palmer

Just like everyone else, we are very happy to see all of the COVID numbers continue to decline after the winter Omicron surge.  At Palmer Animal Hospital we are slowly but continually revising our COVID restriction policies.  Here is what is in effect beginning Monday, February 28, 2022:

–Clients will once again have the option of accompanying their pets into our office for their pet’s appointment.    When you arrive at the office, call into the front desk and our staff will let you know when to enter the building and which exam room you will take your pet directly to.  If you do not wish to accompany your pet, our staff will come out to bring your pet in for their appointment.

–Masks are required for anyone entering the building.  Yes, we know the state and county have relaxed the mask mandates, but we are requiring them for the time being.  Please respect our staff by properly wearing your mask and maintaining social distancing.  If wearing a mask is not acceptable to you, we are happy to provide curbside service for your pet.  Please note that we have had COVID incidents at our office in the past, so this is to reduce the risk that we have another incident and have to close our doors.

–All medication and food pick-ups will remain curbside.   Please call ahead to orders the medication/food that you need.   When you arrive at the office, call in to the front desk staff and they will bring your medication/food to you and check you out at your car.

—Please keep in mind that our appointment schedule is still limited by the number of patients/clients we can safety get into/out of our office in a certain day.   All of our staff our working their hardest to provide the best care that we can for all of our patients.  We will continue to see as many patients as possible, but there are times when we cannot fit more patients into our schedule.

We look forward to things returning to “normal”, but that will still take some time.  Until then, we hope everyone stays safe and healthy.

In the middle of a cold and bitter winter, many pet owners might be tempted to forego their dog’s heartworm preventative treatments until the weather warms and insects come out again. However, the American Heartworm Society and many vets across the country are urging owners to think again and treat their dogs with heartworm preventative all year.

First, you might be asking why your dog needs heartworm preventative and how the disease is spread. Heartworms are spread by mosquitos carrying infected blood and larvae can begin to develop after a single mosquito bites and infects your pet. The larvae go through multiple stages of development before they reach adult-hood and migrate to the heart and the lungs. As the disease progresses, more larvae are produced and it becomes more life-threatening for the pet. In these instances, infected pets require immediate veterinary attention before damage could progress.

Now back to heartworm preventatives. Preventatives do not stop the infection of heartworms in your pet, but rather break the life cycle so adults do not develop. When you give your dog a preventative medication, the medication clears the dog of all heartworm larvae in its system it may have acquired from the past 30 days. The medication does not stay in the dog’s system for 30 days but rather, it is given on a 30-day cycle basis as it takes 6 months for adults to develop from initial infection. The reason why preventatives should be given all year is because the medication is only effective against heartworm larvae, adults are resistant and will continue to develop.

If owners decide to skip heartworm preventative treatment in the winter months, or they accidently miss several doses, they must test their dog in the spring before resuming preventative treatments. A quick test with a few drops of blood is effective in determining if the dog is infected with heartworms and if it is safe to use heartworm preventative treatment. Here at Palmer Animal Hospital, if your dog is on preventative all year, we will test them every other year and we will test them once a year if they are not on preventatives continuously. The reason behind this is if one dose is accidently missed, or the dog spits up or vomits the medication they could be unprotected for a period of time potentially allowing adult heartworms to develop.

Cases of heartworm have been on the rise in recent years so it is important to protect your pet against the disease. Even in the colder winter months, it is important to give your dog a heartworm preventative all year so they are well protected and don’t spread the disease.

Christmas Puppies!

We are excited to report that we just had not one but TWO litters during the week of Christmas.   First, there was a repeat breeding of our Juliet (CH South Mountain Winter Love) and Finn (CH Walktall Legend of Finn MacCool at Rellim) resulting in 5 puppies.   We also had the first litter of our Fancy (South Mountain Fancy That) and our very own Mickey (GCH South Mountain Dance the Tango) producing 7 puppies.  We will have both males and females (white, silver, blue).   Here are some updated photos :

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