Why Woodside Only Recommends Heartworm Meds May Thru December

WHY DOES DOES OUR CLINIC ONLY RECOMMEND HEARTWORM MEDICATION BE GIVEN MAY THRU DECEMBER WHEN MOST OTHER CLINICS RECOMMEND YEAR ROUND MEDICATION?

Because mosquitos are not around during the winter Woodside feels it is not necessary to give heart worm medication all year around.     Other clinics give heart worm preventive which also prevents intestinal parasite and that is why they are recommending the medication year round.    Fortunately it is very unlikely that dogs will pick up intestinal worms from frozen stools during the winter and therefore Dr. Simon believes that giving heart worm preventive through the winter months it is both a waste of money   and a source unnecessary chemical contamination.     Giving dogs heart worm preventive starting in May and continuing monthly dosing through December should be quite adequate for preventing heart worm disease.

Also, because Dr. Simon’s basic holistic philosophy is to minimize chemical toxins he dispenses only Heartgard and not Heartgard Plus.   Heartgard Plus has a second chemical that Heartgard does not contain.     Dr. Simon would rather run stool tests every four months to check for worms, and worm if necessary,  than give a potentially toxic chemical all year round in hopes of preventing worms.

Why Do Lumps, Bumps, and Masses Need Immediate Attention ?

What should I do if I find a small growth on or below my pets skin?

If your pet has a lump or bump anywhere on his or her body it could be early cancer.    A simple physical exam can not determine whether the bump is a malignant tumor or a benign mass.   Commonly given advice by veterinarians is to watch it and see if it grows or changes.    Unfortunately such advice is may jeopardize you pet’s  life.   Waiting to see if the mass grows may loose you valuable therapeutic time if the mass turns out to be malignant.   Lumps developing on or under the skin are often benign but there is no sure  way to know visually or by feel.    Such lumps may be cysts, abscesses,  benign fatty tumors or a life threatening malignant growth.    It is very important to evaluate such a growth as soon as possible by either an needle aspiration biopsy and/or excision of the entire mass.    Either the aspiration biopsy of the mass  or complete excision will provide a specimen that can be sent to the laboratory  for a complete microscopic evaluation by  a pathologist.   This way malignant growths can be identified and removed before they have had a chance to spread to other areas of the body.

Pet owners should be made aware that what often appears to be a benign fatty growth can not be distinguished from a malignant mast cell tumor by simply feeling it .     Of course, non cancerous fatty tumors are by far more common than mast cell growth but playing the odds is not a good idea when loosing the bet might mean your pet could die from  cancer.   If the lump turns out not to be a tumor but, on the other hand,  a cyst or abscess the  mass can be either opened up and its contents cleaned out or it could be cut out in its entirety and thrown out with the trash. If you feel any sort of mass on your dog or cats body please do not sit around an watch it growth.  Schedule an appointment with your veterinarian so that he can give you his honest opinion about how to proceed.

The Post Script for all blogs

Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets rodents, and reptiles with both conventional andalternative medicine. Dr. Simon is certified in Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Stem cell therapy. He is the author of 4 pet care books, a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and past board member of the
American Holistic Veterinary Association.   Visit us as www.doc4pets.com

Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over Michigan but primarily from the greater Detroit area including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Washtenaw counties. Cities in these counties including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Redford, Livonia, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Lathrup Village, Bingham Farms,
Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Northville,Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Grosse Pointe, Romeo and
Flint, Hartland, Lansing, Okemos, Flint, Howell, Brighton, White Lake, Romeo, Saline, South Lyon, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Windsor Canada, Toledo Ohio

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HOME PREPARED DIETS ?

Preparing your pet’s food from scratch is a very good idea providing you have the time and inclination to do so.     The advantages of home prepared diets are well worth the added time and expense.    When you prepare your pet’s meals from scratch you have a much better idea of the quality of the ingredients your pet is consuming.   Of course it is totally up to you to decide how much you are willing to pay for the individual ingredients that go into the preparation.    If you can afford it, organic meats and veggies are your first choice.     When it comes to meats, grass fed sources are superior to grain fed sources.     The veggies should be colorful and should be different with each new batch you make up.  When you home prepare pet foods the ingredients are there for visual inspection and because the food is much fresher than commercially packaged diets the nutrient value is always higher and the likelihood of toxins being present is far less.     The enzyme and antioxidant content of fresh foods will always far exceed that of packaged, highly processed foods.    This is especially true if you feed your pet a raw or barely cooked diet.   By feeding raw or very rare meat you will save the amino acids, vitamins, antioxidants and enzymes from the destruction that commonly occurs with commercial processing.    Because you will probably make up several weeks worth of food at one time and store it frozen in baggies there is no need to add chemical preservatives that are necessary when the commercial pet food must sit on the shelf for months.    There is also no chance for the fat in homemade diets to become rancid as might happen when commercial diets sit in warehouse for extended periods.   In addition the fresh food you prepare will not require chemical flavor enhancers or texturizers to encourage the pet eat it.

The preparing of a homemade diet should always follow an expertly formulated recipe and not be haphazardly thrown together.     Even if you use the very freshest and highest quality of ingredients a nutritional deficiency could develop if you do not follow certain guidelines.

When you feed your pet a commercial pet food you are never sure of the source or quality of the ingredients that go into it.     Consider recent commercial pet food recalls, by major companies, that were necessary because of the dangerous ingredients that were introduced into the food when poor quality protein sources purchased from China were used in preparation.
Once you have gotten use to preparing your pets food from scratch you will find that making a 2 week or month’s supply will probably take no more than an hour.      Once prepared and frozen in individual meal sized baggies the actual feeding of the meal only requires you allow the food contained in the baggie to thaw in the refrigerator for 12 hours before feeding.     If you are considering feeding  a “raw meat” home prepared diet then an initial consultation with a nutritionally oriented veterinarian is highly recommended.

