How about some fun facts about one of our favorite people in our pets’ lives, your veterinarian!

• The term ‘veterinarian’ comes from the Latin word ‘veterinae’ which means “working animals”
• The first vaccinations for cattle were developed in 1712 and used to eradicate a plague in Europe.
• The first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France in 1761 by Claude Bourgelat. The school focused on studying the anatomy and diseases of sheep, horses, and cattle in an effort to combat cattle deaths from a plague in France.
• The invention of the automobile in teh early 1900’s changed veterinary medicine forever. In the decline of needing animals as modes of transportation, veterinarians began focusing more on the animals that we keep as pets (primarily dogs and cats) rather than industrial animals. The results are still the same today – dogs and cats are a veterinarian’s primary patients!

We love our doctors and staff at YAH, so be sure to stop by and let them know you saw some fun facts about them today!

This past Saturday was National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day, sponsored by the AVMA.

Disaster and emergency preparedness and response are important issues to us all. We here in North Carolina are all too familiar now with the effects of things like hurricanes and tornadoes. Animals are impacted by the same disasters and emergencies as humans – natural, manmade, large, and small. Whether it’s a hurricane or tornado, a flood or an earthquake, a chemical leak or an act of terrorism, we as veterinarians take on a responsibility to our community during response and recovery efforts both during and after disasters. Should that situation arise you can count on YAH to be there for your pets’ needs.

The AVMA provides a brochure for free download with a lot of great information on how to be prepared for your pets in case of a large scale disaster and recovery. Feel free to visit them here: https://ebusiness.avma.org/files/productdownloads/STWF_English.pdf

To all of our mothers out there, both two legged and four, we wish you a very special and Happy Mother’s Day!

This week we celebrate all the love and dedication our pets give us by giving back – it’s National Pet Week! We’re getting the week started by listing 6 great ways that you can be a responsible pet owner. Check back all this week as we’ll be posting fun ways to love on your furbabies just a little bit more this week as a way to show them just how much you love them.

Be a Responsible Pet Owner:

1. Commit
   • Avoid impulsive decisions when selecting a pet.
   • Select a pet ​that’s suited to your home and lifestyle.
   • Keep only the type and number of pets for which you can provide appropriate food, water, shelter, health care and companionship.
   • Commit to the relationship for the life of your pet(s).
   • Provide appropriate exercise and mental stimulation.
   • Properly socialize and train your pet.
2. Invest
   • Recognize that pet ownership requires an investment of time and money.
   • Make sure your pet receives preventive health care (vaccinations, parasite control, etc.), as well as care for any illnesses or injuries.
   • Budget for potential emergencies.
3. Obey
   • Clean up after your pet.
   • Obey all local ordinances, including licensing, leash requirements and noise control.
   • Don’t allow your pet to stray or become feral.
4. Identify
   • Make sure your pet is properly identified (i.e., tags, microchips, or tattoos) and keep its registration up-to-date.
5. Limit
   • Don’t contribute to our nation’s pet overpopulation problem: limit your pet’s reproduction through spay/neuter, containment or managed breeding.
6. Prepare
   • Prepare for an emergency or disaster, including assembling an evacuation kit.
   • Make alternate arrangements if you can no longer provide care for your pet.
   • Recognize any decline in your pet’s quality of life and make timely decisions in consultation with a veterinarian.

May is designated National Pet Month and it’s all about saying THANK YOU and WE LOVE YOU to our furbabies. Purina has come up with a clever way to celebrate, particularly for pets who need homes.

Adopt: The best way to help a pet waiting on a forever home? Be that forever home! If you’re looking to add a pet to your family, please consider adopting through your local shelter or rescue. You’ll get a lifelong friend in return!

Donate: Every bit counts! If you aren’t able to donate financially, you can always donate your time, skills, or supplies.

Educate: The best way to end pet homelessness is to help others understand the problem. Sharing articles on social media, writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, and volunteering at adoption events are all effective ways to make your voice heard and to spread the message in your community!

Share: Besides being a great way to keep up with the family and friends, social networks like Facebook and Twitter are useful for finding forever homes for adoptable pets. Share an available cat or dog to your social networks to help that pet find a home!

Train: Are you a master at teaching your pup to sit, lie down, or stay? Share your expertise at a rescue or shelter! Knowing some basic commands can help many dogs to be more adoptable.

Play: Who doesn’t love a little one on one attention? Playing with sheltered cats or dogs will help to socialize them more quickly, making them more likely to find forever homes.

