Animal Health Care Center

11055 County Line Road
Madison, AL 35758
    (256) 461-8440

"Your pet's health is our primary concern."

• Rabies:  Caused by a virus found in the saliva of infected animals and transmitted to people by bites. Almost always fatal if not promptly treated.



• Lyme Disease:  This disease is spread by ticks, and the number of cases has increased so much every year that the disease is found in nearly every state. It can cause arthritis and kidney damage.



• Ringworm:  Ringworm is not a worm--it's a fungal infection transmitted by contact with the skin or fur of an infected animal. Symptoms include a ring-shaped, itchy rash on the skin or a bald patch of scaly skin on the scalp.



• Cat scratch disease (cat scratch fever):  A flea-borne infection usually transmitted from a cat's scratch or bite. Signs include pimples at the scratch site and swollen lymph nodes.



• Leptospirosis:  This is a bacterial disease spread by contact with urine from an infected animal(such as dogs, squirrels, skunks, or raccoons). Lepto can cause high fever, severe headache, vomiting, kidney damage, and liver failure.



• Ehrlichiosis:  This is a bacterial disease transmitted by ticks. It can cause fever, muscle aches, vomiting, and other more serious symptoms.



• Giardia:  People become infected when they drink water containing the parasite Giardia lamblia. You can also become infected by putting something in your mouth that has come into contact with an infected animal's stool. Symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps.



• Toxoplasmosis:  A parasitic disease that can be spread by contact with cat feces in soil or litter. It can cause serious health problems in pregnant women or in people with compromised immune systems.



• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever:  A very serious, sometimes fatal, tick-borne disease that causes fever, headache, and muscle pain, followed by a rash.



• Sarcoptic Mange (Scabies):  A parasitic skin disease caused by microscopic mites that burrow just beneath the surface of the skin. It is highly contagious to animals as well as to humans, and causes severe itching and skin irritation. Although the mites are not able to complete their life cycle on humans, they will cause quite a bit of itching and discomfort before they finally die.



• Hookworm and Roundworm Infection:  Hookworms and roundworms are the most common zoonotic parasites. A person can become infected by ingesting contaminated dirt or by putting contaminated objects in their mouth (which puts children especially at risk). Tiny infective hookworm larvae can also infect humans by penetrating the skin (this is most likely to happen by walking barefoot through contaminated soil). Every year, people are put at risk of becoming blind due to parasite larvae migrating into their eyes. Here's a few tips to help protect your family and your pet from hookworm and roundworm infection:


• Have your pet's health checked at least once a year, including a fecal analysis.


• Treat your adult pet monthly with a broad-spectrum dewormer, and have your puppy or kitten dewormed by a veterinarian starting at an early age (usually around 6 weeks of age), with boosters at 3 week intervals.


• Make unprotected sandboxes off-limits. Cover sandboxes when not in use.


• Promptly collect and quickly dispose of any animal feces in your environment.