Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails

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1 Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails Housecall and Full-Service Veterinary Clinic 3005 Highway 1 NE Iowa City, IA (319) June 1, 2000 Quarterly Newsletter Jennifer Berger, DVM Allan Berger DVM, PhD Dear friends and clients, Growing June 1, 2000 marks the end of yet another of Jenn s part-time jobs. Jenn is now full-time for Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails, and she is looking forward to being able to put in the full-time effort Bright Eyes requires! With Dr. Kate Simpson s departure for Colorado, our increased availability comes at an opportune time (Kate was Iowa City s other housecall veterinarian a visionary, she was IC s first). We have also been getting a lot of referrals lately. Thank you! To continue this trend, we have started a thank you basket containing a variety of pet- and people-toys. If you refer someone to us, please be sure to have the person you send tell us. On your next visit, we ll have you choose the toy of your choice. Construction We promised photos of our home office in the last newsletter. Well here they are. Color versions will appear on our web site soon. You ll see a few rough edges still (baseboard and oak door trim, cosmetic routing for computer networking wires), but not very many. The only big task that remains is to put in the dropped ceiling and fluorescent light fixtures. But, we are to the point where we no longer feel that we need to apologize for our appearance! We are now fully set up to complement housecall service with traditional care (scheduled appointments, full hospitalization, X-ray, surgery, etc). Actually we re quite proud, since we did most of the construction work ourselves. Don t let the new rooms distract you, though: we are not distancing ourselves from our housecall roots in any way. We think that routine appointments are often best seen as housecalls. Your pet doesn t have the stress of travel, and you don t have the stress of sitting in a waiting room. Directions

We're located on Highway 1 north of Iowa City, and south of Solon. Directions from I-80: Take exit 246 (Highway 1) North from I-80.

Our driveway is across from Fox Lane you can turn right onto Fox Ln, but instead you will turn left into our driveway.

There aren t any buildings near us, so if you keep an eye on the west side of Highway 1 you re sure to see us.

2 We're located on Highway 1 north of Iowa City, and south of Solon. Directions from I-80: Take exit 246 (Highway 1) North from I-80. Exactly 2 miles north of I-80, our house will be on the left (west). The house number is Our driveway is across from Fox Lane you can turn right onto Fox Ln, but instead you will turn left into our driveway. Directions from Iowa City: Take North Governor St north. Pass ACT, TGI Fridays restaurant. Cross over I-80. Exactly 2 miles north of I-80, our house will be on the left (west). The house number is Our driveway is across from Fox Lane you can turn right onto Fox Ln, but instead you will turn left into our driveway. The front of the house looks like this. There aren t any buildings near us, so if you keep an eye on the west side of Highway 1 you re sure to see us. Parking and the clinic entrance are behind the house, so pull around back. Jenn poses with The Danes (Mac and Tasha) at the clinic entrance on the back side of the house. (The sign in the window says Open ).

Just inside the door, you ll find the platform scale where we weigh our larger patients. Mac the Great Dane clocks in at about 130 pounds, but he s still growing.

3 Just inside the door, you ll find the platform scale where we weigh our larger patients. Mac the Great Dane clocks in at about 130 pounds, but he s still growing. [In addition to weighing the large, we can also get precision weights on the medium (Gulliver the Siamese lower left) and the small (T3 the 100 gram/3.5 oz turkey chick lower right).] The Average Dog is a nicer person than the average person. -Andy Rooney I lie belly-up In the sunshine, happier than You will ever be.

Stepping past the entranceway with the scale, you ll come to our

Jaxson the Golden Retriever is our only pet who is patient enough to

Lying down underneath the benches is a favorite waiting place for most

Four small chicken chicks adorn the glass countertop in the photo.

4 Stepping past the entranceway with the scale, you ll come to our waiting area. Jaxson the Golden Retriever is our only pet who is patient enough to pose here. Lying down underneath the benches is a favorite waiting place for most dogs. Facing the benches is our reception desk. Four small chicken chicks adorn the glass countertop in the photo. Do the cat poses gracefully on our exam table! Through the door behind the table is space for a second exam room, if we should ever decide to expand further. I am your best friend, Now, always, and especially When you are eating.

Bask poses awkwardly on our surgery table.

To right in the picture is the cart with our pulse oximeter and electrocardiogram monitor on the top and

Continuing to the right is our radiograph film viewer.

