Tillman the bulldog

Here's a way to help your dog stay in shape~train him to skateboard!

Rough Day?

You can't go wrong with this video.

Telephone issues

Our telephone systems are down due to this weekend's storm. Our staff along with Verizon is hard at work attempting to rectify the situation. Rau Glenside is still open and running normally, just without telephones.

We will be having all of the incoming telephone calls to Rau Glenside rerouted to Rau Willow Grove. They have the capability to answer questions and make appointments in our appointment schedule, as well as communicating through our personal telephone numbers in the event of emergency.

You may also email us at raucares@rauanimalhospital.com. Thanks for your patience!

Congratulations Ilene!

This is Ilene, one of our evening nurses. She's worked here at Rau for 8 years, and has clinic nurse duties as well as OR tech discharge duties. She's such an amazing part of our team, and we are so happy that she has passed her CVT (Certified Veterinary Technician) exam!

Ilene started on this journey about 5 years ago by enrolling in a distance learning course sponsored by AAHA, through Cedar Valley college in Texas.

Besides studying, Ilene had many hands-on tasks that needed to be completed. She worked with the veterinarians and nurses here, and traveled to Texas to complete some hands-on work there.

Many of her small animal hands-on duties were typical of things that she already does, such as drawing blood, bandaging limbs, restraint, xrays and placing IV catheters.

Others were a new experience:

• Placing endotracheal tubes in dogs and cats


• Placing urinary catheters


• Monitoring during anesthesia

Some of the things she had to go to Texas to do include:

• Restraint & drawing blood from a goat


• Bandaging, Xraying, obtaining heart rate, drawing blood and giving an injection to a horse


• Injecting, obtaining blood from 2 different places and administering oral meds to a cow

As well as completing all these hands on assignments, she took all of her testing online, graduated from her course at the college, sat for the exam and gained her CVT license. It's been a long road for her, and we could not be more proud.

Preparedness

Courtesy of Freefoto.com

The hurricane's coming, the first one to affect our area since 2004 (Hurricanes & Pennsylvania) Providing for our pets in the event of loss of power or evacuation can be a challenge, but the ASPCA is here to help. Step 3 helps you with your supply list.

Also check out the Raising K9 blog, where trainer Robin Tinay Sallie has listed all the things necessary for being prepared down to the last detail.

As always, be careful, and if necessary, EVACUATE!

Kitty Links

China: "Cat Army" being used to control rodent population.

It's sad to think about perfectly healthy, older kittens being passed over for younger ones. Yet it happens all the time. Go ahead and look for an older kitten the next time you want to adopt. Teenage kittens need love too

Did you know there are more cats as pets than dogs in the United States, yet there are fewer cat visits? Take your cat to the vet week!

It's difficult dealing with a cat that sprays or urinates outside their litterbox. More than the smell, it can put a tremendous strain on the people and other pets in the house. However, your kitty may be trying to tell you something. Kitty sending a message

This is the largest animal hoarding case I have ever heard of. The Humane Society of the United States went into a Florida home that portrayed itself as a country club sanctuary for cats. The owners were in way over their heads. Nearly 700 cats were seized

A Creative Solution

Check out Woody, who figured out a unique way to slow down the water from the faucet so he could take a drink. My favorite moment is at 1:57.

Doggie Link Roundup

Dog Anatomy graphic created by Pet365. Click below to see the full size version.



Raising K9 I love this blog.

Dog With Knife Stuck in Head Chases Robbers The best thing abount this story is that the dog didn't care about the knife in her head! She only needed 6 stitches.

New baby, fat pet? Why pets get pudgy after baby arrives Babies' tendency to drop food has something to do with it.

SOMETIMES, it's ok to spoil your dog with a doggie donut It's ok every once in a while when he's 13 years old.

10 Dogs with Super Flappy Lips Hooray for high speed photography!

Who's got the power?

Amazing that the tiny duck can freak out the jack russell terrier.

Pet Insurance

Picture from freefoto.com

It's always a good idea to be prepared for anything. Pet care is certainly the same way, because you never know when you'll have an emergency with your pet. We all hope and pray it will never happen, but you can't control everything around you. So what can you do? You can get pet insurance.

There are many different pet insurance companies, and some of them cover a lot more than others. Dogtime.com has a very helpful chart where you can compare plans. Looking for just accident insurance? All 12 companies on the chart have a plan for that, from $9.50-$25 per month. Are you interested in full coverage insurance? Eight of the companies have a plan available that will cover vaccines, dentistry & wellness visits, from $28-$82 per month. There is a maximum age for a lot of them, usually between 9 and 13 years. One of the companies even has an emergency coverage plan with a MINIMUM age of 10 years. So whatever you're looking for, check out the chart and call the companies. They should help answer all your questions without pressure to buy. Be sure to ask about pre-existing conditions, as some companies don't cover those.

If you do get pet insurance, you pay for the veterinary services, and then get reimbursed by your insurance company. We will fill out whatever forms you need, and we'll fax whatever records are necessary to get you coverage. Let us know about your experiences with the companies- we want to know about what you think, too!

Rehabilitation

Dr. Michele Bishop does our canine rehabilitation here. She works out a personalized program for dogs that have had injuries, surgery, arthritis, or other painful maladies. She devises a program for each pet, detailing the activities in their medical files. Here are a few videos of Pippin, a corgi who could not stand by herself the first time she came to us. By the way, this marks Rau Animal Hospital's YouTube debut!

21st Century Cat Toys

Check out this silliness. On your iPad or Android you can download 3 free games for your CATS to play! Here's a video of them in action.

Inspirational Man creates art with a Typewriter

Paul Smith was a man born in Philadelphia in 1921 with severe cerebral palsy. Limited motor control led him to self-expression using a typewriter. He used various characters and different color typewriter ribbons to create pictures, including portraits, American Presidents, trains, seascapes, and animals. Check out this unique art gallery here.