July Newsletter
River Rock Animal Hospital
60116
Harold Street Midland, MI 48640 T: (989)750-7222
www.VetMidland.com - Visit Us on Facebook!
Happy 4th of July!
We hope you are having a great summer. This newsletter is for you this month. Be sure to
make it out to our VetChat on Thursday the 28th. Many of the companies we work with have given
us free samples to pass on to you! Check out the specials for the month and spread the word: we
offer a military discount to honor our troops for their service protecting our wonderful country. We
hope you enjoy this issue!
The River Rock Staff
Case of the Month
This June, “Rocky” came to us early in the morning with porcupine quills in
his nose. Rocky is a 5 year old neutered male boxer mix. And as with many
dogs, he thinks porcupines are awfully interesting.
The porcupines we have in North America are one of two distinct families.
The North American family is called the New World porcupine, whose Latin
name is Erethizontidae. They have many quills covering most of the body and
these quills have barbs that push the quill deeper and deeper into the tissue as
time goes by after an attack. These quills can actually move all the way through
an animal and in Rocky’s case had already moved through the gums out the
bottom of his jaw in only hours.
The other family of porcupines are from
New World
Europe, Asia, and most of Africa. These are
Porcupine
called the Old World porcupines whose Latin name is
Hystricidae. This family is a bit larger in size. Some species in
this family can grow over 60 pounds in size. In this family, the
quills do not have barbs which makes them easier to remove
than our North American type.
It is common in Michigan to have our beloved puppies get a Old World Porcupine
little too close to these spiny creatures and this results in an
emergency trip to the veterinary hospital to have the quills
removed. Poor Rocky had 38 quills all lodged in the lower left
side of his face. While his face was painful he was such a
brave boy and still happy to see
anyone.
To remove the quills, Rocky
needed sedation and a local
injection of lidocaine to take the pain out of his face. The quills were
removed by Dr. Schad with assistance from Samantha one of our
licensed veterinary technicians. Rocky did very well for this
procedure and while he will have a bit of swelling in his lip for a few
days he should be fine. Dr. Schad prescribed antibiotics to prevent
infection and an anti-inflammatory for his pain while he recovers.
Welcome Dr. Jessica Rose Varner!
We are very honored to welcome Dr. Jessica R Varner to our practice
this summer. Dr. Varner graduated from MSU College of Veterinary
Medicine in 2013. She and her husband Justin enjoy all manner of
outdoor activities. They have two dogs: Maya and Brooks. They are
expecting their first child at the end of July. It’s a very exciting time
here at River Rock! Stop in any time to meet Dr. Varner.
Upcoming Events
VetChat
All Things Nutrition
July 28th 6:30-8PM
We will be going over
different types of food,
different ways to feed and
common problems in the pet
food industry for both dogs
and cats.
There will be plenty of free
giveaways and samples to take
home!
July Promotions
“What’s on Sale”
Check out the “What’s on
Sale” list and get your pet’s
Flea/Tick and Heartworm
Meds for less!
Refer A Friend
This month we are featuring
our referral program. If you
stop in for a visit pick up a
“Care to Share” card. Give
this card to a friend. Then
when they bring it in they
will receive a 1$ exam and
you will get $25 credit. This
can be used on any service!
Pick up a card today!
Military Discount
At River Rock, we value all
of our troops no matter when
you served.
Military discount is 5% off
all Services & most
medications every day.
Happy 4th of July!
If your dog has a fear of loud
noises, don’t forget about
Sileo for your 4th of July
celebration!
24/7 Service
We offer support for clients
24 hours a day. Just call our
phone number and we’re
there to help!
New Grevy’s Zebra Foal!
The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago Illinois is excited to welcome the
newest member to their herd of Grevy’s Zebra. This species of zebra
originates from Kenya and Ethiopia and is the rarest of all the zebra.
