Northwest Veterinary Clinic

10/09/2024

Its not very polite to discuss a ladies age, but lets just say October 9th,1944 was an amazing day! Today our lovely Jan is is turning 18 for the 62nd time! Lets wish her an amazing milestone birthday!

09/27/2024

Yesterday was a tough one as we had to say goodbye to Ernie. He passed away peacefully surrounded by all of us that could be there. Before passing he was greeted by some wonderful visitors and ate like royalty. Ernie and I (Andy) had a bond that I can't explain, other than it just was special. I'd like to share some brief words in tribute to an amazing animal.
17 years ago Ernie was discarded onto a snow bank and was luckily spotted by a client. He was immediately brought straight to the clinic and clearly survived to make the clinic his permanent home. It's without a doubt in our minds that Ernie greeted well over ten's of thousand's of people, comforting them in tough times with his random sixth sense to know those grieving needed him to sit with them. If he wasn't greeting or comforting clients, he would be the highlight of the day by just being the sweet and funny personality he was.
I met Ernie for the first time almost 5 years ago. It was an instant bond when he came running out of the back room and into my hands for what was nonstop petting. Ernie became a even better 4 legged friend over the years and seemed to fill my lap perfectly and would stay there for hours if I let him. When things got tough, Ernie had a way of calming me by his relaxing demeanor.
Ernie, I'll see ya when I see ya again! Hopefully with pockets filled with your favorite fresh lunch meat to bring with me to share with you. You were loved by all that met you and obviously left a lasting impression on all of our hearts. Thanks for being a wonderful greeter to the clients, for always finding a way to make us laugh, but most importantly for being one the best friends a person could meet. Love ya and will miss you buddy!!!

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09/25/2024

Well we have some rather sad news to share. One of our beloved clinic cats, Ernie, (the one in our thumbnail) is loosing his battle to cancer and in kidney failure. We are in a tough position to say goodbye tomorrow and help let him go peacefully. Ernie has been an amazing friend to many of you over the years and I am sure he would consider you all the same as well! We are sharing this info because he will be here all day tomorrow 8 - 4 if anyone feels compelled to stop by and give him an extra pet or share a funny story, we would love to hear it. Ernie had an amazing 17 plus years of life at our clinic and is looking forward to seeing as many friendly faces as he can tomorrow!

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08/09/2024

Some of you might recognize the young lady in the photo as Olivia, one of our assistants, and her handsome cattle. We were honored to support her hard work on the farm by purchasing them at the Jackson County 4H Livestock Auction. This is Olivia’s last year in 4H and all the proceeds she earned are going toward her college tuition on her way to becoming a future veterinarian. We are extremely proud of her effort not only raising cattle but a couple of pigs too! If you happen to get Olivia on your next appointment feel free to congratulate her for a job well done! Congrats to you Olivia from all of us at the clinic!

06/12/2024

We will be closed on Thursday July 4th and Friday July 5th in celebration of our great nation's Independence Day. We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

04/17/2024

Skye thoroughly enjoyed her belly rubs from Dr. Brown at her visit yesterday! 😊 She is a definite success story! ❤️

Skye first came to our office a year ago for coughing and an enlarged heart. Her echocardiogram showed severe heart disease (dilated cardiomyopathy / DCM). DCM is a disease characterized by significant loss of pumping function (myocardial failure) that leads to heart enlargement and heart failure. DCM can happen if a dog carries the genetic mutation for the disease, in which case the disease is incurable and progressive.

However, DCM-like changes can also be seen in dogs eating diets containing high levels of peas, chickpeas, pea fibers, lentils and other legumes. These ingredients are most commonly found in grain-free formulations of dog foods. It is thought that these specific ingredients lead to a toxicity over time that affects the heart muscle and causes myocardial failure.

When we first saw Skye, she had been eating one of these diets so she was immediately transitioned to a diet that did not include these ingredients. She was also started on several heart medications to support her heart function and to attempt to keep her out of heart failure.

It’s impossible to know for sure whether an individual has the genetic form of DCM versus nutritional DCM until response to medications/diet change can be documented. The former will not improve and will continue to progress, while the latter can sometimes improve or resolve completely with a diet change and medications.

Thankfully, Skye responded very well to the diet change and medications and we saw gradual improvement in her heart dimensions and function over the past year. Yesterday’s echocardiogram showed that her heart is now back to a normal size with normal function! This is the absolute best case scenario and (sadly) doesn’t happen for every dog who has nutritional DCM.

Not all dogs who eats these diets will develop heart disease, but pet owners should be aware of the potential risks of feeding diets high in these specific ingredients. They are still widely available in pet food stores so make sure to read the ingredient labels.

