January 2009 News Letter



 
Happy New Year!!!!  The presents are opened, the decorations are coming down, and life is returning to normal.  I hope you got everything you wanted for Christmas. Did you make your new year resolutions?  Did you keep last years?  It seems as though I make the same resolutions year after year.  One of these days I will carry them out to the end.
I hope you had a very special holiday season.  The doctors and staff at Priest Lake Veterinary Hospital would like to thank you for letting us take care of your pet(s).



Cats in the White House

Abraham Lincoln - He adopted several litters of kittens and was said to have cats under his desk and across his feet.  There are no records of names.  He was said to have rescued a whole litter of kittens at a battlefield.

While Rutherford Hayes was in office, his wife, Lucy Webb Hayes, received a siamese kitten from the American Consul in Bangkok, Siam (Thailand now).  The kitten "Siam" became ill after a short amount of time and eventually succumbed to the illness.  Her body was preserved.

President McKinley's wife, Ida Saxton McKinley, had 4 angora kittens, two of which she named Valeriano Weyler, for the governor of Cuba and Enrique DeLome after Spain's Ambassador.  During the downturn of the Spanish American war, Mrs McKinley came to loathe the name saked kittens.

President Theodore Roosevelt, in his memoirs recounted the antics of Tom Quartz (first cat), children, dogs, and Slippers the other first cat.  Slippers even stretched out across a central rug and President Roosevelt rerouted his diplomatic procession around the cat, seated them, then proceeded to retrieve the cat.

President Cooledge had litter-mates, Blacky and Tiger (Tige).  Blacky spent his time hunting and mousing while Tige spent his time wrapped around the president's neck.  Mrs Cooledge also had gourmet food eating raccoons, they had dogs, and free flying exotic birds.  At one point Tige went missing and was found a while afterwards.  After that, they both sported a gold name tag.  They both went missing again and only Blacky came back.

President Kennedy brought his cat, Tom Kitten, with him when he moved into the White House.  Tom stayed in President Kennedy's room most of the time.  Soon President Kennedy's allergies changed Tom Kitten's regular routine.

President Gerald Ford's daughter left her siamese cat with her parents.  Betty Ford became good friends with the cat "Shan".

President Jimmy Carter brought his daughter's cat, Misty Malarky Ying Yang to the White House on inauguration day..

President Ronald Reagan had 2 cats at his ranch, "Cleo and Sara".

Chelsea Clinton brought her cat to the White House.  "Socks" had his own in-basket at the White House for his fan mail.  The box was on President Clinton's desk.  President Clinton's personal secretary eventually adopted "Socks".

President Bush brought "Willie (aka "India") to the White House.  She enjoyed her siblings, the scotties.  She will return to the ranch in Texas.



White House Dogs


Herbert Hoover - "King Tut"- German Sheperd

Franklin D. Roosevelt - "Tula"- Scottish Terrier

Dwight D. Eisenhower - "Heidi"-Weimaraner,

J.F. Kennedy - "Charlie"-Welsh Terrier, "Pushinka"-mixed, "Shannon"-Irish Spaniel, "Wolf"-Irish Wolfhound, "Clipper"-German Shepherd, "Butterfly", "White Tips", "Blackie", and "Streaker"-pups from "Charlie" and "Pushinka"

L.B. Johnson - "Beagle", "Little Beagle", "Him", and "Her" - Beagles, "Blanco"- White Collie, "Yiki" - mixed.

Richard Nixon - "Checkers" - Cocker, "Vicky"- Poodle, "Pasha"- Terrier, "King Timahoe" - Irish Setter

Gerald Ford - "Liberty" -Golden Retriever

Ronald Reagan - "Lucky"- Bouvier des Flanders, "Rex" - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

George Bush - "Millie" - English Springer Spaniel, "Ranger" - Millie's pup

Bill Clinton - "Buddy" - Chocolate Lab

George W. Bush - "Miss Beasley" - Scottish Terrier, "Barney" - Scottish Terrier, "Spot"- English Springer Spaniel

Franklin D. Roosevelt - "Tula" - Scottish Terrier

Herbert Hoover - "King Tut" - German Shepherd



Forgetful?

There is an automated reminder service, www.remindmypet.com, that sends an email or text message whenever it is time, daily, monthly, etc, for patients to take their medicines.  Clients can also link remindmypet.com to their web sites.  This is a great service to remind you of heartworm and flea preventions times.  You may also see if they do 6 month reminders for your twice yearly fecal exams.


The Healthy Pet

The new year is the perfect time for you and your pet to get healthy.  Of course, just like people, pets need exercise and good healthy diets.  Is it time for your yearly or semi-annual check up?  If your pet is older, is it time for the senior blood work?  Remember the senior exam and bloodwork help to detect diseases before they get out of hand.  Early detection is important in treating most diseases.   Dental health is also important in your pet's health.  Dental disease can effect many internal organs, and can cause your pet pain and discomfort when eating.  If your pet is older and has trouble getting up and down, is slower in the morning, or limps and favors their rear legs, remember there are many different medications that can be given to relieve the pain and discomfort they are feeling. 


Dogs Exhibit Sense of Fairness

Friederike Range of the University of Vienna, Austria led a team of researchers testing animals at the schools's Clever Dog Lab.  I don't supposed you have ever heard "No fair"; what parent hasn't heard that from a child when they thought another child got more of something.  It turns out that dogs can react the same way. If you ask a dog to do a trick and reward them with a treat, most of them will do it over and over again.  If one dog gets no reward, and sees another get a treat for doing the same trick, just try to get the first dog to do the trick again.  He may even turn away and refuse to look at you.  Dogs, like people and monkeys, seem to have a sense of fairness.  "Animals react to ineguity.  To avoid stress, we should try to avoid treating them differently."  says Range.  Similar responses have been seen in monkeys.  Range says she wasn't surprised at the dogs' reaction, since wolves are know to cooperate with one another and appear to be sensitive to each other.  Modern dogs are descended from wolves.  Next, she said, will be experiments to test how dogs and wolves work together.



Staff News

Megan and her husband, Shane are expecting their first child in March of 2009.  Megan has been with us since June of 2007.

Sherri went to Virginia for continuing education and will share her new found information at our next staff meeting.

Don't forget to check our prices on the flea preventions and heartworm prevention. 

If your pet is over 7 years of age, think about getting a senior exam and bloodwork to detect any problems that might be developing or are evident now.  Early detection is very important.  

Next month is Dental month, so make an appointment now to have your pet's teeth cleaned.   We can do bloodwork the morning of the dental to check for any kidney, liver or other problems that might prevent us from giving an anesthetic at that time.   Remember, call early to make an appointment, the  times fill in pretty fast during February.   Our number is   615-361-4646