The X-ray tube is mounted on a rail so we can position the machine around the pet (much easier than

This is one of our dog runs, with Bask, Jaxson, and Tasha looking up at the camera wondering why Allan is

Bask, Jaxson, and Tasha have a combined weight of 280 pounds, and you can see they have room to spare.

5 Bask poses awkwardly on our surgery table. Behind Bask and to the left is our isoflurane anesthetic machine. To right in the picture is the cart with our pulse oximeter and electrocardiogram monitor on the top and our dental equipment below (partially obscured by the table). Continuing to the right is our radiograph film viewer. Another awkward model, Tasha lies on our extra long X-ray table. The X-ray tube is mounted on a rail so we can position the machine around the pet (much easier than positioning the pet around the machine, trust us!). This is one of our dog runs, with Bask, Jaxson, and Tasha looking up at the camera wondering why Allan is balanced at the top of a stepladder Each run is 6 feet by 6 feet, so dogs have plenty of room. Bask, Jaxson, and Tasha have a combined weight of 280 pounds, and you can see they have room to spare. If possible, we keep an empty run between dogs so that there's some privacy. [Not shown is our intensive care and cat room. We don t have the wide angle lens needed to get a good photo. Also not shown is our dark room and autoclave area. Finally, the area we have set aside for a bathing tub, wet prep, and treatment area is currently occupied by the work bench we are using to finish up the baseboard and trim.]

They re smart too, often returning to their cage if they got loose, and they can be trained to come when called for a treat.

6 RATS! Rats make great pets if you can get past the inaccurate stereotypes. Children have an easier time handling rats than smaller rodents such as mice or hamsters, and rats are much less likely to bite. They re smart too, often returning to their cage if they got loose, and they can be trained to come when called for a treat. We tend to see two different types of coat color: the lab rat which is white with pink eyes, and the hooded rat which has color over the head and shoulders. Other than aesthetics, there are few differences. Rat housing and equipment Rats can be housed in either an aquarium or a wire cage that has deep sides that help to contain the bedding. If using an aquarium, it is very important to keep it very clean since ventilation isn t nearly as good as a wire cage. Water is best supplied using a water bottle. Change water daily, and check to make sure that the bottle is working properly. There are several different types of bedding available for use. Pine shavings are still the most popular. Some rats are actually allergic and need to be kept on recycled newspaper such as Yesterday s News or corncob byproducts. Feeding You will want to buy a pelleted rat food as the main source of nutrition for your pet rat. Be careful not to feed too much seed since they not only tend to lead to obesity, but are also unbalanced for calcium. Use the seed as a treat when training your rat, or maybe give a little once a week as a treat. Your rat will prefer to eat the seed instead of his pelleted food, so even though you may put both in the cage, the pellets will just sit. The average Rat lifespan is 2-3 years, but we ve seen one as old as 5yrs. Tumors are the most common medical problem we see. Short things Jenn has become a good contact if you are looking for a new pet, or need to find a new home for a pet. Right now we know of a few kittens that are available to a good home. If you need another pet (and who doesn t?), we urge you to seriously consider taking an unwanted one instead of buying one from a breeder or a pet shop. Call us, or call the Iowa City Animal Shelter. Homer (chewing the toy on the left) was a very popular guest at Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails. Homer moved to a Pitbull breed rescue center in Chicago about three weeks ago where he met his girlfriend Scooby (on the right). Just three weeks ago Homer moved to a permanent home in the Chicago suburbs. Homer now has a new girlfriend, a fenced in yard, and two pet boys. For sale to a good snake home: Professional display case (right), used less than one year. 72'' long x 28'' high x 33'' deep. Integrated heater and thermostat. Asking $200, call Dan Bucher at

7 Heartgard and Frontline We have discount coupons from the manufacturer for Heartgard and Frontline. If you need to stock up on heartworm and flea preventatives, now is a good time. Give a call we deliver. Next Newsletter: September 1, 2000 As always, ideas for topics for the next newsletter are welcome. We hope to return to more animal health information and pet tips in September (the layout and printing of all the photos was more time consuming than we had hoped). Multicat households and long-distance (airplane) traveling are possible topics for September. Gratefully yours, Jennifer and Allan Berger

Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails

Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails Veterinary Hospital 3005 Highway 1 NE Iowa City, IA 52240 (319) 351-4256 March 2006 Newsletter Jennifer Berger, DVM Allan Berger DVM, PhD Sue Delaney, DVM Jennifer Brown, DVM