November 2003 FYI

REMEMBER TO GIVE YOUR DOG AND CAT ITS MONTHLY HEARTWORM PREVENTIVE
NOVEMBER WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST MONTH YOU NEED TO APPLY FRONTLINE FOR FLEA AND TICK CONTROL UNLESS YOU HAVE FLEAS IN YOUR HOUSE

SYLVANIA VET NOW HAS 12 LICENSED TECHS on staff. This high degree of professional staffing is unequaled in our area. We are fortunate to have been able to attract such a large number of highly qualified veterinary staff members. Four of our techs have the primary responsibility of after-hours patient care. Remember that your pet is never alone when it is a patient or boarder guest. One of our techs is in the building 24/7. The other techs work days assisting us in surgery, the exam room, the lab and the treatment area. Our techs enable the doctors to concentrate on diagnosing and treating our cases. Having enough time to give every case the attention it requires is made possible by our educated and well-trained tech staff. Our techs are also responsible for the training and guidance of our doctor's assistants.

Thackeray's Book Store is proud to have the author of the Max and Annie books on November 15th at 11 a.m. Sandra J. Philipson is a reading specialist and educational consultant. She has degrees in education, reading and literacy. Besides the Max and Annie series, she has also published research in the field of medical literacy and has lectured in the Cleveland, Ohio area over the last six years. Ms. Philipson lives in the Village of Chagrin Falls, Ohio with her husband, two daughters and Max and Annie.
The Max and Annie series is based on an actual incident of Annie, a nine-year-old English Springer Spaniel who loses her front leg to cancer. Annie and her brother Max experience her illness and recovery in these books. The books are both funny and poignant and deal with such issues as denial and eventual acceptance of the loss of Annie's leg.
The four titles in the series are: Annie Loses Her Leg but Finds Her Way, Max's Wild Goose Chase, Max and Annie's Mysterious Campfire, and The Artist, A Max and Annie Adventure in Imagination
There will be a signing of Ms Philipson books, which a portion of these sales will benefit the American Cancer Society. At this time you will also have the pleasure of meeting Max and Annie in person.

UPDATE TIME FOR THE NEW HOSPITAL. Many of you have commented on the building as it takes shape. The two most common comments seem to be that it is large, yes it is, 16,000-sq. ft. and that it is beautiful, thank you. When the outside is completed in the next month you will see the real beauty that our architects have designed. The large cupola like area in the front is a large skylight and not a second floor. There seems to be some concern about what is going to happen with our fees when we move in. We have always maintained that our fees will not be raised to accommodate the new facility. Nothing has changed. We have a small annual fee increase to account for increased expenses and that is the only fee increase anticipated for 2004. We did not raise our boarding fees in 2003. When we move we will establish our boarding fees to reflect the level of service and care your pet will receive. Once those fees are established they will not be changed until spring 2005. The increased cost of supporting the new facility doctor is part of the plan to handle the increased volume we expect in all areas of the new hospital. The most amazing aspect of the new building is that we are building a state of the art facility at a cost approximately 20% less than other new construction in the area. You can help us keep our fees lower than many area veterinarians by referring your friends and neighbors to us. The next two articles will address our recent fee survey and review our referral incentive program.

MARK JANUARY 11, 2004 ON YOUR EVENT CALENDAR. OUR TAX EXEMPT FOUNDATION, MEMORIES LIVE ON ANIMAL FOUNDATION, WILL SPONSOR A GRAND OPENING GALA TO RAISE MONEY FOR OUR CHARITABLE FUNDS. THE TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION WILL ALLOW YOU TO HAVE A GUIDED TOUR OF THE NEW HOSPITAL, ENJOY FINGER FOODS AND HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN ONE OF MANY DOOR PRIZES.

Doggy day care interview exams are being scheduled with Barb Harris. We encourage you to call the office, 419-885-4421, and schedule an interview for your dog so it will be ready to attend the initial day care sessions. Our day care will be unique, safe, and enjoyable for your dog.

With the help of our mechanical engineers, Trane and our architects we have had an advanced heating, cooling and ventilating system installed in our boarding kennel. Air will be totally changed over 10 times an hour, filtered through a charcoal and hepa filter and have more than 75% of the heat or cooling recovered. To the best of our knowledge there is no system like this in any kennel anywhere in the country. Of course the runs will all have radiantly heated floors.

