Alpine Veterinary Hospital Bingen

02/23/2025

02/20/2025

Cooma was the best boy for his dental cleaning yesterday. Check out his before and after photos!

02/19/2025

If you need a good laugh you can look up the winners of the Nationwide annual "Hambone Award". The insurance company had so many wild pet claims that they began taking nominations for the strangest pet insurance claims each year. The award is originally named after a dog who ate an entire holiday ham while trapped in a refrigerator. He was found with a clean ham bone and a mild case of hypothermia.

Insurance policies are available for pets of any life stage and can help to make your decisions as a pet owner easier when unexpected or catastrophic events happen. Policies range in price and coverage options, but can cover things like wellness visits, broken bones, snakebites, chronic illnesses, cancer treatments and emergency surgeries.

Alpine doesn't recommend any one insurance company over another because, like any insurance company, their policies vary in coverage and price depending on many factors and the fine print makes all the difference. It is not uncommon for after-hours emergency surgeries or stays at the Portland area hospitals to reach up to $10,000 and a good insurance policy may help make your decisions as a pet owner easier.

02/19/2025

Meet Sounders, the Guinness World Record holder for the farthest dock jump by a dog...over 36 feet!

Whippets, who are part of the sighthound family, were originally used to hunt rabbits but have found a niche in water sports due to their incredible athleticism and competitive nature. Multiple dock jumping organizations have had to get longer pools to accommodate the long jumps of Sounders and other whippets like him. He is also the only dog so far to have held all four Dock Dogs records which include speed retrieve, extreme vertical, big air and the Iron Dog Challenge which is a combination of the three.

Congratulations Sounders, and Happy National Whippet Day!

02/13/2025

We will be closing for the rest of the afternoon due to the weather. We expect to re-open tomorrow with normal hours.

02/11/2025

Update: We haven't had an owner reach out about this guy, if they don't come in to claim him we will be rehoming him. If anyone knows the owner they can pass on our contact information to them.

Update: According to past posts on other area pages, he lives close to where he was picked up. We need the owner to contact us in order to get him home, if anyone knows of the owner.

Does anyone recognize this handsome fella? He was found along highway 14 near Cook-Underwood Rd. There have been reports of him roaming for a few days before he was brought to us. If anyone has any leads you can call our office or send us a message here.

02/05/2025

February is National Pet Dental Health month.

Your pet's teeth and gums should be checked by your vet at least once per year for early signs of problems, or if your pet is showing signs of dental problems. Some signs that your pet may need dental care are broken or loose teeth, retained baby teeth, discolored teeth or teeth covered in tartar, abnormal chewing, drooling, reduced appetite, and pain or bleeding around the mouth, however many pets don't show any signs of dental pain even when severe.

By the time your pet is 3 years old, they will likely have some amount of periodontal disease which only worsens as your pet ages. Periodontal disease doesn't just affect your pet's mouth but can have effects on their kidneys, liver and heart.

Pictured is a photo of a cat's mouth. To an owner this cat's teeth may look normal, however the x ray shows severe disease that is likely causing pain. It can be difficult to see the condition of all of your pet's teeth when they are awake and impossible to see the condition of the teeth under the gums without x rays.

What about anesthesia free dental cleanings? The American Veterinary Dental College doesn't recommend dental cleanings without anesthesia because they do not allow cleaning or inspection below the gumline, where most dental disease occurs.

Don't forget to get your pet's mouth examined and call us for questions on dental cleanings and our February dental promotion!

02/03/2025

It is too difficult to pick just one special dog to highlight today as there are so many stories of this special breed. From search and rescue to therapy to starring in movies, the Golden Retriever has no lack of empathy and heart.

Happy National Golden Retriever Day!

01/29/2025

Who doesn't love a cat who's always dressed to impress?

Happy Tuxedo Cat Appreciation day!

Featured is Dr. Mitchel's cat "Sushi" feeling fancy in his formal attire.

