Career Fair Fun

Where can you see a veterinarian, a chiropractor, a tax accountant, a fireman and a United States Marine all in the same room?  At the Utica Schools Career Expo!

Tomorrow night (March 21) I will be packing up a few of my veterinary technician friends and a box of pamphlets, photos and some worms in jars, to head off to the annual career fair.  Once there, we will set up our table and try to look as interesting as we possibly can, so crowds of children and their parents will stop by to ask us questions.  We will even have a basket of candy to attract those who may just stop by for the sweets.   We want as many people as possible to talk to us because, who wants to have the job that no one cares about?  We all want to have a popular career right?

Thankfully for us, many people love animals and will stop by our booth just to talk about their pets. That gives us an advantage over our non-animal career friends.  We also have a few little pets of our own to attract the younger kids. We talk about how much fun it is to visit with cute puppies and kitties each day and how we love returning ill pets to their families feeling healthier than they were when we met them.  We really get to save lives and enjoy what we do every day.

We usually have them convinced that our career is the BEST until they ask the magic question. "How many years do you have to go to college?"  When I say "eight years"  I lose a lot of them.  Their eyes glaze over thinking of the years of studying, and their parents drag them away shaking their heads with thoughts of the impending debt.  If I can convince a few brave souls that my career is worth the mental and financial sacrifice, I may just get some new colleagues out of it.  At any rate, the career fair is loads of fun.  Educating the public about the variety of things that we do each day and showing off the complexity of our profession is both an honor and a privilege.

If you are in the neighborhood tomorrow night, stop by to see us. We would love to see you and your family, and answer all of your veterinary questions.  The career fair is at Eisenhower High School.

Hope to see you there!

Dr. Cappel and the team at Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital.

Leftover Cats

As we approach spring, I feel a slight sense of trepidation because I know it is the beginning of kitten season.  Unwanted kittens will once again flood our office and we will spend countless hours bottle feeding, bathing, cleaning litter boxes and finding homes for the litters of unwanted kittens that will be rescued by our wonderful caring clients and soft hearted employees.  

Cats breed in the spring, so kittens are often found under decks, in car engines, in garages and even in the homes of people that didn't spay their pets.  Each year we raise and adopt these homeless babies without the help of a rescue agency or any government funds. We do it because we love animals and want to make a positive contribution to the people and pets in our community.  It is a wonderfully rewarding thing to do -  to take sick and starving day old kittens and tube feed, bottle feed, medicate and love them into beautiful healthy adoptable kittens and cats ready for new homes.  The only down side to the process is the lack of normal sleep that we get when we have a litter to raise and the adult cats that are sometimes leftover.  The mothers or older kittens that are found don't always get homes.    So each year we are left with a couple of beautiful adult cats that don't get adopted.  

These cats continue to reside at Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital waiting for that right person to come in and notice that they would make great pets.  They are all spayed and neutered, vaccinated and tested for Felv and FIV.  They are well socialized and are great with people because they have spent a lot of time with the WWVH team.  

If you have room in your home for one more sweet soul, please go to our website (www.wwvhcares.com)  or our facebook page and see who we have to offer.  It would be great if all of our homeless cats could find homes this year.  They don't like being leftovers.

Also, remember to spay and neuter your cats and dogs so we don't get any more unwanted pets out on the streets. 

Looking forward to spring with a great money saving offer from Merial

Today did not feel like spring, with winds over 20 miles and hour and a temperature of below 30 degrees, however the sunshine made me think that spring is just around the corner.  What does that mean for Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital?  It means more focus on parasite control, heartworm disease prevention and spring/summer allergies.  Veterinary hospitals focus more on these things during the spring and summer months because we are presented with more opportunity to do so.  Fleas, Ticks and Heartworm are seen each year and it is upsetting because these diseases are easily prevented.

