Meadowbrook Veterinary Services

08/08/2024

On international cat day, let’s celebrate the memories we have of our special cats! Post a photo of the cat(s) that you have great memories of and with to help keep them close ❤️

05/07/2024

I was honoured to meet and help this wonderful pup cross the rainbow bridge and then to make these beautiful keepsakes for her amazing family. Gemma is watching over you and I hope you can still feel her love through the distance

01/07/2024

Happy Canada Day!

13/06/2024

I miss these guys every day ❤️❤️

02/06/2024

The ABVMA is proud to celebrate National Indigenous History Month and acknowledge our respect for the unique histories, cultures, and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people.

ABVMA acknowledges that our offices and the businesses we represent reside on Treaty six, seven and eight territories as well as the home of the Metis Nation of Alberta.

We encourage everyone to visit the following link to read more and begin exploring Indigenous history: https://bit.ly/458hRLa

02/06/2024

June is , a time for LGBTQ2S+ individuals and allies to come together, advocate for equality, and celebrate the community’s history and achievements, while also honoring its struggles.

We are proud to support LGBTQ2S+ members within the veterinary profession and our wider community.

For information on Pride Month events in Alberta and ways to participate, visit https://bit.ly/3yC2pef.

Happy Pride from the ABVMA.

04/05/2024

27/04/2024

Happy World Veterinary Day!

16/04/2024

Dr Sam is away this week for continuing education. She will still be available intermittently to answer questions, place orders and book appointments (next week availabilities). If you have an emergency, you can contact Dr Bevens at Peaceful Veterinary Home Visits for in home euthanasia, Animal Emergency Hospital for small animal emergencies and your local large or mixed practice for large animal emergencies.

25/03/2024

As we are all gearing up for Easter, please remember not to bring any true lilies into your home if you have cats. All parts of the lily plant and flower are very toxic. Keep our kitties safe to chase the Easter bunny this weekend!

16/03/2024

A wonderful house call practice for those looking in east central Alberta!

04/03/2024

I love the idea of these sessions- just beautiful! ❤️🥰

Forget Me Not sessions are for those who are soon saying goodbye to a bestfriend and wanting to capture shared moments, wagging tails, holding paws and unconditional love.
Experiencing the loss of a family member is heart breaking, and if I can help in a small way, by documenting your family with their pet, it is my honour.
I have applied to become an affiliate photographer of The Tilly Project: which unites those in need of loss photographers with one in their area, and also offers grief resources!
Sessions are at the pace of your pet, in an agreed upon location that is conducive to your pets health and photo quality, and include 10 edited photos in an online gallery for you to download, save, share, order, print from.
My session fees are Pay What You Can, whether that is $0 or $50 or $200*… I don’t want money to be the reason you don’t have access to this service.
50% of whatever I am paid for each session will be donated in your pups name to a local rescue/shelter!
If you are in need of some very special and priceless photos of your sweet friend, please reach out for more details and to book your session!
With love,
Amanda - Moonstone Muse
*small travel fee if required to travel

14/02/2024

Happy Heart Day to all!

25/12/2023

May your holiday season be merry and bright. 🎄💕🎄

14/12/2023

Happy National Day of the Horse!

11/11/2023

We hold you in our hearts

02/11/2023

Brrrrrr! I was lucky to have been in Nashville last week when winter finally arrived at home but now it’s back to reality in central Alberta and back to preg checking season! Please message or text or call me to book your preg checks as well as for any questions you have about vaccinating calves or cows alike!
Stay warm like our Halloween snowman!

16/09/2023

I have a wonderful review from a client that I wanted to share. Thank you to the Straubs for including me in the last moments of Capone’s life and speaking such kind words.

“Capone"

April 25th, 2013 - July 20th 2023

Our family made the call to Dr. Sam to book "the date" for our very special boy. It was one of the harder moments booking his date, but Dr. Sam helped me along with compassion and understanding. She let us have our final days full of treats, love, lakes, photos, cuddles and kisses. The day came that Dr. Sam would come to our house to lay our man to rest. It was a quiet morning, we set up the back yard for the most peaceful setting we could have. When she arrived she greeted us with the utmost empathy and care. She met Capone, she loved on him and explained the process. She gave us all the time we absolutely needed during this event. Our family knew he would be in the best hands. We grieved, we cried and we held him and she was there with us with every step.

We chose to have our boy cremated. Dr. Sam brought him home to us with so many mementos and a very thoughtful card that eased some of the pain of loosing our bestfriend.

Thank you Dr. Sam, thank you for doing the hardest job in the world and still being so strong and showing us and our animals the most love.

And a special thank you to Painted Light Photography in Lacombe for capturing our final days with our beloved Capone.

- The Straubs

27/08/2023

Happy national day of the dog! For those in our arms and those looking out for us from above ❤️

13/06/2023

It is World Pet Memorial Day. Unfortunately, my family is feeling this one close to home as we lost our two old friends a couple weeks ago. They were the bestest buds we could have asked for and they were so sweet and tender with our kids. Who are you holding extra close in your heart today?

