Don't let the itches ruin your pet's summertime fun!
During the warm time of year, it's not unusual for our furry friends to end up scratching more than they normally do. Here at Village Vets, we are well used to seeing itchy dogs, scratchy cats, and all sorts of skin conditions that bother our best friends.
Now, while we do expect every cat and dog to scratch while they're at home, excessive scratching can be caused by a number of different reasons. Oftentimes, this excessive scratching or itching can cause distress to your pet with broken skin, bleeding, infection, and all sorts of other irritations that are never good and never welcome.
Here at Village Vets, all our vets are very experienced in seeing skin cases in cats and dogs. They know what to do when they see your pet scratching. They are trained on how to diagnose all sorts of different skin conditions that can affect your pet. We know and understand how distressing and how irritable skin conditions can be. As vets, our first and foremost approach is to make sure your pet is comfortable as soon as possible by trying to reduce that irritation. We then need to find out what was the cause of that irritation. Was it something minor that could be treated or dealt with quite quickly with minimal intervention or minimal treatment, or is it something more serious that is underlying the surface? Are more tests required that involve taking skin samples or blood tests to find out what the causative factors are?
During the warm weather, pets are generally more prone to getting skin conditions. We also have a proliferation of all sorts of pesky parasites, such as fleas, mites, and ticks. Therefore, it is always very important to make sure that your cat and dog are treated with a preventative treatment that reduces or prevents any fleas, mites, or ticks getting on your pet's coat. Also, remember that these pesky parasites would also transfer to humans, so you don't want them living in your home. it is always very important to make sure that not only your pet is protected, but your home is protected.
These treatments are very easily applied and you can just pop in to any of the Village Vets clinics to pick them up. It's always good to bring your pet along if they haven't been with us recently so we can get an accurate weight on them and be able to give you the most appropriate treatment for your pet's lifestyle, because remember, some pets like staying indoors and don't get out too much, while other pets enjoy running around the beaches, the hills and mountains where they can be exposed to different types of creepy crawlies. So pop into any Village Vets clinic and ask any of our vets or nurses for further information.
So this summer, don't worry if your pet is scratching. You can always call on us for our advice or drop us an email. We'll be happy to advise. But please don't let it go too long where the skin might be red or inflamed, the hair might be missing, or there's even some level of discharge or even worse, maybe bleeding. Please try and call us or pop into us before that happens. And remember, all of the visits are free if you're on our Pet Health Plan. So you don't need to worry about the cost of getting your pet checked out.
