Spring is right around the corner so those of you acquiring puppies remember Parvovirus. We see too much of it and it is nearly 100% preventable. I just returned from the Western Veterinary Convention in Las Vegas where I meet vets from all over including Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. One vet from Canada told me she has not seen a case of Parvo for two years. The fact is that she works in a wealthy neighborhood and all pups are vaccinated early and no dogs roam loose. We see plenty of cases in licking county. We are at the mercy of the environment but you can reduce your risk by isolating your new puppy until his puppy vaccinations are finished. That means no trips to the dog park or walks out of the yard or visits to a friend’s house to show him off. Limit his housetraining to an area in the yard where strays are unlikely to have visited.

The virus can be anywhere that a sick dog has vomited or defecated. And the virus can live many months under the right conditions. Freezing does not kill it. A typical puppy vaccination schedule is 6, 9, 12, and 15 weeks of age. The final booster is the most important. An older puppy responds stronger to the vaccine.

Well so much for biodiversity and disease control. It was hoped that having a variety of host species in the environment would reduce the spread of disease from animals to the human population. So far that has not been showing up in the statistics. What does that have to do with us? Lyme disease and Leptospirosis are bacterial diseases common in the wild animal population of the United States and ticks love to share these diseases with humans and our pets. We have excellent vaccines to prevent both lyme disease and leptospirosis in the dog population. We have commonly associated the risk for leptospirosis with exposure to wildlife by hunting dogs. Our last case was a Chihuahua who happened to love hunting the mice in her backyard. She was not exactly a coonhound but in spite of her pampered lifestyle came down with a serious case of lepto and suffered permanent kidney damage. The deer tick population is monitored closely every year in Ohio and it is moving into Licking county. Deer ticks are the vector for lyme disease. The more ticks we have the greater chance of exposure to Lyme disease. You can forget about getting yourself vaccinated for either of these diseases but we do have proven vaccines for dogs available at all three of our offices. Give us a call. As far as wildlife in our area the bat population is suffering from a fairly new disease (WNS) white nose syndrome. It is not terribly bad in this area yet but is increasing in the United States and killing millions of bats. We worry about bats because they are the endemic species carrying Rabies virus in Ohio but they provide a valuable service by considerably reducing the insect population. They eat mosquitos in particular that spread encephalitis virus to humans and heartworm disease to our pets. Hopefully WNS does not get too serious since there is no treatment developed to date.

Once things start blooming we will start seeing the seasonal allergies to trees and grasses. Dogs often start licking their feet constantly when they are allergic to grasses. We can help with these allergies so please don’t wait till your pet turns an itch into a hot spot. A hot spot is an infected area of skin that develops when a dog licks, chews and scratches at an itching area injuring it and allowing bacteria to invade. Treating an itch is usually easier before it becomes infected. By all means don’t forget about fleas if you stopped using preventive medication over the winter. It is much easier to prevent flea problems than to eliminate existing ones. Start prevention before you start seeing fleas.

Check back later and I will try to inform you of anything interesting in our area.