The vets of Cedar Park Animal Clinic recently opened a new partnering clinic near Lakeline focused on pet wellness services.

With the tough economic times it seems clients are having a tougher time providing their beloved pets the same level of veterinary care that they could afford in the past.   Due to this, we have seen more and more clients seeking discount veterinary service to provide routine well care to their pets by using parking lot vaccine clinics and low cost spay/neuter facilities.   It is obvious that these models can offer lower cost veterinary service but they create a problem when your pet has a surgical complications or vaccine reactions and they have packed up and moved on or closed their doors.   It is these issues that gave birth to our new idea and model.

Affordable pet care is a pet wellness clinic. We are here to help you take care of pets routine wellness needs such as vaccinations, simple tests for internal and external parasites, skin infections, urinary problems, respiratory infections and well as sell the common needed prescriptions needed to treat and/or prevent the above problems.

Visit www.apc-vet.com for more information.

• It’s back to school time, and if you have children, you’ve probably stocked up on school supplies.   Dogs will inspect items and sometimes chew or carry items around in their mouth.  Cats may chew on ribbons, strings, and eat them. Items like glue, pencils and markers aren’t poisonous but can cause blockages in the intestinal tract.  Make sure your kids and you keep these items out of your animal’s reach.
• The use of rodenticides and insecticides increases in the fall as rodents, spiders and other unwanted creatures seek shelter from the cooler temperatures by attempting to move indoors.  These products are highly toxic to pets, if ingested, the results could be fatal.  If you must use these products around your home, do so with extreme caution and keep them in places that are not accessible to your pets.
• Likewise, many people choose fall as the time to change their car’s engine coolant.  Antifreeze smells good and the taste is very sweet.  Very small amounts can cause serious kidney damage and can even cause death.  If you use antifreeze products, make sure to store in tightly closed containers, out of reach of pets and children, and if it is spilled, then clean up area thoroughly.
• Autumn is the season when snakes are preparing for hibernation.  The 4 venomous snakes in our area are the rattlesnake, copperhead, water moccasin, and the coral snake.  Be careful with your pets access to wood piles, tall grass, rocky embankments, creeks and lakes.   Autumn is also when flowers and pollen producing plants begin to die off.  This means bees and wasps begin to lose their main source of sustenance.  These insects will often create new nests in piles of leaves that may collect around the yard.  Keep your yard raked from large leaf piles.  Insect bites are not typical life-threatening to most pets, but they can be an unnecessary evil.
• Fall is mushroom season.  While 99% of mushrooms have little or no toxicity, the small percentage that are can cause life-threatening problems in pets.  Most toxic mushrooms are difficult to distinguish from the nontoxic ones, so the best way to keep them from ingesting poisonous mushrooms is to keep them away from areas where any mushrooms are growing.
• Make sure your pets are well fed.  Pets will require a higher calorie diet when spending longer periods in colder temperatures because of the calorie burn needed to generate body heat.  Make sure outdoor animals have access to fresh water that is not frozen.  They also need shelter and a warm place to sleep.  A dog house should be no more than three times the dogs size and should face away from the wind.
• Cats and kittens like to nap on warm places, this can include car engines!  Knock on the hod of your car or truck or honk the horn, then wait a few minutes before starting the engine.  If in doubt, open the hood and look.
• Holiday food, alcoholic beverages, candy chocolate, turkey and pork, fish, bones, apples, and grapes just to name a few are hazards for pets.  Also certain plants like holly, mistletoe, and poinsettia plants are poisonous when consumed.  Enjoy their beauty while keeping pets safe by placing them well out of pet’s reach.
• Nothing says fall like a good adventure in the great outdoors.  Go ahead, enjoy the colorful leaves but be cautious in areas where hunters may lurk.  Both you and your pets should be wearing bright colors, too!