Neffsville Veterinary Clinic

We would like to invite our clients and friends to join us on the 25^th of September for a celebration of 40 years serving the cats, dogs and pocket pets of Lancaster County.  Many of vendors will be present and have give-aways for attendees.  We are having a Chinese Auction and some of the items include: a gift certificate to the Fulton Opera House, restaurant gift certificates, jewelry and other fantastic gifts.  All the proceeds from the auction will go to Pet Guardians, a non-profit that finds homes for pets when their owners can no longer care for them. 

Continue to check the BLOG to learn more about the day’s activities.

Lancaster County Magazine –  The Dog Days of August

Don’t forget to purchase your issue of Lancaster County magazine.  The article about Neffsville Veterinary Clinic is amazing.  Melissa Kashner did a wonderful job interviewing staff members and describing what happens here on a daily basis and the evolution of the clinic over the past 40 years.  Allan Holm who brings his dog Duke here, did all of the photography and captured the warmness of our facility.  Susan Williams-Patton handled the advertisement we ran to encourage community members to attend our 40^th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, September, 25^th from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.  And of course, Suzanne Starling-Long oversaw the entire process and we commend her on her leadership and vision.

Many people travel with their pets. Though the number of forms can be daunting when traveling within the United States and abroad, we are here to help you through the process. Dr. Nicole Blithe has over five years experience assisting clients with their travel needs. She is nationally accredited to sign International forms, this is a special accreditation. If you are traveling abroad, please call the clinic to make an appointment.
• Your first visit is scheduled for 40 minutes (please give us 48 hours notice if you need to re-schedule).
• All other follow-up exams will be 30 minutes.
• Dr. Blithe will obtain the certificates, the “pre-approval” from the state vet and sign the certificates.
• Please remember that there is a time investment on your part. We recommend that clients allow eight to twelve months to travel to: England, Greece, Malta, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Island countries.
• We recommend a client allows four to six months when traveling to all countries. (Please remember Puerto Rico is part of the United States.
• Please bring original rabies certificates.
• Please make sure your pet is micro-chipped. We offer this service. Feel free to inquire at the time of your appointment.
• Please allow 72 hours for us to complete the International health Certificate before scheduling your appointment with the USDA.
• You will need to travel to Harrisburg and have the State veterinarian sign the paperwork. We will provide you with the address and the phone number as well as directions to the office.

We look forward to helping you with your travel plans and be sure to share your photos with us so we can post them on our BLOG and FaceBook page.

Bark In The Park Basket Winner
Rocky and his owner Sara were the winners of the basket from Novartis. The basket included a year’s supply of sentinel and lots of goodies for Rocky, valued at $300. They stopped by the clinic to pick up the basket. Thanks so much for visiting our booth at Clipper Stadium that night.

Loraine Roberts is the winner of the Dyson DC24 Vacuum from the SENTINEL® All-Over Clean Giveaway Sweepstakes sponsored by Novartis. Our Practice Administrator, Cheryl Peck selected her name from the drawing on July 7th. The contest ran from April to the end of June. Ms. Roberts has a seven year old Schnauzer, Greta who uses Sentinel Flavor Tabs. The doctors at Neffsville Veterinary Clinic recommend Sentinel® for heartworm and parasite protection. They believe Sentinel® to be the best parasite protection for your dog. It prevents heartworm disease, provides intestinal parasite protection from hookworms, roundworms and whipworms and is a flea preventative. Sentinel® is administered once a month. Just like many medications, Sentinel® is best absorbed with food. It comes in a crunchy cookie form.

Margaret Jefferson came to us in March because her cat, Isis was not “herself.” She would go upstairs and hide under the bed and in the closet. She had severe constipation and when she did have a bowel movement, the stool was very small and hard. “Isis had been so healthy. At 17 the only reason I had to bring her to the vet was for shots and nail trims,” commented Mrs. Jefferson. Isis continued to deteriorate and she then began dragging her back end. An x-ray later revealed spondylosis.

Spondylosis is a condition by which there is an arthritic bridging of the vertebrae. This is what caused Isis to have difficulty squatting to go to the bathroom and jumping on her owner’s lap.

