Laguna Beach Veterinary Hospital Provides Summer Tips

Summer is a great time of the year and we encourage you to get out there and enjoy our Southern California weather with your pet. You both get fresh air and exercise and it’s a great way to bond with your pet. Before taking your pet outside, first make sure your pet is up-to-date on all vaccinations. Then follow these summer outdoor tips provide by our vet staff:

1. Walking and Running: Be aware of how your pet responds to exercise. If it’s hot or humid, you may need to go out early in the morning or in the cooler evening. Have your pet drink water before you leave and take along extra water. Avoid hot pavement as your pet’s paws can burn easily. Pets get sunburned too, so apply sunscreen to sensitive areas. If you go through wooded areas, thoroughly check your pet’s skin for ticks.

2. Water Fun: Not all dogs are swimmers, so supervise your pets near the water. Consider using a life preserver for your pet, especially if you’re going out on a boat. Assess your pet’s health risks from heart disease or obesity so you can gauge the amount of swimming. Some pets might prefer a kiddie pool or even running through a sprinkler instead of swimming in deeper water.

3. Car Trips: Taking your pet on road trips can be fun, but some pets don’t travel well. Make sure you have toys and food they like, and stop often for exercise. Take along names of local vets and have your pet’s health and vaccination information available. Never leave your pet alone in a car, even with the windows cracked, as heatstroke can occur very suddenly.

Heatstroke Tips from Your Veterinary Hospital

Pets can succumb to heatstroke very quickly from exercising too hard or if they’re left in a car. If you notice symptoms such as dark or bright red tongue and gums, panting, staggering, or seizures in your pet contact our Laguna vet immediately.

What summer fun will you be having with your pets? Laguna Beach Animal Hospital reminds everyone to stay safe and have fun.

Our Veterinary Hospital Advises on Laguna Beach Pet Safety

Dogs and cats can become part of your family, almost like another child. Just like children, animals can suffer accidents in the home. At Laguna Beach Animal Hospital, our trained staff will treat your pet like one of our own. We realize that you can't watch your pet 24 hours a day, but there are many precautions you can take to reduce the chances of your pet getting sick or injured.

5 Everyday Pet Hazards to Avoid

At our veterinary hospital, we'd much rather see your dog or cat for routine checkups instead of for medical emergencies. Our Laguna vet offers these 5 ideas for keeping your pet safer at home:

1. If you are working on your car, be extremely careful that you don't leave any antifreeze on your driveway or sidewalk. Antifreeze is sweet to the taste and attractive to pets, but dogs or cats who drink it can become fatally ill.

2. Many dogs like to beg at the table and many owners give their pets little treats. This is fine as long as you take care when choosing the treat. Chocolate, raisins and grapes are toxic to dogs and chicken bones can splinter in their mouth or throat, causing a serious injury.

3. Watch if your dog begins licking her paws. This is often a sign that she's cleaning off a substance she picked up outdoors, and can signal a potentially dangerous event. If she has fertilizer, chemical ice melt crystals or insecticide on her pads, she can become very ill. Make sure to thoroughly clean the paws with a pet shampoo.

4. Watch for small items on the floor such as coins, string and tiny toy parts. If your pet swallows a foreign object, they can suffer intestinal blockage or choke. We suggest keeping the floors clean and toys put away. If needed keep you dog or cat our of your child's playroom.

5. Keep all doors firmly latched. Some pets are escape artists and delight in sneaking out of any door they can nose open. This can pose a great danger from your pet running into traffic.

What steps do you take to removed any pet hazards from the house?

Advice from Our Laguna Beach Veterinarians

Even if your never leaves the house, they can still suffer from an infestation of fleas and ticks. These pests do more than make your pet scratch constantly -- they can also transmit diseases and infections. A severe flea or tick infestation can cause anemia from blood loss, and the constant scratching can damage hair and skin. Fortunately, you can keep fleas and ticks from becoming a major problem with the right form of preventative treatment.

Different flea and tick treatments go about their job in different ways. Some kill only fleas or ticks, while others kill both. For instance, the Preventic collar for dogs paralyzes the tick’s mouths so that they cannot attach themselves to the dog’s skin. Oral drugs, injections, and topical treatments may either kill the pests or prevent their young from maturing into adults. Some of these products are available only by prescription at our veterinary hospital to ensure that pet owners receive detailed instructions on proper use.

