Medical Assessment

Parasite Control/Prevention

We provide a variety of products that can help your pets against fleas, ticks, heartworms, and intestinal parasites.These products can be in topical form or tablet form and we can discuss with you the best options for your pets based on lifestyle. 

• FLEAS are usually active when it is at least 17 Celsius. The eggs can stay dormant in your home for months. 
• Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes.
• Intestinal parasites can affect your pet all year round. 
• Ticks can pass on diseases such as Lyme.   

 

Tick-borne diseases

A tick needs to be attached for a minimum of 24 hours to transmit the organism. Incubation time is about 1 to 2 weeks. Reservoir hosts (a source of infection and possible reinfection that sustains a parasite) are usually small rodents, deer and other mammals.

Lyme disease is an infectious disease which is passed by ticks. Not all ticks carry Lyme, but one out of four does. In recent years, the number of dogs that are bitten by ticks has increased sharply in Ottawa. If we leave the infected dogs untreated, It can damage their heart, joints and also the nervous system.

Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease. Two forms of anaplasmosis are known: granulocytic anaplasmosis and infectious cyclic thrombocytopenia. Granulocytic anaplasmosis is an infection of white blood cells. It is caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum.  Anaplasma phagocytophilum is transmitted via a bite from an Ixodes tick. Infectious cyclic thrombocytopenia is an infection of blood platelets. It is caused by Anaplasma platys. Anaplasma platys transmission has not been fully determined, although tick vectors are probable. The organism has been found in Rhipicephalus and Dermacentor ticks.

Ehrlichia – The two of concerns are Ehrlichia Canis and Ehrlichia Ewingii. They are spread by the bite of the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus).

It is important to realize that this tick can transmit other tick-borne infections (Babesiosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

 

Hospitalization

Should your pet need to stay in the hospital for the day we have the staff to monitor your pet and we can provide treatment for ongoing diseases and perform diagnostic testing by our veterinary technicians and veterinarians. We can stabilize your pets during a crisis and expedite the transfer to the emergency hospital if need be.

 

Treatment

Treatment comes in a variety of types. We can offer treatment for metabolic diseases (diabetic, thyroid, adrenal diseases) and parasitic diseases (Lyme diseases, heartworm diseases, Giardia). These treatments can be given in a hospital or tailored to start at home. We will provide guidance for any at-home treatments such as subcutaneous fluids, giving insulin or simply bandage changes. We also provide at no charge medication administration for the more difficult pets.

 

Pain Management

We offer a variety of pain medications for your pets. These medications can be given after surgery for several days. We can also provide pain relief during a medical treatment (such as with pancreatitis, wound healing, fractures). We also provide long term help for arthritic patients. We can evaluate the best options for your pet for arthritic pain. We also offer pain medications for palliative care(end of life comfort).