“Mite”-y Creepy Ear Mites

The “mite”-y Ear Mite!

Otodectes Cynotis is actually the very fancy name for Ear Mites. What exactly are Ear Mites? They are part of the arachnid family (just like ticks and spiders). Their food of choice? Wax and oils from your beloved pet’s ear canals. They’re particularly fond of cats, but can also be found in dogs and ferrets. Yikes!

Ear Mites are more common in outdoor animals, but that doesn’t mean your indoor pets can’t get them. These mites, just like fleas, can travel on clothing and shoes. It only takes one mite to make it to your pet’s ear canal to start causing problems. These little buggers can also spread very quickly in multi-pet homes. Especially if your pets like to sleep next to each other, groom each other, or play together.

How Do I Know if My Pet Has Ear Mites?
The most notable symptom you may see is your pet constantly scratching at their ears. You may notice a brown, slightly reddish discharge coming from your pet’s ears as well. Sometimes the discharge will look like ground coffee beans. Their ears may also become red, swollen, and painful. If you notice these symptoms, don’t wait too long to address them. Heavy scratching can lead to open wounds which can cause secondary infection of the skin. If a severe infestation is left untreated, it can eventually lead to hearing loss. Oi ve!

I Think My Pet Has Ear Mites! What Do I Do Now?
Fret not! If you think your pet has Ear Mites, schedule an appointment with your veterinarian to get things checked out! Ear Mites are easily seen with a microscope, so a cytology will be performed to confirm the presence of Ear Mites. This cytology can also show if there is any secondary infection present in your pet’s ears, such as bacteria or yeast.

If there are wounds present from all of that scratching, your veterinarian may want to do a skin cytology as well to make sure that there isn’t any kind of skin infection going on.

Ugh, Ear Mites Sound Like the Worst! Are They Hard to Treat?
Fortunately with a little ear cleaning and medication, Ear Mites are typically a simple problem to resolve. So ensure that all of the ear mites have been taken care of, treatment lasts anywhere from 3-4 weeks. Depending on the results of your pet’s exam, you may be given additional medications for pain and inflammation, or antibiotics if there are secondary infections present.

Because Ear Mites are easily spread, if you have more than one pet in your home you’ll most likely be asked to treat all of them at the same time.

Prevention is possible as well! Most monthly parasite preventatives (like Revolution Plus) have medication in them to help treat Ear Mites. Using these products every month as directed can help keep your pet’s ears mite free!

By: Tiana Bell

 

VetSource – What’s that?

We all know that life can be chaotic at times. How often do you find yourself looking online to order something simply because you do not have the time to go to the store in person? There’s almost an online store for everything you could ever need nowadays. The same goes for your pet’s food, treats, toys, & even their prescriptions.

There are numerous places that you can order your pet’s supplies online, 1800PetMeds, chewy.com, even Amazon! While this is great & more than convenient, things get a little murky when it comes to prescription drugs, preventatives, & diets.

Given the growing impact that online pharmacies have had, it is our duty as your pet’s veterinarians to offer a safe place for you to order your pet’s prescriptions through. That’s where VetSource comes in.

What is VetSource?

VetSource is the only industry-approved home delivery provider for your pet’s medications, foods, & other products. Their items come directly from the manufacturers, so you know exactly where your products have come from. While this may not be important for something like clothes or shoes that you’ve ordered online, it is absolutely crucial when it comes to prescriptions.

“Out of almost 12,000 websites that NABP (National Association of Boards of Pharmacy) reviewed, more than 95% of them operate out of compliance with pharmacy laws and practice standards that protect the public health.”
– safe.pharmacy

When ordering from other places, the manufacturer cannot guarantee the authenticity of the product, that it was stored or handled properly, etc. So if there ends up being an issue with the product, the manufacturer isn’t able to help unless it was purchased through an authorized retailer. You’re then at the mercy of that site’s customer service department. This goes for human medications as well, not just pet products.

More options = Better medicine

While the safety of your pets is the primary reason we’ve decided to have a VetSource pharmacy, the wide array of available products was a close second. In clinic, we’re limited to what we can physically carry. If we decided to carry every brand of heartworm prevention there was, there would be no room for anything else in the clinic! But with VetSource, we’re able to offer medications, diets, preventatives, & other products that we would not be able to offer to you otherwise. We are also able to offer a wider variety of sizes on some products. Overall, this allows us to practice the best medicine that we can for your beloved pets.

All orders that contain a prescription item comes to us to approve before VetSource will ship it. This is to ensure that all of the information is correct: The product, size, quantity,  dosing instructions, & so on. This allows for us to approve a set number of refills for the item as well. Once we’ve approved it on our end, VetSource gets the green light to charge your card & ship out your items! You’re not charged until your item ships.

But wait, there’s more!

VetSource is able to offer discounts directly from the manufacturers. You can still receive rebates on your purchases on flea & heartworm prevention. There are even some discounts available on auto-shipped orders.

That’s right! You’re able to set up your pet’s prescriptions on an auto-shipping schedule. You place the order, select how often you would like for it to be shipped to your house, & that’s it! The product will ship out automatically for the amount of refills that it’s been approved for.

VetSource also offers a “Remind Me” program with your pet’s monthly preventatives. They will ship out a single dose of the preventative the same day of every month. This will come to you the same time every month & help as an added reminder to give the preventative. These have free shipping as well! You’re more than welcome to purchase full boxes if you would like, but this is a wonderful tool for those that need just a little extra help with remembering to give the product.

Most orders ship for free as well! Free shipping is offered on all diets, auto-ship orders, & on orders over $49.

Oh no – We’ve changed my dog’s food & I just placed an order!

That’s ok! Contact the VetSource customer service & they’ll be more than happy to help you out. They can help you change the product & also credit you back for anything that may have already been shipped out. Same goes for if your pet refuses to eat the food that was ordered. All Purina, Royal Canin, & Hill’s Science Diet foods have a 100% palatability  guarantee. If your pet, for whatever reason, declines to eat the food, you can get your money back. You don’t even have to go through the hassle of shipping the food back. You can either donate it to a shelter or dispose of it.

What if I don’t want to make an account?

No problem! We can process the order for you in clinic or over the phone. We can do a one-time order or set up auto-shipping for you. VetSource is designed to be an convenient as possible for our clients. However you want to do it, we can do it.

Does this mean I can’t purchase my pet’s ___________ from you anymore?

Not necessarily. However, this is the case with some products. Some products, such as Galliprant and Sileo Gel, are too expensive for us to carry in clinic. In some cases, VetSource is able to offer these products for less than we could.

We are working on downsizing the amount of food that we have on hand. So please be sure to call the clinic to check our stock before running out of food. The plan is to eventually only have the smaller bags of dry food & some cases of cans in clinic. Larger bags will eventually be discontinued in clinic & only available online for home delivery. This will allow for more room to have more options in clinic for your pet to try before ordering it online.

But not to worry! We make sure that any product that we decide to stop carrying in clinic is available through VetSource first! We also do our best to inform everyone about the decision ahead of time as well.

We’re very excited about this & we hope that you are, too! We want to offer the most for you & your pets. Check out our store & take a look around! You can also visit VetSource’s website for more information. If you have any questions or concerns, we’re happy to help!

By: Ashley Elliott