Otterkill Animal Hospital
Newsletter Volume 18, Fall 2008

Welcome Dr. Will!

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Whitney Will has joined our practice as an associate veterinarian. She is a 2003 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and has been in an equine practice prior to joining our team. Dr. Will determined that treating companion animals (other than horses) would be a wonderful way to utilize all of her veterinary medicine skills. It will also free up some time for her to spend with her baby, due to arrive in November. That means we will be without her services for a period of time during her leave but look forward to her early return.

With the addition of a third veterinarian we have once again been able to make more appointment slots available to you. This should both decrease your wait time to schedule an appointment as well as your wait time here. As always, it's part of our pledge to you to always provide the best veterinary care possible.

New Medications now available
There have been a few exciting new medications recently licensed by the FDA for animal use. We now have a great medication to stop the vomiting caused by car sickness in dogs. Ask us about Cerenia if your dog has this problem. We've found it to be extremely effective in stopping vomiting from all other causes as well.

Many of you have read the humorous instructions posted in our office on how to pill your cat. Science has finally gotten around that, thankfully. Convenia is an injectable antibiotic that can be used in dogs and cats for responsive infections and can last fourteen days. No more pills!

We also now carry a new topical flea and tick preventative. Promeris combines the most effective compound to control ticks — which previously was only available in the Preventic collar — with a new flea control medication. This product is applied monthly just like Frontline and Advantix but seems to be more effective. It can be used on dogs only. Since we've used it on our own dogs, we haven't seen one tick!

Get those puppies socialized early!
It's been traditional in our profession to recommend that you don't expose a young puppy to other dogs or busy environments until they've finished their puppy vaccine series which usually is at 14-16 weeks of age. Behaviorists now believe that is too late and socialization should begin "almost in utero" states an article in the June 2008 issue of Veterinary Forum.

The window of socialization is the first 3 months of a pup's life. Early socialization is so important that a recently issued position paper on puppy socialization from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, of which Dr. Zgoda is a member, states that "Puppies should be exposed to as many new people, animals, stimuli and environments as can be achieved safely and without causing overstimulation manifested as excessive fear, withdrawal or avoidance behavior."

Puppy socialization classes can be a useful step toward behavioral wellness. Our front office staff maintains a listing of trainers and classes in our area that we recommend. We now believe that puppies can enter training programs as early as 7 to 8 weeks of age, as long as they receive a minimum of one set of vaccines at least 7 days before the first class. We think this is an exciting new development and are in discussions with some trainers to have early socialization classes here in our hospital.

It's September!
We're sure many of you are grateful that school's back in session for many reasons. If any of you are teachers or involved in programs at your school, remember that our veterinarians are always available to present programs or attend career days. Give us enough advance notice and we'd be glad to educate tomorrow's animal companions and future veterinary team members.

September also means that we have another student intern with us for the semester. Our hospital meets the high accreditation standards of several technician programs and is approved as an internship site. Dawn is a second year technician student at Ulster County Community College and will be with us this fall. We're all looking forward to helping her become as outstanding a technician as all the wonderful techs we have on staff.

Lastly, September means that all those young ticks born this year are going to be looking for meals before the cold weather sets in. We see our highest number of Lyme disease cases in the fall. Please remember to keep up your tick and flea control measures on dogs and outdoor cats. It can save their lives!

Lauren's Corner

We're glad to also welcome Kristen to our front office staff. She's been a staff member at a local animal sanctuary for some time now, but has some time to share with us as well. She's proving to be valuable asset and is quickly becoming one of us "otters".