APRIL 2003 FYI
It is time to start your cat's monthly heartworm medicine. Be sure
to also give your dog its monthly dose
GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY is planned for May 3 at 12 PM. You
are all invited to bring the family to the new hospital property,
4801 Holland-Sylvania, for the first event planned for the new hospital.
You may park on either side of the property at the Sylvania Professional
Building on the south or Sylvania Baptist Church on the north. After
turning a shovel of earth, we will share cake and punch to celebrate
the day.
WE ARE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
about the new hospital. Here are the answers to the most frequently
asked questions. How far away is the new building? One-half mile
south on Holland-Sylvania. How big will the new hospital be? About
15,000 sq. ft. Will there be a big fee increase to pay for the new
facility? No, there will not be a large fee increase to support
the building. Rather, increased patient load, increased services
and the addition of a new doctor will provide the funds to pay for
the building. Will you be hiring new staff? Yes, we figure we will
need five new employees to staff all the new areas in the hospital.
Can we help with the move? YES, we will need lots of help to make
our move smooth and efficient. We hope to accomplish the transition
in one busy weekend. At the end of the move we hope to have a fund
raising open house. If you have additional questions contact Dr.
Bob at drbob@sylvaniavet.com
"FORGET THE YEARS AND
LIVE YOUR LIFE" is a famous quote by Norman Vincent Peale.
This is a great philosophy and one that permeates everything about
Sylvania Vet. It starts with Dr. Bob who is taking on the development
and building of a new hospital at a time when many of his peers
are planning retirement. Our patient care is a direct reflection
of this quote. We are far more concerned with a pet's physiology
than its age. Therefore, we will rarely state that an animal is
too old for a needed procedure. We do not hesitate to recommend
life enhancing or life saving procedures for a pet of any age. From
your perspective you may use the age of your pet as one of the reasons
you may decide not to accept a treatment recommendation. However,
do not think that age is a limiting factor when making important
decisions about your pet's care.
RESULTS OF OUR INFORMAL SURVEY
are in and will influence some decisions about how we provide service
to you and your pets.
1. Additional hours. By next year we will be adding appointment
hours starting at 8 AM, 12-2 PM Mon-Fri and until 8 PM Mon-Thurs.
The added hours will give us over 17 1/2 additional appointment
hours per week.
2. Walk-in appointments were popular with those responding to the
survey. However, we are not prepared to create a formal walk-in
clinic atmosphere. We think that scheduled appointments are still
the best way to minimize the time spent on a pet's appointment.
3. Saturday appointments until 5 PM were the most popular positive
response to all survey questions. Two-thirds of the responders wanted
Saturday appointments until 5 PM. Once our new doctor starts we
will be open until 5 PM on Saturday. We will also be scheduling
routine surgeries on Saturday.
4. One-fourth of the responders wanted regular Sunday hours. This
is not going to happen. We will continue to be available all day
for emergencies, to release medical cases and boarders but we will
not schedule appointments on the traditional day of rest.
5. Doggy day care was popular with dog owner responders. Once the
new hospital is open we will accept day care guests Mon-Fri.
6. Dog owners were thrilled with the fact that the boarding kennels
will have radiant heat in the floors. The kennels in the hospital
recovery areas will also have radiant heat in their floors.
7. Cat owners loved the idea of the planned large cataminiums for
housing their cats while boarding. Look for a prototype of the cataminium
to be displayed at the hospital in a few weeks.
8. The isolated cat facility is popular with cat owners. This is
a truly unique feature of the new hospital.
9. About one-half of the responders wanted to be able to check out
through the exam rooms and not have to stop at the front desk. This
will be easily accomplished in the new hospital with our new computer
system.
10. Over 60% of the responders were interested in attending a fund
raising open house when the new hospital is completed. Look for
an invitation to the limited attendance fund- raiser in the FYI
and your mailbox this summer.
Thanks to all that took the time to respond to the survey. It has
made it easier for us to make several decisions concerning our operation.
GRAPES
AND RAISINS SHOULD NOT be fed to
dogs in any quantity. Recently, a study by the National Animal Poison
Control Center determined that several dogs had developed serious
or fatal kidney failure after ingesting a large quantity of grapes
or raisins. Why the grapes or raisins caused the failure is not
known. It is recommended that until more information is known about
the toxicity of these fruits, your dog not be fed any quantity of
grapes or raisins. This notice was first reported to you in the
November 2001 FYI. Recently, I received e-mail from a client with
the following forward. Given the seriousness of the topic we felt
it best to republish our first alert and let you read the recent
first hand experience.
"This is a relatively recent revelation, one that is painfully
close to my heart since I personally had a healthy, young 70 pound
male Irish Setter die of complete kidney failure within 24 hours
of eating raisins (he ate a 14 oz. box he snuck out of my grocery
bag)."
TOURS ARE REGULAR OCCURRENCES
AT Sylvania Vet. Recently, we had two preschool classes from
the area, a group of girl scouts and a group of cub scouts. We show
the kids the many stops for medical services that are accomplished
in one Sylvania Vet visit. They are shown how to interpret x-rays
and allowed to visit the pets in boarding. The new hospital will
give increased opportunities for tours. In addition, we are planning
short seminars for kids of all ages concerning pet care from dogs
through rabbits.
