Animal Crackers Newsletter Archive 2001

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Greenbrier Veterinary Hospital Archived Newsletter Articles 1998

• Expanding Covington Service
• The Shadow Fund
• The Shadow Fund and Update
• Myths Regarding Spaying and Neutering

New Office in Covington

12/98 We are in the process of expanding our Covington service. We have purchased a building behind the post office (formerly a restaurant and seafood shop) and hope to have it open for business around the first of February. Our current plan is to be open on Tuesdays and Fridays, with grooming one day a week also. Stay tuned for updates on our opening date. We plan to have a big open house and you are all invited!

Update!! 1/99

After much hard work, we are finally able to announce the opening of our permanent location at 316 North Monroe Avenue in Covington. It is the brick building behind the old dress shop. We are really excited about it. The grand opening party will be held on Sunday, February 28th from 2-4pm.

The radio station is going to have a remote broadcast and we will have goodies and gift certificates to give away. Everyone needs to come and see the clinic and have a good time!

We plan to be open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 8-5, with doctor's hours from 9:30 to 4:30. Tracy is also going to be grooming on Tuesdays. She has a great grooming parlor in the new clinic. This is going to be a great convenience for our Covington clients. Call us if you have any questions.

The Shadow Fund and Update

GVH has been in the news recently due to "Shadow", the county drug dog. Dr. Lightner diagnosed Shadow with a systemic fungal disease called blastomycosis several weeks ago. Dr. Vandevender was instrumental in setting a plan in motion to provide for his treatment, which will be quite expensive.

Since his plight was brought to the attention of the community, we have received several donations to help. He is currently being treated at the hospital and is maintaining well. If you would like to contribute, send donations to

12/98

Shadow Fund Update (1/99)

We had no idea that treating Shadow was going to generate so much controversy and media attention! Dr. Lightner appeared on the evening news, Dr.'s Wilson and Vandevender were interviewed for the newspaper and Shadow became an overnight sensation. We were just doing our job as usual by diagnosing and treating his disease.

After a very irresponsible article appeared in the Beckley newspaper containing false or misleading information about the disease of Blastomycosis and it's treatment and prognosis, we received several panic-stricken calls about the potential for human disease. Based on this article, the sheriff's department also began to be reluctant to allow Shadow to go home to his handler or come into contact with people.

Dr. Vandevender contacted the Public Health Department, who issued several statements to the paper stating that there was no risk of human infection directly from an animal. This served to calm down the situation considerably.

While all of this was going on, Shadow continued to respond well to treatment with Sporanox (an anti-fungal drug). Several weeks ago he was released to his handler David Livingston and is currently happy and healthy. He ended up losing an eye and a toe to the disease, but it certainly has not affected his disposition or energy. We will continue to monitor his chest with radiographs and he will be on his medication for about 1 more month, but it is beginning to look like he will have a very happy ending.

We would like to thank the community for its support and concern. The donations that were sent enabled Shadow to be treated successfully and go back to his home. You guys are great!

Myths Regarding Spaying and Neutering

"I want my children to experience the miracle of birth". (Or – Myths and Wives’ Tales Regarding Spaying and Neutering).

Pet overpopulation is a real and serious problem. There are NO good reasons not to spay or neuter your pet and many extremely important ones to do it. Let’s explore some myths:

Regarding the title – if you want your children to experience the miracle of birth, watch the Discovery channel. Children may enjoy the miracle of birth, but would they enjoy knowing that the offspring may have to be euthanized in an animal shelter because homes couldn't be found for them? This is not a good reason.

A very popular myth: "Dogs should have one heat cycle before they are spayed". Why? The old wives don’t have an answer to that. The fact is that spaying female dogs before they have a heat cycle virtually eliminates the chances for mammary tumors (breast cancer) as well as life-threatening uterine infections (pyometra) later in life.

A related myth (and one that really makes vets crazy!) is that dogs should have one litter before spaying. This is supposed to make them more "nurturing". Actually, this frequently has just the opposite effect on many females’ dispositions and well as causing some potential health problems.

"Dogs have to be six months old before they are spayed or neutered." This is no longer true. In the last two decades, more and more animal shelters are performing early age spay and neuter surgeries in order to decrease the chances for unwanted litters. There is enough data accumulated now to prove that this procedure does not have long term detrimental effects. On the contrary, studies have shown that animals retain their desirable puppy and kitten qualities longer when spayed early and overall have healthier lives.

"I don’t want to neuter my dog because he or she will get fat". This does have some basis in fact; because after the surgery your pet’s metabolism changes. The key is to decrease food intake and maintain exercise levels to minimize weight gain.

We have a lot of clients with hunting dogs, and they are notoriously reluctant to spay or neuter their dogs. Of course, we cannot guarantee that a dog’s aptitude for hunting will not change, but many hunters have reported that their dogs do better because they are not distracted by heat cycles, etc.

An important thing to remember is that our pets, no matter how much we regard them as members of our family, are not humans, and they do not have the same feelings regarding love, sex and reproduction that we do. You are not depriving them of anything but the risk of ill health, unwanted litters, and death.

12/98