Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital™ Blog

A high-pressure system is building in through April, cutting off the Pineapple Express that brought a constant train of atmospheric rivers this winter. In the wake of all that water, we expect to see a dramatic spike in mosquitos spreading heartworm.

If you're a long-time pet owner, you know the drill – make sure the heartworm prevention medication for your furry friend is up to date and administered, and get rid of any standing water around the home. 

If you are a new pet owner, it's useful to understand why all this heartworm discussion is so important. Put simply, heartworm can be a matter of life and death, and prevention is absolutely key. If you have a few minutes, you might want to read our information page on Heartworm, an earlier blog post or both.

Cats cannot be treated for heartworm infection, which makes the strongest case possible for prevention. Indoor cats and indoor dogs are still at risk. Dogs can be treated, but by the time the mosquito bite turns into symptoms, adult worms have developed and populated blood vessels near the heart and non-trivial damage has been done. Plus, treatment is expensive, not without risks and difficulties, and by no means guaranteed. 

Heartworm prevention medication comes with essentially no risk to your pet. If your pet's been seen in the last year, reach out to us and we can take care of you. If your pet's not been seen in the last year, now is the time to get that appointment on our books. We're still working our way back to normal from the global pandemic and our calendar is still pretty slammed. Right now, the lead time to get in is running about four to five weeks out. With a 4-5 week lead time, it's easy to see why Heartworm, usually on our minds later in the spring, is on our minds now. 

We'll leave it to meteorologist to define mid-latitude cyclones, bomb cyclones and what qualifies as an atmospheric river. Some say California got 31 this winter, but while they figure it out, we all know it was a lot of water. Considering such an actively wet winter, what's coming is not rocket surgery – it's mosquitoes spreading heartworm. It's time to get rid of any standing water around the yard even in the smallest container, and time to make sure that heartworm prevention medication is up to date and administered monthly.

Joyful reunions are wonderful, and can remind us of what really matters. The residents of Pajaro, who had to evacuate with no notice and only the clothes on their backs, certainly have our hearts. 

Many had no choice but to leave their pets behind; we're sure most never imagined they'd be away for this long. We're heartened to learn of the efforts from SPCA Monterey County in rescuing animals and working to reunite them with their people.

It's a potent reminder that disasters often happen with no notice. It's also a reasonable reminder to take the time beforehand for emergency preparedness with your animals in mind. You may or may not be near a levy or a landslide, but we all live in earthquake country. To save you time, feel free to use our Pet Ready! checklist with links for additional helpful info.

It's also a dramatic reminder that pets can get separated from their humans. If you haven't already, you might want to consider having the microchip implanted the next time you're in to see your vet. The microchip itself is an extremely small electronic chip, encased in glass, and the whole unit is about the size of a grain of rice. It won't let you (or anyone else) track your animal; people who want tracking often get a special collar for a Tile or an Apple Tag or similar device. 

Instead, the microchip is placed directly in the animal's body and only gets activated when a scanner passes over the area. To learn more, feel free to discuss with your veterinarian. The American Veterinary Medical Association provides a nice FAQ on the microchip topic.

Finally, it's also a reminder of the wonderful work that local organizations can facilitate. Hundreds of individual volunteers came together for rescue, care and reunion, but it's SPCA Monterey County who made it all work. Unlike SPCA "chapters," SPCA Monterey County is a completely independent organization with everything made possible by their donors. 

During this crisis, they're also providing evacuated pet owners with the pet food they need. Often during local emergencies, such as wildfires, we will facilitate pooling resources with our clients, and work with our vendors to stretch those resources, to achieve a similar result. In this case it felt like duplicate effort. Instead, for anyone so inclined, we would suggest supporting SPCA Monterey County efforts directly, and perhaps specify "for Pajaro" in the comments field.

But whatever you do, please take a moment to appreciate your furry family members and include them in your preparedness efforts. When it comes to emergency preparedness, please let us know if we can help.

We have some of the best clients in the world who tend to be smart and compassionate. You've been really terrific throughout the pandemic. I can't tell you how much we really appreciate your supportive respect for the mitigations that have allowed us to follow the science and still remain open. As we move from drop-off-only to welcoming in-person appointments, we're going to keep masking indoors.

We want this to be a safe place for everyone, especially those who are literally immunocompromised. We have a duty to protect the vulnerable among our client community and staff by wearing masks and keeping current on booster shots. If you're vax'ed and boosted, then wearing a mask indoors is, indeed, a kindness – and we appreciate it. 

We will also continue to offer drop-off as an appointment option, particularly since some folks feel that an enclosed exam room poses more risk during the winter surge than makes them comfortable. For everyone else, we hope the indoor masking policy provides a comfortable level of reasonable protection.

Secondly, this winter is different. The triple whammy of upper respiratory viruses this year is worrying health care providers. Recently, the rate of Covid infection in California jumped 36% in a single week, typically a precursory rate to a surge. 

In addition, this year’s flu virus is leading to more hospitalizations than normal, and hitting much earlier in the season than normal. Masks help us avoid Covid and flu viruses as well as the current outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), for which there is no vaccine currently. It's a simultaneous triple whammy that poses a significantly increased concern this winter.

For these reasons, we will continue to require indoor masking throughout the winter. 

The good news is the virus match with the current flu vaccine this year is excellent. The county health department has asked us (and encourage you) to help spread the word to get protected. Nationally, only 10% of young kids are fully immunized for COVID and flu, and hospitals are filling up with sick kids. 

Kids and older adults are most vulnerable to Covid, RSV and flu so please help them get boosters and wear well fitting masks in crowded indoor settings. County-shared data show that cloth masks do not work very well. They advise, at minimum,  a surgical style mask should be used, but the most effective is a well-fitting KN95 or N95 respirator style mask. 

San Mateo County Health offers updated, bivalent boosters, which are effective against both the original strain of the virus and the Omicron variants, at its community clinics. Advance appointments are not required, but available, on MyTurn. Updated boosters and flu vaccines are also available from primary health care providers and pharmacies, such as Walgreens, CVS and others.

We encourage you to protect your families, help spread the word, and are tremendously grateful for your continued support of our indoor masking policy. Most of all, we hope everyone has a safe, healthy holiday season, and stays safe and healthy all winter long.

A little consideration in advance can prevent a scary Halloween-related animal emergency! Before you open the door to trick or treaters and watch your animal bolt out of it, or before someone gives your dog chocolate, perhaps take a few minutes to avoid turning Halloween into an actual 'fright night.'

Top of the list of things to think about is to keep the chocolate away from dogs. Actually, keep any sugary or high-fat foods away from dogs, or even sugar-free foods with xylitol in them. At Mid-Pen, what we see most at Halloween (or any of the holidays, really) is urgent treatment for dietary lapses. Sometimes owners forget. Sometimes big-hearted relatives and friends just don't know. Sometimes people forget to tell their kids (don't forget; tell your kids!). But as you know, most animals won't themselves refuse.

Also, did you know that raisins or grapes - even those peeled fake-eyeball grapes - can be toxic to some dogs? 

Be aware of Halloween noises that could cause any pet to try to escape, or experience high anxiety. Perhaps put your animal where they can not escape, even with adrenalyn. This goes double if you're hosting a party, tripple if your animal is not yet microchipped.

Clearly, you know your animals best, but please remember they react differently than you do. If they are prone to anxiety, perhaps confine the pet in a crate or in cozy room with the TV on during trick-or-treat hours, or during a party.

A little consideration beforehand, can go a really long way to ensuring your Halloween - whether festive or chill - doesn't become a nightmare. 

Be safe out there and have a Happy Halloween!