Animal Care Center of Castle Rock & Castle Pines, p.c.

Home Dental Care

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:29:48 +0000

Home Dental Care and Fracture Prevention

Professional cleanings are sometimes necessary for maintaining or improving the oral health of your pet. In addition, proper dental care at home is highly recommended, and can prolong the frequency of these procedures.

Tooth Brushing

The best method of preventing plaque, calculus, and bacterial build-up is brushing your pets teeth, specially formulated toothpaste for pets contain excellent materials to fight oral disease. Brush teeth once daily to prevent periodontal disease, and provide a positive bonding experience. For questions regarding proper brushing of your pets teeth, contact your veterinarian.

Dental Formulated Foods

Dental formulated foods such as Hills Prescription Diet t/d work to mechanically or chemically slow the progression of dental disease by targeting plaque and calculus, are completely balanced and can be used as the complete diet or may be added in with the existing food.

Gels, Rinses, and Water Additives

OraVet Plaque Prevention Gel (used weekly) and Chlorhexide Oral Rinse for additional plaque prevention, and water additives such as Oxyfresh Oral Hygiene or C.E.T. Aquadent can also used daily to slow down the accumulation of plaque and calculus.

Bones, Chews, and Toys

Proper bones, toys and specially formulated chews can help clean teeth, remove plaque, and prevent calculus deposition. Among the recommended include CET dental chews, Greenies, Blue Buffalo Blue Bones, variety of Kong toys, and PuppyChew and FlexiChew by Nylabone.

Fracture Prevention

To prevent tooth fracture, it is very important to only let your pets chew safe bones and toys (able to be bent or indented with your fingernail). Examples of non-safe bones include but are not limited to: real bones, nylon bones, antlers and cow hooves. Other things to strongly avoid are ice cubes, sticks, and rocks, and puppy behavioral issues to discourage are biting the buckle of their leash, and their cages or crates.

Canine Obesity

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:04:00 +0000

Companion animals (dogs and cats) have become a very important part of our lives in today’s society. We see them more as family members rather than merely back yard or barn occupants. Because of this new trend in our society, preventative medicine has become increasingly more important to the health of our pets. Dog owners will provide routine annual preventative care for their pets such as vaccinations and vaccine antibody titers, heartworm testing and prevention, extensive diagnostic lab work ups, and even dental root canals and teeth cleanings. However, one health condition which dog owners and a majority of their veterinarians over look is obesity.
Obesity in our dogs is one of the most frequent medical (nutritional) problems we see as veterinarians. It has been estimated that the prevalence of canine obesity is between 25% and 40% in the United States (an interesting side note is that Denver’s dogs are in better shape than the national average). A dog is considered to be overweight when they are as little as 9% to as high as 18% above their ideal weight. A good illustration of this is that happy-go-lucky Labrador retriever we routinely see in our practice that tips the scale at 90 pounds but should be in the 75 pound range. These dogs are 15% to 20% above their ideal weight. Why does this matter you ask? Excellent question!
Obesity can ultimately decrease the quality and longevity of your dogs’ life. Obese dogs are much more likely to develop osteoarthritis, type II diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), heat intolerance, dermatological problems, respiratory disease, and even some forms of cancer! The bottom line is…just like their human counter parts, obese or overweight dogs are going to live a shorter life. Why would we want our family members to have a shorter life when their life span is already not long enough?
Interesting research the Pfizer Animal Health Company has been conducting on canine obesity is that obese dogs have a much higher amount of white fat. They are finding evidence that suggests these fats form the precursors to an inflammatory mediator in the joint. Ultimately, this means that one of the reasons why we see a higher incidence of osteoarthritis in overweight dogs is not just from the stress of the extra pounds on the joint. These mediators of inflammation are causing an inflammatory process in the joint leading to joint swelling and joint pain.
Recognizing that obesity is a medical (nutritional) disease is the very first step to preventing a problem and/or correcting one. Checking your dog’s weight on a regular monthly basis and determining their Body Condition Score (Nestle Purina® Body Condition System) is a great idea. An ideal dog should have easily palpable ribs with minimal fat covering them. Their waist should be easily noted and abdomen tucked when viewed from above. Be sure to try this at home!
Here are some general tips/guide lines that will get you and your dog on their way to a proper Body Conditioning Score. First and foremost have your veterinarian examine your dog for a weight loss program and possibly rule out medical conditions such as hypothyroidism or hyperadrenocorticism (a.k.a. Cushing’s disease) by a routine physical exam and diagnostic lab work up.
Weight gain is caused by an excess amount of calories over the dog’s metabolic requirements. Restricted calorie diets should be recommended to decrease the number of calories being fed. Remember to watch the number of treats that you give your dogs as they add calories, and never use self-feeders. Even Greenies® for tartar control can pack on excessive amounts of calories. You can feed low calorie treat such as canned green beans, baby carrots, celery, apples, broccoli or other vegetables. Remember that any time a diet change is made, do it over about 4 or 5 days to prevent digestive indiscretion. If your dog is begging for food, you can offer fresh water, play ball with them outside or even take them for a walk. Another good idea is to divide the amount of food they are to get in the day and feed it to them in 5 or 6 small meals through out the day to keep them satisfied. If you have several dogs on different diets make sure to feed them in separate rooms.
Exercise, exercise, exercise are the one, two, and three most important steps to a good canine weight reduction program. Walk your dog for weight loss and not pleasure. This means walk at a brisk pace of 12 to15 minute miles with their head up for at least 30 minutes a day. No fire hydrant stops on the way! Be sure to gradually work up to that pace for the first 7 to 14 days to prevent injury (especially for yourself). When it’s warm outside, be sure to bring fresh water for your canine cohort. Also, you can do some extra things around the house like playing fetch, moving the dog dish up and down the stairs to make them go find it, or having them work to earn their food.
The goal for weight loss should be about 3% to 5% of their body weight per month. The ideal body weight of your dog should be reached in about 6 to 8 months. This means that you should have regular weigh-ins about every 30 days until their ideal Body Score has been reached. Then check their weight every 3 to 4 months to prevent it from recurring. These steps will help you and your dog develop a stronger bond and increase their health and longevity. For more information contact your family veterinarian or visit the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention at www.petobesityprevention.com.

