Okay . . . I was reminded after publishing my last blog that not only is it a good idea to call early to reserve space for boarding over the holidays, but the same is true for scheduling a grooming appointment for the holidays (or while your pet is boarding).  Our groomers, Nancy and Julia, will be busy, so call early so we’ll have your pet looking his or her best for the holidays!

Seems like 2009 is zipping by, autumn has arrived (and it appears she is imitating winter over the past week) . . . it’s a beautiful time of the year in Happy Valley.  It won’t be very long until Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and the New Year arrive!

And with the holidays comes the time to travel and spend some time with friends and family!  The Reception Staff at Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital wants to remind you that if your holiday plans call for travel and you’re unable to take your “four-legged” family members with you, then please give us a call soon to make reservations in our Boarding Kennel.  The holidays are always a busy time in our Kennel, and space is limited.  So give us a call, and we’ll do our best to accommodate your pet!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of National Veterinary Technician Week, and we’d like to recognize our Certified Veterinary Technicians, Diane, Amy, Kim, and Devon!  Diane has been with the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital since 1988, Amy joined our Team in 2004, Kim has been working with us for many years (mostly in Philipsburg), and Devon just recently came on board.  Veterinary Technicians really function as Veterinary Nurses, and they truly make up the “heart of patient care”.  Our technicians oversee anesthesia and provide basic dental care under the supervision of our doctors, assist in a variety of procedures (taking X-Rays, helping with Ultrasound, performing Laboratory Diagnostics), and we can only imagine how difficult it would be to practice quality medicine and surgery without their skills, compassion, and commitment to our patients!

Hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to meet Diane, Amy, Kim, or Devon when your pet comes into our hospital, or maybe when your pet is discharged from the hospital, but even if you don’t get the chance to speak with either of them directly, rest assured that your pets are in excellent hands . . . and those of us who are lucky enough to work with them sure appreciate the amazing work they do!

The Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital would like to announce that Dr. John Thomas will be retiring from active practice after 40 years of providing veterinary services in State College and surrounding communities!  Dr. Thomas graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1969, and has spent his entire career here at the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital.

Dr. Thomas has developed a well-deserved reputation as a caring and compassionate veterinarian in the community, and his skills and expertise have helped many pets and their owners over the years.  There is no doubt that Dr. Thomas is truly “The Mt. Nittany Vet”, and we know that his departure will be felt both in the practice and in the community for many years to come.

As Dr. Thomas leaves the Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital to enjoy spending more time pursuing his other interests (and maybe even to relax a little), we hope you’ll join all of us in wishing him all the best in the years ahead!

It was a busy weekend at the practice, as a number of our staff spent the afternoon Saturday moving everything out of the Mt. Nittany General Store for Animals in preparation for construction which is scheduled to start this week.  We moved all of the products out of the Store, including several thousand pounds of pet food, making for a challenging afternoon.  But it was a beautiful afternoon with all of the windows and doors open, and we got it all mostly completed by sunset!

Obviously, we will not have a General Store for Animals to browse through over the coming months as our remodeling project moves forward.  But we do still have every product that we’ve always carried in stock and available, you’ll just have to ask Pat or one of our Team at the front desk.

And looking at the scope of our project, no doubt our waiting room and facilities will be just a bit more crowded as we work, so please bear with us as we work hard to build the new Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital and General Store for Animals.

Special thanks to Pat (our Store Manager), Michelle (our Practice Manager), Andrea, Aaron, and Becky who spent much of their Saturday afternoon helping us get this challenging job done!  Great job!

The Mt. Nittany Veterinary Hospital upgraded all of the vaporizers on our gas anesthesia machines this week.  Our older isoflurane vaporizers were replaced with new sevoflurane vaporizers, which will allow us to use sevoflurane as our inhalant anesthetic agent whenever inhalant anesthesia is required.

Although isoflurane is still considered an excellent inhalant anesthetic and is used routinely in veterinary practice, the upgrade to sevoflurane will offer us a little more flexibility and efficiency for procedures and surgery . . . and will also offer a little additional safety for injured, sick, and geriatric patients who require sedation and/or anesthesia!

We’d like to thank Melody and our friends at Abbott Animal Health who worked with us installing and setting up our new sevoflurane vaporizers.