Keep your pet current with recommended routine physical examinations, booster vaccinations, and tests for intestinal parasites. Make sure regular heartworm prevention is a necessity for dogs and cats. Our veterinarians recommend spaying and neutering any animal not being used for breeding. Early spaying and neutering will significantly reduce your pet's chances of developing mammary tumors, uterine infections, testicular cancer, or prostate disease. Preventive health care could help keep otherwise minor problems from becoming dangerous to your pet and costly for you.

If your cat or dog has ever had fleas and/or ticks, you know how irritating a pest infestation can be. What you may not realize is just how dangerous that infestation can be, both to your pet's health and to your whole family's health. For example, ticks are known to transmit Lyme disease, while fleas can transmit tapeworms.

As their hosts brush past grasses and leaves, fleas and ticks can fall off and cling to the tips of plants, waiting to jump onto an animal as it walks by. As a result, by the time they enter your home, these tiny pests have become powerful "disease factories." To understand what happens next, it helps to learn about the life cycle of each.

Your dog and cat should have regular dental examinations and teeth cleaning, just like humans do. Dental health can have a big impact on your pet's health and longevity.