 For example there is a new promotion from the makers of Heartgard and Frontline.  The company (Merial) that makes these products, comes up with new and better ways to promote the use of these preventative medications by coming up with better coupons each year.  There are so many products on the market now that they are forced to compete aggressively.  That is great news for the consumer. Last year the company offered $12 coupon/rebate for the purchase of 12 doses of Heargard.  This year they are offering the same $12 coupon with an added $25.00 immediate coupon off the purchase price of 12 doses of Heartgard with 6 doses of Frontline.  That is a $37.00 savings and with that offer comes 2 extra doses of Frontline.  All total a person will save close to $57.00.   That is a great savings and makes these products cheaper to get from a veterinary hospital than to buy over the counter or online.   The good news for veterinarians and clients of veterinarians is that we can get these superior products for a better price and when you buy from your veterinarian you know that the product is coming directly from Merial and not through a broker or overseas supplier.  The company guarantees and backs these products only if they are sold through a legitimate provider.    There are many products on the market that claim to prevent fleas, ticks, heartworm and internal parasites.  Heartgard and Frontline have been around for years and they are some of the safest and most successful products on the market.  I have used them on all of my dogs and cats for at least the past 10 years.  Ask your veterinarian about this great money saving offer from Merial.  (I don't work for the company-I just think it is a great offer)

Have a parasite free summer with your dogs and cats.

Pets need dental care too! February is Pet Dental Health Month

Does your dog or cat ever breathe in your face?  If so, you have probably noticed that their mouths can smell pretty foul if you don't keep up with their dental care.   The smell that comes from that cute little mouth is the smell of bacteria building up on their teeth and causing infection in their gums.  Can you imagine going months or years without taking a toothbrush and paste to your pearly whites??  That is what happens with our canine and feline friends in most households.  A small percentage of people brush their pet's teeth daily and many don't do it at all.  That lack of dental attention causes many pets to have thick ugly tartar buildup on their teeth and even worse severe gum infections leading to loss of valuable teeth at a very young age.  The dental chews and things that they advertise on TV for pet's dental health can help a little, however the real work has to be done by brushing and professional cleaning and polishing.  Most pets that do not have home dental brushing will need to have their teeth professionally cleaned by their veterinarian at about 1-3 years of age.  Imagine 3 years of food being left on your teeth to build up tartar and decay.  If those pets have their teeth brushed at home they may not need professional cleaning as often, but it is still important to their dental health just like it is for their human caregivers.  

It is advisable to have your pet's mouth evaluated by your veterinarian or veterinary technician at least annually and to have those teeth cleaned professionally at the first sign of tartar buildup or gum redness.  Your veterinarian will then be able to schedule your furry friend for a dental cleaning.  Pet's teeth are cleaned just like your teeth are cleaned by your dental hygienist.  They are scraped and polished with similar instruments that are used on your teeth.  Animals do have to be anesthetized in order to clean their teeth properly because most pets will not sit in a chair with their mouths open.  Most veterinarians will handle your pet's dental cleaning just as if they were a person going under anesthesia for a routine outpatient procedure.  Blood tests will be done prior to anesthesia to insure the health of the pet's kidneys, liver and immune system.  An IV catheter will be used to deliver medication and fluid and to insure safety during the procedure.  The teeth will then be cleaned, polished and sometimes x-rays will be taken to evaluate the tooth roots.  Therapeutic laser therapy can also be used to decrease gum inflammation and infection.  Once your pet returns home (most procedures take about 1 hours, so most pets return home in the early afternoon) you will be encouraged to follow up with proper brushing to keep up with the now healthy, clean mouth.  

If you have any questions or would like more information about dental care for your pet, call Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital at 586-751-3350.

Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital Team brings a new website to life.

Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital has a new and improved website.  After many months of hard work by some of the team members, a new website has come to life.  Nicole and myself were the two team members leading the charge, with a lot of help from our webmaster and computer guru Scott.  Nicole visited many websites and looked at numerous options of templates.  After many trials and changes we settled on a web template with a man (we called him eyebrow man) and a dog on the main page.  The site was clean and friendly and we really loved it, but we really didn't want a male model/veterinarian as our representative.  We debated and fought over what to do with the "eyebrow man".  We have 24 women working at Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital, so having a man on the main page was not really an option.  At one point Nicole and Scott plugged a picture of me (Dr. Cappel)  and my new puppy Trent as a temporary place holder while we were trying to come up with a solution to eyebrow man.   I was not real happy with this solution, but I agreed to it as I knew it was only temporary.

