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Greenhaven Animal Clinic hosts open house

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[November 11, 2014]  SAN JOSE - On Saturday afternoon, the veterinarians, technicians and staff of Green Haven Animal Clinic in San Jose hosted an open house inviting the community to stop by and see all that the clinic has to offer.

Throughout the large building located on the east edge of San Jose there were stations set up with technicians and vets talking about services performed for large and small animals.

Coming in the front door, Greenhaven receptionists were on hand to greet guests and give direction to the various information stations around the building.

In the reception area, a pet food and supply drive was underway with several guests bringing in donations. The products will be distributed to three local organizations including the Humane Society of Logan County, the Mason County Pets without Parents, and the Tazewell County Animal Protection Society.

The front exams rooms were set up with one person discussing pet boarding. Greenhaven is affiliated with the Cha-Dai Pet Motel in Lincoln, which offers boarding for pets. The offices in San Jose also provide boarding for current pet clients.
 


Another room was designated to talking about pet diet and the Metabolic Diet Plan, which is designed specifically for the individual pet. Part of this program addresses pet obesity and the health risks that come with it. With a custom designed diet based on the animal, it's current weight versus the weight it should be by breed, pets slim down their ideal weight and become healthier, happier, and more active.

Another exam room, which was quite popular with guests, was established as a center for offering information about heartworm prevention.

In the mid-section of the clinic, a demonstration and discussion were being conducted regarding pet dental health. Dogs and cats often suffer illnesses that are also common to humans. Among them gingivitis. Tiffany Kirchgessner, Certified Veterinary Technician, had a large display to show the effects of gingivitis on dogs and discuss prevention of the disease.

Off to the side of this large exam room are two smaller rooms, one is for x-rays, and the other is a surgical room.

In the x-ray room, the technician discussed how x-rays are performed on pets, the modern methods of x-ray that include digital imaging using computer technology instead of “x-ray films.” She also had on her computer screen an x-ray of a soon to be mama dog. As folks passed through, Kirchgessner showed where there were four puppies located in the x-ray. One was very visible, while the others took a little more effort to see.

In the surgical room, a young guest was learning how to intubate a stuffed puppy.

Exiting the mid-section of the clinic and moving toward the back guests entered the large animal section.

The area in the back was divided for the day into a serving line for some excellent refreshments and another demonstration area. In the large animal section, the large animals on hand were two horses and a pony belonging to Dr. George Eales, one of the vets at Greenhaven.

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Eales had brought the two horses to the clinic in order to discuss the dental issues on horses. The talk regarding the horses drew the attention of a large number of guests. Dr. Eales began by talking about the dental structure of the horse, using a skeletal head as an illustration. He explained some of the routine attention that horses teeth need.

Afterward, he did a live demonstration of how the clinic would address the dental care of a horse. He gave the horse a sedative to help relax him, and then did a mouth wash to remove any stray food that might be in the teeth. He then inserted an equine dental speculum into the horse’s mouth. The speculum simply put, is a devise that will hold the horse’s mouth open during the dental exam. Guests were allowed to come into the horse’s stall a few at a time, and Eales pointed out the dental problems that would need to be addressed in the horse.

Greenhaven was founded in 1964 by Dr. Wayne Lutz. In 1988, Dr. William Armbruster joined the staff of Greenhaven and later invested in the business.

Although all the staff was busy Saturday visiting and enjoying time with their guests, Dr. Eales did take a couple of minutes to talk about the clinic. He noted that today the clientele at the clinic is a little more than 50 percent small animals. He said the trend of veterinary services is shifting to the smaller animals over the large in this region.
 


Dr. Eales noted that the clinic does work with a good number of livestock producers. What he sees is that while the number of cattle operations in the area has gone down, the number of cattle is much the same as it was when he joined the clinic in 2003. In the swine production sector, he said the clinic is seeing more purebred operations than in the past. The clinic also deals with sheep, goats and horses as needed.

Greenhaven has a large staff of veteraniarians, vet assistants, technicians and support staff.

Greenhaven will be continuing their pet food and supply drive through the month of November. The supplies that are needed include laundry detergent, bleach, heavy duty trash bags, paper towels, cat litter, Purina dog food (canned & dry), and Purina cat food (canned & dry). Donations can be dropped off at Greenhaven in San Jose or Cha-Dai Pet Motel in Lincoln.

Learn more about Greenhaven on their website http://www.greenhavenanimalclinic.com/about-us/doctors-staff.html

[Nila Smith]

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