Who's Caring for Daisy???

We all get excited about going away on a vacation. Unfortunately we can't always take our pets with us.

The question arises.... who will look after Daisy??

There are several options:

• leave your pet at home with remaining family members
• leave your pet at home with a caregiver coming in to provide care
• hire a live-in pet sitter
• take your pet to a kennel or boarding facility

Regardless of the chosen option the question arises...what is to be done if Daisy becomes ill when her family is away???

As veterinarians we see what happens when the hard questions of veterinary care and accompanying finances have not been addressed in advance of situations arising. 

The following is an example of what can, and does, happen.

Daisy's family are heading off on vacation. They take her to a local boarding facility and check her in for two weeks of care and lodging. They give their personal information, a contact number and the name of Daisy's regular veterinarian. They sign a release of liability should Daisy be lost or injured during her stay. The people at the facility are warm and friendly. Daisy's family feel confident she will be well looked after and head off to the airport.

After a few days the staff at the kennel notice Daisy is urinating more frequently. They call the owners and let them know they have some concern. Daisy's condition rapidly worsens...she seems painful when she tries to urinate and her urine is now blood red. 

The kennel owner takes her to the local veterinarian in hopes of obtaining some antibiotics to "fix the problem". She is told an examination is required. As Daisy's family are not clients of the local veterinary hospital payment is required at the time of service. The kennel agrees to pay for a basic examination. Daisy is examined by the veterinarian. She seems well except for the red urine stains on her hind end. Her bladder is tiny as she piddles small amounts often. The veterinarian tells the kennel owner that further testing is advised as there is a concern that Daisy may have a bladder stone....a painful and irritating condition...rather than an uncomplicated  bacterial infection 

The kennel refuse to sign the admission paper for Daisy. They do not want to be responsible for procedure authorization or payment for additional services. They still want the veterinarian to give Daisy antibiotics. They take her back to the kennel. They are now unable to contact the owners. Daisy is increasingly uncomfortable. The kennel does not want to take responsibility for her medical care. 

The kennel has a dilemma! A sick dog under their care and concern they may not be able to collect payment from the owners.

Fortunately the veterinarian, after several attempts, was able to contact the owners. Daisy's situation was explained to them and they authorized diagnostics and treatment as required. They provided a deposit via credit card. Once payment had been arranged the kennel agreed to sign as Daisy's agent to have her admitted to the veterinary hospital for care. The question arises...what would the outcome have been if the veterinarian could not get in touch with the owner??

Several tests were done and Daisy was found to have bladder stones, no bacterial infection of the urine and no other issues. She was returned to the kennel with medication to keep her comfortable until her owners returned home. Daisy will likely require surgery to remove the stones.

Ultrasound of bladder stones

Radiograph of bladder stones

The take home points from this scenario are:

• ask the caregiver/kennel what protocol for care is in place should your pet become ill in your absence
• indicate if the caregiver/kennel is to use your regular veterinarian unless they are not available
• provide the caregiver/kennel with a budget they can work with for your pet's veterinary care should they be unable to contact you

In the above situation:

• there was no standard protocol in place for a sick pet
• the caregiver/kennel made a lay person diagnosis
• the regular veterinarian was not contacted by the caregiver/kennel
• the caregiver/kennel would not take agent, or interim financial, responsibility for the pet in their care
• there was no emergency budget in place for veterinary care

Expect the best but PLAN for the worst

and have a WORRY  FREE vacation!

Acupuncture at West Boulevard Veterinary Clinic

At West Boulevard Veterinary Clinic, we proudly offer acupuncture! This treatment is a drug-free pain management option for pets in many different health conditions.

 Acupuncture is the insertion of needles into specific points on the body in order to bring about a desired healing effect. The placement of needles causes very little, if any, discomfort. Once situated they are painless. During a treatment most animals become very relaxed, they may become sleepy and yawn. The number of needles, their placement and needling technique employed varies from case to case, as does the duration of treatment. 

 The duration of treatment can be as short as a few seconds to as long as thirty minutes. The number of sessions and their timing varies with the problem being treated. Most cases will need up to six treatments at varying time intervals, however some will require only one or two treatments.

Call us at 604-266-7421 if you think your pet could benefit from acupuncture. 

Visit our website...the acupuncture pages are under the Services tab!

