As winter creeps into the North Bay, protecting your pets from the weather is crucial. November is when temperatures start dropping into the freezing-cold category and snow blankets the bay. 

The cold weather can pose various risks to your furry friends, including frostbite and hypothermia. But never fear! The team at Parkside Animal Hospital has winter pet care tips to help keep your pets safe and comfortable.

As the seasons change, it’s our responsibility as pet owners to ensure our pets are comfortable and safe. At Parkside Animal Hospital, we want to help you make the necessary temperature adjustments for pets as the cooler months approach. 

No one wants their pet to be sick, and no one wants their pet to get other pets or people sick. Preventive care for pets is so important, and vaccinations are a big part of that. Parkside Animal Hospital is here to help you navigate dog and cat vaccines, and to provide the best preventive care for pets in our care. 

June is Adopt-A-Cat-Month. If you’ve been wondering if now is the right time to bring home a shelter cat, we can assure you, it is. With “kitten season” in full swing, there seem to be more cats available than there are homes. Adopting a cat makes a difference in the life of one cat, but the good deed goes far beyond a single kitty. 

The snow is finally melting, and the bounty of spring is beginning to arrive. Of course, along with the fresh breezes, colourful flowers, and singing birds come the parasites we all love to hate. Tick season has officially arrived, and protecting your pet—and your family—from the many diseases they carry is a top priority. Fortunately, the team at Parkside Animal Hospital is here to help!

Ticks are infamous for feeding on the blood of various mammals, but the fact that they spread disease secures their reputation as one of the world’s most revolting insects. Without a doubt, the sight of an engorged tick attached to a pet rattles our sense of health and safety. With the proper prevention and attention, you can avoid dealing with this unfortunate disease in your pets. 

Most of us know that any word ending in “-itis” usually isn’t good. In fact, the suffix refers to disease characterized by inflammation. Because of the enormous impact that dental health has on the whole body, we emphasize dental cleanings 1-2 times a year. Additional tactics at home, such as daily or weekly brushing, dental chews, or even water additives, can prevent gingivitis and stomatitis in cats. 

Sassy, finicky, and incredibly inquisitive, cats have high standards, and so do we! At Parkside Animal Hospital, we’re proud to be a certified Cat Friendly Practice®, which means we take the care and comfort of our feline friends seriously. Cats have unique behaviors and healthcare needs, and we provide customized care in a manner that causes as little stress as possible to our cat patients. 

Keep reading for more reasons why your fabulous feline deserves a cat veterinarian: 

Medicine is an ever-changing science, with new options emerging all the time. Not only are new discoveries happening, but new surgical techniques are also being developed. In particular, endoscopy has allowed us to do more than ever with less invasive methods for our patients. Parkside Animal Hospital is happy to be able to offer this technology to better care for the pets that depend on us.

The ingestion of a foreign body is a common complaint among veterinary patients. After all, pets learn about their world through their senses, and they just like to eat in spite of flavor or the potential for danger. 

A foreign body is something inside the body that’s not supposed to be there. The risk of moving certain objects through the gastrointestinal tract is incredibly high, and some items simply get stuck where they don’t belong. Luckily, veterinary diagnostics techniques and even surgery can save the day.