Friday, May 1, 2009

Public service announement 1,762

So, people, this is a great time of year! The grass is starting to grow, the trees are starting to leaf, the farmers are (trying) to get fieldwork done... the mosquitoes, flies, and ticks are hatching and preparing to make our life miserable for another season. The lawnmower comes out and maims it's first victem of the year- if you're 5, you shouldn't be mowing lawn. And it's that favorite season for veterinarians once again...

Heartworm, intestinal parasites, and Parvo!!!

Now is the time of year when it's important to make sure your four-footed friends are protected against the things that it's easy to protect them against. Make sure your vaccines are up to date. If you get a puppy- vaccinate it! Nothing makes me more mad than somebody who spends $300-$2000 for a puppy than dosen't get it a $22 parvo vaccine. Then they complain about their $800 veterinary bill. Make sure your dogs AND cats are on heartworm preventative. Many, many veterinary clinics will sell single doses of heartworm prevention to people who can't affort to buy 6 or 12 doses at a time. Don't eat at McDonalds one day and spend that $6 to get your pet's heartworm prevention for a month. And don't forget the fleas and ticks! All of that over-the-counter drek they sell at Wal-Mart DOES NOT WORK!!!! Flea collars DO NOT WORK. Flea baths/shampoo DO NOT WORK. You'll save money in the long run to just go ahead and buy that Frontline, Advantage, Advantix, Revolution, Vectra, Promeris, or Comfortis flea prevention from your veterinarian. And it ACTUALLY WORKS, what a concept.

Today I saw a femal pit bull who's gums were WHITE on presentation. Her hematocrit was in the low double digits. She had a horrible case of hoodworm/whipworm anemia, the worms themselves, and had never gotten a vaccine, or a heartworm test. She was covered with fleas. And yet her toenails were painted, so her owner loved her. Her owner was just ignorent. I don't know yet if she'll survive her profound anemia, weakness, and dehydration from diarrhea and vomiting. Owners couldn't afford a transfusion. All this could have been prevented with a dose of a heartworm preventative that got hooks, whips, round, and heartworm. And some flea control that works.

Vet visit including blood work, labratory tests, and treatment: $350

Cost of one month of heartworm prevention and flea control for a 50 pound dog: $22-ish

So $22 x 12 months = $264

Education: Priceless

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Doc,
I stumbled onto your blog today and have since read almost every page, for two reasons. 1. I'm a Pre-vet student and find all of this talk about emasculators and anastamosis utterly enthralling. and 2. I am stalling on studying for finals.
Keep blogging so I can motivate myself to get where you are!

Evil Transport Lady said...

I hear you! :)

People suck:)

Anonymous said...

How about extending that "announcement" to include people who have puppies NOT finished with the vaccine series to aviod placeswhere there is a lot of dog traffic.