Welcome!

NEWS EVENTS

Visit this page again soon for the latest announcements about what's happening at our clinic.

Rabies Clinics:

There will be four Rabies clinics this year. All Rabies vaccines are $5.00.  Here is the last date this year: December 9th.

HomeAgain® Microchips Keep Pets Safe

Microchipping can save your pets life. Each year over 10 million pets are lost. Without some kind of identification, 90% don't return home. Over 94% of pets microchipped with HomeAgain® have been reunited with their families. After the chip is implanted it's just a one time $10.00 activation fee and a yearly membership fee of $14.99. The HomeAgain® program is new and improved. Some of the features include: lost pet alerts, 24/7 emergency medical care, and pet ID cards, among many others. Come in and ask us about HomeAgain® to get all of the details. You can also check out www.HomeAgain.com.

Why Microchip? Simply because pets get lost or sometimes are even stolen-more than 10 million each year never return home. When no owner can be found, a percentage of these pets are adopted by strangers, while the majority are unfortunately euthanized. More pets perish from being unidentified when lost than from any disease currently faced in veterinary medicine. Only 16³³ of dogs and 2³³ of cats entering animal care and control facilities are reclaimed by owners. 56³³ of dogs received by shelters are euthanized. 72³³ of cats received by shelters are euthanized.

Traditional methods of collars and tags or tattooing for identification are not as effective as micro-chipping: Tattoos or tags can be defaced or altered. Tattoos are difficult to read, often hidden, and have multiple registries. More than half of all impounded dogs and cats are without collars by the time they arrive at the shelter. For more information about the CAR program or the HomeAgain microchip, please call us at the Luv-N-Care Animal Hospital, email found@akc.org or check out the link to the AKC website in the Web Links area of the main menu on this page.

OVERCOMING COMMON BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN KITTENS  Most of us know that when we bring a new kitten into our home, not all will be perfect with the new member of the family. But a kitten can develop habits that are even more destructive than you can imagine if you don´t know how to curb this bad behavior. GREAT NEWS! By working with your veterinarian, you can eliminate or even prevent many kitten behavior problems. Here are some common challenges ¹¹ steps you can take to lick ´em.

INAPPROPRIATE PERCHES Although young kittens may not be able to successfully complete high verticle jumps, their acrobatic abilities grow tremendously in the first few months, so you may find your kitten perched in unusual ¹¹ perhaps undesirable places. It´s normal for kittens to explore their environment ¹¹ perch on high surfaces. By using the vertical space, kittens increase the relative size of their home environments ¹¹ their ability to survey activity. If you want to teach you kitten to stay off kitchen counters ¹¹ dining room tables, first you MUST provide alternative verticle perches. Try placing a commercial scratching post or shelving near off-limit surfaces. Encourage your kitten to use these perches by playing with your kitten on or near the perches feeding treats on them and praising your kitten when it uses the perches. Next, make the unacceptable surfaces undesirable: Use something that does NOT require your activation The kitten may just learn not to jump to that surface when you are watching. Try placing one of these on the surface: double-stick tape , motion-detector-type alarm, or some sort of other device that ensures a negative consequence is delivered regardless of your presence. Do not tempt kitten onto counters or tables by leaving attractive items on them food flowers or plants.

THE NIGHTTIME CIRCUS  Does your kitten exhibit a burst of activity at night leaving you with very little sleep? Many kittens do not get a great deal of exercise or activity during the day. While you are at work, they spend their day sleeping. In the evening, you may enjoy curling up on the sofa with your new companion. Thus, all kitten energy explodes in the wee hours of the morning. To manage this problem you need to channel your kitten´s energy into activities when you are awake with games and chasing toys. Do not scream at your kitten or chase it when it exhibits this behavior only encourages the activity. Close the bedroom door. Slip in some earplugs if you can´t ignore this you may use a remote negative punishment (eg. a squirt of water). DO NOT get up and feed your kitten when it exhibits this activity they will quickly learn that awakening you reaps GREAT rewards if you try to stop this behavior, your kitten will often become MORE persistent. CONSISTENT disregard on your part will eventually extinguish this behavior.

