September 2018 Newsletter

September  Newsletter

How does the time go by faster each year?  The summer is somewhat of a blur to me.  Kids are getting older, they spend more time without me.  The office has been busy.  We are coming up on our one year anniversary here at the Cummings Center.  Hard to believe….What a great year it has been.  We have settled in to our office and are so grateful to the staff at the Cummings Center for making our experience here so great. 

Having such a full plate of life to keep me busy, there’s a second to-do list that I just have not been able to get to.  Updating the website, writing more articles on dental care for our pets, more client education handouts. Perhaps in the fall…..

We did get to accomplish a lot this summer!

We successfully graduated Sami from her internship at our clinic for her technician training at North Shore Community College.  She had such a great attitude and great skills and we hope to get to work with her again someday when she is a Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT).

We were also able to show our college students, Kendra and Tom an insight into veterinary medicine as they decide about their college courses and career paths. 

I was also able to teach at The Boston Leadership Institute this summer in the Veterinary Medicine Program.  Headed by our colleague and friend, Dr. Bill Snell at BluePearl, the program was a three week insight into veterinary medicine for high schools students from both locally as well as Puerto Rico, LA and Louisiana that was held in Waltham.  I was able to give them the perspective from a general practitioner as well as talk to them about veterinary dentistry.

Check out this article from Veterinary Practice News: Joint program immerses high schoolers in veterinary science.

We also hired Gabe, our senior intern from Beverly High School.  He’s got a great attitude and we have been showing him plenty and having him learn something new every day! 

BluePearl Partnership

I would like to continue to introduce and support BluePearl for all of our clients and their pets.  In the few years that we have been working with them, the  partnership we have continues to strengthen.  The new doctors, such as Dr Matt Cleveland and Dr Melisa Rosenthal and their new hospital in Charlestown solidifies our trust as well as respect we have for all that they can do for our patients and their owners.  We have been able to have a number of Lunch and learns with their specialists.  Anytime that I need to speak to a doctor about a case, they are reachable.

We have immediate access to medical records including radiographs as well as ultrasound reports.  The interactions I am able to have with all their staff is top notch.

We do understand that you may have been to other local ERs in the past. We do not hope that you need their emergency services, specialty or surgical services, but if you do… I cannot recommend BluePearl enough!  Please check out their website at  bluepearlvet.com.

The Grain Free Diet Issues

A number of years ago, I wrote an article for the newsletter about “What I feed my pet.”

I am happy that I never wrote, NO GRAINS!  I am not a fan of corn based diets and while I sympathize with people that suffer from gluten sensitivities, our canine patients are not humans and should not be treated as such.  Over the last ten years, grain free diets have become a huge segment of the pet food industry. 

Tufts Nutritionist, Dr Lisa Freeman and her staff have well written articles about the pet food industry and the concerns about the current health issues we are facing:

A broken heart: Risk of heart disease in boutique or grain-free diets and exotic ingredients

Here is the link to the current info from the FDA:

Questions & Answers: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine’s Investigation into a Possible Connection Between Diet and Canine Heart Disease

So what to do? Here is one resource:

WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee: Recommendations on Selecting Pet Foods

The ease of trying to find a diet with a grain in it is challenging!  What is considered a grain?

Wheat, rice, oats and corn.  There are a diets out there that do contain grains.  You can also supplement your dogs diet with some grains as an additive to their meals.  There are some pets that may have some sensitivity to grains but plenty that don’t!  We believe everything in moderation including moderation.

The one simple thing with this is that cats are not affected! 

Please know that we discuss diet with each appointment.  If you have any questions about your pet and it’s diet, please don’t hesitate to ask.

In Memory of our beloved pets that have passed: In Memoriam