Tuesday, August 12, 2008

News and Updates

Since you’re reading this blog, you are aware that there are big changes taking place! Central Bird & Animal Hospital is now Whole Health Veterinary, which we feel better reflects our focus on holistic care for your pets. We had been planning this name change for some time, but it came about a little sooner than expected when our avian/reptile veterinarian left the practice. Since we are no longer seeing birds, having “Bird” in the name of the clinic was no longer accurate.

Changing the name of a business sounds fairly simple. You just fill out the correct paperwork and send the fee to the state, and voila! But then you realize that there are countless details that must be addressed. New business cards, magnets and brochures. New signs and awnings. New website. Mass-mailings and phone calls to clients. Notifying our vendors. New email addresses. New on-hold recordings and voice mail messages. It was even a big procedure to change the clinic name in our practice management software.

Over the past month, all of that has fallen into place or is coming along, and we’re getting used to our new identity. As if that weren’t enough, we have other exciting things happening at Whole Health Veterinary as well!

Today, we are getting a new state-of-the-art digital x-ray system installed! Our antique x-ray machine had been on its last leg for a long time, but the process of selecting a system and making all the arrangements for purchase, installation and training kept the project on the back burner. This new system will provide much higher quality images in a shorter amount of time, and we’ll be able to copy images onto CD or email them to other veterinarians if needed.

Also, this week Dr. Cara White will be attending the 5th International Symposium on Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy in Veterinary Medicine. As a certified Veterinary Chiropractor, the information being presented at this conference with be extremely relevant and applicable in the care she provides our patients.

Later this month, Shari, one of our Veterinary Assistants, will be attending the two-day animal communication workshop presented by Carol Gurney, the creator of the HeartTalk ® program. Shari is already a Level II Healing Touch for Animals ™ practitioner, with amazing sensitivity to the physical and emotional state of animals. We know she will get a lot out of this training, enabling her to use her skills and intuition to an even greater extent in the treatment of your pets.


Monday, August 4, 2008

The Dangers of Modern Drugs


(Contributed by Dr. Jessica Levy)

This past week I had an eye-opener, and not a friendly one. A commonly used drug in veterinary medicine, one that I had dispensed thousands of times over my 11-year career (so far), caused an unusual, life-threatening reaction in one of my patients.

This happens periodically in the practice of medicine. Not often, but when it does happen, it sure makes me sit up and take notice.

Now, granted, out of all the animals I've treated with this drug, one of them having a bad reaction is a very, very small fraction of a percentage. But it serves as a reminder to me that drugs, on the whole, are not safe.

This is the kind of thing that prompts me to continue to pursue natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals. Of course, I am aware that not everything labeled "natural" is safe, either.

What to do, in this dilemma, but to help my adversely affected patient as best I can, and proceed with extreme caution? This is not the only bad reaction I've seen recently, and certainly every day in practice I am called upon to treat a myriad of conditions that are the result of bad reactions to diet, vaccines, and conventional medical treatments.

For myself, it's a good thing I have an autodidactic nature, as there's nowhere to learn what to do or what can happen sometimes - except in the school of real life.

But what a way to learn, through the suffering of others. It is easy to forget that with all conventional drugs a certain amount of risk is considered "acceptable". What a bummer for my patients.