Sarah's New Mug!

This is Sarah's new mug.

 Sarah loved her old mug as it held a lot of tea...a beverage she sips throughout the day. Although the new mug is beautiful Sarah isn't one to turn over something solely for the sake of beauty!

Sarah's mugs have radically different shapes. The shape is the key to the change.

Meet Siegfried....

...Siegfried is the catalyst for Sarah changing mugs!

After Christmas our AHT, Kari, decided it was time to get a dog of her own. Her wish list was a quiet dog that had an easily managed coat, was larger breed that was not aggressive and could jog with her for miles without tiring. At WBVC we are involved with medical and psychological management of various rescue dogs so it was only natural that Kari's dog was to be a rescue dog. We care for several rescued retired racing greyhounds. With time and dedication they all have become wonderful companions.

Thus Kari had decided on her breed of choice...a racing Greyhound rescue. The task... to find the face of HER companion. Days became weeks of looking on line...which faces touched her heart? White ones, grey ones, mottled ones, black ones, fawn ones and brindle ones were all on offer. There we males and females. Some were shy and others boisterous. Some older and others youthful. Some would eat a cat!

Kari added on to her search criteria. Male, as she worried a late spayed female may develop mammary cancer as she aged. Cat friendly as she has three kitties. Brave enough to come to work each day and laid back enough not to trash the office or her town home! 

The next step was seeing if Kari was deemed by Greyhound Pets Inc. to be a suitable Greyhound adopter. After several telephone calls, emails and  form filling Kari passed with flying colours!

In February a date was set for Kari and Sarah to take off a Friday from the hospital to visit the greyhounds and bring home the perfect fit. All was organized and then IT SNOWED...a lot!! Now Kari was worrying her short list of dogs, and thus her perfect companion, would be adopted to other adopters before she could drive to Washington. She was upset. However the weather cleared and off she went to Washington...without Sarah as there were now surgeries scheduled.

Kari met a lot of Greyhounds and a match was made...M's Motown Rock....a four year old, newly neutered, brindle male.  He was not one of her short listed dogs but he was her first choice. The fellow who had been on the top her short list came out to greet her and promptly lifted his leg and urinated on the hall wall! He missed out on a great home:(

Paperwork completed Kari and the newly named Siegfried headed back to his forever home.

He spend a quiet weekend at home and came to work with Kari on Monday. He had a great start at Greyhound Pets Inc www.greyhoundpetsinc.org . All his health needs had been seen to before he came home. His teeth are badly chipped and worn, presumably from biting at cage bars, and he has a small esophageal diverticulum but other than that he is in good form.

We quickly found that Siegfried: 

• will walk through any door that is even left slightly ajar
• is great with cats and other dogs
• is not so great with "Red" the clinic's African Grey
• can't be trusted with rabbits....to him they are the lure!
• loves soft doughnut beds
•  has to be fed with his food at chest level or higher
• gets upset when Kari is out of sight (thankfully this is resolving)
• is needy and loves to be touching someone
• is incredibly laid back
• is deaf to subtle hints
• never makes a bathroom mistake indoors
• panics and screams if you raise your voice at all
• would rather watch Kari jog than actually participate in jogging
• COUNTER SURFS

By now you may be getting an inkling why Sarah has a new mug.

Siegfried can drink up the contents of a mug without tipping the mug, without spilling a drop and without leaving a drop behind. It happens to all of us but I think he prefers tea over coffee. 

Sarah could not tolerate her tea disappearing any longer! Her solution...a very tall, very narrow mug. 

To our surprise it worked...he now drinks from everyone else's mug and leaves Sarah's alone!

To see Sieg's racing history and pedigree go to: 

 http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?d=M%27s+Motown+Rock&sex=&color=&birthyear=&birthland=

Check back...we will keep you posted on Sieg's transition to a house pet, running companion and clinic mascot:)


If you are looking towards a new dog in your life consider a Greyhound rescue. There are various groups that coordinate Greyhound rescue and here in the Pacific Northwest, Greyhound Pets Inc. are doing a wonderful job! 

WHAT a DOG!!

How to Pill A Cat

Giving your frisky feline their medication can be tricky and frustrating...for you and your cat. There are a couple of different techniques that can make this process easier for you and your feline family member. 

View the video below for some great suggestions.