Our innovative automatic dog walker has been ordered and will be shipped in December.

Our new hospital is being designed and built to enable us to provide the best possible care for your pets. It is going to be beautiful but not ostentatious. We have made decisions on design and materials that were motivated by function, economy and practicality. We hope to win a design contest based on many design features and the ability to provide them at a less than expected cost.

WE JUST COMPLETED A fee survey of area practices. We inquired about office call charges, vaccine fees, heartworm medication charges and other basic costs at 10 area veterinary practices. What we learned was very interesting. Our office call was third lowest, $33 while the highest was $37.60. Another fee we compared was a Rabies vaccine. Our charge of $10.00 is by far the lowest, the next lowest was $15.00 and the highest was $30.00. No other practices provided 24/7 emergency care and no other office has a staff member in the building overnight. We would contend that our high level of patient care, the amount of equipment we have and our certified, inspected hospital with extremely competitive fees makes Sylvania Veterinary Hospital a real bargain. What this fee survey tells us is that there can be a large variation in fees throughout our area. Fees are not a good reason to select a veterinarian. Commitment to you and your pet should be the most important factor when choosing a veterinary practice. Tell your friends about Sylvania Vet.

WORD OF MOUTH REFERRAL PROGRAM is our best practice-building tool. Every established client can be a Sylvania Vet ambassador. When you send friends, neighbors and coworkers to us we will thank you. We will track your referrals and send you a thank you card for each new client you send. In addition, your account will be credited $5.00 for each referral and we will send you a nice gift. Once you have referred 11 new clients to Sylvania Vet you will receive an 11% discount on all services for all your pets for one year. Ask any staff member for more details about our 11- step referral reward program.

ON-LINE PHARMACY HAS LOST AGAIN. BAYER ANIMAL HEALTH sued a national on-line pharmacy for unauthorized selling of their products and won. No on-line pharmacy is authorized to sell most of the heartworm and flea control products made by national manufacturers. Rather, the on-line pharmacies ask unethical veterinarians to divert products to them for resale. We just finished comparing our product prices with PetMed Express. Again, Sylvania Veterinary Hospital's prices for Heartgard Plus are better than PME's. Other products available are also more expensive than our prices. One expensive indictable that we sell for $140.00 is listed at $165 on pme's web site. We encourage you to not support on-line pharmacies. If a client insists on purchasing from an on-line pharmacy they will be required to pick up a written prescription and mail it to the pharmacy. We will not sign a faxed request or give verbal authorization. At no time will we write a prescription for more than one of any requested item.

SANTA-PET PICTURES ARE SCHEDULED for Saturday, December 6. Our annual event to celebrate the joy of pets during the holidays is scheduled from 2-6 PM. Jim Carroll will again be taking studio quality portraits of your pet with Santa. Cards, buttons, key chains and more are available in addition to the beautiful 5x7 photos. You can also include families in the pet picture if you desire. Snacks and treats for family and pets will also be available. The cost of this year's session is $16.00. Two dollars from each sitting will be donated to the Memories Live On Animal Foundation. Each dog will receive a special chew treat, and each cat will receive a catnip mouse as a thank you from Sylvania Vet. We will have a collection of holiday gifts for you to purchase for your four- legged companion.

OUR WEB SITE is in the process of being updated. Two of our employees, Cheryl Hunter and Ann Bondy, are working to improve the content and look of our site. Employee pictures and bios will be updated, features and pictures will be changed and we hope to kick off our on-line ordering and shopping feature. If you have any suggestions let us know.

TOTALLY PETS is a new cable TV show dedicated entirely to pets. It is being broadcast on 120 stations nationally. Unfortunately, our local cable company is not showing the program. Stations in Cleveland, Columbus and even Lima carry Totally Pets. We encourage you to contact Buckeye Cablevision and ask them to include Totally Pets in our available programming. This animal only show is produced and underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance.

