Posts from August 2014
Bringing a new pet into the home is an exciting, life changing event! Here are some tips for making the transition a positive experience for all involved.
1
Remember: This Too Shall Pass.
Consider the next week or so an investment in the family’s happiness over the next several years.
2
Call Gentle Doctor Animal Hospitals…Stat!
Have a veterinary examination and fecal examination and any needed vaccines done right away, ideally before your new pet even comes home.
3
Gender Issues – Avoid Them All Together!
Make sure dogs and cats are spayed or neutered. With small mammals, make sure you have the genders you think you have!
4
More on the Little Guys…
With small mammals, do not mix species! They do not always get along well, and some diseases are transmissible across different species.
5
What the World Needs Now…
…is LOVE! Spend extra one-on-one time with the resident pets. Give extra pets – extra treats – extra walks. Really overdo it! Reassure them that they are not being replaced, and start to provide positive associations with the new family member.
6
Nice to Smell You
Let the pets get to know each other as animals usually do best – by smell. Keep the new pet out of sight in a kennel or small room for one whole week. Adjust the time frame based on how all the pets are doing with the introduction.
If it is small mammals such as ferrets, rabbits or rodents that you are introducing, place their habitats near each other, but do not allow them to physically interact at first.
7
Remodeling the Home to Include More Restrooms…
For cats - set up one more litter box than you have cats. Make sure there is at least one litter box on every level of the home and that each is easily accessible. Use big boxes with low sides and make sure at least one box is uncovered.
8
There’s Room for Everyone Here!
Cats communicate with each other through very subtle movements and signals. They tend to be very independent, even in multi-cat households. As best you can, watch their patterns and where they like to be. Try to set up the household so each cat has a low, covered retreat, a high, open retreat and a window seat.
With dogs also, make sure each pet has a resting place and a retreat or hiding place.
9
A Walk Could be the Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship.
Walk the resident dogs together with the new dog. The shared activity seems to help quite a bit in creating new, positive memories of time together.
10
Adjusting to the New Family Dynamics…
After the first week, give the pets supervised, controlled time together, even with leashes if needed. If all goes well, let them loose. If all continues to go well, let them loose unsupervised. If any doubt, pets may need to be separated, in kennels or in different room, when unsupervised, even long term.
Good job acclimating everyone to the changes, and congratulations on the new addition to your family!
Thank you to our wonderful client Jodi Finch for this topic – introducing new pets into the home!
Gentle Doctor Animal Hospital has the BEST clients and patients in the world! We also have a very kind, compassionate and knowledgeable veterinary team. We would like to continue to introduce them to you one at a time.
Please meet another of our wonderful teammates, Whitney McKee!
Name: Whitney McKee
Position: Director of Support Services
When did you join the Gentle Doctor team? May 2008
Tell us about the people and pets in your family.
My husband and I have been married since 2005. He has been the man of my dreams since I was 13 years old!
We have a daughter named Harper who was born in May of 2011. She is the spitting image of her father. We love her to pieces!
We have 2 dogs, Titan and Sheeba. They are both Huskies and are shedding MACHINES!
Harper and Titan
We also have one cat, Clark Kent who we started "fostering" at 2 weeks of age. Needless to say, after hours and months of getting up for feedings, we fell in love and could not give him up!
What do you like to do when you are not restoring and maintaining the health of pets?
We spend a lot of time with our friends and families. During the summer we spend a lot of time at my husband's farm in Franklin, Nebraska 4 wheeling and riding our dirk bike or swimming at the lake. Harper loves the water.
What do you like most about your career?
Hmmm…Hard question...I love so many things about my job. I love working with patients and educating clients. I love that I get to help animals every day. Some days are very sad, but the good days always outweigh the bad.
What is one of the more difficult aspects of your career?
Euthanasia. I have been doing this job since 2005, and I still cry at every euthanasia. I have been in our clients shoes, and I know how much hurt and pain making that decision brings. It is one of the hardest, most selfless choices you can make for your pet, and it is never an easy one.
As an expert in your field, what advice would you give people about maintaining the health of their pets?
Weight control. As a mother of two formerly overweight Huskies - Titan is down 12 pounds and Sheeba is down 20 pounds - I know the importance of keeping them at a healthy weight. They are so much happier, move more and just feel better! But it does take work and self control on your part. I always feel bad because I know they could eat more.
What advice would you give someone looking into a career in veterinary medicine?
You learn something new every day! Veterinary medicine is always changing and growing. You are always learning. It is also a very emotionally trying job. You fall in love with pets every day, and sometimes, no matter how much we do, we can't save their lives. But there is no greater reward then helping an animal or client in need. Like I said, there are more good days than bad.
Tell us about some of your favorite patients.
Hmm...I have so many.
My first one that comes to mind is actually in heaven now. She was this AMAZING Black Lab. She was always happy and excited to see you. As she got older, we saw her at least once a week for many different things. Every time, she was so happy and always brought a smile to your face. Her mom is one of the sweetest women in the world, and loves her dogs very much. They day she went to heaven was a hard day for all of us here at the clinic. She was a very LOVED girl!
