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We are introducing a newsletter that we will be sending to our clients to keep you posted with current topics about your pets. We will also use this opportunity to give you updates about Catoctin Veterinary Clinic. If we get good feedback we will continue this newsletter every few months. Since this is the first newsletter any suggestions would be welcome to help it evolve as time goes on.

The shelter has been swamped with animals in need of help recently and has had a shortage of volunteers for their pets to vets program. If you would like to offer you services to volunteer you can visit their website at www.loudoun.gov and follow the links to the Department of Animal Care and Control.

We would like to welcome Dr. Susan Conway as a full time associate veterinarian. She has been a native of Loudoun County for over 18 years and she graduated from Wellesley College in 1985 and from the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004. She initially entered veterinary school to become an equine veterinarian but changed her concentration to small animal medicine during her education. After graduation she completed an internship at a local veterinary specialist and emergency care center located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. While there she worked with a number of specialists including veterinary surgeons, neurologists, cardiologists and oncologists.

She has six Jack Russell Terriers and two horses and has placed many stray Jack Russell Terriers into good homes throughout Loudoun County. She is a wonderful clinician and has also become our local pet nutrition expert. Outside the office she enjoys running, tennis, and has recently taken up golf. Dr. Conway has already developed a loyal following within the clinic. She is available for appointments Tuesday through Saturday.

As in the past Dr. Robbins will be in the clinic seeing appointments or performing surgeries Monday through Friday and every other Saturday. Dr. Pease will continue to be available Mondays and Fridays to help with the Catoctin Veterinary Clinic’s four legged patients.

We would also like to wish Dr. Lynn Encarnacion good luck in her new adventures. She has decided to relocate to Florida with her husband Steve and her cat Charlotte. We are sure it will just be a temporary stop on her way to Colorado, where she ultimately wants to be.

Most of you have probably seen some of the worms that infest dogs and cats. These include Roundworms, Hookworms, Tapeworms and Whipworms. However, there are a lot of parasites that live in your pet’s intestines that can not be seen with the visible eye and the use a microscope or antigen testing is needed to make diagnosis.

Coccidia is one of the parasites we find it frequently in puppies and kittens. It is generally not life threatening but can sometimes cause some pretty severe diarrhea. Fortunately, it is usually well controlled with a 1 or 2 week course of medication.

Another intestinal parasite that we are seeing much more frequently is Giardia. Giardia is a protozoal agent that lives in the intestines. It can cause a wide range of symptoms including vomiting and loss of appetite, but the most common symptoms of infection are diarrhea or soft stool. In order to diagnose Giardia we need to perform an antigen test on a stool sample. In a study we performed at Catoctin Veterinary Clinic recently we found that 25% of the fecal samples submitted for analysis were positive for Giardia. This is such a high proportion that we now routinely test for it when we perform a fecal analysis. One of the important issues about Giardia is that it is zoonotic, meaning it may be transmittable to people. Fortunately, recent studies show that the cat and dog Giardia species is very easily transmitted between animals but not as easily transmitted to people. Treatment is often very successful using Metronidazole or Panacur.

If you think your pet may have an intestinal worm or parasite submit a fresh fecal sample to our office. We usually have results within 24 hours and can dispense appropriate medication if we find any infection.

We are often asked how old a pet is in human years. The attached chart gives a good approximation of how old your dog is when compared to us.

Dog_Age.pdf

We are often asked how old a pet is in human years. The attached chart gives a good approximation of how old you cat is when compared to us.

Cate_Age.pdf