First Nations Veterinary

01/01/2024

Happy New Year! We are excited to spay, neuter, vaccinate and microchip more animals in 2024. Thank you for this incredible year of growth and support. Cheers to all of the compassionate folks out there dedicated to making a difference for people and their pets. 🐾

As the year comes to a close, naturally, we reflect on the past year and look forward to the upcoming year.

This year, about 600 high-volume, non-profit (mostly) spay/neuter clinics used HQ to make appointments, keep drug logs, collect payments, communicate with clients, and run reports.

The HQ fam accomplished the following this year:

• Did 1,834,784 successful spay/neuters.

• Did 1,059,005 wellness appointments.

• 2,893,789 total checked-out appointments.

• About 70% of spay/neuters were for cats.

• About 70% of wellness appointments were for dogs.

• About 80% of animals are owned, and 20% are unowned.

• Out of the unowned animals, about 83% are cats, mostly community cats.

• An estimated 5.5 million births were prevented in 2023!

We are honored to be a part of this mission.

As 2024 rolls around, we are working on our infrastructure to keep HQ purring like a kitten with some new features in store.

01/12/2023

She passed her federal transportation inspection!

Even though our clinics are free our rig can now be used for commercial purposes. We’re hoping in the future the clinic can get more use year-round … stay tuned!

23/11/2023

We’re gearing up for our spay and neuter clinics in Navajo, Hopi and Warm Springs - and could use some gear! We’d be so grateful for any of these items that will help bring these services to reservations in 2024. ❤️

18/11/2023

🐾 ✨️ Navajo Nation Animal Control Pet Food Drive** ✨️ 🐾

Help us make a positive impact on the lives of our furry friends! Navajo Nation Animal Control is hosting a pet food drive and we're accepting donations to support local pets in need.

📍 Drop-off location: - Any of the 4 NN shelters across Navajo (Fort Defiance, Shiprock, Tuba City, Many Farms: 8am-12pm)

🐶🐱 We're in need of:
- Dry dog food
- Dry cat food
- Canned pet food
- Treats

Your contributions will go a long way in ensuring that our four-legged companions receive the care they deserve. Together, we can make a difference!

For more information or to coordinate large donations, please contact Jennifer Johnson- (928)729-4023

06/11/2023

Here’s sweet Lexi, who was spayed and vaccinated at our summer clinic in Warm Springs. When Fences For Fido reached out that she had an injuy, we teamed up to help get her treatment, and her leg was amputated.

It’s an honor to be able to help with emergencies when we can. Lexi makes a cute tripod, what do you think?

Always in awe of the resilience of rez dogs!

09/10/2023

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

Today (and every day) we celebrate these incredible communities, their resilience, and the bond that has been shared with animals since time immemorial.

Photo source: Montana Memory Project

28/09/2023

Some of the FNV team attended PAW Team’s Pawpalooza last weekend! They provide free and dignified veterinary care & pet support to people in Portland experiencing houseless or extreme poverty. Congrats on a fantastic and informative event - we are honored to show up to support organizations making an impact in our community . 🐾

26/09/2023

While in the "slow" season for our clinics, we thought it would be fun to highlight some of our amazing volunteers and provide a little background on how they made their way to First Nations Vet. ❤

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗲!

"I moved to Austin, Tx due to evacuating New Orleans because of hurricane Katrina. After applying for a reception position with a start up non-profit, high volume spay & neuter clinic, their technician found out she was pregnant and ended up taking that position the day the interview.

I fell in love on day 1 and have been working in the veterinary field since 2006. I am honored that I can give back to a community that welcomed my pup and I during such a life changing time. Throughout my career I have gained experience in areas including non-profit high volume spay & neuter clinics, MASH style high volume spay & neuter clinics, mobile veterinarians, Internal Medicine, Specialty Surgery/ Orthopedics, Shelter medicine and Animal Welfare.

I learned of the program through Save An Angel's partnership with Clinic HQ.

Our first clinic with Gina and Clinic HQ was Labor Day weekend, September 2022 with the Hopi Nation.
The residents were welcoming, warm and so much fun! The patients were full of tail wags, kisses and purrs. The experience was so invigorating I couldn't wait to go back. Having experienced a time in life that I had to rely on the kindness of strangers to pull through I have found great joy in helping communities that are underserved and community members in need.

