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The magnitude 7.1 quake over the weekend reminds us that we could be next. If you have a pet, you’ll want to be Pet Ready! as well. We’ve put together a quick checklist to make it easier.

Click on this: link for the Pet Ready! Earthquake Checklist

Download it. Use it. Share it!

Just focus on one item at a time and before you know it, it’s filled. If you’re slammed, we’re happy to pull together a proper first aid kit for you. Overall, the Pet Ready! checklist is straightforward and shouldn’t take too much of your time. You’ll be glad you did.

Feel free to share the Pet Ready! checklist with your friends and family even if they live somewhere else and their disaster preparedness doesn’t focus on earthquakes. That said, especially for anyone who lives in earthquake country, it’s important to be ready — and also to be Pet Ready!

Quick reminder about the 4th of July, which can be scary for dogs in particular, since they hear a greater auditory range. We’ve posted about the 4th of July before, but it bears repeating.  Here are a few things that you can do:

1) If your festivities end before dark, consider hanging out with your animal after dark and keeping them with you. The simple dynamic of your presence in the room can be a tremendous comfort, particularly if you can project calm. Sometimes being with you is all it takes. If you, yourself, get spooked or project your own anxiety, maybe not; and move on to suggestion number two.

2) Keep your animals in a location where, if they do get spooked, they can not escape and run away. Use common sense: if you know they can clear the backyard fence, or worry that with some adrenalyn they might be able to, then put them in a location where they simply can’t escape.

3) Maybe a Thundershirt. A Thundershirt, like swaddling a baby, is a soft compression wrap, shown to help many fearful dogs overcome their anxiety, such as when thunder storms or other loud noises trigger anxiety. Many families find it helpful, and it comes with a money-back guarantee of satisfaction.

If this is your first Fourth of July with your animal it is particularly important that you take your animal into consideration. If this is not your first Fourth of July and your animal freaks out enough where a medical intervention is the ticket, you probably have it dialed in with your vet already. If you’ve been looking for a good deadline to make sure your pet is microchipped as well as having their collar tags, this is a good one. We’re open, so you can give us a call and see about availability.

As long as you remember they hear more than you do, and take your animals into consideration, we can all have a safe and sane Fourth of July.

The new transformer is working great and we’ve moved our Sunday hours back to opening up at 9am.

While we were waiting through rain delay after rain delay for the new transformer (which is not a complaint because we need and appreciate the rain!), we had to use the interim generator. Thus, we had delayed opening up until 10am on Sundays to let our neighbors sleep in.

With the new transformer in place, we’re now back to opening up at 9am on Sundays.

The March 2019 data ranks San Francisco as second highest percentage increase heartworm infection in the US. Even if you don’t treat your cat or dog for heartworm every month, as recommended, please try to this year, and be sure you don’t miss the next few months.

Heartworm is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Unfortunately, our wet spring has resulted in a dramatic increase of the mosquito population which then has led directly to an increase in the documented cases of heartworm infection.

Heartworm disease in dogs is serious and can be fatal. From the time a dog is bitten by an infected mosquito to the time a positive test confirming infection can be achieved is 6 to 7 months. During this time, damage to the infected individual begins. The adult worms that develop reside in the heart and in the pulmonary artery leaving the heart on the way to the lungs. The presence of these adult worms in these locations is responsible for the clinical signs that include coughing, lethargy, excercise intolerance and weight loss. This can progress to heart failure in some of its worst forms.

Cats respond differently to the few adult worms that develop and present essentially with asthma which can be severe. Unlike dogs, cats cannot be treated for heartworm infection, which makes a good case for prevention.

Even indoor pets are at risk. Studies have shown the percentage of heartworm infected mosquitoes is higher in the indoor population versus the outdoor population of mosquitoes. Heartworm infected mosquitoes understandably seek out the less challenging environment of the indoors.

Heartworm disease in dogs is treatable, but has many difficulties. The treatment occurs over several months, requires multiple drugs that can be costly, and some come with their own risks. The primary drug used to kill the adult worms is an arsenical derivative. Most dog owners, as well as veterinarians, would prefer not to find themselves in a situation where such a drug is necessary. Needless to say, prevention is far easier, more affordable and comes with essentially no risk to your pet.

Obtaining heartworm prevention is easy. It does require that dogs be tested for heartworm and, if negative, we start them on a preventative. Heartworm testing can be arranged simply by calling the hospital and making an appointment for a heartworm test. Or, we’d be happy to arrange for a veterinary technician to come to you.

