Striegel Animal Hospital
Over 50 Years of Quality Medicine
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Something Special Award June 2010 Winner
Maya
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| Dear Helen... |
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Is it really important to have my dog's toenails trimmed? And how often should it be done? Yes, regular nail trims are important, and overgrown nails can lead to several problems. The most common problem occurs when your dog or gat gets a nail caught in something like carpeting or your clothing. Most of the time they can free themselves, but sometimes they will break the nail, which causes bleeding and pain. If your pet struggles too hard, s/he can get a muscle strain or sprain. Nail that grow too long can also cause the toes to spread into an uncomfortable position. Over time, they can cause deformities of the toes and foot, which can lead to arthritis. As your pet tries to compensate for the pain in his feet, he can put stress on other joints, which will also become painful. Many pets have nails that curl as they grow. If not trimmed regularly, those nails can curl under and pierce the bottoms of the toes. It's even possible for the nail to grow all the way through the toe until it comes out the top of the foot, and they usually become swollen and infected. Nails that have grown into the pad should be cut and pulled out by your veterinarian, who will flush the wounds and prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection. How often nails need to be trimmed depends on a couple of factors, such as how much exercise your pet is getting and how fast the nails are growing. Thus, surfaces like pavement, gravel and sand will help war the nails down naturally, and your pet may not need a nail trim at all. But if the most exercise your pet is getting is a short walk from the couch to his food bowl, a once-a-month nail trim will keep him from developing painfully overgrown nails.
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Striegel Animal Hospital is proud to introduce…
Pet Portals!
Pet Portals are private websites that give you secure, online access to your pet’s health information. We provide Pet Portals free of charge to all clients who have an active e-mail address.
How can I get a Pet Portal?
Just give us your e-mail address and you will receive a password by e-mail. To get your Pet Portal simply:
1. Visit our website and click the Pet Portal login button. Just follow the instructions you’ll find under the “Want a Pet Portal?” header.
2. Give us your e-mail address when you visit the hospital.
3. Give us your e-mail address when you speak with us on the telephone.
How do I access my Pet Portal?
Visit our website at www.striegelanimalhospital.com and enter your e-mail address and password in the Pet Portal login box. You can bookmark the login page but not your Pet Portal since it is a secure site.
What do you do with my e-mail address?
We use your e-mail address as your Pet Portal sign-in name. You have the option of receiving your pet’s service reminders by e-mail. We use e-mail to contact clients about important practice and animal health news, such as information about Lyme Disease. We will never release your e-mail address to any other business!
Now you can manage your pet’s healthcare online!
You can use your Pet Portal to conveniently manage your pet’s health online at any time of day or night!
Use it to:
1. Remind yourself with an e-mail when to give medications, heartworm or flea preventative tablets. Medication Minders – available in your Pet Portal - make it easy to remember your pet’s monthly medications. Medication Minders are friendly, non-intrusive e-mails that you can have sent to you automatically on the day your pet’s medication is due. Setting up a Medication Minder is easy. Just go to your Pet Portal and click on the Pet Tools tab and go to Medication Minder tool.
2. Request refills of prescriptions and special diets – even when we are not open. Now you can request a refill of your pet’s medication or food – even when our practice is closed. Simply log in to your Pet Portal via our website and visit your pet’s individual record page. There you can review recent prescriptions and easily request refills!
3. Request an appointment or boarding reservation. Moving? New cell phone number? Update your contact information with us any time, online.
4. Print out your pet’s vaccination record. If you ever forget to bring proof of vaccination to your boarding facility, just print out your pet’s vaccination record from your pet portal. Many facilities will accept this as proof of vaccination.
5. Use PetNotes to easily print out pet health instructions for pet-sitters or kennel staff when you are out of town for the holidays or just on vacation. Use the “PetNotes” feature in your Pet Portal to create detailed pet care notes to leave with the kennel staff or your pet-sitter. Up-to-date information about each pet’s vaccination status and medications is automatically included. Print out legible instructions for each of your pets now – and save the instructions for future use!
6. Ask questions or communicate your concerns via Pet Mail – and easy-to-use messaging system available only from your Pet Portal. Our staff monitors Pet Mail each day that we are open for business and will make sure that your questions are answered quickly.
So don’t delay!
In addition to Pet Portals, Striegel Animal Hospital is upgrading our customary Postcard Reminders. The new reminders you will receive are highly personalized for services due and past due. They will also include messages specifically related to your pet’s age, breed and diagnosis as well as topical information related to the seasonal conditions and their impact on your pet.
We will also be sending highly personalized ID cards with service status and reminders for services due. If your pet’s picture is on file with us, these ID cards will have their picture imprinted on them as well!
We look forward to seeing you soon!