Jack Frost isn't the only one biting in the Winter!

It’s that time of year again – the days are getting longer, the weather is warming up, and it’s time to start thinking about heartworm disease.

Heartworm disease is a serious condition which is very prevalent in Knox County and the surrounding areas (see map of distribution below).  Here at Vincennes Veterinary Clinic, we have seen 5 positives already this year!  Your pet should be tested negative for heartworms, then put on a preventative medication to prevent infestation.

Heartworm disease is a common, devastating, and PREVENTABLE disease of dogs and rarely cats.  Spread by mosquito bites, this parasite enters the bloodstream and travels to the right side of the heart and pulmonary artery where the worms set up shop to cause some serious damage to your pet’s heart.  Heartworm disease can be diagnosed by a simple blood test, but is far from simple to treat.  Treatment includes costly and painful injections and risks of serious side effects.

With all this talk about nasty worms and expensive treatment, there is one good thing about heartworm disease – it’s completely preventable!  Heartworm prevention is available ONLY through your veterinarian.  We offer heartworm + flea prevention in monthly doses – topical or oral medication, or a long-acting heartworm preventative injection which lasts 6 months.

Year-round prevention is highly recommended to prevent infection.  With Indiana’s unpredictable winters, it is not uncommon to see mosquitoes in January.  Also, indoor pets are not immune to infection.  If your pet goes outside to potty, he/she needs to be on heartworm prevention.  Keep in mind, even if your pet is strictly indoors, that does not prevent mosquitoes from getting inside your house. It only takes 1 mosquito bite, and it’s not worth the risk!

• Get your pet heartworm tested
• Start your pet on prevention
• Keep your pet on year-round prevention
• Call our clinic at 812-882-6677 to ask questions or make an appointment, or visit heartwormsociety.org for more information

Product	Heartworm Prevention	Flea Prevention	Intestinal Parasites	Tapeworms
Advantage Multi	X	X	X
Trifexis	X	X	X
Heartgard Plus	X		X
Iverhart Max	X		X	X
ProHeart 6	X		X*

*ProHeart 6 is a 6-month injectable heartworm preventative.  This product is labeled to control intestinal parasites for the first month following injection only.

~Dr. Amy Tiek, DVM

Dental Health Month!

Yeah! February is National Pet Dental Health Month!  Teeth are one of my favorite things to talk about (second only to heartworms:).  I think the reason is that there is instant gratification there.  Your pet comes in to the clinic in the morning with some nasty looking choppers and they leave that afternoon with much cleaner and healthier teeth and fresher breath!  I have to admit that I don’t like waiting on medication to take effect and I get impatient for results, so teeth are my Mecca.  Now everyone knows that tartar buildup on your dog or cats teeth can cause some seriously bad breath.  But I bet you didn’t know that the caked on brown stuff on the teeth is actually a bacteria forest!   There are billions of bacteria on one tooth, and that bacteria can erode away at the enamel and the gum where it is touching and cause serious health problems.  Bacteria from the mouth can actually go into the bloodstream and then get stuck on the valves of the heart causing heart disease!  FYI:  that is why I always listen to a pet’s heart when they come in for a check up on their teeth.   Dental chews and hard food can help prevent buildup from occurring, but if tartar is already adhered to the surface of the tooth the only way to remove it is an ultrasonic scaler.  An ultrasonic scaler is used while the pet is under anesthesia to remove tartar on the surface of the tooth and under the gum line without damaging the enamel.  Once the tartar is removed dental chews can be uses to slow down the buildup of plaque and tartar in the future. 

More Information and Exciting Blogs to come! Check back soon!

~Dr. Andrea Schroeder DVM