Prairie Oak Veterinary Center

08/31/2026

Heartworm Prevention: The Cost Goes Far Beyond the Price Tag 🦟

We’re sharing this great comparison from the American Heartworm Society because when we talk about heartworm prevention, we’re not just talking about saving money on veterinary treatment.

We’re talking about protecting your pet from a disease that can cause permanent, irreversible damage, and is fatal if left untreated.

Heartworm disease is transmitted by mosquitoes. After transmission, the worms migrate to the heart and pulmonary arteries. As the infection progresses, the worms can damage the blood vessels and lungs, strain the heart, and eventually lead to heart failure and other serious complications.

Even after the worms are successfully treated, the damage they caused can be permanent - Dogs can continue to have lasting heart and lung changes long after the infection is gone.

The good news? ❤️ Heartworm disease is preventable.

A simple, consistent heartworm preventive is a small investment compared with the financial cost, treatment process, and potential lifelong consequences of heartworm disease.

🐾 Prevention protects more than your wallet — it protects your pet’s heart, lungs, and future.

Talk to our team at Prairie Oak Veterinary Center about the best heartworm prevention option for your pet!

It's all about prevention! Do you realize that it may cost about 7 times to treat your dog than what one year of preventive would cost!?

08/20/2026

Meet Dr. Lexi Frantz! 🐾

Prairie Oak Veterinary Center is excited to welcome Dr. Lexi Frantz to the team as a full-time veterinarian!

Dr. Frantz’s journey with Prairie Oak has come full circle — she first joined the practice as a veterinary assistant and has spent 10 years growing with the Prairie Oak team before returning as a veterinarian.

Dr. Frantz has a passion for caring for a wide variety of species and has particular interests in exotic animal medicine, wildlife, dermatology (allergies!), neonatology, behavior, preventative medicine, and community/feral cat TNR. She especially enjoys helping animals who may not always have an advocate and believes strongly in making veterinary care accessible to animals of all kinds.

Outside of the clinic, Dr. Frantz shares her home with numerous dogs, cats, and exotic pets, and has recently expanded her animal family to include horses, goats, and a mini pig (stay tuned for pictures of "Albert") 🐴🐐🐷🐦

When she isn't caring for patients or her own ever-growing menagerie, Dr. Frantz enjoys reading, crafting, gardening, raising butterflies, and spending time with her family.

Prairie Oak is thrilled to have Dr. Frantz back as part of the team — this time as a veterinarian! ❤️

Help us give Dr. Frantz a warm welcome back to Prairie Oak!

08/20/2026

“NO SITTING DOWN ON THE JOB!”

Not at POVC — sitting down on the job is one of the most important things this ridiculous staff does especially for patients returning to earth from anesthesia.

And if it turns into a social sit-around?

Even better!!

Thanks for allllll that you do, POVC Wunderstaff!!

08/12/2026

10:20am 8/12:

PRAIRIE OAK PHONES ARE DOWN

Some humor from the New Yorker to distract from our stress…

04/26/2026

Happy “not-yet-storming still spring beautiful” Sunday, POVC Family!!

So tomorrow (Monday April 27th) it looks like Central Illinois is the Death Star and Luke Skywalker is driving the storm.

For our storm-fearing dogs (and tomorrow it might be ALL of them), a combination of Gabapentin and Trazodone can do a lot to subdue the wind-up of storm anxieties.

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE “GABA-TRAZ” AT HOME, I would recommend the following:

Dose One: Tonight by 10:00 PM

Dose Two: Tomorrow morning between 6-10AM

Optional if necessary: Repeat Trazodone dose anytime four hours after the AM dose; or repeat both GABA and Traz anytime 6-8 hours after the AM dose.

The critical component to any of the panic/phobic responses is subduing the wind-up trigger before it fires — reigning in wind-up once it’s triggered can be next to impossible.

And the best way to never ever need a photo of your pet to help find it??

Is to TAKE SEVERAL!!

Especially if your dog is not microchipped.

In a worst case scenario with property damage or a trigger-driven panicky leash/house/harness/collar escape make sure you have easily accessible recent pics of your pet.

So let’s make tomorrow “NO TOTO MONDAY” with safe pets that are as calm as we can possibly ask for.

Thanks everyone!!

(Below is a picture of Toto on his GABA-Traz…)