Virden Animal Hospital

12/18/2024

💥What’s it Wednesday💥

12/16/2024

12/13/2024

As many may have heard, Dr. Cathy Clements has decided to retire from the Veterinary field. Although this is a sad loss for us and all of our clients at the Shoal Lake Veterinary Clinic, we do wish her all the best with this new chapter in her life. We are hoping she enjoys doing all of those things she’s always wanted to do, but never had the time. Dr. Cathy, you will be dearly missed.

Service will continue as usual at the Shoal Lake office. Dr. Gita Gunson and Dr. Georgia-Rae Maxwell will alternate on a weekly basis taking care of all your pet’s veterinary needs on Mondays and Wednesdays, while Dr. Roger Richard will still be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays for large animal services.

Dr. Cathy’s last day will be December 23rd. The Shoal Lake clinic will be closed December 24th to January 6th.

12/12/2024

The clinic is closed from 11:30-1:30 today for a staff meeting

12/08/2024

Check your inboxes as Pet Pixtires with Santa have been sent !
Message if you don’t find yours!

12/05/2024

Inquiring minds want to know what is going on at the vet clinic these days !

The virden animal hospital and the veterinary board are happy to announce that our expansion has begun. We have out grown our current building and in order to serve all the animals requiring care and attract new veterinary talent an expansion was needed ( perhaps long overdue)!

The plan is to move our current small animal facilities into our new building, which is currently under construction, and will be attached to the primary clinic by a short bridge. Then we will renovate our current building interior to expand our waiting area and relocate the large animal offices, thus allowing both the large and small animal sides of the clinic to expand .

The new design will more than double our current small animal facilities and will include a compassion room with a private entrance/exit for our clients to use and have a quiet , peaceful and private space during the difficult time of saying goodbye to a beloved pet. It will also have a wheelchair accessible entrance and bathroom. The expansion will give our staff a larger dedicated break room and well as a board room for meetings!

The estimated time of construction is 8-12 months.

The generous donation from Jean and Gerry Gatey prompted us to start the expansion process and we are fortunate to have them as longtime loyal clients and supporters. They are checking in on the process and are happy to see the new building under construction when they visit the clinic.

We can’t wait to get into our new building in 2025 !

12/04/2024

💥What’s it Wednesday💥

✨These are fleas!✨

Fleas can cause severe itching and also other problems such as skin infections and hair loss. Some animals can become allergic to fleas. Fleas can carry and transmit a bacterium called Bartonella that can cause health issues in cats, dogs, and people. Fleas can carry a type of parasite, a tapeworm, that can suck nutrients from the pet's intestine.

Even though fleas are the most common parasite in dogs and cats, there are many misconceptions about them. Here are some myths that veterinarians hear about fleas.
Myth: My pet cannot have fleas because he lives entirely indoors.
Fact: Fleas thrive particularly well in the well-regulated temperatures in the home.
Myth: My pet cannot have fleas because if there were any fleas they would be biting (insert name of a person in the family reportedly sensitive to flea bites). Since this person is not being bitten, there must not be any fleas.
Fact: The cat flea can suck the blood of a wide variety of animals.
However, this flea definitely does not prefer human blood and won't eat it unless absolutely necessary. Humans tend not to be bitten unless flea population numbers are high.
Myth: We do not have fleas because we only have hardwood floors.
Fact: Fleas love to develop in the cracks between the boards of hardwood floors.
Myth: My pet cannot have fleas because I would see them.
Fact: You cannot expect to see fleas because many animals will lick, groom, and chew after being bitten by a flea. This causes the flea to either jump off the pet or get swallowed.

There are four life stages of the flea. For effective flea control, it is important to know how to break this life cycle in more than one place.
The flea life cycle consists of egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. Eggs are laid in the hair coat and are designed to fall off your pet and into your home. Larvae hatch from the eggs and develop in a pet's environment by feeding on adult flea f***s (i.e. digested blood) that fall out of the hair coat of the pet.
Larvae eventually spin cocoons, often within carpet fibers, for pupation. Pupae are resistant to freezing, drying, and insecticides, and can lie dormant for many months! New fleas develop from pupae and can begin feeding within hours of finding a dog or cat.
The entire flea life cycle can be completed in as little as three weeks.

