We will be upgrading our phone system on Friday, November 11th. This is being done in a manner to minimize the effects on our clients, but there may be a (hopefully short) time where we are unable to answer calls. If you call on Friday and cannot reach us, please try again a little bit later, or you can send us an email at info@palmeranimalhospital.net . It may also take a little time to get all of our messages setup so you may not initially hear all of our usual information. Early on Friday, our internet access will be affected as well, but again we are trying to minimize this effect.
Labor Day—Monday, September 5th, 2022
We will be closed on Monday, September 5th, 2022 in observance of the Labor Day Holiday. We will re-open for regular business hours on Tuesday, September 6th at 8:00AM. If you have an emergency which cannot wait, please contact one of the following local animal emergency services:
Crossroads Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) —1080 W. Patrick St, Frederick 301-662-2273
Mountain View Animal Emergency —- 13810 Crayton Blvd, Hagerstown 301-733-7339
VETURGENCY —- 434 Prospect Blvd., Frederick 301-288-8387 (VETS) (Open 6PM-12AM Daily)
Examples of emergencies that should not wait:
- Trauma cases— hit by car, fight wounds, falls, broken legs, hemorrhage/bleeding
- Eye trauma/painful eyes/squinting
- Persistent Vomiting or Diarrhea, especially if your pet appears weak or distressed
- Difficulty Breathing, Severe/persistent coughing
- Male cats or dogs straining but unable to urinate
- Toxin ingestion —rat poison, antifreeze, grapes/raisins, human medications, Xylitol
- Seizures, sudden behavior changes, inability to walk
July 4th, 2024—CLOSED For Independence Day
We will be closed on Thursday, July 4th, 2024 in observance of the Independence Day Holiday. We will re-open for regular business hours on Friday, July 5th at 8:00AM. If you have an emergency which cannot wait, please contact one of the following local animal emergency services:
Partner Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center–7330 Guildford Drive, Frederick 301-200-8185
Crossroads Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) —1080 W. Patrick St, Frederick 301-662-2273
Mountain View Animal Emergency —- 13810 Crayton Blvd, Hagerstown 301-733-7339
VETURGENCY —- 434 Prospect Blvd., Frederick 301-288-8387 (VETS) (Open 6PM-12AM Daily)
Examples of emergencies that should not wait:
- Trauma cases— hit by car, fight wounds, falls, broken legs, hemorrhage/bleeding
- Eye trauma/painful eyes/squinting
- Persistent Vomiting or Diarrhea, especially if your pet appears weak or distressed
- Difficulty Breathing, Severe/persistent coughing
- Male cats or dogs straining but unable to urinate
- Toxin ingestion —rat poison, antifreeze, grapes/raisins, human medications, Xylitol
- Seizures, sudden behavior changes, inability to walk
Closed Due to Inclement Weather—Saturday, March 12th
Hi All,
We will be closed today, Saturday, March 12th, due to the inclement weather. The roads are pretty bad this morning and more snow and winds are expected. We have rescheduled or left messages for all of our appointments. Feel free to leave a voicemail message or send us an email, but these will not be checked until Monday morning. If you have an emergency which cannot wait, there is a list of emergency animal hospitals on our website (Click on the “About” tab and then “After Hours Emergency Resources”. Please stay safe and enjoy perhaps our last wintry weekend of the year.
The Importance of Year-Round Heartworm Treatment
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!
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 :