Welcome Dr. Dale Rice to Our Equine Practice

admin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:04:03 +0000

To All of our Equine Clients,

Animal Care Center of Castle Pines is proud to announce the addition of Dr. Dale Rice as an affiliate of our practice. Dr. Rice will be working solely with our equine patients in order to better serve their needs. He will be accessible for more hours than our current staff of doctors can be away from the hospital. He will be equipped to ensure the highest quality equine care.

After a long, successful career in animal/food safety, quality and research, Dr. Rice decided to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a veterinarian. In 2009 he received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University. His passions are equine dentistry, parasitology, and nutrition. He believes preventing disease and injury are the best ways to ensure owners have the best experience and maximum time with happy and healthy horses.

Scheduling for Dr. Rice will continue to be handled by our Client Care Specialists at

303-688-3660.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Rice as a new member of our team.

Best of the Best Veterinarians in Douglas County 2011

admin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:30:28 +0000

The Doctors and staff of the Animal Care Center of Castle Pines would like to thank our awesome clients for voting us Best of the Best Veterinarians in Douglas County Colorado for the third consecutive year!

AAHA Accreditation Renewed

admin — Sat, 21 May 2011 23:28:14 +0000

The doctors and staff at the Animal Care Center of Castle Rock and Castle Pines are excited to announce that we have passed the strenuous 6 hour inspection (with flying banners and colors!) from AAHA on May 11th, 2011. We are officially AAHA re-certified for 3 more years. AAHA Accreditation demonstrates our care center’s dedication to excellence in serving our clients and patients.

Elway’s Restaurant Gift Certificate Winner

admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 03:02:36 +0000

The drawings are in and our winner is Ginger Sayor. Congrats Ginger!!! Thanks to all of our wonderful clients that participated and gave us such valuable information.

Denver Dumb Friends League

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:22:51 +0000

Did you know that the doctors at the Animal Care Center of Castle Rock/Castle Pines have been volunteering their medical knowledge and surgical skills to the Buddy Center since their opening in 2002? We donate our time twice a month to the DDFL for surgeries such as spays, neuters and dental treatments.

Please visit their website and consider donating monetarily or volunteering your valuable time for their pets in need.

http://www.ddfl.org/

Heartworm Clinics 2011

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:54:56 +0000

Please join us either Saturday April 2nd or May 7th for our annual Heartworm Clinics. Please call us for additional information.

2011 Heartworm Clinics

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:03:42 +0000

The Animal Care Center of Castle Rock/Castle Pines has selected Saturady April 2nd and May 7th for heartworm clinics. Please click on the link below for additional information or call our office any time.

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