There are many options to treat fleas so please contact your vet if you feel like your pet has them.

12/02/2024

Are you purging your Christmas decorations? We would gladly take them off your hands for future pet picture events 🎅🏻🎄🤶🏻

12/02/2024

Thank you to all who attended our Pet Pictures with Santa event today!

We raised over 1300$ for the Berg/Perrin family to help brighten their Christmas a little !

Thank you to Liz and Sherry G who helped at the clinic with photo customers today !

Thank you to Erin and Summer who prepped the set on Friday.

Thank you to Kennedy Enzo’s Lens who came to take our pictures today ❤️

Thank you to the Berg/Perrin family for allowing us to meet William and for being our recipients this year ❤️

A big thank you to Santa Gatey who made the trip again this year from the North Pole to attend our event today 🎅

( I had to include the Reid family and Lil Dude (32 years young) in the photos as he has been a special guest now for several years and at 32 years one of the oldest little horses I know ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

12/01/2024

Pet Pictures this year will support this little guy ❤️

Message from his mom :

William Perrin was born at 32 weeks on July 10th 2022. He was in the NICU for 2 month in Winnipeg and Brandon. 1 month before Williams 1st birthday he started having seizures while being at the babysitter. We are very thankful for the quick actions of Williams caregiver, who got William to the Virden hospital very fast. It was the scariest time of our life’s while William was fighting to stay alive, he was life flighted and taken to the PICU at Health science Center. Some further investigation were done and it was determined that William had Lissencephaly(smooth brain disorder) and Cerebral palsy. It was a lot to take in and understand what this ment for us. William has had a tough road and continues to fight hard and over come his hurtles. Last year before Christmas William started aspirating and not being able to swallow anything, the decision was made that he would need a permanent feed tube. Since William got his diagnosis he has spent many days in hospital,gotten surgeries to try and improve his quality of life. He continues to surprise us on how quickly he can bounce back into that bubbly little boy that we all know so well. He has the biggest smile and loves his 5 other siblings very much.

12/01/2024

12/01/2024

Sneak peak of our set this am - Santa will arrive soon ❤️

Anyone and everyone is welcome, with kids , pets or just yourself - if you want a picture or to support little William just come in between 9am and 3 pm

Coffee , hot chocolate and baking will be ready too 🙂

11/28/2024

We will be hosting pet pictures with Santa Dec 1st from 9am- 3pm.

Cost is 25$ for 1 pose or 40$ for 3 poses .

100% of the money will go to the Berg /Perrin Family - details to follow ❤️

William Perrin was born at 32 weeks on July 10th 2022. He was in the NICU for 2 month in Winnipeg and Brandon. 1 month before Williams 1st birthday he started having seizures while being at the babysitter. We are very thankful for the quick actions of Williams caregiver, who got William to the Virden hospital very fast. It was the scariest time of our life’s while William was fighting to stay alive, he was life flighted and taken to the PICU at Health science Center. Some further investigation were done and it was determined that William had Lissencephaly(smooth brain disorder) and Cerebral palsy. It was a lot to take in and understand what this ment for us. William has had a tough road and continues to fight hard and over come his hurtles. Last year before Christmas William started aspirating and not being able to swallow anything, the decision was made that he would need a permanent feed tube. Since William got his diagnosis he has spent many days in hospital,gotten surgeries to try and improve his quality of life. He continues to surprise us on how quickly he can bounce back into that bubbly little boy that we all know so well. He has the biggest smile and loves his 5 other siblings very much.of Virden whose little guy William.

11/28/2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️Help has been found!!!

We need some help❤️

We have a couple very sick dogs who need some medication. We have found the medication we need at the Brandon Hospital. Is there anyone going to Brandon today or in Brandon now that could pick this up for us and bring it to the clinic. ❤️❤️

11/14/2024

The clinic is closed today from 11:30am - 1:30pm for a staff meeting