Pet safety

Health

Safety

Guides

Seasonal

Latest Articles

Rising Number of Mysterious Upper Respiratory Infections in Dogs

Rising Number of Mysterious Upper Respiratory Infections in Dogs

Article by Dr. Matthew Wheaton We hope this message finds you and your beloved pets in great health. It’s our duty to keep you informed about pet health trends, especially when they pose a significant concern. Recently, a worrying trend in canine...

Emergency Signs

Emergency Signs

Article by Diana Gorin “Is My Pet Having an Emergency?” Determining whether or not you should take your pet to the vet is one of the biggest pet parent debates: “They had diarrhea once.. Should we bring them in, or monitor and see if it...

Happy Tail is Not So Happy

Happy Tail is Not So Happy

Article by Diana Gorin This post was inspired by our adorable patient, Odie, who came to us with a BAD case of Happy Tail! Some might call it.. an UnHappy Tail. What is Happy Tail? Happy Tail just means a dog caused an open wound to their tail from...

Signs of Heat Stroke in Pets and What You Should Do

Signs of Heat Stroke in Pets and What You Should Do

Article by Sarah Cortright, DVM One of the most common things we see as the temperature starts to increase is heat stroke in pets. Dogs and cats do not have many sweat glands and depend primarily on panting to cool themselves. This makes them much...

My Cat is Straining, What do I do?

My Cat is Straining, What do I do?

Article by Diana Gorin All information approved for medical accuracy by Matthew Wheaton, DVM Have you caught your cat straining to go to the bathroom? Otherwise known as a "blocked cat." Hopefully you called your vet right away. If he’s...

10 Tips To Keep Your Pet Safe This 4th of July

10 Tips To Keep Your Pet Safe This 4th of July

Fireworks, barbecues, beverages, pool parties... all of these things that we look forward to the 4th of July for spending time with our friends and family. Well, what about our four-legged family members? Fun for humans can mean dangerous and even...

Join Our List

Stay in the loop with pet news, special offers, and more

Contact Us



Call

(949) 768-1313



Fax

(949) 768-5759



Address

25800 Jeronimo Road., Suite 100
Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Let’s Get Social

Happy Alicia Pet Care Center Veterinarian Receptio

Happy Alicia Pet Care Center Veterinarian Reception Appreciation Week!

This week, check our IG Stories to learn more about our awesome and multi talented receptionists we have here! We have 11 receptionists on our staff and they do everything from booking appointments, answering phone calls and emails, checking patients in, communicating with our doctor team your questions, sending certificates, getting past client records, prepping our next day surgeries.. (I’m really just scratching the surface here, they are vital to our hospital!)

Our teams have a super fun week planned for them, hopefully they will feel a little extra love this week!

And be sure to write in the comments your experiences with our reception team and what they have done to make a difference in your life.

#apccvet #vetreception #vetreceptionist #vetreceptionappreciation #veterinaryreceptionist #staffappreciation #appreciation

Your majesty, Lesley is EXHAUSTED. Our patient g

Your majesty, Lesley is EXHAUSTED.

Our patient got a full Brazillian today 😂

For some pets who are particularly matted and truly the fur is not salvagable, it is necessary to do a shave like this. For our patient we also used a reversible sedation. (See our previous reel to see how we do reversible sedation!)

You would really only go to a veterinarian if your pet needs a full shave and will not tolerate getting shaved without sedation at the groomers. Properly grooming the pet requires an entirely different skill set than what we do here! And we definitely recommend keeping up with groomings for your pet’s breed to prevent painful matting of their fur.

Our veterinary assistant, Lesley, did this entire shave and it took about 2 hours to get him to this level of ✨perfection✨ he looks like an entirely new dog!!! Good job Lelsey 😊

#apccvet #vetassistant #vettech #shave #dogshave #veterinarian #vetcare

Has your dog ever had “reversible sedation” at

Has your dog ever had “reversible sedation” at the vet??

They likely used Dexdomitor, or dexmedetomidine hydrochloride, which is usually given IV or in the muscle.

This is very useful when you have a pet that needs sedation for X-Rays, or a quick procedure etc. This medication provides sedation and a little bit of pain relief. It is commonly given in combination with another sedative/pain med called butorphanol.

To immediately reverse the sedation of dexdomitor, we would then administer Antisedan. Antisedan works by inhibiting alpha2-adrenergic receptors, (which is what the dexmedetomidine binds to). Thus, the patient wakes up pretty much immediately!

For procedures that don’t require full anesthesia but do need sedation for the pet, it’s an effective and cost conscious solution!

#apccvet #petcare #animalhospital #veterinarian #vettiktok #MemeCut

Our patient Molly sure has been through a lot! M

Our patient Molly sure has been through a lot!

