Veterinary Medical Associates Blog

Summer is here, and with it comes plenty of opportunities for fun in the sun (and shade!) for you and your pet. At Veterinary Medical Associates, we want you to have a safe, fun-filled summer with your furry sidekick. Keep reading for summer activities for you and your pet.

Pets wear snazzy collars as a way to highlight their style and personality, but they’re useful, too. Not only necessary for their leash, but collars show proof of license, rabies vaccination, and ownership. Despite their obvious utility, collars can be removed on purpose or fall off accidentally. As a result, pets need an added layer of security in case they get lost or go missing. Microchipping your pet is an incredible act of love that never stops working to prevent permanent loss. 

All It Takes

One small moment can change a pet owner’s life forever. Whether you lose a grip on the leash at the park or your pet nudges their way out through a cracked front door, their fate could become sealed in a short time. In addition to simply roaming around without a clear way to return home, pets can get stolen by strangers, re-adopted, or seriously injured. 

The Little Things

Microchipping your pet is a type of insurance against permanent loss. Not a substitute for their ID tag and collar, microchips add another layer of protection. We include microchipping as part of our puppy and kitten wellness plans.

About the size of a grain of rice and enclosed in biocompatible glass, microchips are implanted between the shoulder blades. They do not track location or transmit data of any kind. Instead, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology stores a unique identification number. When a handheld scanning device is placed over the area, an LED screen on the scanner will display the chip’s number. 

Animal shelters and many animal hospitals have these scanners and use them all the time to either look for the existence of a chip or read its number. 

Does It Hurt?

The mechanism to implant the chip is similar to a routine vaccination, and can be done at your pet’s next wellness exam. Sometimes we can microchip pets during a surgical procedure, like a spay/neuter or dental cleaning. Perceived as a valuable, yet low-cost, preventive measure, microchipping your pet is an essential component of responsible ownership. 

Other Key Points

Once a pet’s unique identification number is keyed into a national database, their owner’s name and contact information will be revealed. However, this step is not automatic. It is up to the individual pet owner to register their pet’s microchip with the manufacturer and update any information if it ever changes. Without this crucial step, microchips are ineffective at facilitating a safe return home. A shocking number of microchips are never registered or updated every year. 

Together Forever

Your pet is an integral part of the family. They deserve to have a chance to get home safely if they ever get lost or go missing. Microchipping your pet is a part of a great defense against permanent separation. 

When pets are picked up by animal control or brought to shelters by well-meaning civilians, only a small percentage of them ever return to their original home. With millions of pets entering the shelter system every year, be sure that your pet can be returned to you by way of their microchip.

Microchipping Your Pet

This process is fast, easy, relatively, cheap, and totally worth the peace of mind. If you have any questions about microchipping your pet, please give us a call at  (209) 527‑5855. Veterinary Medical Associates is always happy to help you!

The Fourth of July is upon us! Yes, I know it is still June, but it seems that the Fourth starts the last week in June and extends into the second week of July nowadays. Certainly, that is the case with the use of exploding fireworks. Unfortunately, these explosions can be very stressful for our companions, especially our canine companions.

The stress caused by exploding fireworks can lead to true anxiety attacks in some of our dogs and, in some cases, can result in tragedy as these dogs will escape in panic and be hit by cars. I have seen cases where dogs have chewed off doorknobs trying to get indoors, at times breaking off multiple teeth. I think you get the picture. It’s truly heartbreaking.

How can I help my dog with firework anxiety?

Those of you who have dogs like this are aware these companions need help to avoid these anxiety-provoking incidents and this is where we as veterinarians can help. There are anti-anxiety medications that can help these dogs cope with their condition. There are also tranquilizers that can be used as well. Your veterinarian can help you make the proper choice for your dog.

Microchip your Companion

Also, this is an excellent time to make sure your companion is microchipped and that your contact information is up to date on the database. Your veterinarian should also be able to help you with this. Microchipping is an excellent way to help reunite lost companions and their people.

Here’s to a safe Fourth of July two weeks for you and your companions!!

We are currently monitoring reports of a viral outbreak in wild rabbits in the Southwest United States. New to North America, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a fatal viral disease found in rabbits: it does not affect humans or domestic species other than rabbits. While there is potential for spread throughout California, there are no reports of cases within the Central Valley at this time. Symptoms of the disease can include loss of appetite, lethargy, high fever, and spasms. However, we are concerned and want to provide you rabbit caretakers with some information to help keep your bunny companions safe.

Is there a vaccination available?

Currently, a vaccine is not widely available in the United States, nor does Central Valley meet the criteria for importing European vaccines. Here at VMA, we are staying abreast of the latest information on vaccine criteria and availability and are continuing to work with regulatory agencies, working to receive special permission to import European vaccines in the event we meet the criteria.

How can I protect my rabbit?

We encourage the practice of basic biosecurity measures, such as hand washing and changing clothes/removing shoes once returning home, to help prevent potential spread to your pet rabbits. We also recommend keeping your bunnies indoors, with no outdoor playtime. 

