October 2019 Newsletter
CATS, CATS AND MORE CATS
We were pleased to have castrated a record 480 cats at our free clinic this year. We had only 3 vets working, but with the help of all the staff plus 6 volunteers, we were able to get the cats all done by 12:30. It was a crazy morning with people standing in line outside in the cold wind, but everything ran smoothly. Thanks to all who brought in cats and spread the word of the event.
We appreciate all the hard work from our staff getting things set up in the garage and outside to direct people. Thanks to everyone for their patience. We are glad to provide this community service. In addition to castration, lots of cats got vaccinated.
Watch for next year’s event the 2nd Saturday in October 2020.
REMEMBER TO PREG CHECK YOUR BEEF COWS
The cull cow price is down and the cost of hay is through the roof. You really can’t afford to feed an open cow this winter. We know that everyone has been busy trying to get the crops finished in between rainstorms. Now is the time to get scheduled to preg check your beef cows so you can make some wise culling decisions. You can schedule to preg checks on the same day as you are working the calves, if that is convenient for rounding up the cows.
So far this year, we have been seeing a normal range of 3-5% open cows. Depending on when you pull the bull, we can preg check your cows by sleeving them or using the ultrasound. If you have left the bull in until preg check, you may benefit from having us ultrasound them. With the ultrasound, we can determine if a cow is pregnant at only 30 days instead of having to wait till 45 days to sleeve them.
We can also give the right vaccines and dewormer to your cows at preg check time. We are happy to preg check cows on a Saturday, if that is what works best for you and your help. We can bring our chute when we come or you can pick it up ahead of time and get things set up.
NEW ONLINE STORE FOR PETS
We are excited about our new online store where you can order pet food, flea and tick preventatives, prescription refills and much more. The prices are competitive, you can set up automatic shipments and shipping is free. We hope you will try the store and let us know what improvements are needed. It is a work in progress.
You can reach the online store through
lancastervetclinic.vetsfirstchoice.com
Once you are in the website, you can search for products, check out the latest deals and special prices, and create your own account. Your information will not be used anywhere else. If you are ordering a product that needs a prescription, we can take care of that for you. If your animal needs something like bloodwork or testing before the prescription can be filled, we will contact you.
The website has a live chat and help line if you have a question about ordering or returning a product. You will be able to see and order lots of things that we don’t carry in the building. We have some equine products on the site, but no bovine ones yet.
LOTS OF PNEUMONIA IN WEANED CALVES
The summer/fall of rain and mud was hard on both cows and calves out in the pasture, especially the late born calves. We have been seeing a deadly combination of Pasteurella, mycoplasma and histophilus in the ones we have sent in to the lab.
Vaccinating your calves with the Inforce 3 intranasal vaccine at birth and again at around 8 weeks will help boost the calves’ immune system and prime them for the injectable vaccines given at weaning.
Sally’s recommendations and the suggestions for calves from the Bloomington sale barn include vaccinating against the respiratory virals, pasteurella, blackleg and histophilus. You can do that combination with only 2 injections. Unfortunately, we do not have a vaccine to prevent mycoplasma. None of the companies have been able to get a vaccine to work against that nasty bug.
INTERNAL PARASITES RAMPANT
One more thing to blame on the weather perhaps, but we have been seeing many more worms, coccidia, campylobacter and giardia in animals this fall. We are sending the dog and cat samples to a lab now in addition to looking at the samples in the clinic. The lab test looks for evidence of adult parasites in the stool sample in addition to the eggs that we see in the float test at the clinic. We have been having lots of positive tests come back both ways.
Internal parasites are common in young animals and are easily treated. We think that the wet weather has promoted the spread and growth of parasites. We are seeing more infested older animals now.
A stool check every year on your pet will tell us whether your pet needs to be treated and with what treatment. The monthly heartworm preventative that we recommend contains a preventative dose for roundworms, whipworms, hookworms and tapeworms. The stool test lets us know if your pet needs additional treatment.
FARM 4.0 STARTING JANUARY 2020
A few of you have been contacted by your milk processor to complete FARM 4.0. This inspection is the latest update for the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management program. The book that needs to be completed requires vet signatures and protocols. The biggest change is the consequence for tail docking. If you do any tail docking, your operation will fail immediately.
Please call and talk to Sally if you have any questions or need any help.
FLEA & TICK CONTROL PRODUCTS
We have been seeing lots of ticks this fall on dogs and cats and horses and LOTS of fleas on dogs and cats. It seemed like almost all the cats brought in to the free cat clinic this year had fleas.
We have the spot-on Advantix and oral Bravecto for dogs and the Seresto collar for both dogs and cats. The Advanitx spot-on cannot be used on cats. You can use the Seresto collar for tick control on cats or the spot-on Bravecto for cats. Be sure that you are using a cat product for your cats. They are very sensitive to all insecticides and can be killed by a dog product.
For tick control on horses, we have a pour-on product that contains a long acting permethrin. It lasts about a month after you apply it. Hopefully, it will be cold enough by then that the ticks will be less active. Both fleas and ticks are definitely looking for a blood meal and a warm place to spend the winter right now.
Ticks can transmit a variety of diseases to the animals (and people!) they bite, including Lyme disease, tick fever, babesiosis, anaplasmosis and tick paralysis. We have blood tests at the clinic that we can run to see if your animal is infected with one or more of these diseases. The best prevention is to use a tick control product and to check for ticks frequently. In order to transmit most of the diseases, the ticks have to be attached for over 24 hours.
HAVE A SAFE FINISH TO THE HARVEST!