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April is National Heartworm Awareness Month 

Hill Country Animal Hospital wants to increase your heartworm awareness level and  make sure you understand how important keeping your pet on heartworm prevention really is.

How Are Heartworms Transmitted?

Heartworms are transmitted to your dog or cat via mosquitoes.  Mosquitoes become infected by biting a dog or cat that has heartworm disease and then can spread heartworms to subsequent dogs or cats that they bite.  Dogs are a natural host for heartworms and that is why most of the emphasis is on prevention and treatment in dogs.  Cats can be a host but they are an atypical host.

Once the animal has been infected, heartworms grow to about a foot long and live in the heart and lungs of the infected animal.  In the dog Continue…

Poison is a strong word but it is kind of a big deal!

This week is National Pet Poison Prevention week and we want you to know that poison can be anything from a toxic chemical to an accidental ingestion of something in a toxic amount. When pets eat things they shouldn’t we often refer their owners to the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control hotline.  This hotline is staffed with veterinary professionals who have access to much more reference information that a typical veterinary hospital.  Veterinary toxicologists Continue…

Why are we talking about parvovirus right now?  The answer is because parvovirus has been making the rounds in San Antonio for the last month or so in much higher numbers than we usually see.  We don’t really want to test your knowledge of parvovirus but we do want to make sure that you are well educated about it so you can protect your dogs.  It is all about what you know about parvovirus.

What Exactly is Canine Parvovirus?

Canine Parvovirus, often just called parvo, is a highly contagious viral disease that can be fatal.  This virus attacks the intestinal tract of dogs and puppies causing vomiting and diarrhea.  Dogs stop eating and become at high risk for dehydration making hospitalization necessary. Continue…

Rattlesnake season is not over yet!

Copyright: steve_byland / 123RF Stock Photo

Helotes and San Antonio have been seeing days and days of steady rain and this is bringing out rattlesnakes.  When it rains, snakes seek higher ground and this increases our chances of encountering them.  This rain may be contributing to the high number of dogs being bitten by rattlesnakes recently.  Regardless of the reason we want to remind you that rattlesnake season is not over quite yet.

Be vigilant about inspecting your yard especially if you have seen or heard of snakes in your neighborhood.  We are frequently asked if snake repellent works and the answer is we don’t really know.  Many of our clients use it and have not seen snakes in their yard.  Would they have seen them otherwise?  Who knows, but it can’t hurt to try as long as you aren’t putting yourself or your dog at risk with the repellent. Continue…

Is all the hype about Canine influenza virus just that, hype?  Unfortunately it is not.  Canine influenza virus or CIV, is the real deal and it is here in Texas.  We are hoping that we aren’t facing the same kind of outbreak that the Midwest faced in 2015 but so far, we do have 5 confirmed cases in various counties.  There have been two confirmed cases in Houston (Harris County), and we were just made aware of 3 more cases in the following counties:  Fort Bend, Hood and Travis.  As you know, Travis County is close to home so we really want to make sure that we get the word out to our clients.  

Hill Country Animal Hospital has the combined vaccine that protects dogs from both strains of CIV with one injection.  If your dog has never been vaccinated for either strain, your dog will require an initial vaccine and a booster 3-4 weeks later.  If your dog has been fully vaccinated for either strain of CIV to include an initial vaccine and the booster, your dog will only need a booster of this new, combination vaccine.  If you aren’t sure about your dog’s risk factors or vaccine status, call us at 210-695-4455.   Continue…

Welcome to Hill Country Animal Hospital’s new blog! Please hang tight while we work on our first post…