Can my other pets catch this virus?

This disease is not known to affect any species other than rabbits and hares. In an abundance of caution, however, keeping your dog or cat from contact with wild rabbits will also help keep your companion bunnies safe. 

VMA will continue to keep you updated on the latest information about the RHDV spread and how you can protect your rabbit at vma@vmamodesto.com and our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/vmamodestoca. 

And if you have any questions or concerns about your companion rabbit, please call us at 209-527-5855. 

How are you all doing sheltering in place?  More importantly, how are your companions doing with you sheltering in place?  I suspect there are a few cats out there who are completely out of their routine with their humans taking over their territory during the day.  What the heck is that all about? 

This extra time together, though not ideal in its genesis, does carry with it the wonderful benefit of added time to be with our companions. Hopefully, this increased time together has served to reinforce what a true blessing they are in our lives.  Maybe you are teaching your bird how to talk or taking your dog out for more and longer walks.  I know I am, and perhaps talking to them more as well; all good stuff!   Continue…

To steal a famous movie line, “They’re baaack.” Actually here in Central California they never really leave. I am referring to fleas, as you might have guessed. Flea populations in our neck of the woods do decrease some in the wintertime however for our predominately indoor companions, these bloodsuckers can hang around all year long.

Fleas are a very successful parasite whose adult population loves nothing more than to hang out on your dog or cat’s skin merrily sucking out blood meals as needed to produce eggs which then fall off the animal into the environment. The eggs develop into larvae, which further develop into pupae, which later become new adult fleas. Five percent of the flea population are adults on the animal-the other 95% reside in the environment. Yuk! I know. 

The good news is we have very effective preventative medication that will not only kill those blood-sucking adult fleas but as a result, stop the life cycle from continuing in your companion’s environment. Here at VMA we use and recommend Bravecto for flea control on your dog or cat. This amazing product need only be given once every three months to eliminate fleas. And to top that off, Bravecto also prevents ticks, which not only are disgusting bloodsuckers themselves but also can carry other diseases that can be very bad for your dog.

Stay ahead of the flea on-slot and prevent those ticks as well. It is easy now that we have a product that has been proven highly effective and one that the fleas have yet to develop a resistance against. This can not be said for many of the other flea prevention/treatment products.

For more information about Bravecto and flea control, please call us at 209-527-5855. 

We have all heard a lot on the news lately about coronavirus and COVID-19, the specific human coronavirus currently infecting humans and causing concerns globally.

Should we be concerned about our 4 legged companions?

According to Dr. Niels Pederson of UCDavis School of Veterinary Medicine and a renowned expert on infectious diseases, the short answer is no. “Although coronaviruses occur in virtually every species of animal, including humans, you won’t get or give the coronavirus to your pet Although coronaviruses can jump from one host to another, the process is slow and requires significant genetic change. There is no evidence that coronaviruses of our common veterinary species have entered humans or vice versa.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no animals in the United States have been identified with COVID-19, and there is no evidence that companion pets can spread COVID-19.

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All of our companions need to eat and what they eat is hugely important to their overall health. No group of companion animals reflects this truth more than birds. Many of these species, particularly the parrots, macaws, and cockatoos have a potential lifespan of decades, making proper diet and care vitally important to long term health. Most often, we head to the pet store for “bird” food and end up with a bag of seeds. Seeds are simply not an appropriate base diet for your bird. 

Why Not Seeds?

Seeds are loaded with fat and as a result, make your bird fat, which can lead to multiple disease processes including liver disease, heart disease, gout, poor skin & feather quality and many other problems. While high in fat, seeds can also be deficient in some important vitamins and minerals, which, over months to years, can affect nearly every aspect of your bird’s health.  Continue…

One of the most important things we do as veterinarians is helping you provide the very best quality of life for your companion. To achieve this goal, we need to evaluate our patients on a regular basis. This is especially important when it comes to disease processes that are insidious in their presentation. They can be hidden from “view” until the disease has progressed far down the line.

Dental disease is just such a process. As is the case with us humans, teeth need to be cared for in our companions. It is always best to prevent dental disease as opposed to having to treat it. Obviously, teeth are inside our companions’ mouths and relatively out of sight. And unfortunately, as we all know: out of sight, out of mind,  This is one of the reasons it is important to have your companion examined by your veterinarian on an annual basis in the younger years and semiannually as they age.

If dental disease is discovered, it is a quality of life issue and needs to be addressed. Left untreated, dental disease can lead to systemic disease that can affect the liver, the kidneys, the bladder, and the heart, not to mention the pain your companion endures when they suffer dental abscesses which are commonly associated with advancing dental disease.

Once dental disease is cured, regular cleaning, polishing and fluoride treating of the teeth will go a long way in preventing a recurrence.  

Aging is an inevitable consequence of life, true for us humans as it is for our companions. With the aging process, there are physical changes that can affect many body systems some are preventable to some degree while others are less so. I would like to discuss here the aging process specifically in reference to canines and felines.

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