Clients tell us they forget to administer their pets' monthly heartworm preventive or flea control—even when they put a reminder on the calendar, says Dr. Melisa Hicks, who works at Blue Cross Veterinary Hospital in Long Beach, Calif. To help increase compliance, our practice recommends they program their cell phones to remind them. The phone alerts them on the day the medication is due. "I do this to remember my own pet's medications, and it works great," Dr. Hicks says.