Times are tough right now in our country, with more and more people watching their pennies and being very very careful how they spend their money. One thing we're concerned about is the tendency to procrastinate with veterinary care when money is tight. Our furry friends tend to be stoic and not complain much, even when they are in pain. Worse, many problems can be insidious, and not even cause them acute pain, just a low grade chronic pain. But they can't tell us about that......

We don't want anyone to be in a position to have to put off veterinary care for their middle aged pet because our country is going through difficult economic times.

And cats age, screening tests and regular exams are important ways to catch problems they can’t tell us about – problems that can often be managed to extend their life spans and improve their quality of life.

This year we're offering a very complete Senior Health Workup as well as a Senior Dental Package that includes the Senior Health Workup to all cats over 7 years old and all dogs over 5 years old. You may not think your cat needs a dental cleaning, and you may be right. But remember that we humans brush our teeth two or three times a day, and still get our teeth cleaned professionally two or three times a year nonetheless!

The best way to tell if your cat needs a dental cleaning is to let us take a look at the teeth. We can point out signs of gingivitis or periodontal disease that you might not otherwise recognize. We can also show you the teeth that some cats won't usually let you see. So if you're unsure, just call for a NO-CHARGE Dental Exam by one of our veterinary nurses. The chart on the left can help, but please feel free to take advantage of this no-charge exam.

Studies have proven that dental disease and periodontal disease can cause other problems in the body, much more severe than those that occur in the mouth. Unchecked dental disease can cause chronic pain and suffering (ever had a toothache that wouldn't go away?) in the gums and mouth. More insidiously, the bacteria in the periodontal pockets and plaque spreads through the bloodstream and can affect the kidney, liver, and especially the valves in the heart.

What If My Cat Doesn't Need a Dental Cleaning? What's the SENIOR HEALTH PACKAGE?

We humans try to go to a doctor for a complete physical (including blood tests) every year once we turn about 45 years old. If you remember that one year in our lives can equal between 7-10 years in a cat's life, you can understand why getting a senior workup every six months doesn't come close to matching what we think we should be doing in our senior pets. However, for practical reasons, the American Animal Hospital Association and many other veterinary organizations have set their standards as such that every cat over 7 years old should have veterinary exams with complete blood tests every six months!

Because cats can be so stoic, very often we don't see signs of disease outwardly. Blood and urine exams can give us early warning signs that something is happening, and we can take steps to try to make sure that budding problems never become serious problems. A perfect example would be the story of Sultan. Although Sultan is a dog, the lesson is the same.

Sultan was a perfectly normal senior dog, a Pharoh Hound. Because his keeper regularly brought him in for exams and blood tests, we noticed that in November 2008 his liver enzymes started to become elevated. Although more advanced diagnostics would have helped us understand better what was happening in Sultans liver, for financial reasons, those tests were not able to be performed. Nonetheless, we were able to treat Sultan with dietary changes, drugs, and Traditional Chinese Herbal formulas that helped keep his problem under control. Sultan is living a good happy life, we're controlling his liver disease, and it may never become a more serious or life threatening problem. But if we had not been performing these exams and test every six months, one day Sultan would have undoubtably come in because he was acting strange or ill, not eating, or jaundiced. At that point, all supplements in the world might not have helped.

Here's a quick breakdown of what's included in the Senior Health Package and the Dental Package:

**Senior Health Package**
Comprehensive Physical Exam		Starting with the tip of the nose, and covering everything to the tip of the tail, a good physical examination is priceless.

Blood Tests	CBC SMA	Helps us understand kidney function, liver function, infections, anemia, and many other organ functions and abnormalities. However, some of these tests don't change until a problem is already well advanced (as in kidney disease)

Urine Tests	Urinanalysis	The physical properties of the urine, together with the blood tests, help us understand kidney function. We also look at crystals in the urine, how acidic the urine is, and whether or not there may be a chronic bladder infection that you may not be aware of.
	ERD	This Early Renal Disease test shows the presence of microproteins in the urine that shouldn't be there. This gives us a "heads-up" to look for other problems that may be causing these proteins to leak into the urine. It also allows us to "quantify" renal disease.

Fecal Exam	Intestinal Parasite Panel	Although most city cats don't walk outside and come in intimate contact with the ground, dirt, and the feces of other animals, their human keepers do. And outdoor cats certainly do! These can all transmit worms, such as Roundworms, Hookworms, Whipworms, Coccidia, Giardia. Fleas can transmit Tapeworms. Many of these parasites are contagious to human beings. There are usually NO SYMPTOMS of worms in cats until the problem is quite serious.

EKG	Electro- cardiogram	This looks for any electrical conduction disturbances in the heart. Often, these can reveal problems before there are any symptoms

X-rays	Thoracic Radiograph	Chest X-rays not only look at the physical size of the heart, but also allow us to visualize the lung fields. Early asthma, pneumonia or heart disease are often revealed this way. Our cutting edge digital X-ray unit allows us to use much less radiation than standard units.

**Dental Health Package**
**(includes the Senior Health Pkg PLUS....)**
Dental Exam	Grading	This grading system (as you can see above) allows us to "quantify" the seriousness of the problem and keep track over time..