01/23/2025

Pictured is "Smoky", a Yorkshire Terrier who was a famous war dog serving in WW II. In 1944 she was found by an American soldier in an abandoned foxhole. She then spent the next year under the care of Corporal William A. Wynne where she faced harsh living conditions, lived off of shared C rations, flew 12 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions, survived 150 air raids, parachuted out of a tree, survived a typhoon in Okinawa, and assisted the soldiers in running an underground telegraph wire. She was credited with 12 combat missions and awarded 8 battle stars (weighing in at only 4 pounds). She learned many tricks which helped keep the soldiers entertained and is thought to spark a renewed interest in the breed following the war.

Happy National Yorkshire Terrier Day!

01/17/2025

Today we celebrate the Boxer.
The Boxer is a unique and lovable breed that typically does well as a family dog. However, if you find any of the following qualities unappealing, a Boxer may not be the breed for you:

Snoring loudly with their eyes open, passing horrific gas, loving wet sloppy kisses and jumping up to greet you, and the insistence on laying on top rather than next to you.

Boxers are known for their funny and friendly personalities, in fact the comic strip dog, Marmaduke, is a great dane but his goofy personality is based off of a Boxer than the author owned as a child.

Happy National Boxer Day!!

01/14/2025

It can be surprising what dogs and cats will consider a snack including plant material, toys and even flooring. Toxic substances are everywhere and it can be scary when your pet decides to eat one.

If your pet ingests a toxic substance, it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Many owners have experience giving hydrogen peroxide to make their dogs vomit, however that is not always the recommended method for decontamination. Decontamination is the process of removing a toxicant from a patient to reduce it's absorption or enhance it's elimination in order to minimize the development of clinical signs, and should take place as soon as possible after ingestion to be effective.

The ASPCA website has comprehensive lists of toxic substances broken down by plants, foods, and household items such as cleaning agents and human medications as well as an animal poison control hot-line to assist veterinarians and owners in necessary treatment steps for ingestion of toxic substances.

If you know or suspect that your pet has ingested something toxic, call your vet right away!

01/10/2025

It sure feels this way sometimes!

Happy Friday!

01/02/2025

What new years resolutions did you set for your pets? Here are some suggestions on ways to improve their health and wellness in 2025.

- Daily walks or runs with your dog.
- Teaching your dog or cat new tricks.
- Providing extra attention or affection to your pets.
- Find new ways to keep your indoor cats mentally stimulated.
- Provide more socialization for your dog.
- Practice at home physical therapy for your aging pets.
- Set up a regular cleaning schedule for your pet's beds, toys and bowls.
- Set up a regular grooming routine for your pets.
- Book your upcoming vet appointments.
- Join an obedience or agility class with your dog.
- Schedule your pet's dental cleanings.
- Work on your pets weight loss goals.

Call our office if you need help with any of your pet's resolutions!

12/31/2024

We are open normal hours today but we will be closed tomorrow, January 1st.
Don't forget to keep your pets contained tonight in case of fireworks and scary noises...and Happy New Year!

12/27/2024

Roscoe had a lump removed today and went home looking very handsome in his lion mane e-collar!

12/26/2024

Please use caution if your dogs or cats are fed a diet consisting of raw or under cooked meat, or unpasteurized milk.

Northwest Naturals has issued a voluntary recall after an Oregon house cat died from eating from a batch of raw frozen pet food contaminated with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, or “H5N1 Bird Flu”. The contaminated batch of food was sold across the US and in parts of Canada. Domestic and wild cats are particularly sensitive to the virus. Dog are less susceptible and there have been no reported US cases in dogs, however they can still contract it and the same diet recommendations should be followed.

For more information you can contact Northwest Naturals of Portland at [email protected] or 866-637-1872.

Some signs that your cat may be infected with HPAI virus include fever, lethargy, low appetite, reddened or inflamed eyes, discharge from the eyes and nose, difficulty breathing and neurologic signs. If you have concerns that your cat or dog may be sick from a raw diet please call your vet!

12/23/2024

We will be closing at noon on Tuesday (12/24), closed on Wednesday (12/25) and back open with normal hours on Thursday (12/26).
Happy Holidays from all of us at Alpine!