If ever there was a case of ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’ this is it. With heartworm infection on the rise locally, we encourage the use of preventatives for the health of your pet.

Terrific news today — the new transformer is installed and working beautifully. This is huge news because it let us remove the generator we’d been using in the interim. 

That transformer upgrade was about a year in the making. We tried to push it along because we didn’t like the generator noise, and our neighbors didn’t like the generator noise, and we didn’t have any other choice. We want to thank our neighbors for being as patient as they possible could. Watching the transformer go up made clear why so many agencies were involved, and why avoiding rain (or even a robust mist) was such an important factor.

Several times before, crews were planned or assembled only to be thwarted by the rain. A different winter and the transformer would have been up months ago, but rain is far better than drought. Besides, it’s up now!

Along the way we met the guy who had installed the original transformer, which was eons ago in technology time, but not that long ago, really. At one point, the new transformer was going to get installed overnight. Instead, it happened during the day. We appreciate our neighboring businesses’ endurance of a daytime outage. The installation involved taking over one lane of El Camino Real to stage two cherry pickers working in coordination with each other — a high-voltage dance truly amazing to behold.

We want to thank all of the people from PG&E, CalTrans and the County who made this happen, with safety a first consideration and everything else falling in line behind. They have a thankless job of confronting impatient types like us, and coordinating numerous regulations and considerations, interrupted by emergencies and really no glory.  We appreciate their hard work and look forward to using this new transformer for decades to come.

We had hoped that our next construction update would report a new transformer, completing the overall transformation, and an Open House date to celebrate. Alas, the new transformer install was delayed.

The backstory: The original electrical transformer is a dinosaur. Initially it was thought to suffice, particularly with our energy-efficient new systems. However, new considerations came up as the work moved forward, and it was determined that a new electrical transformer would be required after all. The County, PG&E and CalTrans are all involved, besides ourselves, our engineers and construction team.

Then, epic wild fires and winter storms made transformer work unsafe, and required transformers for recovery. Added to the local building boom, there have been unprecedented delays. We finally had an installation set in Feb. when the latest big storms hit, making work impossible on our date. We think we have a new date later in March, when the “storm door” hopefully closes, and crews are first available.

The transformer work happens overnight to minimize the impact on other businesses. Once the transformer is installed we can also return to our normal business hours. And we can throw a party!! The new transformer represents the completed transformation of the facility. We really can’t wait.

There is some other good news to report. CalTrans and the county inspected and approved our underground work and allowed us to repave the portion of the road in front of the hospital. That work has been completed, so we continue to make good progress. In the meantime, we are enjoying working in the new hospital, and look forward to scheduling our open house to show you.

The indoor parking garage is now open to anyone with an appointment. If you only have a quick pickup, and there’s space in the garage, feel free to use it. You’re the “exception that proves the general rule.”

It’s usually easier for quick pickups to park curbside, if there’s space curbside, which is easy for loading stuff, but less optimal for loading and unloading animals. This is why we labeled the garage for Appointment Parking. The debate between calling it “Hospital Parking” and “Appointment Parking” centered around emphasizing that people with animals to unload, please park in here!

It’s truly okay for anyone to park in the garage, if there’s room. We have faith in our lovely and sensitive community members who we know will strike the right balance. Our clients understand that animals are always top priority.

Speaking of, please be mindful of animal safety. Most important: secure your animal before opening the car door. Specifically, this means you should secure your animal with a leash or a carrier before you open any car door — even the driver’s door. We have cardboard cat carriers available for around $7, and leashes are available for free in the garage. You can come by and get one beforehand. In a pinch, or an emergency, for cats the pillow case trick can work just fine, if you can manage to tie a knot with the open end. Most cats do seem to prefer a carrier.

Second most important message is: please feel free to call for assistance. If you want a little help, please call us at (650) 325-5671 and then be a wee bit patient while we finish what we’re doing and come straight out to help you. Do not hesitate for a minute to call us and we’ll be happy to assist you.

There are four bike racks located along the wall for bicycles. They have an eye hook for your lock. We think bikes are great! For cars, there is sufficient room, but not much extra room. Average size cars seem to have an easy time maneuvering in and out of the garage. Extra large cars also seem to maneuver just fine, but it just takes a few extra moves. Please be aware that pedestrians and bicyclists may be using the sidewalk, and go super slow when exiting.

Welcome aboard!

If you feed your dog Hill’s Prescription Diet or Hill’s Science Diet canned food, hold off (for now) and call us for a lot number cross-check, or food alternative. We’ve been made aware of a voluntary recall caused by an ingredient supplier overshooting the mark on Vitamin D – and too much Vitamin D can be a real problem.

