If I could edit Google Maps

If you've never been to our Willow Grove Rau office, and you try to find it with a GPS, you are probably in for a confusing day of driving.  The address to our office in Willow Grove is 1152 Easton Road, Willow Grove, PA, 19090.  However, the online maps can't seem to get it right.  Google maps will send you to 2 different places, depending on the address you type in.  MapQuest is a little bit closer, but not quite right. Since we are unable to edit either of these mapping services, we needed to find a solution. 
If you type in 1150 Easton Road Willow Grove, the GPS/map service you're using will find the right place.  That's the address of Best Friend Pet Care, which shares our building.
For good old fashioned directions: If you're heading south on Easton Road, pass Wyandotte road and go under the train overpass.  The driveway is IMMEDIATELY on the right.  You may miss it!
If you're heading north on Easton Road, pass the light at Best Buy, and turn left in the driveway right before the train overpass.
If you want to send us something in the mail, use 1152!

Hootie!




Extreme close up! WAAAAAA!

  This is Hootie.  Or rather, her nose.  Hootie was left in our parking lot last October, and has been living in our call center ever since.  She's an odd little cat, sometimes seemingly dying for attention and other times very aloof.  I suppose that's pretty normal for a cat, but Hootie is a bit special.  She hates other animals.  We've tried introducing her to other animals, and while at first she was simply wary of them, each attempt to let her make a new friend made her worse and worse.  So, our rule now is no animals in the call center. 
Hootie is spayed, declawed, and up to date on vaccines.  She does need to be in a house with no animals and no small children.  If you know anyone who is interested, contact us. Click here for our PetFinder page.
-Amy

Home Delivery

We're all trying to save money.  Finding cheaper ways to get everything done seems to be on people's minds, and why not?  If you can get the same products at a cheaper price, you should go for it. 
However, online medications are a concern for us, not because of the loss of revenue, but because of the possibility of identity theft and counterfeit medications.  Even if the packaging looks exactly the same, that doesn't mean the product is.  If people can do something as complex as counterfeit money and get away with it, they can certainly counterfeit a Frontline box or bottle of Rimadyl.  The FDA put this article on their website last year, and the PDF document alongside the article is really helpful.
There are safe choices for getting medications sent to your house. VetSource is a home delivery service through Webster Veterinary, which is the nation's 2nd leading distributor to veterinary clinics.  It's not a typical online pharmacy, because you are buying directly from our hospital supplier.  You can always get to the site through our website, and click on PetNet.
If you want to buy from a different supplier, we will give you a paper prescription to send to the company yourself.   We highly recommend checking out the list of pharmacies that are Vet-VIPPS accredited.  These online pharmacies must provide information to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in order to be accredited by Vet-VIPPS, a program that assures that the drugs being sold are safe.  It's a short list - only 9 pharmacies.
The bottom line is just be careful.  If you doubt the authenticity of your medication that was bought online, contact the company, and don't buy from them again.
-Amy

Cute Overload

Having a bad day?  There's no way I can frown after looking at this website.  CuteOverload

Water VS. Cat

My cat is about 8 months old.  When he was 5 weeks or so, he was found in the middle of Broad Street in Philadelphia, and a good samaritan brought him here for care.  A few weeks later I adopted him and took him home, and very quickly we discovered that while he is sometimes sweet, he is also BAD.  We named him Hannibal Barca, AKA Hannibal the Annihilator.
He bites.  He scratches.  He jumps on the counter and the table, hooks himself onto the screen door and climbs, chews on our wooden clothes dryer, rips apart cardboard boxes with his teeth and eats ANYTHING.  He stood on a hot stove just today to snatch some of my butternut squash risotto.  So how do we deal with it?
Well, I bought a water sprayer from the Dollar Tree, and we squirt him with water whenever he does something bad.  Is he up on the counter?  Spray the water at him.  Is he biting Bella's ear, our oldest cat?  Spray him with the water.  I kid you not, he is soaking wet most of the time.  So, is it really working?  Does it curb his behavior?
For one thing, he is afraid of the noise that the sprayer makes.  If I'm using window cleaner, Hannibal runs away at the noise.  On the other hand, now he really likes hanging out in the bathroom when I take a shower.  He bats at the water vapor and loves to rub and get his fur on me when I get out.  So he's afraid of the sound, but not the water.
I spoke with our bookkeeper, who uses a canned air sprayer (like a keyboard cleaner) to curb her cat's behavior.  She said it's most important to not get the air bottle TOO close, since it comes out really cold, but it works.  I also spoke with a nurse here who has a really bad cat, Ollie (who also spent some of his kitten hood living here).  He doesn't use a water sprayer, and heard that it only teaches the animals to be good when you're home.
I remember using a water sprayer on our cat Freckles when I was growing up.  She really liked the shower, too. Do you see a pattern emerging?  Actually, once she hit about a year old, we didn't really need the water sprayer anymore.  It seemed to be adulthood that made her stop being mischievous.
I hope one day we don't have to shut him in the spare room at night, and I suppose the answer for Hannibal is to keep disciplining him, letting him know what's right and wrong, and perhaps, someday, I'll have a kitchen floor without water sprinkles all over it.
-Amy