MILK BONES AND OTHER HARD BAKED SNACKS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE DENTAL CONTROL TREATS. Most of these treats are not balanced nutritionally and provide what would be considered empty calories. For consumable chew treats we recommend Prescription Diet T/D dental dog food. Each nugget is relatively large so the dog or cat will not gulp them down. T/D has high fiber content that causes the nugget to cleave and scrape the tooth when eaten. The calorie density is low and the food is balanced. T/D may be used as a treat, as a part of the pet's regular diet or as the full diet. Other consumable chews we recommend are Greenies and CET Cheweeze. Dental chews are an important part of your pet's daily dental care. Remember that brushing your pet's teeth is the best way to help keep its mouth healthy.

PAIN CONTROL IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF EVERY MEDICAL/SURGICAL CASE WE UNDERTAKE. It is generally acknowledged that pets feel pain the same as we do. The difference is that dogs and cats hide their pain and we of course make no attempt to hide when we hurt. In studies of animals that had just had a major abdominal surgery, spay, it was necessary to use a hidden camera to detect the pain the dogs were showing. When a person was nearby the dogs were up and wagging to greet the care- giver. Recently, we had a seminar on pain control and a pain control wet lab for the entire staff. Our knowledge of pain control methods was evaluated. It was determined we are doing most things well. A couple new medications were suggested to make our pain control package even better. We learned about doing epidural anesthesia. Your pet's comfort, during and after a procedure, is always on our mind. We will be sending appropriate medication with all dogs and cats after any painful procedure. At Sylvania Vet pain control is not an option. Soft tissue surgery requires 3-4 days of pain treatment. Orthopedic surgery requires 6-7 days of pain relief. We will rarely recommend aspirin, as it is not a very effective pain medication.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS about feeding your pets.

How many times should I feed my pet?
Young puppies need to eat 3-4 times daily. Most pets should eat twice daily as an adult. Free choice feeding of a measured amount of food is ok once your pet is house broken.

How should I introduce a new diet to my pet?
Any changes in diet should include a gradual transition from old to new; 7 - 10 days are usually enough to transition to the new food.

Is it ok for my cat to eat my dog's food?
As an occasional change of pace or a nibble of dog food will not hurt your cat. However, dog food should never be fed as an exclusive cat diet. Dog food is deficient in an amino acid, Taurine, which a cat requires. Taurine deficiency can cause heart muscle disease or blindness in a cat.

LUPINE LEASHES AND COLLARS ARE AVAILABLE IN OUR RETAIL SPACE. These high quality products are guaranteed for life, even if chewed by your dog. We also have stylish Lupine key chains if you are interested.

RABBITS HAVE SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDS, TOO. Most pet rabbits are not properly fed and as a result suffer from various forms of malnutrition. The most commonly seen diet related problem is what is frequently called "hair balls". A diet of only rabbit pellets is very bad for your pet bunny. Rabbits must eat lots of roughage so that their complicated digestive process will work properly. An important part of a rabbit's daily intake is the consumption of special fecal pellets that are made in the animal's cecum. These pellets have different shape, odor and moistness than the typical rabbit pellets we have all seen. We encourage you to contact our office and schedule a wellness visit with Dr. Love for your pet rabbit.

FERRETS ARE THE THIRD MOST POPULAR PET, because of that, more and more of these guys are being surrendered to shelters and humane organizations. It is important to gain as much knowledge as possible before you bring any pet into your home. Ferrets are very social animals and require a lot of time with their human companions. Ferrets are also very curious animals and will go anywhere their nose leads them. If a ferret can fit their head in an opening of any kind, the rest of their body is sure to follow. Ferrets are strict carnivores and require a meat-based diet. The best type of food is one that is made just for ferrets. Ferrets require a high protein diet. Foods not made specifically for ferrets may not have the required amount of protein (ferrets need a daily protein intake of 30%). Ferrets need to have food available to them at all times and they eat about every 4 hours. Annual vaccinations are a must for all ferrets. They are extremely susceptible to canine distemper and, if exposed, the outcome is almost always fatal. The first set of vaccines should already have been given when you get your ferret. Two more sets of vaccines will be given at 12 weeks and 16 weeks of age. After that canine distemper and rabies are given yearly. If you are thinking about bringing a ferret into our home, the best thing to do is read ferret magazines or talk to other ferret owners. In future FYIs we will explore some of the common problems that ferrets owners face.

See you at Santa- pet picture day
Saturday, December 6
2-6 PM
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at
Sylvania Veterinary Hospital

Return to Current FYI