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Welcome

Welcome to River City Animal Hospital, home to the Post Falls Pet Docs.

First I would like to thank you all, our clients, for the support of our hospital. I could not be happier with the clients that we have, Dr. Luce and I enjoy our daily interactions with all of you, as well as the wonderful pets that you all have. As our hospital grows, it makes the communication about the ever changing world of veterinary medicine just slightly more difficult, only due to reaching out to all of you. Those of you that have been with the hospital for a long time know that we are very “pragmatic” doctors. We make every attempt to stay very current in medicine and practice the best medicine possible without jumping immediately on the bandwagon and prescribing what we deem to be unnecessary treatments that we would not perform on our own pets. We are constantly evaluating our protocols (vaccines, intestinal parasite control, diagnostic strategies, anesthetic and surgical protocols, etc.) in the interest of making both you and your pet as safe and healthy as they can be.
I hope you enjoy our website. I would love to hear feedback from you regarding format, content, and how to improve it. I would like to take one last minute before you move on to thank my staff; They are the most wonderful group of people that a doctor could ask to work with, they make my days fun and exciting, they are very talented individuals that take wonderful care of your pets, and they really enjoy all of you. I could not do what I do without every one of them. Thanks again to all of you, and I hope you find this website informative and easy to read.

RCAH NEWS

River City Animal Hospital News

FRANK CLOVIS, DVM

Emerging/ Changing Flea Problem Locally

"We don't really have a significant flea problem in north Idaho, therefore topical flea products are not really indicated". I have made this comment so many times in thirteen years of veterinary practice in the local area that I can't count how many. I have practiced in some local clinics that due to population density of outdoor cats, fleas were more prevalent. However, I feel that thirteen years of veterinary medicine locally has given me the ability to say "wow, that's different than what I am used to" at times during the last few years.

One of those things that seem to be changing is the number of adult dogs and cats that are showing up with fleas to our hospital. Dr. Luce and I over the last 3-4 months have diagnosed more flea allergy dermatitis (irritation from flea bites) than I can ever remember in practice locally (Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint , and Post Falls). I have found myself scratching my head saying "why all the fleas all of a sudden?" Though I am not sure I have the answer, a mild winter last year could be a possible cause or at least a contributor. As we have focused during exams and started to look more carefully for fleas, I have seen more fleas and owners that are shocked and exasperated when we find fleas on their pets during exam for routine visits such a vaccination.

Fleas can be a very challenging, uncomfortable problem for the pet, and once in the home, they can be very difficult to remove, even with diligent efforts and flea bombs and vacuuming until one would like to throw the vacuum out of a window. Some patients will show very little response to being covered with fleas, in that they don't have a reaction to flea saliva, whereas only a few fleas on dogs or cats that have an allergy or sensitivity to fleas can make them chew their skin to the point of having large open sores.

After the last several months seeing this many cases of flea related problems, Dr. Luce and I, though always uncomfortable "pushing" drugs, are certainly taking a new look at ongoing preventative medication for fleas, such as Frontline. If your pet goes to the dog park, to the groomer, or you have indoor / outdoor cats hanging around, though I never would have made the recommendation previously, I would recommend that pet owners locally consider applying monthly flea prevention.