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  It is hard to believe that August is almost over.  The kids are back at school, the worst of the summer heat is behind us, and Labor Day is next weekend!    Our schedule for Labor Weekend is as follows:  

     —Friday, Sept 2nd:   regular hours 8AM-5PM

     —Sat, Sept 3rd:           regular hours 8AM-Noon

     —-Monday, Sept 5th:  CLOSED

     —-Tuesday, Sept 6th:  regular hours 8AM-8PM

     If you have an emergency over the weekend that cannot wait, there are three emergency clinics nearby to serve your needs:  Frederick Emergency Animal Hospital–301-662-6622;  Crossroads Animal Referral & Emergency (CARE)–301-662-2273; and Mountain View Emergency (Hagerstown)–301-733-7339.   If you need to leave our staff a message, that can be done on our phone systems or at our office email at:  info@palmeranimalhospital.net.

  Last week a couple of our clients reported to us that our website was down for a few days (due to “expired” domain name) and were worried that something bad had happened to our business.  We greatly appreciate the support and concern of our clients, and we are very happy to report that in fact we are very much open for business and thriving.    We even survived the earthquake and hurricane of the past week without a so much as a scratch.  It seems the website problem was glitch or possible hacking of the automated system our website host uses to renew our domain name license.   The problem has been taken care of and the website is back up as  you can see.   Thanks to all for their  prompt reporting of this problem to us so we could rectify it quickly.

   This post may be very mundane to many of you, but we have upgraded our phone system at Palmer Animal Hospital.   Our previous system was basic office phones, and while they provided adequate service, we would actually get complaints about their function.   So now we have installed an NEC DSX system that will allow us to better serve our clients.    This system is amazing and will do more than we will ever need.   Please let us know what you think of the new system and let us know what features we should continue to add.

    In a related note, when the next phone book comes out, you will notice that we will no longer have a block ad in the Yellow Pages—only a line listing.   We came to this decision after our phone number change back in March (thereby making the ad obsolete) and we saw no decrease in our phone traffic.   We will also not be continuing our Yellow Pages Online listing as we found it obsurd that if you typed in “Veterinarian Myersville” we came up 20th on the list.  Please rest assured that it will still be very easy to find and contact us.  In addition to our new website and phone number, you can also reach us by email at info@palmeranimalhospital.net .

  The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported the diagnosis of rabies in a dog from Frederick County on March 8, 2011.   This was the first rabid dog in Frederick County since 2008.     So far this year there have been 8 cases of rabies in the county.  Most cases occurr in wildlife such as racoons, but usually there are a few cats as well and occassionally a dog.    Two people were bitten by the rabid dog and are undergoing post-exposure prophylaxis treatment.  The livestock on the farm that were exposed to the rabid dog are under quarantine for 6 months.

     It is very important to make sure your pets stays up-to-date on it’s rabies vaccination.   Frederick County ususally has the most cases of any county in Maryland, and Maryland reports 200-400 cases every year.    Prevention is the key as once an animal develops signs of the disease, there is no treatment.   There are also significant legal implications if an unvaccinated animals bites someone.    Rabies vaccinations in adult dogs are usually good for 3 years.   In cats we are currently using a 1-year vaccine, although 3 -year vaccinations are available.   If you are unsure of your pet’s status, feel free to contact our office so we can check our records.

 As many of you have (hopefully) read in our recent newsletter, this month marks the 20th anniversary for Palmer Animal Hospital.  From our humble beginnings renting  an old High’s store in Myersville with just Dr. Palmer and Susan as the employees,  we now have two full-time and two part-time doctors, multiple support staff, and have seen over 18,000 of your pets over the years.   We hope we have provided good service and care as much as we have enjoyed doing so.   We are blessed to have such great clients and we see our business grow every year, which is saying alot in this economy.  Hopefully we will be around for many more years to come.

    After all of these years in our new building, we have changed our phone number.  We had kept our old (Myersville) number as a convenience, but were paying for it as a “foreign exchange number” and that cost has been increasing every year.  So now we will have a “Local” number and hopefully one easy for everyone to remember.

  OUR NEW NUMBER IS   :   301-371-3333 

 

 

    It is with great sadness that we report the loss of our Morgan mare and long-time pet, “Georgette”.   She was part of our family for 18 years and grew up with our children.   We traveled to East Lyme, CT in 1992 and brought her home as our first horse.  Georgette was one of those special horses that was sweet and gentle and gave us much enjoyment through the years.    She is survived by her 12-year-old daughter, Celeste, who misses her as much as we do.    Attached is a Christmas Card photo of Georgette and two of our children from 20 years ago.

  We are very happy to report that Palmer Animal Hospital has upgraded to a Fuji digital X-ray system.  Much like in photography, film is becoming obsolite in Radiography.   Digital systems have many advantages over film.   Digital images can be optimized by the computer so that there are very few retakes due to technique (only for positioning)  thereby reducing exposure to X-rays for both patients and staff.   Storage and filing are also much less of a problem as our Radiography computer can store nearly 100,000 images—more than we’ll ever take in our lifetime!  Images can be transmitted electronically when needed for referrals, and can easily be copied onto CDs.  Digital Radiography is also more environmentally friendly because there are no more developing chemicals and no concerns about the disposal of the old films which contain silver.   We look forward to serving your pet better with our new Fuji system.

Dr. Palmer’s note:  I apoligize for the emergency hospital info not showing up under the “About” menu.  Here is the information until we get the page to show up:

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 We are very fortunate now to have three emergency clinics servicing our area.  If you have an emergency with your pet that cannot wait, please contact one of the below emergency clinics and they will be able to help you:

    Frederick Emergency Animal Hospital    — 434 Prospect Bldv, Frederick                            301-662-6622

    Crossroads Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) —1080 W. Patrcik St, Frederick     301-662-2273 (CARE)

   Mountain View Animal Emergency  —- 18501A Maugans Ave, Hagerstown                         301-733-7339

          Examples of emergencies that should not wait:

                    —Trauma cases— hit by car, fight wounds, falls/broken legs,  eye trauma/painful eyes, hemorrhage/bleeding

                    —Persistant Vomiting or Diarrhea, especially if your pet appears weak or distressed

                     —Difficulty Breathing, Severe/persistant coughing

                      —Male cats or dogs straining but unable to urinate

                      —Toxin ingestion —  rat poison, antifreeze, grapes/raisins, human medications

                      —Seizures, sudden behavior changes, inability to walk

                      —If you are unsure if your pet should be seen, please call one of the above emergency clinics

      Our holiday schedule will be:

     Friday, December 24th             8AM-12Noon      Appointments only; no surgery/procedures

     Saturday, December 25th        CLOSED                 MERRY CHRISTMAS!

     Friday,  December 31st              8AM-5PM            Regular Friday Hours/Schedule

     Saturday,  January 1st               CLOSED                  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

      If you have an emergency over the holidays, please call one of our local emergency clinics (see under “About”)