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Friday, February 25, 2011

Do I Really Need to Spend My Money on Preventatives???

Flea control.  Heartworm control.  Tick control.  Can you just feel the dollars being sucked out of your pocket by this billion dollar a year industry?

The average client will spend about $200 a year on flea control, and probably another $125-150 on heartworm control a year.  That's if you're doing things right and doing it every month as directed.  Call it $350 for maintenance. 

Does that freak you out?  Maybe something you want to avoid putting your well earned dollars towards?

Now....Think of it a different way. 

Let's say you decide NOT to spend money on these preventatives.  Let's look at what could happen.  Let's take it on a case by case basis.

"Arthur" is a male, 5 year old, Labrador Retriever around 75#'s.  He presented for hair loss and severe itchy skin.  Our exam finds him loaded with fleas and his skin has pustules and collarettes because he has created a secondary skin infection because he has been so self traumatizing.  We give him a steroid shot to calm his itch, start him on 6 weeks of oral antibiotics, prescribe a medicated shampoo for him to be bathed 2-3 times a week and send him home with Comfortis or Trifexis for flea control (only 2 that allow for bathing as they are oral).  Recheck at 3 weeks.  Antibiotics don't seem to be working.  We run a culture on a pustule and switch him to something more broad spectrum for an antibiotic.  We recheck him at 6 weeks and finally he is showing progress but 3 more weeks of antibiotic will be needed.  Recheck at 9 weeks and he is finally better and off of medication (except flea control). 

Total bill:  $782

Pretty easy math here......routine preventative would have cost $200/yr for flea control.  That's $582 MORE for a preventable problem and God only knows what value one could place on the TIME required here (visits to vet, bathing dog, doing medications twice daily, etc...).  Avoidable.  Easy to prevent with proper preventative protocols.

Next case:
"Beau Geste" a 4 year old Pitbull male neutered doggy.  Presents for coughing and exercise intolerance.  Chest xrays show right sided heart enlargement and tortorous pulmonary arteries.  Heartworm test is run and is POSITIVE.  An echocardiogram shows evidence of right sided heart failure, visible heartworms in the right ventricle.  A procedure is required with the cardiologist to remove the heartworms that are in the heart (can't kill these with medicine yet, because they will stop up the heart and cause sudden death).  Beau survives the procedure and 2 weeks later is started on an arsenic based medication to begin killing the other worms in his lungs.  3 treatments 2 weeks apart are started.  Beau must be kept very quiet so that he does not embolize the worms.  He is fortunate enough to survive the treatment. 

TOTAL BILL- $5245.00.  ($2500-3000 for cardiologist and his special procedure.... $2000-$2500 for diagnostics and treatment at our hospital).

Heartworm preventative- $90/yr.

I wasn't very good at math.... but prevention seems like a no brainer in these cases. 

We all want to save money.  This economy still hasn't seen the light of day...but I would urge all of you to use caution at what you skip when it comes to the care and well-being of your pets.

Doing flea control and heartworm control is not only good medicine for your pet.... it's just plain cheaper than dealing with the very likely poor outcome of not doing what is best.

I've even got better news! 

Comfortis (our favorite flea product) is now available as TRIFEXIS- a combo of Spinosad (active ingredient of Comfortis) with Milbemycin (long trusted and safe monthly heartworm preventative medication) ALL IN ONE once a month pill.  EVEN BETTER NEWS- total cost is only a few bucks MORE per year.  People who have done both Comfortis and Heartgard for instance stand to SAVE $90/year!!

I know it's tough.... and I actually stand to lose money if everyone follows my advice here.... it's actually good for business when people don't put their pets on preventatives.... but we truly want what is best for your pets!  Don't skip these simple preventative steps!

FINAL NOTE:  All flea and heartworm preventatives are only guaranteed against side effects when purchased through a veterinary clinic or through our online distributor Proxy.  For instance:  If your dog has a problem on the medication, you will receive a full refund and coverage for medical costs if it can be traced to the medications if purchased through us.  THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH THE "ONLINE PHARMACIES" out there.... distributors refuse to work with them because often their products are counterfeit.

Call us for further information 858-272-6255!