I hope everyone is doing well as our annual onset of oppressive humidity begins its assault on anyone unlucky enough to have to go outside. In our own battle against the heat, I just installed some insulation over the treatment room drop-ceiling which used to be open to the top of the building. The change in the "feel" of the air was immediately noticeable and the a/c runs much less frequently now, and we're not sweating the instant the thermostat kicks off. If you ask Markesha, it's the small things.
VIP's appointment schedule is continuing to grow with an incredible number of new clients and we continue to welcome VIP's VIP clients back to the hospital as the need arises. Many of our very first clients and their pets are now getting ready for their second yearly exam as we're quickly approaching the one-year anniversary of our opening on August 1st... and we can hardly believe that milestone is just around the corner!
Our grooming schedule continues to grow steadily as Rachel seems to give 110% on all of her VIP salon pets and still finds time to help out in the hospital when we need an extra set of hands. One of our biggest challenges right now is adapting to unpredictable schedule fullness which is too frequently a "feast or famine" type situation. Some days we don't have time to breathe between appointments and emergencies, and other days I have time to write a blog at 10:00 AM... However, we're hitting all of our growth milestones and occasional down-time gives great opportunities to work on house keeping items like developing VIP's standard operating procedures manual, protocols, templates, and finally using our more robust understanding of Ezyvet to streamline or automate repetitive tasks so we can spend more time delivering the VIP experience to you, our clients and patients.
We are very happy to have started offering acupuncture therapy at VIP by hosting Dr. Ruth, a veterinary acupuncturist based Murray, KY. Dr. Ruth is a very kind, knowledgeable veterinarian and she travels to VIP every week or so to offer premier acupuncture therapy for dogs and cats. Dr. Ruth has had advanced training from, and is a graduate of the Chi Institute. The Chi institute is a premier postdoctoral acupuncture organization that trains veterinarians in all things acupuncture. As many of you know, I don't buy into a lot of alternative medicine, and only because of the lack of scientific proof that withstands challenges and validates efficacy for a wide spate of alternative medicine claims. However, acupuncture continues to return positive results right in front of my own eyes, along with being backed a robust and continually growing body of scientific evidence. Carisa has been having sessions with Dr. Ruth and her senior dog, Oakley, who has lower back arthritis and hind end weakness. Although we have been treating Oakley with multimodal therapies the addition of Acupuncture has had undeniable results. We are so happy that Oakley's mobility and mood continues to improve with each session. I feel that the need for multiple sessions and the need for continued acupuncture treatments are the largest barrier for most owners in terms of pursuing acupuncture therapy as a viable treatment for their pet's problems. However, after a few sessions, the results themselves are generally motivation enough to convince owners that this is working and they continue with regular acupuncture sessions. Just like humans, acupuncture is used not only for osteoarthritis, but for a myriad of diseases and problems. If you'd like to get more information, give the office a call and we can get you in touch with Dr. Ruth and/or set up a consult or sessions at VIP when Dr. Ruth is in Paducah.
In other news, we kept postponing VIP's "Grand Opening" last year because we wanted to wait until the inside of the hospital had been fully renovated and built-out, but that took many more months than anticipated, and now we've been open almost 1 year and we still have not had our ribbon cutting! The build-out is now mostly completed, save for minor touches here and there. If you noticed in the photo gallery above, I designed and installed room readiness indicator lights so we know the status of each room via tiny LED light panels located all around the hospital. Now we won't have to guess the status of a room or if anyone is in there! Our current plan is to have a dual "Grand Opening / 1 year anniversary" celebration event in August. We want to have Paducah Bank and The Paducah Chamber of Commerce out for our ribbon cutting and of course, all clients, friends, and family will be invited...Stay tuned for more details...when we have them, you will too.
One last positive note today is a big shout-out to Elanco's brand new Monoclonal Antibody Injection which is a literal cure for parvo in puppies (parvoviral enteritis). I have seen the miracle of this drug first hand when I gave an injection to a puppy on a Saturday night that was so weak he was unable to stand alone when he was first seen and diagnosed. However, the next morning, he was bouncing around his cage, and was eating and drinking well by Sunday evening. He never had another bout of vomiting or diarrhea after giving the injection. The "old" method of parvo treatment was just simply supportive care with IV fluids, nausea meds, feeding tubes, etc. which generally lasted 5-7 days while the puppies body did all the real work fighting the virus. Now with this new injectable treatment, puppies receive a single shot of antibodies that would normally take them two weeks to produce and the antibodies chew up parvovirus like a wood chipper--and they don't have to suffer with an extremely painful and horrible parvo virus infection for 5-7 days. It is a little pricey but the results are undeniable and so worth it. Obviously it is better to get your puppies vaccinated for so many reasons, but parvo isn't quite as serious or scary as it used to be now that we have real cure available.
Stay cool y'all,
Dr. Jones and "The A-Team"
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