Grapes and Raisins? Keep them in the top cabinet!

A few days ago, I was sitting at the reception counter eating grapes.  Suddenly, I was struck by a realization: I need to make sure these grapes always have their lid on them when I walk away.  If not, I could be responsible for the illness of one of our patients.
Grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs and cats.  Recognized 12 years ago by the Animal Poison Control Center (run by the ASPCA), ingestion by animals can make them very sick and even kill them if enough are eaten.  Even after 12 years of evidence, it still in unknown exactly what it is about these fruits that hurts them, or even why some pets are affected much more severely than others. What is known is the fact that the pet can go into kidney failure.
How do we treat it?  Well, if the ingestion was recently, as in the past 2 hours, the first step is usually to induce vomiting.  Bless the owners who will do this themselves at home, for it is a messy undertaking.  Usually, we will have the pet come here.  We also may give activated charcoal, which helps absorb some of the toxins.  We may give subcutaneous fluids, to make sure the pet can keep urinating. 
After these in-hospital treatments, we will send the pet home with medicine to protect their stomach, and sometimes medication to stimulate their urine production.
I think about all these treatments and how many people feed their pets a grape or raisin without a care.  They sure do like them, but for your pet's health, keep this food locked in the pantry! I certainly will not be bringing any raisins or grapes to work anymore.  Next time I'll come in with some apples.
-Amy

Adopt The Internet

Today is Petfinder's Adopt The Internet day.  There are so many pets in shelters, hospitals, and foster care, but without forever homes.  If you are looking for a pet or know someone who is, Petfinder is one great way to find a companion animal.
Amy

Help PA's strays!

Rau Animal Hospital has just joined the Last Chance Fund, which provides funds for abused, neglected or injured strays or unowned companion animals. We're really excited about it, and we encourage donations to the TLC fund to help PA's unfortunate animals. Online donations are not set up yet, but you can click on the logo for information on where to send paper checks, or you can give Rau Animal Hospital checks made out to "The Last Chance Fund", and we'll make sure they are sent.  Thank you!



Fun Dog Video

If you are not one of the 9million+ people who have seen this video, you need to watch it!! If you're like me and you simply LOVE the video, watch it again!!!!  I know there are people who are against animal exploitation, and would consider this one example of it.  However, I believe the people at Talented Animals showed the utmost respect and joy at working with these twelve dogs (and a GOAT---did you see him?  Right side of the screen @ 2:49).  White Knuckles Video by OK Go. / Talented Animals.
-Amy

Appreciation

I want to extend a HUGE thank you to Russ, who wrote this touching blog entry entitled "The Tyranny of Choice."  Scroll down to where it says #3- he relates a story of coming to our hospital and being told that his dog was dying and it was better to let him go.  Nothing compares to losing a pet, nor telling someone that it is time to let go, but it brought tears to my eyes that someone appreciated being told.
-Amy

Interspecies BFFs

Oh my goodness, such cuteness!  Duckling meets pitbull, sweet little peeps and facial nibbling. Duckling meets Pitbull.

Chief Larry

In November 2010, the Abington police department brought in a buff colored cat that had been injured. His rear left leg was severely broken, and he had blood on his jaw, which was swollen.  Most likely, he was hit by a car.  We took him in, kept him comfortable, took some radiographs, and repaired his fractured leg. He has had several therapeutic laser treatments, for which he lays down and is very well-behaved. 

He still lives here and we have named him "Chief Larry".  No owner ever came forward, but we were able to take care of him anyway.  What a sweetheart!!  He does have a limp, and is a lanky boy.  He loves people, and is such a ladies man, although he is not fond of other cats.  He is probably between 4-6 years old, although we can't be sure.  Please contact us if you or someone you know is interested in meeting him.