Because of the diagnosis, Dr. Kathy recommended Adequan injections. Adequan is normally used to treat canine arthritis, which in many cases can be a painful and debilitating disease, however it can be managed. Adequan helps prevent the cartilage in your pet’s joints from wearing away. The goal of the doctor is to slow down the progression of arthritis formation in the pet’s joint, keeping the cartilage healthy and intact, so that the bone in the joint cannot touch other bones.

The injection is administered two times a week for four weeks and then is given once a month as a maintenance. It begins working in the joint in about two hours and stays in the joint for about three days. “I was nervous about giving the injections, but the nurses showed me how to do it and after two trials, I was comfortable with the procedure,” added Mrs. Jefferson.

“Within a week and a half Isis had returned to her normal self. She was eating well, requesting treats and sitting on my lap. To me Adequan is a Miracle Drug. I thought my cat was dying. It was so sad to watch her suffer and experience such a drastic change in her health such a short period of time,” said Mrs. Jefferson.

Dr. Doman decided that he would enter the KITTEN RING OF DOOM during one of Ashley’s training sessions with the kittens.

Bark in the Park – The Dog Days of Summer – A HUGE SUCCESS – Wednesday, June 23

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booths at Clipper Stadium last night. We saw many familiar faces and met so many new furry friends. Dr. George threw out the first pitch and of course we know that was what gave the Barnstormers that extra edge to win the game. Jane Collins from Intervet/Schering Plough joined us and scanned many pets and talked about the benefits of the HomeAgain Microchip. It is fantastic to know that so many pets are protected with a microchip. We will draw the winner for the Novartis basket today, so be sure to log on later and find out who won.

Thank you again to the staff at Clipper Stadium, you put on a fantastic event.

But most of all thank you to the clients and staff at Neffsville Veterinary Clinic for making events such as this so successful. Enjoy the pictures (in this case pictures are worth a million words).

Dr. Hockenberry joins our staff at the clinic as the seventh doctor on Friday, June 25th. He is originally from Harrisburg, PA. He is a graduate of Juniata College and Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Upon graduation Dr. Hockenberry was chosen from his graduating class to receive the “Excellence in Theriogenology” Award. His clinical interests include theriogenology (reproduction), cardiac medicine and dermatology.
Dr. Hockenberry attended the North American Veterinary Conference and the Midwest Veterinary Conference where he participated in several dentistry wet labs. Dr. Hockenberry has also completed several externships in small animal practices and with specialists in small animal reproduction. At Neffsville Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Hockenberry looks forward to using his expertise in small animal reproduction to offer a new level of knowledge to the clinic and Lancaster County.
When Dr. Hockenberry is not practicing veterinary medicine, he enjoys fishing, mountain biking, carpentry and barbequing. Aside from his amazing experiences throughout veterinary college, his most memorable life experience has been his time spent working on deep-sea fishing boats in Sarasota, Florida.
At this time Dr. Hockenberry does not have any pets, but we are sure that in the near future, he will have his own special collection of pets. Dr. Hockenberry looks forward to talking to you about your pets and his future acquisitions.
Neffsville Veterinary Clinic is a small animal clinic in Manheim Township, Lancaster County. NVC was started in 1970 by Dr. Russell Nyland. The practice now employees 45 team members, including seven veterinarians and three Certified Veterinary Technicians. The hospital’s building was expanded to almost 12,000 square feet in 2006.

On occasion members from the clinic are requested to speak at community or organizational events. U-Gro Learning Centers asked if we had a team member who would do a presentation for National Pet Week at five of their centers.

Becky Pollock, an elementary education at Millersville University, was the perfect person to represent the clinic on these visits. She put together a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate the different aspects of the clinic to the children. Books about cats and dogs were included to promote reading and using our local libraries. As an AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association), we are given coloring sheets and booklets to educate children about pet care, so we were able to share those with the children as well. Thank you to the Lebanon, Brethren Village Retirement Community, Bent Creek, HACC Lancaster Campus and Hempfield locations for inviting us to share our knowledge with the children.