# Dog necessities checked off



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I just had to share because I'm super excited about having this all done. I now have my vet clinic, groomer, and food location all settled for the dog (and future pets) for our new location (Kansas City)!!  

I'd already noticed a store in the area that sells a ton of great dry food brands, and many commercial raw foods as well. That includes the brand that I've been feeding my dog, so I was already figuring on that place to buy food from. The store includes a grooming center, so I could take my dog there for grooming regularly as well.

Well, tonight I checked my raw feeding FB group & found a vet recommended for KC that's either tolerant to or encourages raw feeding, so I checked them out. Aaaaaaand I'm absolutely in love already. :lol: The vets all sound fantastic, and they have a vet who sees birds, reptiles, and small mammals as well (so I'd be all set for whatever animals I end up with). They have a vet that does nutritional consultations, which I'm very interested in. And the thing that made my decision complete - they do NOT use or sell Hill's Science Diet foods. They use other means (including other nutritional changes) for managing health issues. I know the prescription diets have some uses & that some people find they work well for their pets, but I just hate the brand & how often they're recommended by vets. The ingredients are awful, and if a company/brand is going to brag about how much research they do, I think their foods should be much higher quality than they are. (Okay, rant over, I promise).

Better yet - the vet clinic's recommended links includes the store/grooming place I was already checking out, so that's also a definite!  And another added bonus, the clinic has a full-time position open for a kennel attendant, so I'm going to try applying.  Wish me luck!


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Good luck! The move is coming up pretty quickly, right?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yup, two weeks & three days! :-o I still have a lot to do, but I do have about 3/4 of my books packed (I'm up to 23 boxes so far...sigh), and that's the bulk of my packing. I have Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday this next week all off from work. I'll be doing some visiting on Sunday, but Monday & Tuesday are still clear right now. I'm hoping to visit U-Haul on Monday for a towing inspection & to make sure I can get everything I need to haul a trailer. I'll also be running some other errands. I'm hoping to have books packed, as well as other things, by the time Tuesday is over. I also need to get stuff listed to sell on Craigslist or Facebook or something, I'm just hoping to finish going through everything first, so I can do a "master list" of sorts.


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

What is the vet? Just curious since I'm from the area, I love my vet.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Mariposa Veterinary Wellness Center - http://www.mariposavet.com/ I did check the Kansas/Missouri threads in the vet listings here too, to see if there were any posts, and saw yours! That was another vet I'd looked at, but I think I'm going to try these guys out first & see if I like them & if the cost is reasonable for the level of care, etc. I just really like the options they offer & that they don't use Science Diet at all. And I have a feeling our first visit will be sooner than I'd like, the dog's left ear is pretty flared up right now & if it's not better with regular cleaning by the time I get down there, we'll be going in to have it checked out. Darn ****er spaniel ears...


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## Soyala_Amaya (Aug 1, 2011)

I'm sure my vet's office is great for other animals too, I just love that they're so exotic knowledgeable. I love going through their flickr page and seeing all the really cool stuff, like the bald eagle!


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## CoffeeKat (Jan 15, 2014)

The grooming center/store you found wouldn't happen to be Brookside Barkery and Bath, would it? That place is awesome! And welcome to Kansas City


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

The one I have bookmarked for now is actually called 4 Paws Pantry & Spa - http://4pawspantry.com/ But I looked at Brookside too!  I'll probably visit all of these places, to be honest, and spend way too long in them. :lol: And thank you! Down to 1 week and 4 days!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thought I'd come back to this post to update about our first visit with the new vet clinic.  ***To be clear, this experience is all with my ****er spaniel, Tessa, not with a hedgehog! Just wanted to make sure I posted that up front in case anyone got confused, heh.

We saw Dr. Sheila Dodson today, who's also the owner of the clinic. I really liked her! She spent nearly an hour with us, checking Tessa over, going over what I could remember of her history (I'm bad & don't have her records with us yet ), discussing her diet, and suggesting things to address. For right now, she does have a yeast infection in her ears (the groomer said she didn't...shouldn't have believed her apparently) & she developed a cough Tuesday morning while we were on our way from Iowa. It's still pretty bad, so Dr. Sheila gave us some pills to try & help. She thinks it's likely due to allergies from the new location, and if the cough doesn't die down in the next couple weeks, we'll check for heart issues.

We're also looking at surgery to remove some masses from her mouth. Her previous vet told me they weren't an issue - Dr. Sheila looked pretty displeased at that & said she really feels they should've been removed before now & wants to make sure they're not cancerous. They gave me a quote for the surgery, and while I'm okay with going ahead on it, it's gonna have to wait until I can apply for (and hopefully get) CareCredit - it'd be just over $750! :? I inquired about surgery on such an old lady & she said if her bloodwork checks out, it's not any more of a risk. They also use less IV anesthetic in favor of more gas (the animal recovers more quickly) & use acupuncture to help manage pain. 

