Veterinary Medical Center at LWR

07/02/2024

July 4th is only a few days away. If you need medications for your pet, contact your veterinarian right away.

Remember MORE PETS ARE LOST ON JULY 4TH THAN ANY OTHER DAY OF THE YEAR! 🧨

Take precautions before the fireworks start:

* Make sure your pet wears identification tags and has a microchip in case he/she is frightened by the fireworks and runs away.

* Make sure your pets microchip information is up to date.

* Make sure you have a recent photo of your pet.

* AirTags and other trackers attached to your pets collar can help locate them faster.

Our hospital is always open if you need us - every night, weekend, and holiday.

💥 🐕 🐈 ❤️🐶 🐱 ❤️ 💥

07/01/2024

Nora was such a sweetheart 😍. We are so glad to be a part of a community that really cares.

🥰🥰🥰

Meet Nora. Nora was in need of a blood transfusion shortly after she was adopted due to being infested with worms. The Veterinary Medical Center at LWR was able to provide the blood transfusion. Yesterday, we took further care of Nora making sure she had all her vaccinations, she was spayed and again checked for worms.

She's on the road to recovery now. Thanks to the generous grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to Lost Pet Services and Whiskers and Wags Foundation Inc. PAWs Project.

06/30/2024

Luna ❤️❤️❤️❤️
It takes a team to make it happen.

06/29/2024

Our hospital is seeing an increased number of Parvovirus cases. Parvo is a deadly virus that is preventable with vaccination. Parvo can live in the environment for 1-2 years. The virus is extremely hard to kill. Standard cleaning products do not typically kill Parvo.

Puppies are not fully protected against Parvo until 2-4 weeks after they receive their last parvo vaccination of their puppy series.

Our hospital is fully equipped to treat parvo patients. We have a dedicated isolation ward to prevent transfer of parvovirus to other patients. We also carry the new Parvovirus Monoclonal Antibody treatment. Our parvo patients are assigned dedicated care from one of our veterinary technicians each shift they are there. This technician monitors them closely and is acutely aware of everything they need.

Pets diagnosed with Parvo may die with even the best care. Early intervention is key to helping increase survival. The most important way to help prevent your pet from contracting parvo is to limit contact with all other dogs until your puppy has finished their series of puppy vaccinations. This means no grooming, puppy classes, dog parks, etc, until all vaccines have been given - usually around 20 weeks of age.

Here is a great link to learn more about Parvo from the American Veterinary Medical Association.

https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/canine-parvovirus

Photo below of one of our patients that survived and beat the odds ❤️❤️❤️

06/29/2024

Requirements to be a blood donor at our hospital. 🩸

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

06/29/2024

Thank you to our blood donors!

06/12/2024

06/12/2024

TODAY! At the hospital…

Today! One blood Red Bus will be on site 9am to 2pm. Stop by to donate blood and learn how your fur baby can save lives too!

06/08/2024

😂😂😂

06/07/2024

This upcoming week stop by our hospital and donate blood to help save lives! Our hospital is sponsoring a blood drive for both humans and animals (cats and dogs) this Wednesday, June 12th! 🩸❤️🩸 To make an appointment, click the link below.

Did you know our hospital has a fully functioning animal blood bank?

There is a national shortage of blood for both dogs and cats. Blood products from many of the national animal blood banks are on back order for many months. In an effort to ensure our patients can receive life saving transfusions they need, we opened the VMC animal blood bank in 2021.

We are always looking for new blood donors, particularly DEA negative donors. If you’d like your pet to be a part of the program, please email us at [email protected]. All our donors receive free annual exams, free heartworm testing, free annual bloodwork, free heartworm preventions and more!

04/24/2024

Please consider grabbing some pizza tonight at Blaze Pizza to support a great cause. 🐾 🍕🍕🐾

We often need funds to help owners with their pets care during an emergency. Paws Project is a wonderful organization that helps us often. ❤️ Thank you for any support you can do.

03/17/2024

Thank you!!

03/08/2024

Thank you to Dr. Diaz for putting on another Pet First Aid presentation this past weekend. We enjoy giving back to the community and working to save lives. If you are part of an organization and would like us to present for you, please let us know. There is no cost to you! ❤️🐈‍⬛❤️🐈

03/05/2024

Important information about Lilies and cats…just in time for Easter and Mother’s Day.