06/06/2023

I have been a bit absent the last few weeks and I apologize- spring is a super busy time for everyone! I hope everyone had a great calving and foaling season, branding and move out to pasture and that we all don’t have too many summer projects on our list! 🙂
As always, please contact me with any questions about care for your animals. I am looking at adding some new homemade pet memorial items ❤️

17/04/2023

Here at Meadowbrook headquarters, we strive to provide personal, respectful, compassionate end of life and after care for our clients. We realize that the loss of our pets is the loss of some of our dearest friends. Grief is felt differently for all of us but I do think embracing our memories can really help us through the thickest parts of it.
Along this vein, we would really like to provide an obituary type space for clients that would like to share their memories with others. If you are interested, please reach out to me with a photo and your friend’s story and I will put together an obituary that we will post on social media and potentially our cremation website.
“There is no grief like the grief that does not speak”- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

12/04/2023

I’ve been meaning to post all day and luckily it is still today, just a touch late 😆. Happy national pet day! I hope you had some time to enjoy your pets, large and small. Maybe with less intense physical love as our baby napping with her kitten... 💕

07/04/2023

Happy Easter weekend! I hope everyone can enjoy the weekend with family, whether that is outside enjoying the sunshine or participating in Easter egg hunts or having dinner with family and friends. Whatever you choose, please make sure you don’t bring those beautiful lily bouquets into your house with cats! Lilies are very toxic to cats and can cause acute kidney injury which may turn into lifelong disease. Stay safe this weekend and keep your pooches away from chocolate while we are playing safe 😁 🐣 🐇

23/03/2023

The Madigan foal squeeze. This discovery has been pretty revolutionary in the treatment of dummy foals (and recently it has been adapted for use in calves!) when previously we used to be limited in successful treatments. I have seen foals and calves show classic symptoms of dummy syndrome (or maladjustment symptoms) like disorientation and difficulty or inability to nurse, bounce up after their 20 minute squeeze and act like normal babies! It is so cool to see.

The theory is that applying pressure in a certain way can help mimic birth and help to trigger the appropriate hormones to be released that stimulate a newborn to become alert and ready for life out of the womb.

Consider trying this very simple squeeze technique if you have a dummy calf that isn’t coming around (I’ve heard of it being used several days after birth and it still worked!). It only requires a longer rope and 20 minutes of your time.

20/03/2023

Caring for your freshly delivered calf! I will go over some key things to think about when you are giving care/resuscitation to a calf that was just delivered with help.

Recovery position- this is a huge shift in recent knowledge for how to help calves start to breathe and I still run into people who have never heard of it. Do not hang calves upside down for more than a minute! This does not help fluid drain out of their lungs (most of that fluid is coming out of their stomach anyway) and it impairs their ability to actually breathe on their own and inflate their lungs. The best way to put them is on their chest with their back feet stretched forward- this helps to keep them balanced upright and gives them the best chance to inflate both sides of their chest. A lot of calves have low blood oxygen at birth and so the sooner they can use all of their lungs, the better!

Colostrum- I can’t stress this enough so I am going to touch on it briefly again. Supplement calves that had assisted births or make sure you observe them very frequently in their first 4-6 hours to see how much they nurse. Colostrum sets calves up for success and failure to get enough good quality is imperative for that calfs future health and life.

Fractured bones- legs are usually the more obvious fracture that can happen when calves are pulled, especially with a calf puller. Though a non displaced fracture can be harder to spot so if you notice a swollen leg or a calf not wanting to stand/walk in the first few hours, make sure you check them over well or call your vet for an assessment. A less noticeable fracture that is common during assisted calvings is fractured ribs. Contact me if you don’t know what to look for with fractured ribs and to go over treatment options!

Next up, the magical Madigan squeeze for dummy calves!

The following is part one of a series of three posts on calving that include newborn calf management practices and intervention strategies to help producers create positive calving outcomes. Read part two for tips and tricks on colostrum and part three to learn about when and how to use electrolytes...

16/03/2023

Last true “calving” tip- how to have a successful vet trip during calving!

My last tip for calving is about when you bring your calving cow in to the clinic or call the vet out. It’s important to maximize when you have to call in assistance to hopefully get a live, healthy calf out of the deal.

Firstly, know when to call for help. If you cannot feel two legs and a head or two legs and a tail, even after you have let the cow dilate and you’ve reached and manipulated as much as you can, then you need to call. If there are too many feet or something you don’t know what it is, call. Don’t try to pull a calf that does not have the right number of parts coming or in the right order (two FRONT feet and a head- if you can’t tell if it’s a front or back leg, then please stop and call!). Calves have quite a long time to get in position (stage 1 of calving) and once stage 2 of calving has started (where the cow is actively pushing) so don’t be in a panic to pull a calf out, but if you have been trying to correct the problem for 30 minutes or more then it’s time to call for help.

