JANUARY 2003 FYI
REMEMBER TO GIVE YOUR DOG ITS MONTHLY
HEARTWORM MEDICATION
WINTER IS DRY SKIN SEASON not only for the human members
of a household. Dogs and cats also suffer the effects of the low
humidity of having the furnace warming our homes. Dry flaky skin,
itching, static electricity is also seen in our house pets during
the winter. You can help control this problem by applying a moisturizer
to your pet. We recommend that you dilute one of our humectants,
Mela Miracle, Humilac or Micro Pearls with water and spray your
pets skin several times weekly. Mix 2 parts moisturizer with 30
parts water, in a spray bottle. Lightly mist the skin and massage
it in, your pet will love the care and attention.
HEART MURMURS are an
abnormal sound heard when the heart contracts. The normal lub dub
sounds of the heart are made when valves in the heart close. If
one of these valves is leaky then a whooshing sound is heard when
the affected valve closes. Pets can be born with a murmur and older
pets can develop a murmur. Not all murmurs mean disease and not
all murmurs result in heart disease in the affected animal. However,
a heart murmur can lead to congestive heart failure. All heart murmurs
should be evaluated with chest X-rays, an electrocardiogram and
possibly a cardiac ultrasound. Once diagnosed regular evaluation
of the heart is indicated. There are many medications and diet recommendations
that can help a pet live with a heart murmur or congestive heart
failure.
GREENIES ARE A BIG HIT
with our dog patients and their owners. The newest addition to our
dental care products, Greenies are excellent for removing and preventing
tartar in a dog's mouth. We recommend you ask about Greenies the
next time you are in the office. Dogs going home after a dental
will receive a Greenies sample.
SANTA PICTURES A GREAT SUCCESS
again this year. Premier pet photographer Jim Carroll and Santa
again teamed up to take the best pet pictures in all of NW Ohio.
Maumee Valley Save A Pet benefited from a donation of $280 for the
92 sittings. Thanks to all that helped and all that brought their
pets and family for our Santa pictures. Santa pictures are already
scheduled for Saturday, December 6, 2003. Be sure to put it on your
calendar.
HELP US ELECT our employee
of the month. If anyone on our staff gives you great service we
ask that you nominate them for employee of the month recognition.
Each exam room and the front desk have nomination ballots that you
can fill out. December's employee of the month was Sarra Nicely.
JANUARY'S PARENT MAGAZINE
Ask the Vet column addresses three aspects of pet food and pet nutrition.
This information is worth looking up and reading. You can get a
free copy of Parent at the office and many locations all around
the area.
MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD
Dr. Bob's endorsement of Invisible Fence on the local distributors
radio advertisement. Also speaking are Cris, our front desk manager
and our former associate, Dr. Kelly Lockerman. None of us received
any compensation for our comments, which were made because we truly
believe in the product. All of us have used Invisible Fencing and
found it effective and humane. If you are considering fencing we
can provide you with literature and a discount coupon. When you
place an order be sure to tell them we referred you. They will then
give you an additional discount, by applying a finder's fee they
would normally pay to us, to your bill. Again, no one from our hospital
gets any benefit from referring you to Invisible Fence.
DOG LICENSES MUST BE PURCHASED
BY JANUARY 31. We are an approved agent and can provide you
with a 2003 dog license. There is a $.75 cent fee attached to each
license purchased. We donate this fee to Team Greyhound's hospital
bill. Last year we donated over $200.
AAHA HAS AGAIN TOUGHENED
its certification standards. January brought new guidelines that
ensure that the care provided in AAHA certified hospitals would
be the best. Our evaluation of the new standards indicates that
we are already compliant with the new standards. It is important
to remember that in our area only Sylvania Veterinary Hospital is
AAHA certified. In fact, no other area veterinary practice is inspected
by any organization.
WE WILL BE CHANGING COMPUTER
systems in late January. The new computers and software from Impromed
will make transactions faster and appointment scheduling more efficient.
There will be a learning curve as we move to our new system. Please
be patient with us as we make this conversion.
NEW CBC COUNTING EQUIPMENT
has been added to our lab. With our new Mascot machine we will get
a very accurate five-part white blood cell count plus a detailed
red blood cell count and assessment.
NEW SERVICES WILL BE COMING
to the new Sylvania Veterinary Hospital. Other services will be
expanded. When the new hospital opens this fall look for the following
additions:
f
these positions?