SAN ANGELO, Texas — With the start of spring time comes an increase of baby animals being born.
The warmer months are often marked as puppy and kitten seasons and a new San Angelo clinic has some advice.
Prickly Pear Veterinary Hospital has been open since April 3 in San Angelo- located at 4842 Southland Boulevard- providing in-house assistance to cats and dogs an occasional on-site aid for more exotic animals like donkeys.
"I've worked for a couple other clinics in town then I just decided, 'Hey, I think I wanna open my own business, I wanna change things up, do it my way' and so we tried it," owner and veterinarian Catie Morris said.
Morris moved to San Angelo approximately 10 years ago as an active duty public health officer for Goodfellow Air Force Base.
Since then, she has worked as various veterinary locations until last year when she officially signed the lease, received the permits and began the construction process.
After approximately 10 days in business, Morris has already seen a number of different clients and she stresses the importance of preventative pet protection.
"Parasites are a big issue in this part of the world," she said.
"So we have lots of heartworm, we have lots of intestinal parasites, so it is really important to keep pets on tick meds, parvo preventatives and keep them de-wormed, 'cuz that can sure make them sick fast," she added.
Most parasites in West Texas stay alive through the winter months because of the warmer weather, giving them a chance to latch onto pets.
One of the more well-known issues with dogs in particular is parvovirus or parvo, a contagious disease easily spread from one pet to the next.
"Anytime we've got puppy or kitten season, we're gonna see a lot of parvo patients, so the best way to prevent that is vaccination," Morris said.
For dogs who have parvo, Prickly Pear can provide a 10-minute test and parasite check, where the disease severity can then be determined by professionals.
One way to help prevent issues like parvo is through spay and neuter, which is offered at the clinic.
Prickly Pear also works closely with Critter Shack Rescue to accept vouchers to help with certain expenses.
In terms of managing the city pet population, Morris recommends getting your pet microchipped along with free registration.
Looking forward as a business, Morris wants to keep growing in the community while also offering a boarding service and more staff members, as well.
Her goal is to "take care of more pets and more people" as soon as possible.
