PROTECTING YOUR PET: Microchips can now be placed in any poet and be identified nationwide.

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Advances in the medical treatment available for pets have increased in recent years, veterinarians say, and those advances are expected to continue.

Everything from new drugs that prevent heartworms and ticks to a microchip that can match a lost pet to an owner have been marketed in recent years and dispensed by veterinarians.

Drs. Karen Bangert and Jill Henning of Skyview Animal Clinic in Cape Girardeau said they expect great advances in pet health care to continue despite already fabulous growth.

The same diagnostic procedures used for humans -- ultrasounds, MRIs and other procedures -- also are used on pets. Some of the diagnostic tools won't be available in Cape Girardeau, but Bangert said many of the tools are available within two or three hours driving time.

Surgical procedures such as hip replacements also are performed on pets. Bangert said pet owners might have to drive some distance to find a hospital to perform certain procedures.

As pharmaceutical companies test drugs on animals that eventually will be used for humans, the paperwork they compile is similar to the paperwork and eventual process they endure to gain approval to market the drugs for pets from the Food and Drug Administration.

"It's the same procedure for both," Bangert said. "So they figure, why not go ahead and get approval for both."

Drugs that help humans with congenital heart disease also are dispensed to dogs and cats suffering the same problem.

"In some cases it might not lengthen their lives," Henning said, "but it can improve the quality of their lives."

Drugs also have been developed that eliminate the need for a daily preventative for heartworms, a major disease in the area for pets because of standing water and mosquitoes that transmit the disease. One new drug also eliminates hookworms, roundworms and heartworms with a monthly instead of daily dosage.

A new pill administered monthly also rids pets of fleas.

Before the flea-ridding pill, pet owners used dips, shampoos and sprays to control their pets' fleas, Bangert said. But a new pill sterilizes fleas and eventually kills them.

All of the monthly pills -- one for worms and the other for fleas -- can be used together. They cost about $10 a month.

Another common problem for pets is ticks. But the biting bugs can be eliminated by a new prescription collar. The collar has been treated with a drug that paralyzes the tick's mouth. Whether the tick has already bitten the pet or not, the tick can no longer bite and latch onto the skin once the collar has been applied. The collar costs pet owners about $10 and lasts about three months depending on whether the pet gets wet regularly while wearing the collar.

Other preventative procedures veterinarians tout are spaying and neutering pets.

Within six to nine months, owners who don't want to breed their pets should have them spayed or neutered, Henning said.

"It's an old wives' tale that they should go through a season before having them spayed," Henning said of female pets. "By not waiting for them to go through a season, you've decreased the chance that the pet will have mammary cancer by 95 percent."

Dr. Wanda Pipkin of Merry Lea Animal Clinic in Jackson said the emergence of veterinary specialists also has benefited pets and pet owners. Opthamologists, surgeons and cardiologists are titles typically reserved for medical professions who deal with human patients, she said, but not any more.

"They're doing cataract surgery for dogs and cats," she said, "and I just sent a patient to Columbia for an angiogram (cardiac procedure)."

Veterinarians around the country also have specialized in pet behavior disorders and treating kidneys.

"They can do dialysis, which was first used for pets that got into antifreeze," she said.

As for advancing her practice, Pipkin said she was considering purchasing an endoscopy, or a tube that can be inserted orally or anally to view an animal internally. "It's a little different for pets because you have to have different sizes of endoscopy," she said.

Veterinarians say the computer age also hasn't passed by the pet health-care community.

A new microchip injected just underneath the skin can match a lost pet to an owner with a quick scan using a special hand-held computer. AVID developed the chip and a nationwide toll-free number than can be used to trace the pet to the owner. The scanner reads the chip for a registration number and AVID matches the number to information forwarded to the company from the veterinarian. The procedure costs about $25 and could save the pet from kidnappers who steal pets to sell to research facilities.

"All of the humane societies have them," Bangert said, "and it's part of their procedure to scan pets when they're brought in. They've already found some here like that."

Computers and new equipment also helped Dr. Charles Cox of Cox Small Animal Clinic in Jackson purchase a device that monitors the amount of oxygen in a pet's blood stream. A similar device exists for humans but it is clipped on a finger -- an appendage missing in pets. The device for pets attaches to the animal's tongue.

Determining how much oxygen is being carried in an animal's blood stream helps Cox diagnose his patients' disorders and reduces risks during surgery.

Cox also has an EKG, a machine that monitors the heart. Once he gets a reading and prints it out, he faxes it to a pet cardiologist to read and diagnose. "It's been a big help," he said.

With all of the advances in the care for pets, veterinarians say geriatric care -- the care of older pets -- has led pet owners to pay more attention to their pets' teeth.

Taking care of the teeth of dogs and cats might cost $55 to $100 for a cleaning and other dental procedures, but the dental care can extend pets' lives and enhance their lives, Henning said.

"We're seeing pets live a lot longer," Henning said, "and they're a lot happier with good teeth."

Henning said not only is a dental cleaning at the veterinarian's office important, but the owner using a special toothbrush for pets at home once a week also is recommended.

"That with their diet," she said, "should keep our pets around for a long time."

Cox said, "The level of care for pets is now really only limited for the owners' ability to pay. And as pets have more and more become members of the family, they want them with them for as long as possible."