Foster: Not sure you have the time or resources to dedicate to adding a pet to your family permanently? You can foster a pet temporarily until the right forever home is found. It’s a wonderful way to give back, as well as an opportunity to see what having a pet is all about before you make a lifetime commitment yourself.

Volunteer: Volunteers are essential to helping shelters and rescues achieve their mission of finding forever homes for pets. Just a few hours a month will make a world of difference!

Join the conversation on social media to see how others are taking part and add your own ideas by using #PawItForward!

We sure hope everyone had a Blessed and Happy Easter weekend this past weekend, what a beautiful weekend it turned out to be after Friday’s rain. We also thank you again for your patience last week with some tree removal and cleaning up that was done in our parking lot (THANKS to Donald Lowery Tree Service, great job guys!).

April is a busy month in the veterinary world as a number of great causes are commemorated this month, check out some links below to find resources on each of them:

1. Heartworm Prevention Month – in a previous blog this month (https://youngsvilleanimalhospital.com/2019/04/april-is-heartworm-awareness-month/), we talked about the dangers of heartworm and the importance and ease of vaccination.
2. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month – we support the ASPCA in their fight to end cruelty to our pets and animals. Click here for some more information on their cause – https://www.aspca.org/news/april-prevention-cruelty-animals-month
3. National Pet ID Month –
   One out of three pets becomes lost at some point, but having some form of identification greatly increases a pet’s chances of being reunited with their owner.  A simple tag on their collar is the first measure you can take to ID your pet. We at YAH also advocate microchipping – (https://youngsvilleanimalhospital.com/available-services/#Microchipping). Microchipping your pet is an easy, painless thing you can do to ensure their safety.

A friendly reminder that the parking lot behind YAH will be closed for some construction work today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday) of this week. Parking is still available on both Main St (front of building) and Cross St (side) both days. We thank you in advance for your patience!

Please note that the parking lot behind YAH will be closed for some construction work on both Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Parking is still available on both Main St (front of building) and Cross St (side) both days. We thank you in advance for your patience!

April is National Heartworm Awareness Month, providing the perfect opportunity to emphasize the value of heartworm disease detection and prevention.

Heartworm disease is one of the most painful, deadly, and costly parasitic infections. Fortunately, it’s also one of the easiest to prevent. In honor of National Heartworm Awareness Month, here are 11 facts you should know about the mosquito-transmitted disease:

1. Heartworm disease most often affects dogs, cats, and ferrets.
2. Dogs are natural hosts for heartworms, providing the ideal environment for heartworms to mature into adults, mate, and produce offspring.
3. Mature heartworms look like spaghetti.
4. Dogs can harbor several hundred adult worms in their bodies, but cats affected by the disease often have few, if any, adult worms (although the immature worms still cause significant damage because of a condition called heartworm associated respiratory disease, or HARD).
5. Heartworms can live for 5 to 7 years in a dog and up to 2 to 3 years in a cat.
6. Signs of heartworm disease in dogs include a mild but a persistent cough, fatigue (especially after activity), decreased appetite, and weight loss.
7. Signs of heartworm disease in cats include coughing, asthma-like attacks, vomiting, decreased appetite, and weight loss. Often, a cat will show no signs of heartworm until he suddenly collapses and succumbs to the disease.
8. Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs, and arteries of dogs. Dogs can be treated for the disease, but the treatment is expensive, difficult, and often comes too late to fully “cure” the animal.
9. The medication used to treat heartworm infection in dogs cannot be used in cats. Prevention is the only way to protect cats from heartworms.
10. Dogs should be tested annually for heartworm, and cats should be tested before being put on preventive medication.
11. Both cats and dogs should be on regular heartworm preventive medication.

Visit the folks over at the American Heartworm Society for more information for you as a pet owner.

https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources

The third week of March is recognized nationally as Poison Prevention Week. This week serves as a reminder to all our community to watch for both natural and processed pet toxins, especially as we prepare for spring cleaning and as plants start to poke their way through the soil. Toxicities in animals can be scary and fatal if not caught early so we want you to be in the know about what could be harmful for your pet. Some toxic things that may be found around your house include human medication, some human foods, an over dose of veterinary medication, and cleaning products.

If you think your pet may have ingested something toxic, please call YAH immediately if within our operating hours. Otherwise, there are after-hours resources as well: Our partners at VSH @ (919) 861-0109 as well as the national ASPCA poison control line @ (888) 426-4435.