We were so happy to give Skye’s owner the good news! She was also happy to start safely cutting back on her medications 😊❤️

12/19/2023

Well we did it! Our Toy Drive collected 85 toys and just over $300 in cash donations. So as promised we doubled up on the toys and we were able to deliver 170 toys today to help the community. When organizing this event, we found out that there was a large need for children's winter boots and jackets as well. So as promised we doubled up on the money and used it to buy very much needed winter boots and jackets for the children in our community. Huge thank you to all who stopped by and found it in there heart to drop off a toy or some money. Also, a HUGE shout out to CottonTales, a wonderful toy store right here in downtown Jackson. We purchased all the toys from them in an effort to keep money in our community and support local small business. If any one is looking for some last minute gifts, we highly suggest you check them out! Another HUGE thank you to Miller's Shoe Parlor in downtown Jackson for helping us keep the cost down on some very nice boots for the children and supporting our effort to help make a difference. Again, the purchase was done here to keep the money in our community and support local small business. The funds at this point were running a little low, so we found some very nice gently used heavy jackets to buy and donate as well. These two businesses and all who donated are an example of what we were trying to accomplish, bringing our community together to help make difference to those around us! Well done, and bless you all!!

12/18/2023

We will be closed on Monday December 25th to celebrate Christmas with our families, But back to normal hours on Tuesday the 26th.
We will then be closed on Monday January 1st but back to normal hours on Tuesday January 2nd.
We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!!

12/16/2023

Santa has arrived!

12/15/2023

The weather looks like it couldn't be much better for our Toy Drive today from 6 to 8!! The plan for the evening is to try and have everyone enter our east side driveway and exit our west side drive. If you have never been here before, its just a simple U shaped driveway. There will be parking on the east side of our building (the side with the ramp), if you are choosing to hang out for a little bit. Our lot is smaller, so parking is kind of limited. If you are just driving through, we have a way to get you signed up for tickets, drop off a donation if you have one, and still grab a cookie and hot chocolate on the way out. We just ask that you be mindful of not parking in front of any of the light displays. We look forward to seeing all of you tonight! And for all of you who have dropped off toys and donated some money already, Thank You for supporting this effort, it really is making a difference to our community!

12/13/2023

Just a reminder that our Toy Drive is happening this Friday December 15th from 6 to 8pm. Andy is working hard to create his "winter wonderland of lights" and we will be serving up some homemade hot chocolate and delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies when you stop in with a new unwrapped toy. Don't forget that the fine folks at Duke FM will also be a part of the festivities, generously giving away tickets and goodies! And Santa will be stopping by at 7 to check in on our progress and maybe a photo or two if you ask nicely! So please stop by for what is hopefully shaping up to be a fun evening of giving this holiday season! We would also like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has stopped by the past couple of weeks and donated a toy or some money since we announced this event. Your donation is very appreciated.
To our wonderful neighbors at Jackson Flexible, the two huge bags of toys you all collected and brought by the clinic was so unexpected and thoughtful! THANK YOU for your support and helping us make a difference to the families in our Jackson community.

12/05/2023

Between now and Christmas, when you buy a 32 lb bag of Purina Canine EN , we will send you home with a 6 lb bag of the same food free!

12/05/2023

We have an exciting update for our Toy Drive on Dec.15th from 6 to 8pm. We just received confirmation from the North Pole that Santa will be stopping by the clinic at 7pm to check on our collection progress and greet people as they donate!! So if you're in a jolly mood to say hello to Santa this year, he will be here!

12/01/2023

We are extremely excited to share with all of you that on Friday, December 15th, we will team up with the fine folks at Duke FM to come out to our clinic and broadcast live from our location as we put on our first ever Toy Drive to help our Jackson community this year! Santa has donated his largest toy bag in hopes that the wonderful community of Jackson will come out and drop off a new unwrapped toy or two so that we can make sure every child in our community will have a special Christmas! If toy shopping and crowds aren’t your thing, we will also collect cash and go shopping at local businesses with it to add to our toy drive. We at Northwest Veterinary Clinic are going to make it an even sweeter Toy Drive by matching all donations. If you stop by with a toy, we are going to buy another toy and add it to the bag! If you stop by with cash, we will double it right down to the penny! That means if you bring one toy, it becomes two! If you have 50 cents rolling around in your ash tray, stop by because it will become $1.00! To cap off this exciting event, Duke FM will be here giving away tickets and goodies for all who stop by. We would like to say thank you to anyone who is planning on coming out for this event on December 15th from 6pm to 8pm. We do understand if you are not in a position to monetarily help, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stop by to try to win tickets! By liking and sharing our post with all the people you connect to, maybe it will reach someone who can donate, so in a very special way, you are still helping! Please come on out, all of you fine folks of Jackson, MI! We are looking forward to a wonderful celebration of giving on December 15th, 6pm to 8pm, at Northwest Veterinary Clinic, 7785 Clinton Rd, Jackson, MI 49201.

10/10/2023

It was an honor to help Grandpa Bill say goodbye to Bumpkin, and to make sure he was memorialized perfectly 🐾♥️🐾