• What vaccines does my pet need and how often are they given

- Dogs: DHPP and rabies are core vaccines and given every 1-3 years depending on type of vaccines, pet's life style and state requirements. Bordetella is non core vaccine but strongly recommended annual vaccine for respiratory infections. Bordetella is often called Kennel cough shot. It's a misnomer as the infection occurs via aerosol transmission and can get dogs in the distance infected as well. The name "Kennel cough" used to be used quite a lot in the past due to high volume of "kennels"in USA. When a dog in the kennel got the infection, it quickly spread to other dogs hence the name "Kennel cough".

- Cats: FVRCP and rabies are core vaccines and given every year. FVRCP may be given every 3 years for pets over 2 years old if exposure is minimal. FeLV is non core but highly recommended vaccine as Feline Leukemia, once infected, is life long illness. Kittens and puppies receive those vaccines above every 2-3 weeks multiple times.  Even if your cat is indoor they can still catch viral injections, just as you can catch a cold even if you stay indoors!  

- Other non core vaccines for dogs: Rattlesnake, Corona, Lyme, Ringworm vaccines. They are considered based on the pet's life style

  • Why does my pet need an annual heartworm/ fecal screenings even though they are on preventives?

- No medication is perfect to prevent diseases. 

- You never know if your pet ended up spitting out the medication later. 

- If your pet is infected with heartworm when you give the preventive, it may be fatal. No chance should be taken. 

- The screening is only once a year as long as your pet is on the preventives and it is very economical. Your pet needs a wellness visit once or twice a year anyway. So why not do it? 

  • My cat is an indoor cat, and does not have a shared litter box. Why does it need an intestinal parasite screening?

- Even if your cat stays indoor only, you go in and out and carry all sorts of things from outdoor. Then your cat can get some of that including parasites. The chances are your cat sits on your lap, bumps its head against yours, cuddles with you and gives you kisses. A cheap parasite screening once or twice a year will put your mind at ease. 

  • Why does my pet need flea/tick medication year-round?

- We in SoCal don't really have winters. We see flea and tick cases even in colder seasons. Hence prevention is necessary.

- Pet stores sell OTC flea/tick medications but they usually don't work well and cause sometimes pretty significant side effects. We carry the most effective and convenient flea/tick medications. Call us to ask. 

  • Can my pet get the flu/cold from me?

- It depends on what organism is affecting your pet. Lots of times, we never find out what the pet is infected with unless we run more aggressive and expensive diagnostics. Hence, the common practice to prevent flu/cold from another person should be applied the same when your pet has respiratory symptoms such as coughing. 

- Canine influenza has 3 variants. Horse, Avian and Human influenza viruses. All of those can be transmittable to you.  The best practice for this would be to have your dog vaccinated against it. Can your pet get YOU sick? Yes they can. Just like us, they can be infected with viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites and many of those are infectious to multiple species.  - Always make sure to see your vet when your pet seems unwell for your pet and yourself

  • How often should I bring my pet in for a wellness exam/physical?

- This varies in every patient. Younger healthy pets should be examined at least once a year. Patients that were sick recently should follow your vet's directions. Older patients need minimum 2-3 times a year check ups. 

  •  Why does my pet need their teeth cleaned?

- The mouth is the gateway for everything that your pet ingests. Dirty mouth equals dirty body. Dirty body means potential organ dysfunctions in the future. Do you really want to take that chance? 

- Bacteria hiding under the thick dental plaque, tartar and calculi can travel to different organs via bloodstream. 

- And you can't give your dogs/cats kisses when they have horrible breath. Or can you? 

  • Why don’t you do non anesthetic dental procedures?

- Because it's DANGEROUS and INHUMANE. 

- It's dangerous because you let somebody who may not even be qualified to assess your pet's dental condition put a blade on its mouth while it's wide awake. Animals don't exactly follow your every command. They are not going to keep their mouth open willingly as long as you want them to for you. Then somebody has to pry it open for a lengthy period of time. Then as the person cleans the teeth, your pet WILL move. Then the scale blade may hurt your pet's gum and infect it even more. Do you really want that? 

- It's inhumane because you let somebody that your pet doesn't even know force your pet to do something unnatural. And scaling is painful. They have to endure the pain during the whole process. And what's worse is that the non anesthetic dental cleaners know that it hurts and they still keep doing it because it makes money. As a matter of fact, they don't even try to go under the gum deep enough because they know it hurts and they don't want to get bitten. No, that is not right and not humane. 

  • How safe is anesthesia?

- Thanks to current technology and newer and safer anesthetics, we can say it is very safe for most of animals. 

- We ensure to monitor all vital signs such as oxygen level, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature and more. 

- We also run pre-anesthetic blood work to check to see if the patient's body can handle the anesthesia safely. ECG and body x-rays sometimes get done depending on patients. 

  • What are the benefits of having my dog/cat spayed/neutered?

- Countless. They don't disappear. Male dogs don't spray/mark anymore. They are not as aggressive. They calm down. You don't have to deal with bleeding and breeding behaviors. Early spay prevents breast cancer almost 100% percents. They don't look as old when they are old. You don't pay large amount of money to the county to register your pet anymore. Your female dogs are free of pyometra which can be deadly and expensive disease. Do you want me to go on? 

  • What happens when I miss a dose of my dogs medication?

- It depends. You need to call your vet to get the right direction. Generally, if you miss the dose, you wait till next schedule to give the med. You can't go wrong with that. Do NOT try to give twice as much on the next schedule to catch up.