For most pets we recommend spaying or neutering at 6 months of age. However, there may be special circumstances that would warrant doing either procedure earlier or later, so be sure to check with our veterinarians. 

Spaying and neutering prevents your pets from becoming parents! A spay is performed on a female cat or dog and removes their ovaries and uterus. A neuter is performed on a male dog or cat and removes their testicles. Both procedures have many benefits including preventing heat cycles, decreasing aggression, urine marking and running away, plus prevents many cancers. 

We begin vaccines at 6-8 weeks in both puppies and kittens. Adult dogs and cats need boosters on a yearly or 3 year basis depending the actual vaccine. Pet vaccines prevent the most common infectious diseases of dogs and cats. Many of these diseases are often fatal, so proper vaccination is essential for a healthy pet. The Rabies vaccine is a state requirement for every cat and dog. See our recommended cat vaccine schedule and dog vaccine schedule. 

A microchip is a method of electronic identification that is placed just under the skin of your pet. Each chip has a unique number that can be read by a scanning device. If your pet is lost, the information can get them safely home to you. The chip is about the size of a grain of rice and is goes in like a vaccine. Pets do not notice the chip and it can't be felt while petting your cat or dog. 

The American Heartworm Society recommends monthly heartworm preventative all year long and yearly testing. Even if you are excellent about giving the preventative each month at the same time, it is possible that your dog spit it out or managed to loose a piece of the dose while chewing. It is important to diagnose and treat heartworm as soon as possible. For safety a simple, in office, blood test is required each year. For more information on Heartworm, click here. 

No, cats do not need to be declawed to be a happy member of your household. Please read the information  here  about living happily with your clawed cat.  Declawing a cat means amputating the from the last joint of each of their toes. That would be equivalent to taking off the end of each of your fingers. It is a very painful procedure. Deer Creek Vet does not perform this procedure. 

Blood work is performed on pets before many surgeries to check for any potential issues that may need to be addressed when going under anesthesia. Most often your pet will have blood drawn for a Complete Blood Cell count and a Blood Chemistry. The Complete Blood Cell count (CBC) identifies the different cells that make up your pet's blood, and looks for things like anemia or inflammation. The Blood Chemistry looks at the function of the internal organs. 

Currently, there is no evidence that pets can become sick from the  COVID-19 virus, or be a source of infection. The best thing you can do for yor pet with regards to the pandemic, is to make sure you have at least 2 weeks of food and medications on hand, and someone who will provide care should you become ill. For more information from the American Veterinary Medical Association click here.