The visit today was just over $100, which wasn't too bad to me - it seemed to be well worth the care & patience they showed with her. The exam fee was $45, the rest was for ear cleaning & the meds.

Also, I was completely thrilled with the nutrition side of the visit. The clinic sells one of the brands of raw food I know of in their lobby, along with good quality treats & some other good food brands (including the best bird food brand I know of). I told Dr. Sheila that Tessa's on a raw diet & she was quite pleased with that. She agreed that the grinds made sense for her when I described our struggles with switching (she can't digest whole chunks of raw meat well). She was happy that I have good quality treats as well. She did give a couple recommendations, to add in more fish to her diet (for the fatty acids) & coconut oil as well.

I mentioned about going to Four Paws & Brookside Barkery & she said both are fantastic & the people there know their stuff, so I can trust them with any questions. I was very excited to hear that, and can't wait to go check them out! And I found out that the vet clinic does offer boarding for their clients, so I'm very happy about that too. 

Overall, I'm definitely in love with this clinic already. I'll be sticking with them for Tessa, and will probably bring future pets here as well. I'll make sure I post in the vet recs page once I have a hedgehog to take to them. 

Edit: I forgot to add that they like to only vaccinate when necessary, don't give unnecessary vaccines, and don't recommend giving vaccines to older dogs (I believe she said older than 8 years). Rather than doing the rabies vaccine after that age, they do rabies titers to check for the level of antibodies & see if the dog is still protected (which they usually are). I'm pretty happy with all of that too, with everything I've read on my raw dog groups.


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Kelsey, we have been friends for a long time. If your pup is ever in need of a procedure, you know I would be glad to help out.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thank you Shetland.  You're a truly wonderful friend! I think she'll be okay until I can get my feet under me a bit more & hopefully get CareCredit. We're getting the most important things taken care of now & once I have a job & can put the surgery cost on CC, it shouldn't be a problem to pay it back within the allotted time period.


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## Raven13 (Mar 3, 2015)

Lilysmommy said:


> They also use less IV anesthetic in favor of more gas (the animal recovers more quickly) & use acupuncture to help manage pain.


I would question that. You probably know by now that I'm a vet tech, and we always strive to use less anesthetic gas, that is what a good anesthetic protocol entails. There are three steps to anesthesia: Pre-meds (sedation), Induction and Gas. Your goal is to, in the most basic of terms, sedate well enough that you don't need large volumes of induction or high percentages of gas.

Pre-meds can be a variety of medications usually a "****tail" of two or more usually one for pain (which can help sedate) and the other a sedative. There are ranges of milligrams that can be administered for each that you (I/your vet(tech)) select based on things such as your pet's energy level, the general pain level of the procedure in question, any medical issues you pet may have etc.

Induction agents are always given "to effect" ie, slowly over a somewhat extented period of time and in the smallest amount possible in order to allow intubation (a PVC tube placed in the trachea with an inflatable cuff used for the delivery of anesthetic gas).

Once the tube is placed the gas is what is keeping your pet at an anesthetic plane and the gas is controlled by a dial on the anesthetic machine which dictates the percentage of gas to oxygen. (Usually 0%-5% or 0%-7% depending on the type of gas used.)

So in summation, you are aiming for a low percentage of anesthetic gas. In order to achieve that you premed well. If you premed well then the pet will require less induction agents and a lower percentage of gas.

A dog who is premed'd well will likely require half or less of their calculated induction agent and are far more likely to be able to be ran at 2% (textbook "maintenance" level) or below (even better).

Where as a dog who was not premed'd well will likely require the better half, if not all, of their calculated induction agent and are far more likely to require higher percentages of gas above 2% (not ideal).

Why is it bad for your pet to be run on higher percentages of gas? The higher the level of gas required the easier it is for your pet to quickly go from doing well to not, and all it takes is a second. Anesthetic gas has the capacity to kill and you guessed it, the higher the percentage the easier that is to do. Not only that but because of the chances of a deeper than "anesthetic plane" with higher gas levels, your pet is far more likely to have a lower heart and respiratory rate as well as their temperature to drop more quickly. All of which actually leads to slower recovery times not faster.

I hope this is at least informative, sorry for the long post...don't mean to seem like a know it all, its (my job) just something I'm passionate about.

