Thorpe Animal Hospital

06/08/2026

July 5th is the busiest day for shelters! According to the American Animal Hospital Association, there is a 30-60% increase in lost pets between the 4th and the 6th of July. Fireworks can be frightening for pets as they do not understand the loud sounds and the vibrations they can feel from the ground. It is super important to keep pets in a safe place. It is highly recommended to make sure pets have identification tags and microchips especially around this time of year. If your pet has anxiety during fireworks, thunderstorms, or other loud events, they may have noise aversion! Ask your veterinarian what they recommend to help ease this anxiety. Music, thundershirts, pheromone sprays, toys, treats and many other options may help with noise aversion. There are pet safe medications but please make sure your veterinarian has prescribed it so that the correct dose and proper instructions are given! Below is a Sileo quiz to help determine if your pet has noise aversion. If you believe your pet could benefit from an anxiety medication, please schedule ahead to be prepared for July!

https://www.zoetispetcare.com/products/sileo/quiz/noise-aversion

https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/petcare/july-4-safety

Fireworks, picnics and other 4th of July traditions can be great fun for people, but frightening and dangerous for animals. Know how to keep your animals safe.

06/03/2026

Warmer weather brings more time outdoors, but it can also increase the risk of heat-related illness for pets. Unlike humans, dogs and cats are physically unable to sweat, relying on panting to cool them down. This can make it harder for them to stay comfortable in high temperatures.
A few simple changes to daily routines can help reduce risk and support your pet’s safety during the summer months.
For more early warning signs and treatment instructions, click the link below and share to spread the word:
https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/warm-weather-pet-safety

05/21/2026

A friendly reminder we will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day. Hoping everyone has a great weekend spent with two-legged and four-legged family members! Honoring the heroes who courageously served and gave their lives for our nation – we are grateful for their sacrifice.

05/12/2026

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! Just a reminder, we will be closed Thursday for staff training and development. It looks like it should be a beautiful day so enjoy! 🌞🌱

05/06/2026

Hello, we will be closed Thursday, May 14th, for staff training and development. Please double check if you will need refills on medications or prescription diets before then so we can make sure you do not run out. 🐾 We will be back in the office on Friday the 15th and Saturday the 16th normal business hours. Also, Zoey says all dogs need a snuggery dog bed. There are a ton of choices on amazon. Whaaaaatttt 😍

04/23/2026

Lapeer County has already confirmed 84 Lyme, 34 Anaplasmosis, and 9 Ehrlichiosis positive dogs in 2026 according to CAPC! We are diagnosing a case of Lyme almost weekly at TAH. We can vaccinate dogs for Lyme and dispense flea and tick prevention for dogs and cats. These are just a few of many tickborne illnesses pets and people can contract. It is so important for us to become familiar for our pets and our children now as we are seeing an all-time high tick migration into our area and increased human urgent care/emergency visits for tick related incidents. Nobody's stopping a toddler (at least mine) from touching every plant, w**d, pinecone, or leaf outside. lol Check your kids, your pets, and yourself after going outside whether you live in the city or country, the wild animals and birds pass through most yards! 🐦🐇🐿️🍂🐾🔍
Tick prevention and awareness is essential! The CDC link provided is a great source to bookmark for all things ticks. There is even a Tick Bite Guide interactive tool to help you through the removal of a tick and what you should do next!

This link is the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Risk Map (Lapeer is in the RED!) --> https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/emergingdiseases/Folder2/Lyme_risk_map2020.pdf?rev=2643a33acd9a4bd5aed0788cc421f129

You are always encouraged to call us if you ever have any questions!

https://capcvet.org/maps/ #/2026/all-year/lyme-disease/dog/united-states/michigan/1275-lapeer-county

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/about/index.html

General information on diseases spread by ticks and signs and symptoms of tickborne disease.

04/10/2026

Meet Squishy. Squishy got neutered, and he LOVED it! Feeling refurreshed after a spaw day at TAH! 😆He is so cute, we had to share! 🥰🐾

04/09/2026

April is Heartworm Awareness Month! Please watch this video! So far in 2026, 10 positive cases of canine heartworm have been reported in Lapeer County according to CAPC data. Cats and ferrets are also at threat of heartworm disease, although it is trickier to diagnose and unlike dogs, there is no current treatment. This is why prevention is so important! As you have seen in the video, even though dogs do have a treatment, infection is still very harsh and dangerous for a dog, especially due to the size of the parasites living within the blood vessels and heart. There is danger of initial anaphylactic shock if not treated slowly and appropriately from the beginning and eventually results in respiratory and cardiac failure. This is fatal and unfortunately we see it way too often when it can be easily prevented. Ask us about monthly or yearly heartworm prevention options (yes, we have an injection for dogs that lasts for a year!) The picture shown below is a link for a financing option through Cherry to help spread out payments if needed and take advantage of prevention deals! There are 0% interest options, and it does not affect your credit score! Remember, we live in Michigan and we have warm enough days every month of the year for those pesky bugs to come out looking for that blood meal, including January. Check out this CAPC link to view other Parasite Prevalence Maps for our area for dogs and cats and other parasites! --> https://capcvet.org/maps/ #/2026/all-year/heartworm-canine/dog/united-states/michigan/1275-lapeer-county

https://www.heartwormsociety.org/resources/vet/video/692-heartworm-life-cycle-for-pet-owners