Pet Tips

Why does my pet needs vaccines?
Vaccines are necessary for pets to protect them against life threatening infectious diseases. Core vaccines are important for all pets.Rabies vaccine is county's requirement.

What age is good for vaccinating a puppy or Kitten?
Vaccination is started for pups and kittens at 6-8 week age.

At what age puppies and kitten can go to pet parks and dog shows safely?
When their vaccine series are completed .Puppy vaccine series is over at 16 weeks of age. Kitten vaccine series is over at 12 weeks of age. Thereafter, vaccines are administered to pets on yearly or 3 yearly basis depending upon type of vaccine.
Call us to get vaccine schedule for your pet.

Do I need to get my new puppy de wormed against intestinal parasites?
Yes, all new puppies and kittens need to be de wormed at least 2 times at 2-week intervals.Most puppies get roundworms through mother's milk.

Do I need to get my new puppy or kitten tested for intestinal parasites, even if I have already got them de wormed twice against intestinal parasites?
Yes, all puppies and kittens need fecal testing to check for parasites which are not covered by routine de worming medicines. Common intestinal parasites we need to check for are coccidia and giardia. When we find these in pet's stool sample, we treat them with best medicines. But, Such parasite can sometimes be difficult to eliminate. After treatment is completed for such parasites, we need to test the stool sample again to make sure parasites have been completely eliminated.

What is best age to start pet training?
Pets start learning well around 12 week age. This is best time to look into training classes. At the same time it is pertinent to make sure pet is protected against infectious diseases which they can get from other pets.

What other care my pet needs besides vaccines?
Annual Fecal testing to check for intestinal parasites. This is a pet's stool test.
Flea or tick products to prevent external parasites . These are applied on pet's skin once a month.

  • Oral heartworm prevention: This is a tablet given to dogs once a month to prevent heartworms. Heartworm medicines also protect pet's against common intestinal parasites.
  • Annual heartworm test First heartworm test is performed at age 6-9 months, thereafter on annual basis.
  • High quality pet food Pets of different age groups and breed need different diets to keep them healthy.
  • Tooth brushing once a week, dental chews, chew toys etc. to keep pet's teeth healthy

What do I need to be careful about caring for newly adopted, recently weaned young puppy or kitten ?
Puppies and kittens are usually weaned at 25-30 day age. They start eating can puppy food at 4-week age. Keep them warm and cozy. Low temperature can lead to hypotension and even death. Avoid low tempratures. Prevent Hypoglycemia:They must be fed 4-times a day.Most common cause of lethargy, muscle twitching or seizures in young puppy or kitten is hypoglycemia (low blood glucose). Food provides nutrition and glucose (calories).Young puppies and kittens have high Basal Metabolic Rate and metabolize their food very quickly. Keep sugar supplement (Nutrical) on board. Missing a meal can cause hypoglycemia. Giving small amount of nutrical 2-3 times a day will prevent hypoglycemia in young pets. If lethargy or seizure occurs, sugar supplement should be administered immediately by mouth to combat hypoglycemia and save life. Then, take the pet to veterinarian for more care.

What do we recommend about Heartworms:

We follow recommendations of American Heartworm society. American Heartworm society is an organization which sets guidelines for all veterinarians regarding prevention, diagnosis as well as treatment of heartworm disease in pets .Veterinarians follow these recommendations to keep pets free of heartworms. Regular heartworm testing, on annual basis is, recommended for all dogs. Heartworm disease is a fatal but treatable disease.It is pertinent to keep your dogs on regular Heartworm prevention on monthly basis. For more details, visit American Heartworm Society

Most common signs of illness to seek veterinary attention:

  • Digestive System: Change in appetite (decrease/increase), vomiting, loose stools, constipation, and worms seen in stools, mal-odor from mouth, loose teeth,and excess salivation.
  • Urinary system: Excessive drinking, excess urination, urination in undesirable places, blood in urine or difficulty in urination.
  • Cardiac/Respiratory System: Coughing, sneezing, and not breathing right, exercise intolerance, collapse (syncope).
  • Ear infection: Shaking head, scratching ears, abnormal discharge or bad ear odor, head tilt.
  • Eye infections: Redness, tears/abnormal discharge or pawing on face.
  • Skin: Redness, growth, abnormal lump or discharge, hair loss, urticaria (bumps), redness, dryness, fleas/ticks or scratching.
  • Muscular/ Skeletal system: Lameness, swelling.
  • Weight Loss: Can be sign of intestinal parasites, renal disease, diabetes, hyperthyroidism (cats), gastro-intestinal disease or cancer.
  • Nervous system: Muscle twitching, trembling, seizures, fainting or dragging a leg.

When does Pet Needs immediate Emergency Attention:

Hit by car, Rattle snake bite, seizures or fainting , difficult breathing, lethargy , bleeding , severe vomiting, Heat stroke(overheating), Toxin ingestion. Pets are innocent and can consume many kinds of poisonous substances. Most common poisonings are from Rat bait, snail bait, antifreeze, onions, grapes,lead batteries, paint, human medicines, black walnuts, excess of chocolates, toxic plants, and many more.
Pet Poisoning Information: For more information on poisonings click here.

  • Bird emergency: Difficult breathing ( tail bob, open mouth breathing), sitting on corner, not eating. Birds try to hide illness as a part of their natural defence to protect themselves from predators. Any sick looking bird can be seriously ill and needs immediate veterinary attention.
  • Reptile emergency: Lethargy, not eating, pale mucous membranes.


Web Links for Zoonotic diseases( diseases having public health significance)

  • Transmission of pet parasites to people : Intestinal parasites can cause serious illness in people. For details on prevention of transmission of intestinal parasites from pets to people visit Center of Disease Control
  • Transmission of cat Scratch fever from cats to people: Cats can transmit a bacterial infection ( Bartonella bacteria) to people. Cats get Bartonella infection from fleas. Veterinarian having experience with clinical signs this infection can easily diagnose it. Some cats may not show any clinical sign of such infection. If a cat in a household is found to be infected with feline Bartonella infection, all in contact cats should be tested and all positive cats should be treated. For detailed information contact your pet's veterinarian. For brief information about feline bartonellosis, click here

For information on zoonotic disease, visit web site of CDC( Center of Disease Control).              

Location

Find us on the map

Office Hours

Morgan Hill Office

Monday:

8:00 am-5:30 pm

Tuesday:

8:00 am-5:30 pm

Wednesday:

8:00 am-5:30 pm

Thursday:

8:00 am-5:30 pm

Friday:

8:00 am-5:30 pm

Saturday:

8:30 am-1:00 pm

Sunday:

Closed

Testimonial

  • "I have 4 dogs and 3 cats, Dr. Harika and his staff are compassionate and professional. I highly recommend them to anyone searching for excellent care for their fur babies."
    Esther M.