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While we regularly run titers in place of dog and cat core vaccines, we don't complete titer testing in place of rabies vaccination. Why? There are two reasons. First, rabies titer testing is expensive and one of our goals is to minimize unnecessary costs to our pet...

Many of you have asked us about testing your pet's intestinal health. In human medicine, a fecal test called a Dysbiosis Index is run to determine intestinal health. This is important since proper intestinal health is necessary for overall health. Various chemicals,...

We love treating pets with IBD. They respond so well to natural medicines and rarely require long-term therapy with immunosuppressive drugs like prednisone. One of our most challenging IBD cases involved Rosie, an 8-year-old female miniature schnauzer. When we first...

As winter approaches, we need to be aware that like us, our pets have special health needs. Even though they don’t get the same colds, flu, and coronavirus infections we get, they can still become sick with infectious diseases (especially kennel cough when boarding,...

We are often asked whether or not it is a good idea to get pet insurance. Here is the story we like to tell parents about pet insurance: If your pet was to get diagnosed with cancer and you wanted to do everything you could to treat your pet, it could cost over...

“My pet can’t get heartworms Dr. Shawn because I feed him/her carrots.” This is one of the many statements we’ve heard from clients who refuse to use heartworm preventative medication. Dr. Shawn has written books and articles about natural therapies. Based upon his...

I am often asked if it is okay to give the monthly heartworm preventative every 45 to 60 days. When I ask the pet parent why she/he would want to do that, her/his answer is she/he read on the internet that it is safer to give a heartworm preventative every 45 to 60...

Now that summer is here, the risk of parasite transmission increases for dogs and cats. This is especially true for heartworm infection, as these worms are transmitted through the bite of a mosquito. Part of our annual visit with dogs includes a heartworm test (this...

Many of our patients throughout the year come in with itchy skin, irritated eyes, inflamed ears, and other side effects of discomfort. Especially this time of year, we see an influx of patients suffering from a variety of allergies. Here at Paws & Claws we know...

We have recently received an influx in pet parent's requesting a modified spay, aka ovary sparing spay, but are curious whether this type of sterilization is truly more "beneficial" for their pet. Read the following as Dr. Shawn weighs out your options! Keep in mind,...