PS. Acupuncture is good :lol:


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

That was very interesting to read, thank you!  To be honest, I probably worded that bit wrong.  I was a bit overwhelmed during the visit (I usually am, especially with a new vet), so I'm not sure I remembered everything she said verbatim. So based on what you said...I probably said the exact opposite of what she said/meant. :lol: I'll have to have her explain it to me again next time we go in and/or when I call to check in with her! But yes, I thought the acupuncture part sounded pretty neat. The clinic as a whole uses a lot of "alternative" medicine & more holistic approaches rather than just conventional medicine for treatment, which I like & find interesting. I was especially happy to find out about their approach for vaccines & that they automatically do rabies titers for older dogs - I know I've read a lot of people on my raw group who have had trouble finding a vet willing to do that. I'm starting to think I should never move out of the area so I don't have to leave this clinic. :lol:


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## Raven13 (Mar 3, 2015)

Alternative medicine is good to an extent but in all honesty it should be used as a supplement to "western" medicine. They go hand in hand. My clinic uses a few things like acupuncture and laser therapy but we would never try to heal something like a torn cruciate (ACL for dogs) with those alone. They can help with pain and inflammation, but they're never going to stick two halves of ligament back together. We (and most vets) are all for some alternative medicine, but what gets us is when people come to us and think that laying of hands and some fancy essential oils are going to cure their dog's cancer by itself. :???:

As far as the rabies titers, I don't know the laws everywhere, just for New York state, and up here rabies titers aren't accepted by the state even if they are at good levels. Only an up to date vaccine (3years for dogs and 1-3yr for cats depending on the type of vaccine administered) are accepted, that's why most vets push for at least a rabies vaccine to keep you and your pet in compliance with the law. It is also for the safety of your pet in relation to the laws, should your pet ever bite someone and the health department gets a whiff of that they'll be all over that like, as my fiance would say, a fat kid on a cupcake. And the out come of the health department finding out that your pet has bitten someone without an up to date rabies, regardless of titer status, will result in likely one of two things, a quarantine of your pet by the state or them demanding that "neurologic tissue be set for testing". The rabies virus lives in the brain, so in order to be sure that the person in question who was bitten does not require a preventative series of rabies vaccines themselves they want to be sure that your pet did or didn't have rabies. This entails a humane euthanasia followed by decapitation and sending the head off to a state lab for testing. And New York is like the Queen of Hearts, very quick to say "off with their heads!".

So please don't think poorly of vets who aren't gun ho about rabies titers instead of vaccines, they're likely just trying to protect you pet from an unsavory fate. And if an owner pushes hard enough at my clinic well do it, but we have the owner sign an a waiver stating that they understand what I have stated above.

It doesn't make much sense however considering I am vaccinated against rabies myself and the state accepts my rabies titers. haha.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yeah, completely agreed on using alternative medicine WITH conventional! That seems to be what this clinic does - they choose different things based on the situation & what they think will be most effective for the pet. I believe there was one vet that practices only conventional medicine & if I remember right, the rest use both.

I definitely on't think poorly of vets at all regarding the rabies thing! I've never had an issue with it, the debates about the issue in my raw group were the first time I'd encountered information about titers. And I do remember some people mentioning laws like that. I know how ridiculous some states are about rabies laws, especially working in wildlife rehab. I've heard a couple horror stories from other states (one notable one was from a friend on Tumblr regarding some idiotic people deciding to keep a fox kit for a pet) & I used to live in Michigan and absolutely hated our laws against rehabbing bats & skunks. Especially right now for bats, they need whatever bit of help they can get...and I'm not sure even that's going to be enough.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

I need a vet that will do rabies titers. For one, my poor dog has a reaction every time he goes in and it scares the ever living poop out of me. I want to take him back in for a check up but they always want to give him shots which is stressful to both of us. Yay for teeny tiny little towns. 

Also with my ferrets, I do not want them vaccinated except once and would prefer to do titers every year. I would hate to overvaccinate especially with studies out there that can say vaccines do last up to three years and have been tested all the way seven years. (about the lifespan of a ferret)

Rabies is required in my state so it's hard to get around the laws. But with a titers test I can at least prove that he is protected. Distemper isn't required so once they are vaccinated I have the choice to or not to vaccinate again. 

I'm glad you found a vet that supports raw and is understanding and helpful. 

:grin:


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Are you settling in OK? If you ever need anything that I could send; just say the word!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Heh, thanks!  I think we're doing pretty good right now, unless you can send a job. :lol: Still my biggest frustration so far, but fingers crossed.  I'm going to a couple of nicer pet supplies stores today to check out food selection & get food for the dog. I plan to ask them about applications & positions in the store, as well as whether they hire part-time or full-time. Trying to find something full-time!


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