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Happy Easter!
 The Alta Vista team wishes you and your family a safe and happy holiday.
April is here and it is Heartworm Awareness Month. Please read below to find out more information on how to protect your pet. We are also proud to introduce Home Again Microchips check out the details below.
We appreciate your feedback so please feel free to comment or make any suggestions.
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April is Heartworm Awareness Month
 Over the last couple of years, we have seen a significant rise in the number of heartworm cases diagnosed in Arizona. This is likely due to the increase in mosquitos and rain we have seen. Heartworm Disease is a potentially life-threatening parasitic infection. Found worldwide, it infects wild and domestic dogs, sea lions, ferrets, and cats.
Heartworm Disease is caused by a worm, Dirofilaria immitis, and spread by mosquitoes. When a mosquito feeds on an infected animal, usually a dog, it ingests microscopic larvae in the blood. These microfilaria mature in the mosquito for about two weeks. When the mosquito bites a susceptible animal the infectious larvae are injected into its tissues. They migrate through the animal's body, maturing into adult worms over a period of months. The adult worms live in the heart and major blood vessels where they reproduce to create new microfilaria. The time from infection to appearance of microfilaria is about six months.
Dogs are highly susceptible to heartworm infection, while it is much less common in other domestic animals such as cats and ferrets.
Fortunately, effective preventive medications are available to protect dogs, cats, and ferrets. Most are given monthly and can be started as early as 6 weeks of age. Because of the 7-month minimum migration time of the larval heartworm after infection, it is not necessary to test dogs younger than 7 months of age. These puppies are too young to be infected and can be started on heartworm prevention without testing. Pets that begin heartworm prevention after 7 months of age should be tested before the preventive is given the first time, and again after six months to a year. Annual retesting is recommended.
A simple blood test can be at our hospital and results are known within 10 minutes! |
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HomeAgain is an advanced lost pet recovery service dedicated to the safety and well-being of your pet. The system is best utilized when a microchip with a unique ID number is injected between the shoulder blades of your pet, which can be done by our staff if your pet is not already microchipped. Once your pet is microchipped, we will enroll your pet's microchip ID, description, and photo, along with your contact information, in HomeAgain's pet database, which is critical to reuniting you immediately with your lost pet once he is found.
Once enrolled, your pet is entitled to all the additional benefits of the HomeAgain annual membership, including:
The cost is only $41.99 per microchip and includes all the above benefits!
If your pet already has a microchip your pet can still enroll and receive the benefits. Please ask any team member for details. |
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