If you use an over-the-counter flea and/or tick product, make sure you have the right product for the right animal -- dogs cannot tolerate products made for cats, and vice versa. Make sure you understand and follow the directions perfectly. Use gloves or wash your hands right after applying the product. Contact our Laguna vet immediately if your pet appears to get sick from the treatment, and keep these products away from food storage areas and curious children.

Our Animal Hospital Can Help!

Flea and tick season generally begins in May, stretching into (and sometimes peaking in) September. However, in warm Southern California, flea and tick risks are fairly high all year round. We recommend you keep up with your pet’s prevention program year round to get the maximum benefit from it. Here at Laguna Beach Animal Hospital we can help you select the right treatment program and products. Our Laguna vet team can help you keep each of your pets flea-free, year after year.

Have you suffered a flea infestation at your house? How did you get rid of the fleas?

Another Great Friend to Laguna Beach Pets

We are always delighted to share big news with our patients and soon-to-be patients. The excitement this time comes from our announcement that we have a great new vet on board here at Laguna Beach Animal Hospital—Dr. Hays Fyke.

Dr. Fyke has loved animals as far back as he can remember, and he has worked with pets ever since his teenage years as a kennel assistant in his native Georgia. In fact, he found working with pets so rewarding that he switched from molecular biology studies to veterinary school so he could devote his life to it. He did much of his coursework at St. George's University on the picturesque island of Grenada, completed his studies at Purdue University, then moved to California and fulfilled a medical and surgical internship at Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital. Dr. Fyke possesess considerable knowledge in the fields of surgery, emergency treatment, regenerative stem cell therapies, immune mediated disease processes and orthopedic ailments. We feel very fortunate to him on our team.

Stop By Our Veterinary Hospital and Say Hello

Is your four-legged pal due for spaying or neutering, a vaccination booster, doctor-supervised boarding, rehabilitative treatment or just a general checkup? Whatever your need, come on over and say hello to Dr. Fyke, and rest assured that your pet is getting excellent care from an excellent Laguna vet. If some emergency requires you to rush your pet over to our facility, Dr. Fyke may well be the doctor who extends greetings, comfort, and prompt, skilled treatment when you arrive at our facility, since he is available for after-hours emergency care. Whatever the circumstances, we feel confident that you and your pet will enjoy getting to know him just as we have.

Does your dog or cat make new friends easily, or is a "get acquainted" period more her style? Does she prefer humans or other animals? Tell our readers about your pet's preferences (or quirks) in meeting others!

Hydrosurge is Available at Our Vet Clinic

You love it when your pet is freshly bathed, smells great and is looking beautiful, and your pet loves to receive a soothing massage. Additionally, both of these procedures are important for your pet’s health. Bathing removes oils that can attract bacteria and cause irritation, odor and disease, while massage removes dead skin cells, pest residue, loose hairs and so forth. And now you can get it all done in one session, thanks to the Hydrosurge bathing we provide here at Laguna Beach Animal Hospital!

How does it work? The Hydrosurge method, designed specifically for professional veterinarians and groomers, uses a hand-held sprayer that massages as it cleans. The sprayer propels a mix of water and either regular or medicated pet shampoo in massaging jets that invigorate the skin while removing unwanted debris. This technique not only does wonders for your pet’s skin and fur, but it also feels great -- a far cry, certainly, from the old-fashioned, scrub-down baths that pets traditionally struggle against.

The Veterinary Hospital Advantage

Both you and your pet benefit from the Hydrosurge bath offered at our veterinary hospital. Beyond the obvious benefit of not having to bathe your pet by hand at home, you also have the satisfaction of knowing that your pet is receiving gentle, therapeutic, advanced veterinary care every step of the way. We brush out any mats in the fur before we even start, and after the bath your pet gets an enjoyable drying-off period in a cage drier. During the Hydrosurge bath, our animal hospital can also trim his nails, check and clean his ears, and perform an anal-gland expression. Our Hydrosurge bath is a great way to keep your pet both clean and healthy -- so when your pet needs a bath, put away the hose and sponge and call our vet instead!

Do you have a funny or bizarre story about your previous adventures in pet bathing? Share them with us!