🐈 🐈‍⬛ 🐱

Easter and Mother's Day are two of the most dangerous holidays for cats for one reason: lily poisoning. 💐

As a part of our No Lilies for Kitties educational campaign, we're kicking off the series by sharing which species of lilies are toxic to cats. True lilies (Lilium species) and daylilies (Hemerocallis species) are extremely toxic to cats and can potentially cause severe kidney failure. Check out the graphic below for examples, and visit the link below to learn more:

https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/veterinarians/free-resources-clinic-clients/no-lilies-for-kitties/

03/04/2024

The expansion is coming along well with an estimated CO date of May 2024. We are very much looking forward to its completion!

Although construction is in process, it does not affect our current hospital hours. We are always open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

03/01/2024

Thank you! We love all our blood donors!

02/29/2024

We just wanted to give a shoutout to the amazing nonprofit organizations we are partnered with. They play an important role in making sure every pet gets the care they need. These organizations provide financial assistance in emergency situations for pet parents experiencing financial hardship and have already helped over 10 pets this year. This is possible through grants, sponsors, and donations. Please share and donate (if you can) so they can continue to make a difference!

Compassion Animal Project
Lost Pet Services, Inc.
Whiskers and Wags Foundation Inc.

02/25/2024

Please keep a look out for this lost dog. More info below. Additional photos in comments.

02/14/2024

Happy Saint Valentine's day! While you’re thinking about your loved ones, don’t forget your pets! Chocolates and some flowers are NOT pet safe and can cause harm.

You can check a list of toxic plants/flowers at the ASPCA website:
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants

02/14/2024

We are here for emergencies 24/7! Thank you to all our blood donors and our Crit Care team for helping to save lives. If your pet is one of our blood donors, we sincerely appreciate you!!

In the spirit of love ❤️ our blood donors have all helped to stock our fridge for our pawed companions. 🐾 🩸

01/30/2024

In Florida, heartworm prevention is important year round. Heartworm disease is spread by mosquitos. Since Florida has mosquitos present year round, it’s important not to miss even one month of your pet’s heartworm prevention medication. One other benefit of giving your pet monthly heartworm prevention is that it also deworms your pet for intestinal parasites.

01/26/2024

*** FREE PET FIRST AID CLASS ***

On Saturday March 2nd at 10 am, we will offer a 1 hour course on Pet First Aid at the Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. The presentation is free to attend. We will talk about CPR for pets, common toxicities, snake bites, and more.

If you’re interested in attending, please click this link: https://forms.gle/HsbaTpwcPp1KQvio8.

We hope to see you there!

Veterinarian

01/25/2024

UPDATE: We have a nice back stock of towels now! Thank you so much to our community for helping out.

Our hospital desperately needs sheets, towels and blankets for the pets. Every patient hospitalized receives clean bedding, so we are always in need of old or used linens. If you have any you can spare, we would be glad to take them off your hands! 😊

01/24/2024

Last weekend, we joined CERT at the Lakewood Ranch Town Hall for a presentation on First Aid Care for Pets for the community. Dr. Awadalla and Dr. Diaz from our Emergency and Critical Care team talked about CPR techniques, what to do while heading to the ER, and common emergencies including snake bites, heat stroke and some toxicities.

We hope to put together a presentation about hurricane preparedness in the future. Stay tuned for more!

A special thank you to Dr. Awadalla and Dr. Diaz for volunteering their time to come talk to the LWR community.

01/17/2024

Be a hero in the animal world! Join our Animal Blood Donor Program today. Your pet’s donation can save lives, offering hope in emergencies and critical treatments. Sign up to make a difference! Together we can provide the gift of life and health to pets in need.

VMC Animal Blood Bank

Ask about Donor Requirements and Benefits at VMC during your next visit!

You can also contact them directly at [email protected]

01/12/2024

Our expansion is finally moving along as planned! It has been a long journey with planning, permitting, and building. Our new Emergency and Specialty hospital should be completed in May/June 2024. We are actively seeking veterinary specialists to compliment our team of 8 emergency doctors and 2 Criticalists. We are very excited that our hospital will soon house a CT (CatScan) and hyperbaric oxygen chamber for pets.

Veterinary Medicine has changed so much in 20 years. Pet owners want more treatment options for their pets than ever before, but there are limited places to provide this care. We are working to meet these needs starting in 2024. We have so many exciting things in store! Our goal is to provide Lakewood Ranch and the surrounding communities with access to a higher standard of vet care.

Thank you to all our clients who have been patient through this process. We are almost there ❤️

01/10/2024

Receiving a pet during the holiday season is a heartwarming and joyful experience. Yet, for first- time pet owners, it's the beginning of a beautiful and sometimes challenging journey. Here's some essential advice to keep in mind: establish primary care, schedule vaccinations, plan for preventative health and emergencies, and consider pet insurance.

Read more about our recommendations in the SunCoast Pet January edition: https://online.fliphtml5.com/qxiaf/zzsf/ =24