The recall only affects canned food for dogs. None of the cat foods, dry foods or treats are affected by the recall, and are fine to feed your pet. It is also possible that the canned food for dogs that you are currently using may be unaffected as well. However, we’d rather spend time checking SKUs and lots and dates, than take ANY chances.

Is this out of an abundance of caution? You bet. As of this posting, we have seen zero cases that we believe are affected by this. In addition, we have already reached out to every client who purchased Hill’s canned food for dogs from us, directly.

Most pets can tolerate short-term exposure to elevated Vitamin D without any ill effects. On the other hand, too much vitamin D can upset a dog’s calcium balance. Symptoms can include vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling, and weight loss; if consumed at very high levels Vitamin D overdose can lead to renal dysfunction, kidney failure and heart failure. If your dog has exhibited anything like these symptoms, please contact us at once. When caught early, simply stopping the food leads to full recovery, but more advanced symptoms may require additional interventions.

Our confidence in Hill’s is not yet shaken. They have such a long history of great nutrition research and high quality food. Plus, they are being quite transparent about this issue, and are taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. The preventative steps involve the supplier doing an additional check before sending the ingredient involved, as well as Hill’s implementing additional testing steps upon receipt. Test, then trust but verify.

Here’s what the company is saying, “We care deeply about all pets and are committed to providing pet parents with safe and high quality products.  Hill’s has identified and isolated the error and, to prevent this from happening again, we have required our supplier to implement additional quality testing prior to their release of ingredients.  In addition to our existing safety processes, we are adding our own further testing of incoming ingredients.”

If you did not purchase from us, call us anyway with a can in hand to determine if your batch is included in the recall. Alternatively, you can check against the list that Hill’s has posted, which is available on their website.

While we are relieved that none of our patients seem to have been affected, our hearts go out to those who have.

We have a couple of significant updates for you. First off, procedures and surgeries are now being conducted on-site.

During the transition, we made use of a specialty surgery center in San Mateo for most surgical procedures. To keep things convenient for our clients, pets were dropped off and picked up at the animal hospital, and our staff transported them to and from the specialty center. Until now.

We are pleased to take the large step forward of now performing all procedures and surgeries at our new state-of-the-technology animal hospital. Now, lab work, X-rays, surgeries, dental – everything’s under one roof in Redwood City.

The second update is to let you know that we’ve got a new fax number. The new fax number is: (650) 549-8844

Please make a note of it. If anyone else you work with needs to be updated, please do so.

We’ve had no luck coming up with an easy word-based way to remember it. The closest was (650) liz-vvig, which is fun to say, but light on meaning. That’s okay. It’s just the fax.

But while we’ve got you on the line, might we express our sincere gratitude for your patience during the transition. We will post another update in a few days. Until then, we continue to work on the punch list.

Quick status report as we dive into the New Year, plus a couple heads-ups. We hope your holidays were lovely, full of family and friends. As clients travel, it is our honor to take care of their pets, particularly those with specific medical issues. Over this season, our boarders enjoyed the new hospital, complete with new hospital smells.

With the holidays behind us, the contractors are hard at work on the punch list of final items to complete. Most punch list items can happen in and around our operations with minimal or no impact. That said, during the month of January, on weekdays we are closing at 6pm and keeping our weekend hours to Saturday only. Our team members will be on-site with boarders on Sunday, but we won’t be open to the public on Sunday, throughout January.

The last status update explained that a street project in the works since January — as in last-January, or January 2018 — finally fell into place. The project was supposed to take a few days, and mostly did, except one unforeseen delay to the road portion, and one of the agencies will need to return.

Meanwhile, we took the opportunity to address a few sidewalk issues. For example, a cut-out for a former driveway harkened back to the 1940s. It was narrow and had a steep incline. In this day of smart phones, it could have been a tripping hazard. So, we leveled it out.

These upgrades should make the public parking a bit easier, particularly along El Camino Real. There’s also public parking along Buckingham. For now, if possible, please use public parking. While the garage parking is available, the safety signage is in production. We’re keeping available garage parking to those who have special needs. If you, or your animal, has a special need, use the garage, but with caution, driving slowly as you enter and exit it across the pedestrian sidewalk.

Wherever you park, remember to secure your pet FIRST before opening your car door. If you need a leash or a cat carrier, we have them available to take home, so your pet can arrive safely to the hospital.

That’s quite a lot of progress, with more to come, and we will keep you posted. We very much appreciate all of your patience during this transition.

Thank you!!