News

One of the most frustrating challenges we have dealt with over the past few years is the increasing incidence of medication shortages/backorders.    This year has seemed especially bad as medications we have used for a long time just suddenly vanish from the supply chain.    Currently we are dealing with these shortages:

     —Interceptor — our preferred Heartworm Prenventative disappeared this past winter and has not yet become available again.   We are using Heartgard Plus in it’s place, and we hope to have Interceptor back in stock this fall

      —Phenobarbitol — this commonly used anti-convulsive has offered an inexpensive medication to manage seizures in our epileptic patients.   Earlier this month, we were informed that the price of Phenobarbitol had drastically increased, and once our current stock is dispensed, clients can expect the price of prescriptions to markedly increase (5-10 fold is possible) .   We have been switching some of our patients over to Zonisamide for other reasons, and now the newer medication will have approximately the same cost as Phenobarb.

    As the new phone book comes out this month, many of you may notice that we no longer have our usual block ad in the “Veterinarian” section.   It isn’t that we are going anywhere, but it was getting to the point that the cost of the phone book ad just didn’t make sense anymore.   We will still have a line listing, but with so many other online sources, we felt it was best to concentrate our advertizing dollars elsewhere (such as our website, on-hold messaging, etc).  

   NOTE:  Google is currently listing an incorrect phone number for us  (301-971-3333, and we had nothing to do with making the listing).   We have contacted Google multiple times to no avail, so if you come across this number, please send Google a note that it is STILL wrong.  It just goes to show you that you can’t believe everything you read online!

Last week it was reported that the world’s oldest (documented) dog died at the age of 26.  Pusuke was a mixed breed dog that lived in Japan.    His owner said he was eating well and active until last Monday when Pusuke became lethargic and had trouble breathing.   Pusuke later passed peacefully just moments after his owner returned from a walk.

     The oldest known dog (according to Guiness) was an Australian Shepherd named Bluey who lived to the ripe old age of 29 years 5 months before being euthanized in November 1939.

Here is the Holiday Schedule at Palmer Animal Hospital:

THANKSGIVING

Thursday, Nov 24, 2011 —Thanksgiving Day   —   CLOSED

Friday, Nov 25, 2011  — 8AM-5PM (regular hours)

Saturday, Nov 26, 2011 — 8AM-Noon (regular hours)

CHRISTMAS

Saturday, Dec 24, 2011 — CHRISTMAS EVE —    8AM-Noon:  Staff only, no appointments

Sunday, Dec 25, 2011 —    CHRISTMAS DAY —    CLOSED

Monday, Dec 26, 2011 —   8AM-8PM (regular hours)

NEW YEAR’S

Saturday, Dec 31, 2011 — NEW YEAR’S EVE —   8AM-Noon (regular hours)

Sunday, Jan 1, 2012 —    NEW YEAR’S DAY —    CLOSED

Monday, Jan 2, 201 — 8AM-8PM (regular hours)

 

     Wow, we’re not even out of October and the snow is here.  Now is a good time to review our Inclement Weather Policy.   While it is rare for us (or at least most of us) to make it into the office, I tell my staff that if there is any question as to whether they can SAFELY make it into work, to stay home and call the office to see what the situation is weather-wise.    So on those days when you wake up with the ground covered in white (like it was at my house on top of South Mountain this morning), the best advice I can give our clients is to CALL THE OFFICE BEFORE YOU COME IN.  Staff is usually in at 7:30, so if you don’t get a live person please leave a message and we will call you back.     There are also rare occassions when the daytime weather becomes so nasty that we will close early.   In those cases we contact all of our appointments and in-house cases to let them know the status.  If you can’t make it in to pickup your pet, don’t worry—we can hold onto them until it is safe to pick them up.

Willow, the cat, disappeared in Colorado and later was found in New York City.    Willow’s identify was discovered  when she was turned into an animal shelter and they detected a microchip that led them back to Willow’s true owner in Colorado.  This has spurred quite an interest in pet owners to get microchips for their pets.

   Here are some facts about microchips:

      —a microchip is a transponder a bit bigger than a grain of rice that is implanted under your pets skin

       —when a microchip scanner is run over your pets body, it sends out a radio signal to the chip than then returns a unique ID number back to the scanner.  This ID number can then be used to track down the pet’s owner just as a license plate number can lead you to the owner of a car

        —microchips are not GPS devices and cannot track your pet.  Microchip scanners have a maximum range of 6-8 inches.

         —microchips can easily be implanted during a office visit—it’s just like getting a shot from a larger than usual needle.

           —there are several types of microchips available.  At Palmer Animal Hospital, we use the ResQ Chip from Bayer because it is ISO (international standard) compliant, includes lifetime registration, and Dr. Palmer feels the injector is one of the most user/pet friendly on the market

           For more information about microchips, feel free to give us a call.

           Here is a link to Willow’s story:  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44555429/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/