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets rodents, and reptiles with both conventional andalternative medicine. Dr. Simon is certified in Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Stem cell therapy. He is the author of 4 pet care books, a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and past board member of the  American Holistic Veterinary Association

Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over Michigan but primarily from the greater Detroit area including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Washtenaw counties. Cities in these counties including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Redford, Livonia, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Lathrup Village, Bingham Farms,
Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Northville,Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Grosse Pointe, Romeo and
Flint, Hartland, Lansing, Okemos, Flint, Howell, Brighton, White Lake, Romeo, Saline, South Lyon, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Windsor Canada, Toledo Ohio

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR ME TO KEEP MY PET’S TEETH CLEAN?

Next to good nutrition keeping your pets’ teeth clean and free of tartar is the most important thing you can do to maintain their good health and keep them alive longer.   Tartar is a great breeding ground for damaging bacteria which not only produces gum disease and bad breath but also gets into the blood stream and causes liver, kidney, and heart dissease.   The damage done to your pet’s internal organs by oral bacteria proceeds unnoticed for years until finally the cumulative damage to the liver or kidney is sufficient to result in organ failure and only then will symptoms begin to appear.  Once these symptoms are apparent to the pet caregiver the damage is advanced and the organ damage irreversible.   Consequently, it makes much more sense to commit to a dental hygiene plan that maintains the health of the teeth and gums and prevents internal organ damage from occuring.    Such a dental hygiene plan combines daily home care with yearly professional cleaning.   At Woodside we recommend the daily application of Maxi gaurd gel.    The gel is easily applied in as little as 30 second.    The gel contain Zinc Vitamin C and is very effective in minimizing the build up of tartar and bacteria.   Help your pet  live longer and avoid gingivitis, periodontitis, gum pain and internal organ damage by instituting good dental hyiene through both daily home care and yearly professional teeth cleanings.

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets rodents, and reptiles with both conventional andalternative medicine. Dr. Simon is certified in Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Stem cell therapy. He is the author of 4 pet care books, a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and past board member of the
American Holistic Veterinary Associatio.n

Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over Michigan but primarily from the greater Detroit area including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Washtenaw counties. Cities in these counties including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Redford, Livonia, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Lathrup Village, Bingham Farms,
Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Northville,Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Grosse Pointe, Romeo and
Flint, Hartland, Lansing, Okemos, Flint, Howell, Brighton, White Lake, Romeo, Saline, South Lyon, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Windsor Canada, Toledo Ohio

WHAT ARE “THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER” ?: Stop the itching and scratching

August is known as “the dog days of summer” because it is a month when dogs are often made miserable from  the inflammatory dermatitis caused by flea infestations, mosquito bites, fly bites and ragweed allergic dermatitis.     Any one of these problems may cause you dog to itch  so severely that he or she may literally scratch their skin raw.      Once such self trauma occurs bacteria can infect the skin and cause a secondary bacterial dermatitis.     Of course you can’t expect a dog to know that it is best not to scratch so is very important to diagnose the problem early and then take steps to give the pet relief from the itching.   Fortunately,  there are all natural parasite powders that repel fleas, flies, and mosquitoes.     These natural products must be applied  to the skin and coat about once every 2 weeks and  although  not as convenient as the once a month,  chemical “spot on” products they provides the benefit of reducing the number of chemicals the pet is exposed to.

Even more of a problem than fleas, flies and mosquitoes,  is ragweed pollen which begins to appear in the air in August  and can cause intensely red itchy skin.   Although human ragweed  allergies cause runny eyes, a runny nose. nasal congestion and even wheezing, canine ragweed allergies are 99 percent a itchy skin issue.    Because canine ragweed allergies can be so itchy that dogs will chew their skin raw,  it is important  to provide relief as soon as symptoms are first seen.   It is not uncommon for pets to have both ragweed allergies  and harbor fleas so don’t over look this possibility when attempting  to reduce the itch.     Ragweed allergic dermatitis can be treated with antihistamines, herbal oral anti-inflammatories, omega 3 fatty acids, medicated shampoos, and soothing anti inflammatory cream rinses.   Some times the skin allergy is so intense that  a dexamethasone injection followed by a short regiment of oral cortisone may be needed to stop the dogs misery and avoid severe skin trauma.    “Natural hydrocortisone is the prefered form of cortisone because it is “bio identical” to the dogs own internal cortisone and will minimize possible side effects.    Even natural hydrocortisone should be used with discretion and blood tests need to be employed  to check for elevated liver enzymes.   Frequent bathing with a anti allergic, anti microbial shampoo and cream rinse will hens lp treat secondary skin infections and soothe raw inflammed skin.

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets rodents, and reptiles with both conventional andalternative medicine. Dr. Simon is certified in Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Stem cell therapy. He is the author of 4 pet care books, a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and past board member of the
American Holistic Veterinary Associatio.n

Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over Michigan but primarily from the greater Detroit area including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Washtenaw counties. Cities in these counties including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Redford, Livonia, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Lathrup Village, Bingham Farms,
Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Northville,Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Grosse Pointe, Romeo and
Flint, Hartland, Lansing, Okemos, Flint, Howell, Brighton, White Lake, Romeo, Saline, South Lyon, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Windsor Canada, Toledo Ohio