
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Advantage

Advantage is easy to use, can be applied any time and works quickly. It does not last as long as Frontline and is not as effective.

Comfortis

Comfortis is a once-a-month pill for flea control in dogs. It circulates in the bloodstream and kills fleas when they bite. Comfortis is a relatively new product but early indicate that it's highly effective. Some dogs object to the taste, and some dogs vomit after it is administered, but Comfortis is the only monthly flea product that stays entirely within the dog - you and your family are not exposed. For many people this is a big advantage.

Vectra

Vectra is a once-a-month spot treatment used for flea and tick control in dogs and flea control in cats. Dog Vectra and cat Vectra are different products, but both have the same flea control ingredient. As of the summer of 2008 Vectra is a fairly new product and we don't any experience with the drug. If Frontline isn't working well, Vectra or Comfortis would be good choices.

Vectra is a non-prescription drug, but the manufacturer insists that veterinarians sign a contract promising not to provide the product to web sites for resale. As long as this restriction holds, it will tend to limit Vectra's availability and increase its cost to consumers.

PETS 911

Poochstuff — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:52:42 GMT

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Tulsa, OK

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Is your Puppy safe against disease?

Poochstuff — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:46:44 GMT

Vaccination Recommendations for Puppies (Puppy Shots)

Race Foster, DVM
Marty Smith, DVM
Holly Nash, DVM, MS
Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc.

The vaccination of puppies (puppy shots) is one of the crucial steps in assuring the puppy will have a healthy and happy puppyhood. The who, what, why, when, where, and how of vaccinations are complicated, and may vary from puppy to puppy. Always consult with your veterinarian to determine which vaccines are appropriate for your puppy. To better understand vaccines, it is important to understand how the puppy is protected from disease the first few weeks of its life.

Protection from the mother (maternal antibodies)

A newborn puppy is not naturally immune to diseases. However, it does have some antibody protection which is derived from its mother's blood via the placenta. The next level of immunity is from antibodies derived from the first milk. This is the milk produced from the time of birth and continuing for 36-48 hours. This antibody-rich milk is called colostrum. The puppy does not continue to receive antibodies through its mother's milk. It only receives antibodies until it is two days of age. All antibodies derived from the mother, either via her blood or colostrum are called maternal antibodies. It must be noted that the puppy will only receive antibodies against diseases for which the mother had been recently vaccinated against or exposed to. As an example, a mother that had NOT been vaccinated against or exposed to parvovirus, would not have any antibodies against parvovirus to pass along to her puppies. The puppies then would be susceptible to developing a parvovirus infection.

Window of susceptibility

The age at which puppies can effectively be immunized is proportional to the amount of antibody protection the puppy received from its mother. High levels of maternal antibodies present in the puppies' bloodstream will block the effectiveness of a vaccine. When the maternal antibodies drop to a low enough level in the puppy, immunization by a commercial vaccine will work.

The antibodies from the mother generally circulate in the newborn's blood for a number of weeks. There is a period of time from several days to several weeks in which the maternal antibodies are too low to provide protection against the disease, but too high to allow a vaccine to work. This period is called the window of susceptibility. This is the time when despite being vaccinated, a puppy or kitten can still contract the disease.

When should puppies be vaccinated?

The length and timing of the window of susceptibility is different in every litter, and even between individuals in a litter. A study of a cross section of different puppies showed that the age at which they were able to respond to a vaccine and develop protection (become immunized) covered a wide period of time. At six weeks of age, 25% of the puppies could be immunized. At 9 weeks of age, 40% of the puppies were able to respond to the vaccine. The number increased to 60% by 16 weeks of age, and by 18 weeks, 95% of the puppies could be immunized.

Almost all researchers agree that for puppies and kittens, we need to give at least three combination vaccinations and repeat these at one year of age.

Consult with your veterinarian to determine which vaccinations your puppy should receive, and how often.

Drs. Foster and Smith prefer to vaccinate puppies with a combination vaccine at six weeks of age initially, with boosters given every three weeks until the puppy is about sixteen weeks of age. We feel that this schedule will help protect the widest range of dogs. We realize that with our protocol, we will be vaccinating some dogs that are not capable of responding, and we will be revaccinating some dogs that have already responded and developed a protection. But without doing an individual test on each puppy, it is impossible to determine when the puppy's immune system will be best able to respond. We also realize that in the face of an infection, due to the window of susceptibility, some litters will contract a disease (e.g., parvo) despite being vaccinated. By using quality vaccines and an aggressive vaccination protocol, we can make this window of susceptibility as small as possible. Our vaccination protocol may not be right for every puppy. Puppies that are not exposed to other dogs and have a very small chance of coming in contact with parvovirus, may not need to be vaccinated as frequently. At the same time, some 'high risk' puppies may need a more intense and aggressive vaccination program. It is best to work with your veterinarian on a vaccination protocol that is best for your individual puppy or kennel, taking into consideration your individual situation.

Against which diseases should puppies be vaccinated?

The AVMA Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents' Report on Cat and Dog Vaccines has recommneded that the core vaccines for dogs include distemper, canine adenovirus-2 (hepatitis and respiratory disease), and canine parvovirus-2.

Noncore vaccines include leptospirosis, coronavirus, canine parainfluenza and Bordetella bronchiseptica (both are causes of 'kennel cough'), and Borrelia burgdorferi (causes Lyme Disease). Consult with your veterinarian to select the proper vaccines for your puppy.

This Site Dedicated to Milly

Poochstuff — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:03:55 GMT

Always in our hearts.
(1987-2000)