Sunshine Animal Hospital

Some of us are still hopeful for warm weather!! (Don’t worry, we were tucked up with mom )

We hope you all have a Tuesday full of smiles!!

And for our final vet tech week post, we have our current trainees, Karalynn & Michaela! These ladies are working hard every day to learn about veterinary medicine & caring for the pets of Springfield the best they can. We appreciate you wonderful women! Thank you!

This next lovely lady is Hayley! She is one of our newer girls, working here for just a little over 2 months. When not working she is a full-time student at Missouri State making her way through her senior year! Thank you for all of your hard work Hayley!

Our next amazing tech for tech week is Halynn! Halynn has been with us for a little over 4 months now. She is a full-time student at OTC & spends time caring for elders at Arc of the Ozarks. We appreciate you lots Miss Halynn!

Our next lady for tech week is Kate! Kate has also been with us for a little over a year. She is a junior at Missouri State this year & enjoys raising & showing sheep in her off time. Thank you so much for all of your dedicated work, Kate!

Katelyn is our next girl up for tech week! Katelyn has been with us for a little over a year now. She works extremely hard in both her human and animal medicine jobs while being a full time student at OTC. We appreciate you, Katelyn! Thank you!!

Next up for Tech Week is Korianna! Korianna will be celebrating her 3 years at SAH in February. She enjoys visiting family at Lake of the Ozarks in her time off. Thank you so much for all of your tireless work, Korianna!

Second up for our Vet Tech Week celebrations is Lindsay! Lindsay has been with us for 9 years and counting. She enjoys relaxing at home with her husband & dogs when not hard at work. We appreciate you so much, Lindsay. Thank you!

Starting off our Vet Tech Week celebration is technician, Angela. Angela is our longest running tech at the moment as she has worked at SAH for 10 years! When not working she enjoys hiking & other outdoor activities. Thank you so much for all your hard work Angela!

Today marks the first day of Veterinary Technician Week! It runs from October 11th to 17th this year & throughout the week we will be spotlighting our wonderful technicians who work so hard to care for the pets of Springfield. We hope you’ll celebrate with us & thank a vet tech!

It is that time of year again. The weather is getting cooler and the ticks are moving again. We here at Sunshine cannot stress enough how important it is for your pets that go outside to have tick prevention in the spring and fall. Dogs can get Lymes disease, Erlichia, or Anaplasma. We have all three of these tick-borne diseases in the SW Missouri and humans can get them as well. The other tick-borne parasitic disease that does not get enough mention and is medically more ...devastating is Cytauxzoon AKA Bobcat Fever. Cats that either live outdoors or go outside are in danger of this deadly disease due to the prevalence of ticks and the bobcat. Honestly, you or your dogs can carry in live ticks and they fall off very much alive to get your completely indoor cat as well. Very few cats survive it. With the bobcat population (as all wildlife) adapting to a more urban "lifestyle", this disease has become more prevalent in the last few years. We had a positive case here at the clinic this morning and another "possible" one earlier in the week. Both cats had been sick for several days before we saw them and symptoms usually start about 10 days post tick bite. The initial symptoms of this disease are vague and non-specific, making diagnosis difficult. They include lack of energy, lack of appetite, difficulty breathing, and pale gums. On physical examination, many infected cats will be dehydrated; anemic (low red blood cell count) or jaundiced (yellow gums or yellow whites of the eyes); may have a fever; increased heart rate and/or respiratory rate; and the lymph nodes, spleen, and liver may be enlarged. Cats may appear to be in pain and not want to be touched. As the parasites multiply within the blood, they are carried throughout the body and are capable of infecting many organs. The disease progresses rapidly if left untreated with death possible in 2-3 days after the spike in fever. In the later stages of infection, the cat may become hypothermic (low body temperature), may develop seizures, or may lapse into a coma. I know we don't normally post such grim things on our page, however this is something that needs to be spread far and wide. Please protect your meow-meows. We love them so much! With much love, The Crazy Cat Ladies (seriously, we are crazy about cats! )

We love our pitties here at Sunshine! Ryker was so awesome for his first puppy visit today!

We hope you’re having a opossum Monday!!