Here are different reminder programs that you can use to help you remember to give your Heartworm Prevention and/or Flea & Tick Prevention. If you have questions about any of these programs please don't hesitate to call us & one of our staff members can walk you through how to set up the program. 

Heargard Plus, Frontline Plus or NexGard Has a mobile App for Apple® Devices

http://www.heartgard.com/pages/pethealthservices.aspx

Activyl Tick Plus

http://www.mypet.com/reminders.aspx

Vectra 3D

http://www.vectrapet.com/dog/reminder/add

Iverhart Max

https://remindme.virbacpets.com/

Remind My Pet  -  Generic --Has a mobile App for Apple® Devices

http://www.remindmypet.com/Default.aspx

Feliway--Has a mobile App for Apple® Devices

http://www.feliway.com/us/reminder/register
 

Sergeant’s Pet Care Product Inc. and Wellmark International have agreed to phase out the use of the chemical propoxur in pet flea collars.

The announcement Thursday followed the filling of a lawsuit in February by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has been pushing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act on previous petitions that urged the government to ban propoxur in flea-control products. The timing of the lawsuit and the voluntary agreement between EPA and the manufacturers was coincidental, said council health attorney Mae Wu.

“More likely [the voluntary ban] was a result of the petitions that we filed many years ago,” Wu said.

Jim Jones, assistant administrator in the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, called the action “another example of EPA’s efforts to protect children from pesticide risks”

“This voluntary move will get to an expedient result that protects people’s health,” Jones said.

Propoxur is a neurotoxin and known carcinogen that authorities say poses a risk to the brains and nervous systems of children. People who handle propoxur pet collars may ingest the chemical if they also touch their mouth, experts state.

The agreement allows Sergeant’s and Wellmark to produce pet collars using propoxur April 1, 2015, and distribute them until April 1, 2016. Most flea collars have a shelf life of up to five years, according the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Sergeant’s based in Omaha, Neb., agreed to cancel EPA registrations for the Dual Action, Sendran and 933 Plus flea and tick collars, all of which use propoxur.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/04D96E6211E3C9CF85257C9B005950C9

What is the benefit of having your pet examined when they are sick?
Why can’t Dr. Google just tell me what is going on?
 
There are many online sites that will give veterinary advice — are they credible is the question you need to ask?  There are many sites that are designed to be a service unto themselves, i.e. you pay for their services.  You have to know if you are getting advice from an actual veterinarian or is it someone who has no medical education and is giving you advice based on “old wives tales.”  Would you fly on an airplane if the pilot was flying based on advice from an online site or would you rather fly with a pilot actually trained to fly the airplane?
So what is involved in an exam at the Glencoe Veterinary clinic?  We take a complete history from you — many times asking you questions that seem unrelated —but actually give us information to your pet’s overall health.  Next, your pet has 10 body systems we examine:  Skin, Gastrointestinal, Cardiac, Lymphatic, Urinary, Reproductive, Muscles and Skeleton, Respiratory, Nervous and the Immune system.  We look at how each system is working, is there abnormalities and if there are, what are they and how are they affecting the other systems. 
A perfect example of this is a dog that comes to the clinic not wanting to play or eat.  Through the history and physical exam, we gather that the dog has a painful back.  What we picked up by the physical exam that would have been missed without it, includes the following:

• The legs were numb and the dog was not sure where they were (Nervous system)
• The dog is painful to walk, posture to go to the bathroom and also to lower its head to eat (Muscle and Skeleton system)
• The dog is having a hard time pooping or peeing because his back hurts (Urinary and Gastrointestinal systems)
• The dog is panting due to pain (Respiratory system)

 
All of these clinical signs can be gathered on a physical exam done in the clinic.  We would then treat the dog for back pain.
Now how would this be handled by an on line veterinary site, especially if the advice was being given by an individual without a veterinary degree.  The most common thing owners tell us when they bring this type of injured dog in is that the dog is not eating.  So without a physical exam the online site may deduct that there was a gastrointestinal problem.  The bad thing here is that if a back injury is not treated properly — the dog can progress to becoming paralyzed, not able to walk, which may be a permanent
So we always ask when we hear — “well on-line we were told it is this” — we always want to know — what veterinary college did the person telling you the information graduate from and did they make their diagnosis after examining your pet?
 
If your pet is sick — have an actual physical exam done to make sure your pet is treated correctly!