 As the site developed we added pictures of the rest of the team all with their various pets and the site became a family project.  We feel that Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital is a family and we liked the feel of our team members populating the site.  Nicole spent countless hours typing in text and arranging photos to make the site user friendly and informative.  Sue and the other team members helped with proof reading, taking photos and critiquing the content.  After many many hours of work we were finally able to let the site go live.  We are still working on getting the site to work with smart phones and tablet devices, but the computer site is working well so far.  There are some changes that we still need to make and we hope that our clients will add to this work in progress by submitting photos, and ideas that will help make the website grow for us.  I hope that any of you that use our site will be happy with the changes that we have made and will help us to continue to update the site to make it more user friendly and educational.  If you have a moment visit the site at www.wwvhcares.com and let us know what you think.  

Santa delivers Zelda to her new home.

Just in time for Christmas, Zelda (our one eyed kitten - AKA Winky) made her way into the hearts and home of a wonderful family.  One of our great clients, Tanya, fell in love with Zelda after visiting the hospital several times while the homeless kittens were growing and playing in the Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital reception area.  Now Tanya has cats of her own at home, but something about the outgoing personality of Zelda and her fearless nature attracted Tanya to her.  She began to work on her husband gently suggesting that Zelda would make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas.  Now her husband is an animal lover as well, but he is the practical one, the voice of reason.  He didn't think another cat was needed in their home and he was very comfortable that Zelda was happy and healthy living at WWVH.  Tanya continued to visit with Zelda and continued to ask "Santa" for a new kitten.  As Christmas approached it wasn't looking good for the adoption, then 3 days before Christmas I received a facebook message asking me if Zelda was still available for adoption.  I replied that yes, she had just been spayed on Monday and was recovering nicely and that she could go to a home any day.  The facebook message was from Tanya's husband.  He wanted to see if he could pick Zelda up on Christmas eve, so she could be the Christmas gift that Tanya was wishing for.  We made arrangements for him to get her on Monday, Christmas eve.   The little kitten that started life outside with her mother and siblings, starving and lonely, with an eye that was diseased and blind, ended up with the best of happy endings.  Being delivered by Santa into the loving arms of a wonderful, capable family.

A Kitten gets a home for Christmas.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all of those cute kittens that we have running around Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital?  Well if they are lucky, they attract the attention of one of our wonderful loving clients and get chosen to go to a new home where they are loved and pampered.  Mopar, our youngest homeless kitty, had his lucky day today.  He just happened to be running down the hallway, after escaping from the surgery side of the hospital where he had been playing, just in time to catch the eye of a man that had his dog in for a visit with Dr. Hagewood.  The man may have been looking for a kitten for his family or he just may have got suckered in by Mopar's cute face and outstanding personality.  Either way he asked to visit with Mopar.  After a short visit, he decided to take him home for Christmas.  The Warren Woods Team is always so happy when these little ones get solid caring homes and we know that Mopar will live a healthy life with his new family.

The only down side to all these cute kittens that we adopt out, is all the beautiful adult cats that we have continuing to get overlooked that are desperately in need of homes.  Take Latoya for example.  She is a beautiful, independent calico cat that has all the confidence in the world.  She has been with us for almost a year and has not had anyone interested in giving her a home.  (see her picture on our website)

Posie and her kittens were brought to Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital by animal control because Posie was a single mother with 4 kittens out in the cold and starving.  Her kittens had various birth defects and needed medical attention.  Now the kittens are 3 months old and we have two that still have not been adopted as well as their mother Posie.  She has now been spayed and is a beautiful girl with loads of personality.  Two of her babies snagged great homes, but the other two; Peggy (She has one rear leg that is not developed) and Zelda (she needed one of her eyes removed due to her birth defect) have not yet found homes. This sweet family of 3 needs a home so they won't end up living at a veterinary hospital with no special family to love them.

At Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital we care for our cats until we find them loving homes.  We are a roof over their heads and two squares a day however we can not provide them with what every cat needs and deserves.  A loving home and family.  If you have adopted one of our cats in the past (I have 3 that I have adopted from WWVH and they are all upstanding citizens) I salute and thank you.  If you have room and resources in your home to adopt another loving pet, please consider one of our older cats.   They will be forever loyal and grateful to you.

Getting off my soap box now.........   :)

Call us at 586-751-3350 to visit with any of the cats up for adoption.