ANOTHER FINE MESS  Although they may weigh less than 5lbs., kittens can inflict substantial property damage in a relatively short time. Their main weapons of destruction are their front claws, although some kittens also chew items. Scratching is normal and provides many benefits to cats - It stretches their muscles, leaves a scent and a visual mark, and grooms their nail beds. Cats are going to scratch. The key to successful management is to target the scratching at acceptable items in prominent locations. These scratching structures should be sturdy, either horizontal or vertical (depending on what your kitten likes), and made from materials that your kitten favors. To find out what you kitten prefers, you can offer a variety of choices or mimic the shape and materials of unacceptable targets. You must also make unacceptable targets aversive (e.g. double-stick tape or aluminum foil on them) or unavailable. Trim your kitten´s nails weekly to keep them blunt. For difficult cases, consider soft rubber nail caps that are applied monthly (Soft Paws), or declawing. Although less common, some kittens chew household items, especially stringlike objects or plants. Just as you childproof a house, you need to kitten-proof. Keep plants out of reach. Unplug cords or place them out of reach too. A protective covering for cords that can´t be removed from the environment can be found at home improvement stores. A remote punishment may be effective consider coating targets with an unpleasant material such as a commercial deterrent spray or bittering agent or attaching a motion alarm. It´s important to provide acceptable items to chew: small pot of wheat grass, rawhide chew bone , playing with fishing pole type toys will tire the kitten ¹¹ provide appropriate outlet for oral activity.

NOT ALL FUN ¹¹ GAMES Cats, esp. kittens, need appropriate outlets for play. If these aren´t met, cats will sometimes use their owners as play targets. If your kitten becomes too excited or aroused, it may injure you. Over exuberant play behavior toward another pet in the household may also result in problems. Cats that exhibit play-related aggression need to have appropriate daily interactive play with remote toys. Initiate these play periods, and avoid any activity that results in your body being the target of play. Try to anticipate such an attack, and redirect it onto a toy. Avoid giving any type of reward for the play aggression - running ¹¹ screaming may only encourage the behavior. Do not deliver any direct interactive punishment (eg, don´t hit the cat), because it may induce fear or defensive aggression. You can interrupt inappropriate play behavior by providing remote punishment (eg. using a squirt bottle or an alarm) or leaving the room if the cat instigates inappropriate play. Adding another cat of a similar age and energy level to your household is also an option.

LITTER-BOX BASICS  One of the joys of owning a kitten is that housetraining is usually much easier in cats than in dogs. Most kittens are naturally attracted to a litter box for elimination. Problems tend to arise when the litter box isn´t accessible, clean, or attractive. And sometimes a kitten discovers alternative or equally attractive elimination spots such as the dirt in a potted plant. It is easier to avoid litter box problems than to fix them. Most cats prefer finely particulate material, and clumping-type litters provide this type of surface. Cats generally prefer unscented litters. A litter box can´t be too clean - daily scooping and routine washing with soap ¹¹ water are mandatory. Uncovered boxes are recommended. In a multicat household, there should be one more box than there are cats. Social relationships with other home inhabitants may cause litter-box access problems. For example, a kitten may be unwilling to cross the path of a household dog or another cat to get to the box. Or perhaps you have a young child that likes to grab the kitten while it is in the litter box, making the kitten reluctant to use the box again. You must identify ¹¹ address these social problem situations.In addition, make sure you place the litter box near your kitten´s core living area so the kitten can easily access it. Expecting a young kitten to crawl down two flights of stairs to reach the litter box may be setting the kitten up for failure. In addition, make sure the kitten fits the box. A small kitten should not be expected to scale a high-sided box. And as the kitten grows, the litter box must reflect the kitten´s need for more space. Some kittens need to be restricted to a smaller area with a litter box until usage problems are successfully established. Of course, if a kitten has a medical problem that causes increased urgency or frequency of elimination, you should see your veterinarian.

Information provided by Jacqui Neilson, DVM, Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, Animal Behavior Clinic, 809 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97202.
 

 

 

                    Toby

                    Summer