Molly was initially found on the streets, you may remember a post on our stories months ago after one of our employees found her, looking for her family. Well, after searching for the owner through social media, finding no microchip, found dog posters made with no success in finding an owner, our employee, Kendra, decided to adopt her!

Molly actually had her spay on the upcoming schedule… But before that time, she went into heat. She was discharging some blood, threw up once, and she appeared really uncomfortable so Kendra brought her in for an evaluation.

We did X-Rays, blood work, and a brief ultrasound and it became clear that she had a pyometra.

Pyometras are one of the risks of leaving your female dog intact. They are an infection of the uterus and if left untreated, can result in death of the pet.

Once the Pyometra is there, they need an emergency spay. It is a much higher risk spay, and there is still a potential that they won’t make it, so we really want to encourage getting your pet spayed at the recommended time for their breed and size to prevent this.

You can 100% prevent pyometras through getting your pet spayed.

Molly is recovering well now and we are so proud of her. The difference in her demeanor before and after her surgery are night and day!

#apccvet #vetmed #veterinarian #vetcare #pyometra #spay #spayinitiative #vets #dogvet #orangecountyvet

Poor Dr. Burpo 😂😂😂 But in all seriousnes

Poor Dr. Burpo 😂😂😂

But in all seriousness, keeping your pet at a healthy weight is one of the best things you can do as a pet parent to prevent certain diseases. Arthritis, diabetes, worsening heart conditions can be prevented through a healthy weight. If your pet already has arthritis, the first thing your veterinarian will suggest is normalizing their body condition! 🥰🥰

Our patient Koa here has lost 2 whole pounds since his last visit 😊😊 so he’s working on it!!

#apccvet #weightmanagement #petcare #vettips #vetcare #veterinarian #vetnearme #animalhospital #askavet

This year, the theme of World Veterinary Day is th

This year, the theme of World Veterinary Day is that veterinarians are essential health workers!

The World Veterinary Association said “The application of veterinary science contributes not only to animal health and well-being but also to human’s physical, mental and social wellbeing,” and we couldn’t find that to be more true!

Our fur babies are our family, and we need our veterinarians to keep them active, healthy and able to do all the things we know they love! We need our vets because we need our pets.

Veterinarians, and particularly at Alicia Pet Care Center, also do a lot of behind the scenes work in controlling the pet population issue through spays and neuters, a problem that we are acutely aware of in our community. The local environment depends heavily on veterinarians to help even the pets without a home.

If one of your vets was able to improve your life greatly through the care of your pet, feel free to share your story in the comments!

We are so grateful for our vets, Happy World Veterinary Day!

#apccvet #worldveterinaryday #wvd #veterinarian #vetappreciation #petcare #vets

Hopefully after this, you are FULLY aware of what

Hopefully after this, you are FULLY aware of what a hair ball is!

Remember: a hair ball is a hair ball… only if it’s a hair ball.

Differentiating between a hair ball and a vomiting episode is crucial in your monitoring your cat’s health!

Cats will occasionally cough up a hair ball- which is not a concern. If they are vomiting, they need to see the vet. We’ve said it once and we will say it a million times “Just because it is common for cats to vomit, it is not NORMAL.” Just think about your own self - would you enjoy vomiting regularly? I know I wouldn’t… And your veterinarian can help that!

Okay, hope you enjoyed this lil slice of cat-ducation on this Friday eve!

#apccvet #vetmed #clienteducation #veterinarian #veteducation #catcare #catmom #hairball #furball #catvet #orangecounty

Dog ear infections are the worst 😡😡😡 The

Dog ear infections are the worst 😡😡😡

There are 3 types of ear infections you’ll find in dogs... yeast, cocci, and rods! After our treatment team gets a sample of your pets ear, they will make a cytology and look underneath the microscope. This is what they see! And here’s a little more about the ear infections:

Yeast: is an overgrowth of Malassezia.
Easy to eliminate. Not a major concern.

Cocci: defined by the circular shape.
90% of the time can be treated by any antibiotic.

Rods: the ultimate boss of ear infections. When a bacteria has built a resistance to antibiotics, it gets even beefier, and can become rods. It will be anything from E. Coli, Pseudomonas, klebsiella, etc. If a dog presents with an ear infection and we see that it is rods on cytology, we have to get a culture of it to figure out what kind of rods it is. The lab will then test the culture against different antibiotics to determine what will be the best treatment plan. It is very frustrating for pet parents AND it smells terrible 😔 but this must be done to eliminate the ear infection.

If you find your dog keeps getting ear infections, it may be time to discuss with your vet the possibility that your pet has allergies. Ear infections are a secondary inflammatory response, and getting the allergies under control may help the recurring ear infections.

We are heading into the time of year when allergies will pick up, so save this post!

#apccvet #earinfections #dogearinfections #animalhospital #allergies #allergydog #atopicdermatitis #petcare #clienteducation #askavet #orangecountyvet #vet

Load More... Follow on Instagram