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According to the AVMA’s Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics, veterinarians must have an up to date Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR) before filling or refilling any medications. Dispensing medication without this relationship is illegal.

Article on VCPR from the American Animal Hospital Association

VCPR FAQ from the American Veterinary Medical Association

“A dog may appear healthy on the outside, but on the inside, heartworms may be living and thriving. If a heartworm-positive dog is not tested before starting a preventive, the dog will remain infected with adult heartworms until it gets sick enough to show symptoms. Heartworm preventives do not kill adult heartworms. Also, giving a heartworm preventive to a dog infected with adult heartworms may be harmful or deadly. If microfilariae are in the dog’s bloodstream, the preventive may cause the microfilariae to suddenly die, triggering a shock-like reaction and possibly death.”

 

 

FDA’s article: “Keep the Worms Out of Your Pet’s Heart! The Facts about Heartworm Disease”

 

 

“And even if you’ve kept your dog on a steady regimen of heartworm prevention medication, yearly testing for the parasites is still recommended. No drug is 100% effective, and you want to make sure the drug is working.”

FDA’s Article: “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: Protect Your Pet from Heartworms Year-Round” 

A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and can only emit it’s identification number. They are not able to track or locate animals, but they can help people who have found your lost pet.

Registering the microchip number connects it to your phone number and/or address. With registration, places who scan the microchip and have access to the lookup registry, such as shelters and vets, can contact you with the information you have registered. Without registration, your pet’s microchip may not help.

Microchip registration is done online and may be free or paid depending on the website used. Some sites contain yearly packages for additional features, but you do not need to pay yearly to keep your information in the database. If you change numbers or addresses you will need to update or re-register your information online. 

We do offer microchips here! We use the smallest microchip that adheres to the International Standards Organization. These are accepted globally and for international travel. The microchip is injected under the skin and we will give you it’s unique code for you to register online. We do not register microchips here.

For more information on Microchips please follow this link to AVMA’s page on microchipping: “Microchips reunite pets with families”

To check if your pet’s microchip is registered please use the Microchip Registry Lookup.

Doctors prescribe anxiety and sedation medications like gabapentin or trazodone for pets who are anxious when going to the vet. Anxiety may be seen in a variety of ways, such as shaking, peeing, high temperature, and aggression. Anxiety medications typically do not react with other medications and make the vet experience easier on you, your pet, and our hospital. If you are interested in other ways of making the vet less stressful, follow the link for

Removing fear and anxiety from vet visits at PreventiveVet.com (DOGS).         Removing fear and anxiety from vet visits at PreventiveVet.com (CATS).

One important tip is to be calm yourself. Your pet knows when you are stressed and will become anxious if you are.

Why is the vet stressful? 

According to the AVMA’s Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics, “Veterinary clinics are noisy, and animals’ hearing is at least four times as sensitive as people’s, she said. Other stressors for animals include being outside their territory, encountering other animals and new smells, and being handling by strangers… Canine or feline pheromones in collars, sprays, or diffusers can be helpful. In advance of a visit, stressed animals can be given medications such as gabapentin, diazepam, or trazodone.“

Article on Animal Handling from the American Veterinary Medical Association

You can order prescriptions from our online pharmacy, VetSource. You may also use other online pharmacies, such as chewy.com or 1-800petmeds. Simply input our information as your vet clinic and they will send us an electronic message where we can approve the medication online. You can also order medication on our online store!

Our Online Store: VetSource.com

We do accept volunteers on a limited basis from clients who are interested about going into animal related fields. Please send us an email about what you are interested in learning/observing to penpethospital@gmail.com with the subject line: Volunteer_LastName_FirstName

We’ve had multiple questions regarding the recent Canine Respiratory Illness that is making headlines in the media. Various veterinary clinics have reported an increase in cases of canine respiratory illness in some states, ranging from mild upper respiratory signs to severe pneumonia. While the specific cause is currently unknown, diagnostic testing is underway.

We recommend exercising caution over fear when it comes to this suspected new illness. As with any contagious illness, we recommend all dog owners ensure pets are current on respiratory disease vaccines, up to date on their annual physical, and  have limited exposure to other dogs. If your dog is exhibiting symptoms such as excessive coughing, labored breathing, significant lethargy, or loss of appetite, contact us at Peninsula Pet Hospital for an appointment. If we are unable to facilitate an appointment promptly due to an increased patient load, please bring your pet into a local urgent care facility like Sage Redwood City or MedVet Mountain View.

As a way to protect Peninsula Pet Hospital from this disease we are asking that all dogs who are brought in for suspected respiratory disease remain in your vehicle and are not brought into the waiting room. All physical exams for dogs with suspected respiratory illnesses will be conducted outside of the hospital in the parking lot, patients with respiratory disease that require isolated hospitalization will be referred to local specialty hospitals for continued care.

Follow this link for the full FAQ: Canine Respiratory Illness