There are three zebra species; the other two are the Plains Zebra and
the Mountian Zebra. The Grevy’s Zebra was first discovered by
Émile Oustalet who named the species after Jules Grevy: the president
of France. Abyssinia gave one of these beautiful creatures to
president Grevy in 1880. This species can be differentiated from the
others by its tall stature, large oval ears, thick neck, and narrow
stripes.
While there were originally hundreds of thousands of these zebra in
the wild, their population has dwindled down to a mere 3,000. This
species is endangered and so it is always a great triumph when a foal
can be born healthy in a zoo setting.
Blue Tang / Clownfish Problem
There aren’t many people who don’t know the movie or at least the story told in “Finding
Nemo”: a film produced by Pixar in 2003. But how many people know about the devastation
caused by this movie?
Due to the popularity of the movie, many people wanted to add
clownfish to their home aquarium. Unfortunately, the demand was
so high that the industry started pulling thousands of wild caught
fish from the Philippines and the Great Barrier Reef as well as other
areas of the ocean. So many fish were taken that these beautiful
creatures are almost extinct in the wild.
Researchers have been trying to breed clownfish in captivity to sell
and hopefully to restock the oceans. They have been successful in
breeding the delicate species but releasing the fish into their wild
environment has shown to be difficult. In nature, the clown fish lives
in symbiosis with sea anemones to protect them from predators. The
anemone releases potent toxins into the water when it senses an
By Nhobgood Nick Hobgood - Own
enemy. The wild clownfish are immune to this toxin but the captive
work
bred clownfish can’t seem to cope and are either dying or being eaten by predators because they
aren’t protected by the anemone. So the only option is to stop buying wild caught fish. If you
are interested in adding a clownfish to your home aquarium please make sure you buy
captive bred fish.
With the new movie “Finding Dory” many people are
concerned the same thing will happen to the wild populations.
Currently over 300,000 wild caught blue tang are sold to pet
stores around the world and if this number goes up, wild
populations may become extinct. Blue tang are incredibly
difficult to breed in captivity and so the only solution is to
By Jeffery
stop buying these beautiful fish or there may be none left.
SMART Paws Cat Food Drive
For the month of July SMART Paws animal rescue and River Rock Animal Hospital are having
a food drive. This is a cat food only drive to benefit the rescued cats cared for by SMART Paws.
Every donation will be entered to win a Gift certificate to Soldan’s Pet Supply. This group cares
for many of the sick or injured cats and so they have asked for a few
specific brands. All donations will be collected at River Rock.
Canned food: Authority, Evo, Innova
Dry food: Orijen, Evo, Dr. Gary’s Best Brand
Memorials
We would like to take a minute to remember the beloved pets who have passed on. As a hospital and
family, we were honored to have known and cared for them. Our deepest condolences go out to their
families:
Mocka
Neo
Annie
Leo
Spot
Stella
Macie
Fancy
Sage
Rou
Myna
Riley
Papa
Pet of the Month!
“Oscar”
Why Cats are Picky
Eaters
I see many cats here at River
Rock with food problems.
Cats have natural instincts to
choose specific foods based on
eons of learning. Research is
going on all the time trying to
determine the best food for all
of our beloved pets and the
new information is that cats
prefer a 1 to 4 ratio of protein
to fat in their diet. This is about
1 to 1 as far as calories
equivalent. Since cats are
obligate, or hyper carnivores,
they have to eat animals to
survive. Taking these two bits
of information, a set of
researchers studied cats in how
they pick a food. They found
that if you offer fish, rabbit,
and orange flavored food with
the exact same 1 to 4 ratio of
protein to fat the cats preferred
first the fish then the rabbit and
last the orange. However, if
you make the fish and rabbit
food not a 1 to 4 ratio, but keep
the orange the same the cats are
far more likely to choose an
orange flavored food. Isn’t that
amazing? Nutrition is a passion
of mine so please, if you have
any questions, give us a call or
send an email. 989-750-7222
The VetChat this month is
about nutrition!
[email protected]
Compassionate
Care Fund
Thank you for all the generous
donations!