Secondly, make sure you have a plan for colostrum. Most calves that need to be pulled or have a c-section to be delivered will need to have colostrum given to them to ensure they receive enough in the first 6 hours of life. The more research we do into colostrum, we have found out that the sooner they can get their colostrum the better. It’s now recommended to get 1/2 of their requirements before they are 6 hours old. So if you are coming to the vet, think about if you want to strip the cow out while she is being sewn up or if you want to use some powdered commercial replacer.

Lastly, please ensure you consider comfort and pain for both the cow and calf. Having a nice bed of straw for the drive home for the calf helps them so much to not get too cold in the trailer. Having a nice maternity pen set up for the pair at home that you can just turn them into so they can mother up decreases their stress. And please advocate for controlling pain- it is proven that cows and calves benefit from treatment with an NSAID (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). They mother better, both cows and calves recover better, she will milk better and the calf will suck better. The first few days/months are the most important for the long term health and growth of that calf so if we can help them recover from a hard calving then we are setting them up for lifelong success.

Next up: how to care for the newly born calf after an assisted calving.

14/03/2023

Third edition calving tips for you on what is hopefully a warmer week, breech calvings!

In my years as a mixed rural vet helping with many calvings each spring, I found the breech presentation to stump people the most. And I’ve heard from lots of folks that think that they cannot correct a breech presentation because their arms are too short. Listen to me when I say there are tips that will help!

Firstly, a breech presentation is when the calf is sitting with its back legs stretched along its body toward its head and only the rump/tail is presenting to the pelvic canal. You will usually only feel the tail and/or re**um when you palpate cows that have breech calves and they may not be well dilated because the calf’s position isn’t correct to help signal to the cow to relax completely.

Now to the tips. The goal is to get the legs back far enough to where you can grab the hock and the toe. So start by pushing the butt forward (toward the cow’s head) to give yourself more room to manipulate the back legs. Then, try your best to reach along and down the hip until you feel the leg- I usually try to feel the groove where the leg meets the body as it can be pretty easy to miss the transition from hip to leg! If you can reach into the groin or beside the stifle of the calf, try your hardest to loop your chain around the leg. If you can get your chain around the leg, then you are most of the way to fixing your breech! Once the chain is looped around the leg, try to push the loop down towards the hock- the further down you go, the easier it is to pull up on only the hock which is what you want but isn’t always that easy. So try to pull back even if you can’t get it to go much farther down the leg. You can breathe a sigh of relief if you can get the hock back into the pelvis and you can feel the toes. Once you can feel your arms again, reach back into the cow and push forward on the hock while simultaneously cupping the toes and pulling them back and up into the pelvis (this is best achieved by someone with skinnier arms!). Then you can repeat on the other leg (the second go around is usually easier than the first). Two legs and a tail mean you can pull that baby out of there!

Next up: how to have a successful vet visit with your calving cow.

11/03/2023

Second installation in the mini calving series! How to know if you can (successfully with minimal damage to calf or cow) use a calf puller.

A calf puller is a marvellous but also kind of terrifying invention. I was told it uses the same force as 6 people- that’s a lot of pressure and force to place on a baby and the pelvis/vagina! But it can just work so nice to get a baby that needs a little help out quickly or help a cow that is just too tired to keep pushing. So we must know when to apply it so we can keep our successes up and our complications low.

The first step is to place your chains on the legs of the calf and ensure you have two legs and a head or two legs and a tail, and that the calf is facing with its belly towards the ground. Do not pull upside down (belly up) calves as this does not exert the correct forces on them and can be very detrimental!

Once your chains are positioned properly (as learned in lesson one 🙃), then you can use the manual force of two people maximum to pull each leg forward until the shoulders or stifles engage in the pelvis (this means they come forward to a point and then seem to lock in place where they won’t go backwards again when you release pressure). If both legs can be engaged into the pelvis with only the force it takes two people to pull on each leg individually, then the rest of the calf’s body should fit through the pelvic canal and it is safe to use the calf puller!

This is just a guideline so please consult with your regular herd veterinarian if you have any questions and especially if you are having a hard time with a calf and need advice/to be seen!

Next sessions topic: tips for breech calves.
Photo courtesy of The Beef Site

08/03/2023

It’s international women’s day! So in celebration to all the mothers out there, I am going to start sharing my calving thoughts 😁

Firstly, let’s go over how to place chains. The loop should go around the leg above the ankle (either front feet or back) and this can be used to help position (if you are trying to roll a calf that is on its side or to try to bring the body up to reach the other back leg). This should not be used to pull strenuously, especially with a jack, as that puts the calf at high risk of a fracture. To reduce this risk, place a half hitch underneath the ankle. Pay attention that the line of chain going to each circle around the leg is straight and not wrapping around the leg. Now you are set to start pulling!

Next up, how to know when you can use your calf puller.

Photo courtesy of Iowa State Beef Center