Spring Cleaning
It's the first day of Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere. It's a good time to catch up on things you may have been letting slide with your dogs.
Here at my house I have some dogs who need baths! We've had a lot of rain here lately and that means mud. I've been focusing on keep my dogs' ears clean lately. Blue had a yeast infection in his ears when I took him to the vet for his shots a few weeks ago. The infection is all cleared up now, thanks to some drops the vet gave me, but I'm making sure I keep everyone else's ears clean now with a good cleaner I got from the vet.
The weather is already starting to warm up in some places. That means mosquitoes will be around soon. If you slacked up on your heartworm prevention make sure you get some now. If your dog hasn't had a heartworm test recently it's a good idea to have the vet do one for you so your dog can be treated if necessary. Most vets won't prescribe heartworm prevention for you without testing your dog first because if you give your dog the preventive it can kill the adult worms and they can break off in your dog's bloodstream and clot in his heart, which could possibly kill him. The preventives are really designed to kill the micro stage of the heartworms which can pass out of your dog harmlessly when they die. Some vets will write a prescription for heartworm meds for you, after performing the heartworm test on your dog, so you can buy heartworm preventive online where it usually costs less. You can always ask your vet for the prescription or ask them to fax the prescription to your online source. However, some vets are reluctant to write the prescription for you or to call it in since doing so is a loss of income for them. Just be careful when you buy medications for your dog online that you do buy from a reputable business and not from a place that sells without requiring prescriptions. It is possible that they can sell knock-off medications which are not legitimate.
Have you moved recently? Changed phone numbers? Now is a good time to update your dog's ID and contact information, especially if you have him registered with Companion Animal Recovery, a microchip database or a similar service. Make sure his tags and licenses are up to date, too. If he should get loose you want to make sure your local animal control has an easy time contacting you and won't give you any problems.
It's also a good time to check your dog's weight. Many dogs gain weight during the winter. Check your dog for any new bumps and growths, too, that might have escaped your notice under extra winter fur. Don't forget to give your dog a thorough brushing to help get rid of that old winter coat.
Maybe a new collar and leash are in order? Or a new dog bed? Whatever makes you feel good.
Spring makes us all feel like getting out and shaking off winter. Give your dog a through check up and you'll feel good about going out to enjoy the new season together.