Another one of my favorites that comes to mind is an American Eskimo. At first he was very snippy, scared and timid. But I spent a lot of time with this one. And every time he comes in now he is the most excited dog, and he truly is one of the sweetest dogs EVER!!!! He always brings a smile to my face.
The last one I will talk about is a Chow Chow. There are some dogs that just steal your heart. He was one of them. He would growl when you walked by his kennel, but on the inside he was so sweet! He would let you do anything to him - trim his nails, brush him, clean his ears - and he would just lay there. I was always excited to see him. He passed away recently, and he is dearly missed.
Max the Sun Conure was seen at Gentle Doctor Animal Hospitals after he had accidently been shut in a door. His Mom and Dad graciously agreed to allow us to share his story with you here…
When We Met Max, We Were Very Concerned!
Max had severe lacerations (cuts) around his right leg and right wing and tail, and he was limping on the right and holding his right wing to the side. Even in his rough shape, Max was just the sweetest bird!
Would a Dog or Cat Agree to That?
When he first came to Gentle Doctor, Max was a struggling with shock, and we worried we would not be able to safely obtain x-rays with anesthesia, but would also not be able to obtain high quality x-rays without anesthesia – a common dilemma with trauma cases of any species! On a whim, we gave Max a pen to play with while we took x-rays, and he happily allowed us to position him on his back and then on his side, and were able to get great pictures!
X-rays showed a miraculous absence of fractures, so we went to work putting poor Max back together!
The Repair of Max the Conure
We started antibiotics and pain medication and anesthetized Max. Trey the technician made Max his own tiny anesthesia mask. We had seen Trey do the same before for rats who needed tiny anesthesia masks, and knew Max’s anesthesia mask would be just right, and it was!
Max was in surgery for one and a half hours while his lacerations were repaired with the tiniest of sutures. After surgery, Max woke right up! Once again Trey showed his “MacGyver” skills and made Max the cutest – and more importantly – the most comfortable and protective little e-collar.
A week later, when Max finally outsmarted his e-collar, our other awesome veterinary technician Brooke made Max a new e-collar that he could not bite around!
Why We Love Max…Isn’t It Obvious?
We love patients like Max for lots of reasons…
As much as we HATE to see pets in pain, it is so rewarding to help them get well.
There is something just incredible and fun about a little parrot’s personality, especially one as neat as Max the Conure.
Having patients like Max pushes us to find solutions - e-collars and anesthesia masks, not to mention tiny medicine doses! - that we would not otherwise have to consider.
Our Clients (YOU) are the Best Clients…
This is not specific to Max the Conure or his family, but it is true - we just really like the people who come in with our patients! Max’s parents are just great, and we credit them entirely with Max’s sweet little personality, and all the supportive care that has allowed Max to recover completely from what was a very severe and scary injury.
In Which Max the Conure Lives Happily Ever After…
Today, we are glad to report that Max is happy and healthy at home! He frequently comes to board at our 89th and Grant location, and we love when he is here with us.
We wish for Max a long, happy lifetime with a medical record filled only with wellness exams!
More on Max on Dr. Finch's veterinary website, Riley and James,
"What if Every Case is a Gift?"
Due to Dr. Finch's allergies, we are no longer seeing exotic pets as patients except for Max and a few guinea pigs who have been "grand-birded" and "grand-piggied" in. We still love them all, and still board most exotic pets! Ask us for great veterinary teams in the Omaha area that see exotic pets.
Every month at Gentle Doctor Animal Hospitals we choose a breed to highlight online. Sometimes we choose the breed of the month based on rescue groups we love, sometimes we choose the breed of the month based on the pets we have in our own families and sometimes we choose the breed of the month because, in our professional opinions, the breed we have chosen to celebrate is just a great breed!
Bear Mercer
We chose this month's breed for two reasons - the few people we know with Ibizan Hounds in their families are just our favorite people! AND the dogs are the coolest dogs you could meet - such neat personalities and beautiful, unusual features. We really like this breed!
Wyatt and Griffin Weiland
THANK YOU to Alicia Weiland and your family and Alicia's Mom Kathleen Collins and Michelle Mercer for causing us to fall in love with your dogs - the Ibizan Hounds and the others - too!
Ibizan Hounds
Kenya Mercer
We will spend the rest of the month celebrating this breed with you!
Chevy Mercer
Joining the Gentle Doctor Animal Hospitals Breed of the Month Online Conversation:
Make sure to join us on whatever online forum you like best –
or right here on our blog in the comment section of this post.
Shay Mercer
What questions do you have about Ibizan Hounds? What do YOU love about Ibizan Hounds? Let us know why YOUR Ibizan Hound is great!
Shay Mercer
Send us your pictures, your health questions and your stories. We are looking forward to this month with you!
Ibizan Hounds often participate in a running sport called "coursing." We adapted Omaha's new slogan, "We don't coast" to Ibizan Hounds...
We don't coast...we course!