When I was little my mother used to promise me that if I could catch the Easter Bunny I could keep him. Easily promised as I rarely ever saw the fluffy guy. These days however, giving children a rabbit at Easter seems to be catching on as a new fad. Recently we’ve attended to many a rabbit immediately after Easter and then never seen them again. The reasons vary and often it is simply because they are easy to care for pets and need minimal veterinary care. Equally often, however, they include tragedy…

Below is a link to an excellent article entitled “5 Reasons NOT to Buy the Easter Bunny.” It summarizes exactly our concerns and we thought we would put it out there for folks to read.

http://shine.yahoo.com/pets/5-reasons-not-to-buy-an-easter-bunny.html

We hope Spring is finding you all well! Happy Easter!

Just a quick reminder: Trees and flowers are in bloom so watch your pet for signs of allergies. Allergies to plants, pollens, etc are very common in pets, especially dogs. The cells that release histamine, a chemical that causes itchiness, are located in the skin of the feet and face in dogs so they will start to lick and chew at their paws and rub their face – frequently on the carpet or edges of furniture. Allergies are dealt with in dogs the same as in people – with antihistamines and sometimes corticosteroids.
If you know your dog suffers from allergies and have used antihistamines in the past, DON’T wait for the itchiness to show up – start those antihistamines NOW! Antihistamines are very good at keeping a fire down, but not great at putting one out. This is a case where fixing it before it is broken is key!
Have a great spring!

We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season! We enjoyed our Holidays and are settling back in to the post-crazy routine. We are focusing now on Dental Month. February has been recognized as National Dental Health Month for pets. We acknowledge this by taking 10% of dental prophylactic procedures in the month of February. To help prepare for this we are offering free dental examinations with our technicians to help determine if your pet needs dental care and, if so, to help develop an estimate on the costs of that care. If you are suspicious your pet may need his or her teeth cleaned (little signs like their breath knocking you over at 10 feet!) give our office a call and schedule an appointment with a tech to evaluate your pet’s teeth.

We would like to take this opportunity to offer all of our clients our very best wishes for health and happiness during this Holiday Season. For our patients we especially wish good health!

We would be remiss to not quickly mention a few ways to keep our patients healthy during this season. For cats, remember to keep track of those ribbons on packages. Cats like nothing more than to play with Holiday ribbon – especially curling ribbon – and play often leads to ingestion – which leads with alarming frequency to surgery. Do all you can minimize your cat’s exposure to these ribbons. For dogs especially – Holiday candy is NOT for dogs. Chocolates this time of year are often darker and richer and contain more cocoa – which is severely toxic to dogs. Toy-breeds can ingest as little as 1/2 piece of fudge and become critically ill. There are all kinds of dog-specific treats available so let’s save the chocolate for we humans!

We try all year to remember to tell our clients how much we appreciate the opportunity to care for their pets. At the Holidays it seems to be even more important. We truly love our jobs – we love purring and sloppy dog kisses – and we love relieved smiles on owners faces when we send our patients home. Again, we thank you for allowing us to care for such an important part of your lives.
Happy Holidays from all of us at The Ark Pet Hospital

In an effort to help determine what kinds of injuries or conditions really warrant a trip to the emergency room, Dr. Hageman will now be returning after-hours calls in an “advice line” capacity. In general, just like with our own health, if you feel your pet needs emergency care – a traumatic injury, difficulty breathing, etc – you and your pet are best served by heading directly to your closest emergency facility. Sometimes, however, it’s hard to know if “it can wait until morning.” Dr. Hageman will be carrying an after-hours cell phone to help owners determine if an emergency visit is warranted. Because we have a state-of-the-art medical records system, Dr. Hageman can log in to your pet’s medical records from home and will be able to review your pet’s specific health conditions to help you evaluate his or her condition. Phone calls will be returned within 20-30 minutes up until 11:00pm and after 6:00am most days – and she will try to hear the phone during the late night hours. However, it is important to remember that this service should only be considered if you believe your pet’s condition to be NON-LIFE-THREATENING. If you aren’t sure – don’t wait for the call-back.
We realize that emergency room visits can be inconvenient and expensive and we’d like to help our clients be able to really utilize such services in an effective manner. So remember – if you just aren’t sure – try giving us a call… but don’t wait if you are truly worried…
We hope this service helps! We look forward to continuing to care for your pets!

If you got this far you’ve probably already noticed we’ve updated our website! Let us know what you think! As always we strive to meet our client’s needs and provide high-quality and cutting edge medical care for our patients.
We also have some news: we have all missed our hospital dog, Reggie, who passed away in April. We have finally helped to patch the hole in our hearts… Meet Lilly Jade!

Lilly was born on August 30 and will be living here at the Ark whenever Dr. Hageman is working. Feel free to ask to meet her as she won’t be roaming free until she learns some manners!
We hope you all enjoy the start of the 2011 Holiday Season and we look forward to seeing you and your pets in the coming year!

Hello everybody! This is our new blog, and if everything is set up correctly, it should tweet this and publish it to Facebook, too.

Also, make sure to check out our new website at http://www.arkpethospital.com/