We met Koda the first day of our clinic this year, shh... don't tell the others he is my favorite patient. His family visited for wellness care with Koda and his mom. The family had concerns, Koda had been losing hair over the past couple of months without access to veterinary care, they had been trying home remedies and other tips/tricks they had heard from friends and the internet with no improvement. Through partnerships that support the clinic we were able to provide them with tentative diagnosis and oral medications at no cost. His eyes were gorgeous, the more time I spent with him during his exam the more his captivating personality and snuggle bug demeanor came out. Koda is a big time cuddler, he wants nothing more than for you to let him put his head on your shoulder and receive hugs or lay across your lap for some loving.

His owners were excited when they learned we could work him in for a neuter at no cost. Day 2 they returned with Koda, he and I spent a lot of time together getting in some extra lovin' before he went home."

Thanks for all you do, Kickie!

15/09/2023

After our summer spay-a-thon, we were excited Warm Springs’ Spilyay Tymoo helped celebrate the accomplishment with this feature.

Thank you Aurolyn Stwyer for joining us for a traditional blessing. ❤️ We look forward to next years clinics.

07/09/2023

Last weekend, along with our spay and neuter clinic in Hopi, we were able to coordinate several litters of puppies to rescue groups. The pups in the video made their way to Arizona Animal Welfare League and the Good Samaritan is keeping the mom to nurse her back to health. ❤️ The others (not pictured but equally adorable) went to Humane Society-Coconino Humane. It feels good to close the circle by spaying mom and finding placement for the babies, ending the accidental breeding cycle. Good things happen when we work together!

04/09/2023

What a weekend! 100 pets fixed, vaccinated & chipped in Moenkopi Village, Hopi Nation with Hopi Small Animal Control & Midwestern University medical team. 🐾

The medical team navigated some curveballs this weekend that made surgery a little bit more difficult. Some dogs were positive with ehrlichia, there was a family of pups with sarcopic mange, and a few dogs with valley fever. It feels good to be able to treat what we have the capacity to beyond spay and neuter and to remove the barrier to care in these additional ways.

This clinic wouldn’t be possible without Greater Good Charities, Best Friends Animal Society, BISSELL Pet Foundation, Clinic HQ & a crew of hardworking and compassionate volunteers. Thank you!

02/09/2023

We’re here in Moenkopi with Midwestern University medical team. 100 total animals are on the schedule to be fixed today and tomorrow! We’re halfway through day 1 and have big ole hearts full of gratitude to this community for welcoming us so warmly. Here are just a handful of 😃’s from today!

30/08/2023

The popular game show host, who passed away this weekend, was known for his catchphrases and animal activism.

30/08/2023

Just up! This blog chronicles our adventure of launching a mobile rig and doing spay/neuter on reservations. We’re learning and sharing as we go. Hope some of this info is helpful for other folks out there with mobile units.

The packs, made of sterilized instruments, are at the heart of any HVSN clinic. For rez clinics, there are only two options for how to go about sterilizing packs. I call this the "pack strategy." You can either have fewe...

27/08/2023

There are just a few more appointments open for our Hopi clinic next weekend! 🐾

Register here:
firstnationsvet.com/hopi-nation

18/08/2023

We’re thrilled to announce Dr. Kate Peplin as First Nations Vet’s Lead Veterinarian.

Dr. Peplin was raised in Silverton, Oregon. After marrying a Redmond local, her family made the move to Central Oregon where she lives with her crew of rescue animals. She grew up in 4H and FFA with plenty of large animal experience, but fell in love with small animal medicine after years spent working in shelter medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Oregon State University and attended OSU’s Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Peplin’s special interests within the field of veterinary medicine are preventative medicine, community outreach and education, feline medicine, and small animal soft tissue surgery. We’re thrilled to have her experience, kindness and grit helping guide our clinics and mission. ❤️

06/08/2023

HOPI NATION! First Nations Vet is hosting a Free Spay and Neuter clinic at Moenkopi Community Center Sept 2nd & 3rd.

Register using the link below. Services are all free of charge and include spay/neuter, vaccines, microchip and flea/tick medication. See you there!

firstnationsvet.com/hopi-nation

15/06/2023

06/06/2023

We had a blast at our clinic this past
weekend co-hosted with Fences For Fido. We spayed & neutered 102 animals, which is about 300 births prevented. Thank you to
Warm Springs Fire & Safety for hosting us and to all of the volunteers and orgs who have given their resources and time to make these clinics possible. Our hearts are so full!

22/05/2023

Success! 103 surgeries = 300 births prevented with our partners Best Friends Animal Society, Rez Solutions & Midwestern University Vet Med. These amazing volunteers also picked off about 1,000 ticks, vaccinated, microchipped, applied flea & tick medication, and sent home a six month supply for each animal. It’s an honor to work with the community to help make a difference.