We have heard it many times, "but it is winter time, how can I have fleas?"

         We aren't buried in snow except on our glorious mountains and we don't get overly hot during the summer. We live in a temperament climate, and although that might save us from some of nature's more unpleasant extremes and give us beautiful, enjoyable weather in the summer, it also provides a perfect breeding ground for fleas. It gets neither cold enough or hot enough in the mainland or coastal areas of BC to completely kill off the fleas in any of the seasons.

Well just how do I get fleas? I didn't see any fleas on any of the animals my dog or cat came in contact with!  

        Fully formed adult fleas are usually smaller than two millimeters in length. Eggs and and larvae are even smaller. Unless an infestation is quite bad, the chances of actually being able to see fleas on a cat or a dog at first glance are miniscule. Not only that, but if your cat or dog are left outside unattended, you might not see every animal that they may come in contact with. Even wild animals can have fleas and deposit them in your yard and be spread to your pet from just being out in the yard or even on a hike.

Now I have fleas, what do I do?

          There are several things that we would recommend you to do. First, to...

The "Toy Story"

A big shout out and tonnes of thanks to a very very loyal customer of ours for spoiling our clinic kitties with a new tree-house-scratch-pole. 

Though we are really big on letting our kitties have whatever toy they want, we would like to take the opportunity to remind owners to be aware that there are risks to toys. Choking hazards and ingesting a foreign objects is always a concern for me when it comes to choosing the right toy for my furry friends. So do consider ones that are more durable with minimal to no small parts. Grab something that involves your animal working hard for the treat. There are now toys that is more like a puzzle for the animals with the treats hidden inside. Fun, food, and exercise all-in-ones. :)

And if by chance your furry bugger swallowed a toy (or any foreign objects), look for signs of vomiting, pain and discomfort, diarrhea or constipation. These are signs telling you to take your animal to a veterinarian. At Norgate Animal Hospital, we have our in-house X-ray machine which can help us find out what we should do next. In case your baby is choking on a foreign body, do not wait, get to a nearby hospital as soon as possible. These foreign objects can suffocate your animal by blocking the airway. Other complications such as the foreign object pressing on the trachea causing discomfort or tearing of the windpipe.

If in doubt, please contact us (604) 980-2222 to book and appointment if you think your...

I am sure a lot of pet owners out there are experience the same thing as I am right now. 

Is your pet not letting you work? 

Well, Oreo (our clinic cat/queen) is making herself very useful by telling me that I should stop working or at least stop looking at the screen. With her mighty paws and her soft white tummy, it was were persuasive that I should focus on her for the next little while. Which of course, I am very happy to oblige :).

As I've mentioned before, we wanted to dress our clinic cat, our lovely Oreo for Hallowe'en~ and so we did!

Look at how adorable she is! You would have to forgive her for the lack of enthusiasm, the only thing she really cares about is that she gets her 14-hours-long nap. 

celine.