Sally, Wise and Wonderful
Hello, Wise and Wonderful Family! This is Sally, your fourth year DVM student extern here to share with you the 10 things I learned during my externship.
1. Integrative medicine is the partnership of evaluating the entire animal and science-based medicine. Herbs and acupuncture are just as important as vaccinations and preventatives.
2. Clinic cats (s/o Purrci) are a must have!
3. Heartworm disease is REAL. Heartworm prevention is an easy and safe way to keep your pet from experiencing a tragic and hard to treat disease. Also, as proven by my active mosquito bites, there are mosquitos in California!
4. Dental procedures are surgical procedures. So much skill is required!
5. Did you know that cats don’t have as many molars as dogs because cat diets are more carnivorous?
6. Raw food can be dangerous, especially in puppies/kittens/immunocompromised animals due to the salmonella load. It can even lead to salmonella disease in family members. Raw diets are not as nutritionally balanced, so, to do it right, please consult a nutritionist.
7. Even if your pet is indoor only, they can still have fleas. I don’t know why or how. Those fleas are tricky beasts. But trust me, I have personally seen these fleas on many indoor pets.
8. Ok back to the fleas, there are tons of topical and oral prevention options for both fleas and ticks (because ticks carry all sorts of disease) that Wise and Wonderful can recommend! These are given monthly, just like heartworm prevention!
9. The State of California legally requires all cats and dogs be vaccinated for rabies before they are five months old. This not only reduces the risk of rabies, but also legally protects your pet if they bite a person or another animal – or are bitten by another animal.
10. Wise and Wonderful is an amazing practice with amazing people! Working with a fun team makes this job pretty awesome. I have learned so much from them and couldn’t be more grateful for this experience!