OBEDIENCE INSTRUCTOR BARB
HARRIS HAS SCHEDULED the spring sessions for puppy kindergarten
and basic obedience. Classes are held at 7PM in the hospital parking
lot. The classes start April 7 and 8th. The cost is sixty dollars
for six one-hour classes. Call Barb for details at 419-885-4421.
Classes are small and a fun learning time for all.
SPRING IS TICK TIME in
our area. You need to purchase Frontline Plus for your dog and cat,
if it goes outside, to provide tick protection. Frontline is by
far the best topical tick product. Doses are applied to the skin
once monthly to dogs and cats to control ticks. There are many diseases
that can be transmitted to your pet by ticks.
Adding an old insecticide, Promethean,
to give it a tick control labeling, has modified AN OLD FLEA PRODUCT,
Advantage. This new product is called Advantick. The manufacturer
also claims it will repel mosquitoes. We do not feel this is a great
product and has a few potential problems. Permethrins are toxic
if overdosed to any dog and seriously toxic at any dose when applied
to a cat. It does not repel the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile
virus. Permethrins are not very stable on the dog and may not work
much beyond two weeks. Finally, as reported in an earlier FYI, dogs,
cats and people are not very susceptible to West Nile Virus. We
advise that you ask us before you buy any product for your pet.
PET ANIMAL CLONING that
was first suggested by Texas A&M Vet School in 1997 has been
abandoned. The first successful clone of a cat yielded "Copy
Cat". This animal looked and acted nothing like its genetic
host. The billionaire that funded the cloning project at the university
has pulled his support due to the failure of being able to clone
his dog, Missy. Pet cloning appears to be a dead idea. We feel this
is the appropriate outcome for this silly idea.
STATE OF OHIO is considering
taxing all veterinary services. If this were to happen all veterinary
bills would increase by 6%. As an important medical service we don't
think sales taxation of our services is a good idea. How far away
can sales taxes on all medical services, groceries and other tax-exempt
products be if veterinary fees are taxed? Let your state representative
know that you oppose taxing veterinary services.
SYLVANIA VET recently
joined the Better Business Bureau and the Sylvania Chamber of Commerce.
Membership in these organizations will give us more opportunities
to be involved in our community. Cris Wilkins will be our representative
on the Sylvania Chamber.
SCIENCE DIET ADDS ALL NATURAL
FOODS to their extensive line of high quality premium diets.
Hoping to meet the dietary needs of clients wishing to feed their
pet a diet free of preservatives, Hills has produced a new line
of all natural diets. We have them in stock. These diets are the
first in an expanding line of natural foods that will be produced
if client demand is supportive. By definition an all-natural diet
must meet three very specific criterions. There can be no artificial
preservatives in the food. There can be no artificial colors or
flavors added. Finally, an all-natural diet must not contain any
ingredients that have artificial preservatives added.
COMMENTS ABOUT ON-LINE PHARMACIES
are frequent items in FYI. This is because we continue to get requests
from clients to fill prescriptions through these outlets, mostly
PetMed Express. We will always call you before we fill the prescription
because we are certain that you are making a mistake purchasing
products from them. In most cases our prices on Heartgard Plus and
Frontline Plus are better than PME's prices. They charge a shipping
fee. If you complain they will drop the shipping and meet our price.
Why would you buy on-line if you cannot get a better price? When
you purchase from us there are many benefits. Our price is usually
better but not more than PME's. The product's manufacturers do not
sell to on-line pharmacies. The pharmacies get product by purchasing
them through unethical veterinarians that divert the medicine to
them. As a result the manufacturer will not stand behind the products
purchased on-line. Any rebates, which are cash refunds from the
manufacturer, or free products, are not available from on-line pharmacies.
There is no manufacturer support or guarantee for these products
unless you purchase from a veterinarian. If there is a problem or
question about safety, reactions, or dosing will the on-line pharmacy
be able to help you? Our profit margin on the products mentioned
is not large. But what we do make helps us pay our bills and employ
local people. We are always here, 24 hours a day seven days a week.
When you buy products from us we will support those products and
answer any questions you may have. Finally, we hate to ok these
prescriptions because PetMed Express is constantly under investigation
by the pharmacy boards of many states, including Ohio, the FDA and
the EPA. The company has agreed to pay fines of over $200,000 in
the last several years for violations that they didn't admit to
but paid the fine anyway. You read between the legal mumbo jumbo
on that one. Your purchases help them pay these fines and continue
to violate rules designed to protect the consumer.
WE
HAVE RECENTLY LEARNED that there is a local practice that offers
bone plating. In our February FYI we stated that Dr. Ross was going
to attend a bone-plating course and we expect to add this service.
We stated that no other local vet did bone plating. We were informed
that Total Pet Care does offer bone plating. This is good information
to have.
HAVE A GREAT APRIL, ENJOY
THE SPRING WEATHER
TAKE YOUR DOG FOR A WALK EVERY DAY. IT'S GOOD FOR BOTH ENDS OF THE
LEASH