Procedure Day	I.V Catheter	Any anesthetic procedure must have a catheter in place in case we need to administer something quickly
	I.V. Fluids by Infusion Pump	These fluids maintain hydrations status and helps pet awaken more quickly and refreshed from anesthesia. The pump allows us finer control than manual adjustments.
	Anesthesia	All Dental procedures must be done under general anesthesia. We're using ultrasonic instruments in their mouths, and using probes to go into their periodontal spaces. Cats just won't let us do that while they're concious, not even when they are sedated.
	Cardiac Monitoring	All during the procedure we use an advanced computerized EKG monitoring system to help ensure anesthesia is a safe as possible
	Pulse Oximeter Monitoring	This device measure the level of oxygen in the blood, giving an early warning if any physiological processes are occuring that may require additional oxygen

The Dental Procedure	Dental Scaling	We manually break off pieces of accumulated tartar and plaque
	Periodontal Exam	Using dental probes, we assess the depths of the periodontal pockets.
	Periodontal Treatments	If the Periodontal Pockets are deep we inject an antibiotic paste into them to help kill the bacteria that our probes can't reach.
	Ultrasonic Scaling	Using the ultrasonic cavitron, we scale the teeth until they are smooth. We use the ultrasonic probes to go under the gum line and clean the accumulated plaque that is invisible to us.
	Dental Polishing	It is essential to polish the teeth with high speed instruments after the cleaning is done. This smooths the tooth surface and helps prevent furthur accumulation of tartar and plaque. (another reason you should never let your groomer clean the teeth)
	Flouride Treatment	After the teeth are clean and smooth, they're treated with a Flouride Foam to help keep them smooth, and prevent cavities
	Antibiotic Injection	As we scale the teeth, aerosolized bacteria can get into the bloodstream or the lungs. This injection will help prevent any infection that may arise from that.
	Antibiotics	You'll need to continue using antibiotics for a full week after the procedure
	ProBiotics	Too often, antibiotics can cause diarrhea. We'll send you home with MultiProBiotics to help prevent this from happening.
		What's Not Included
Before the Dentistry	Vaccines	All cats coming into the hospital have to be up to date on all easily contagious diseases. If you're unsure about which vaccines your cat may need, just call and speak to any receptionist.
	Retro Viral Panel	For the safety of all cats in the hospital, any cat admitted to the hospital for anything must be confirmed Feline Leukemia and Feline AIDS negative. So if your cat had a FeLV test and has been continuously vaccinated against FeLV, then we needn't repeat the test. If not, then we'll do the FeLV test and FIV test before admission. A cat may have FeLV or Feline AIDS and could have no symptoms at all. But either of these diseases could serious compromise a safe anesthetic procedure.

During the Dentistry	Dental Radiographs	Sometimes we simply need to take Dental X-Rays. You know that your dentist does it routinely, but in veterinary medicine we try to use our clinical judgment to decide when it's appropriate, in an effort to control expenses. In a Grade IV Dentistry, we may need to do full mouth radiographs, whereas in a Grade II Dentistry we may not even need a single X-ray
	Periodontal Treatments	We inject periodontal spaces with a long acting antibiotic gel that can help kill the bacteria sitting and breeding in those spaces.
	Extractions	Some teeth need to be extracted when they are loose. Other teeth need to be extracted when the roots are diseased, infected or painful. The amount of work to extract certain teeth is significantly more than others. Canine teeth and the three rooted molars can take upwards of 40 minutes to extract, but when they need to come out, removing them can provide instant relief from chronic pain.

The Senior Health Package (if we were not to discount everything) would have a usual value of $595, and the Dental Package (again, if not discounted) would normally cost about $950. But now, (thanks to a special arrangement made with our laboratory) we're able to offer these packages at the extremely low fee of $395 for the Senior Health Package and $495 for the Senior Dental Package. These are the same fees as we charged last year.

HOWEVER, in years past we've deluged with owners wanting to get these packages, and our time and resources are limited. Therefore we can accept only the first 75 requests in each hospital, so call early.

Finally, we're doing something we've NEVER EVER done before!
We're extending this offer to any of your friends with pets. However, because they're new clients, there will be an additional fee of $80 for the Comprehensive Physical Examination (which is included in the package for our existing clients).

It's still an incredible opportunity, and one can only realize how great an opportunity it truly is when you think that an examination alone can cost between $75-$95 in most practices here in the area. And we'd like to offer you one more great incentive to give your cats the care that they deserve.

If you refer a friend who's never been to us before for this special package, we'll give you 10% off the cost of your package. In fact, we'll offer you 10% off for EACH new client who comes in with you as the referral source! It's a win-win-win-win-win situation. You save money, your friend saves money, two (or more) dogs or cats get what they need, and we have an opportunity to extend our services to new clients!

So if you know someone who has a cat or dog whose pet needs a Senior Workup or Dentistry, simply forward this newsletter to them, and tell them to call our nearest hospital. We will honor it for all NEW clients referred by one of our existing clients. (There will be an additional fee of $80 for the Comprehensive Physical Examination (which is included in the package for our existing clients)

We've always held this special out ONLY for our existing clients, and we've always done it ONLY for one month. But times are tough all over, and we want to extend this opportunity to any friends of yours who could use it. So we'll be working overtime for TWO months, and we're happy to do that and help out our senior pets.

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Dental Special 2010 CATS

Newsletter

Holey Moley! It's National Veterinary Dental Month! We've Got a Great Offer for You! (with an extra special offer for your friends with pets!)

Holey Moley! It's
National Veterinary Dental Month!
We've Got a Great Offer for You!
(with an extra special offer for your friends with pets!)