We are continually striving to improve our services and have been working on alternate communication methods to enhance your experiences with The Drake Center.  We would love to add email communications and texting to our telephone contact.  Would you like to receive an email or text while you are vacationing and your pet is boarding with us letting you know how things are going and what your pet is doing? Would you love it if it contained a picture? How about if your pet is here with us having a dentistry? Would you like brief updates through the day to ease your worry? Do you spend the day wondering what is going on? We want to provide updates so you can be in the loop.   After procedures we like to follow up.  Would it be nice to get an email that you can respond to? We typically call the following day and receive answering machines so we really don’t get the opportunity to find out how your pet is really doing, and we want to know! There are so many other ways we can utilize these great communication tools so please let us know what you think.  Of course this will never replace our need to speak in person or over the phone it is just an added tool to add to our ability to stay in touch with you about your precious pet. Please share your thoughts.

Foxtails are annual grasses that are common in weedy areas around roads, paths, and fields. They are soft and green January thru March or early April. In late spring however, the heads begin to dry and that is when danger begins, lasting throughout summer and fall. Foxtails slip easily into holes, but their tiny barbs make them difficult to pull out. Foxtails cause problems for all breeds and can become embedded in the coat and will eventually burrow through the skin and into the body. Common sites of entry are through the nose, ears, in between toes, the throat and can even in the eye.

If your dog shows any signs of pawing at the nose, sneezing, bleeding from the nose, tilting or shaking the head, pawing at the ear, crying or moving stiffly, squinting or has any redness or swelling or is licking an area excessively you should bring him in immediately. In addition to this being painful, and causing localized abscesses and infection, foxtails can migrate and lodge in the lungs or other internal organs.

Prevention can be easy by keeping your dog out of fields with long grass, keeping your lawn trimmed and free of weeds and brush, check your pet regularly after walks. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

The effect of the lunar cycle on animal and human medical conditions has always been a source of interest and debate. A university veterinary medical center studied the frequency of canine and feline emergency visits with respect to the lunar cycle. Emergencies were classified as animal bite, cardiac arrest, epilepsy, ophthalmic, gastic dilatation-volvulus, trauma, multiple diseases, neoplasia, or toxicosis. The lunar cycle was classified into eight phases, ranging from new moon to full moon to waning crescent moon, and lasted 29.5 days. The results of the study revealed that the number of emergencies on full moon days was not significantly different from nonfull moon days for either dogs or cats. However, significant differences existed in the number of emergencies for both animals observed on fuller moon days (waxing gibbous, full moon, and waning gibbous phases) compared with other days. The risk was 28% greater in dogs and 23% greater in cats. – Veterinary Medicine February 2008