This is the story about Bear, who lost the tip of his tail this spring. I have been following the exploits of Bear, a squirrel, who has befriended someone who I follow on Facebook . He appeared 3-4 months after her dog Arty passed away, and somehow seemed to be so friendly,
As a 2nd instalment to our uplifting stories about animals
during the pandemic, I am going to tell you about Cougar, a 12 year old Porty (Portuguese
water dog) who is owned by one of Canada's first PWD breeders, Glenda. Well,
Cougar is more likely owned by her son, Colin, who in
During this
strange and difficult time, we continue to do what we have always done, see and
treat sick animals. Sometimes things go well, sometimes not, but for the next
few weeks, we will try to recount some good things, that make our work
worthwhile, and that hopefully will bring a smile to your face.
This is the story
of Charlie, an 8 week old Boston terrier, who happens to be an unusual color-
brown and white. She came to us having had her foot stepped on, which fractured
all of her metacarpals (rather like all the bones in our hands). It was an
accident, which is often the case, and the owners felt terrible. They felt even
more terrible when told by a specialist that the only treatment option
available was to pin the toes. Of course, they had no insurance. They came to
the Timberlea Veterinary Clinic for a 2nd opinion.
Now surgery is
always an option, and sometimes the best option, but one of the advantages of
having older veterinarians is that we have practiced before there were
specialists, and sometimes see things from another practical view. There were few
or no specialists 30 years ago.
We offered to cast
the foot with no guarantees. Casting immobilizes the fracture, and with a young
growing dog can be challenging, as they are so active. We also need to change
the cast every 2nd week, since they are growing and we don’t want to
impinge on their growth plates. 3 changes were needed for little Charlie, each
requiring a sedation. Our cast cutter had broken, and Dr. Glew had to improvise
using her own wood cutting oscillating saw. 5 weeks later, repeat radiographs
showed healing. A support bandage was placed just to help little Charlie resume
her activity and to protect the fragile area.
Seeing Charlie run
around on her leg certainly made our day-especially during this time. It was
our little Easter gift in the form of a happy puppy! Happy Easter to all…
For decades, we’ve been told that to raise stable puppies we need to socialize them with many people of different genders, sizes, ages, races, etc. And, we were told that socialization had to be done before 16 weeks of age. That’s the only way to
Please be advised that we are now required to stop providing non-essential veterinary care, until further notice. We will remain open, with modified hours of operation.  We will continue to see our clients for necessary veterinary
My father passed away in June 2015. Suddenly, my mother, who had been his main caregiver, was now at home alone in the old family house. So when an acquaintance told her about a 10-11 year old Westie who was looking for a home, she decided to take him on. His previous owner
