North Waterloo Veterinary Hospital
5 Dunke St. N. N3B 2A6 Elmira, ON, Canada

Thank you Dr Santa Linda for a delicious pizza lunch today!!

This afternoon started with Nugget and Lucy and boy, did we have fun.

Meet Dr. Linda’s new cat, Beebee. On my way to work this week I drove past something laying in the middle of the road. It was a cat and as I passed she turned her head to look at me but made no other attempt to move. I pulled over, grabbed a grocery bin from the back of the car and approached her. She looked terrified but didn’t move. I suspected she had been hit by a car and cautiously transferred her to the grocery bin, covered it with an extra large shopping bag and took h...er to work. In the exam room at the clinic she bolted out of the bin and ran around the room. Clearly nothing was broken. She looked and acted like a feral cat. I was able to do a brief exam. She had some dried blood on the front of her muzzle and the side of her muzzle and upper lip were swollen. There appeared to be no oral trauma, or missing or broken teeth. She was not microchipped. We housed her in a kennel in a quiet room at the clinic to monitor her and better judge her level of tameness. She ate, did not use the litter box provided and continued to be difficult to handle and look terrified but she appeared healthy. I found her on the road between 2 farms, she had a winter coat and seemed feral so I suspected she was a farm cat and would not be missed. I live on a hobby farm and have a small horse barn that currently houses 2 semi feral cats. I decided she could join us on the farm. Our barn cats have ample food, litter boxes and a heated tack room in winter. It’s not a house but the accommodations are quite comfortable. She would need to be negative for feline leukaemia and feline immune deficiency virus to join our farm and would need to be spayed. She needed sedation for the blood test, which was negative, so we proceeded to a general anaesthetic for the spay. This also allowed a more detailed exam. The swelling on her face had decreased to almost normal over her 3 days at the hospital but there was still a hard swelling just above her lip. I did a mini exploratory surgery over the hard swelling and extracted a lead pellet. Her facial wounds were not due to being hit by a car but due to being shot in the face. During surgery I noticed a hematoma on the suspensory ligament of her uterus. She had also suffered some sort of trauma causing limited internal bleeding. I suspect she was also hit by a car and I found her stunned and in shock after the accident. I X-rayed her entire body and there were no other shot gun pellets. Her uterus was immature so I suspect I have a 6 to 10 month old kitten as my new barn cat. She is currently living in a large dog kennel in the barn until she recovers from surgery. She is eating well and has learned to use a litter box. I can pet her but only because she can’t run away. I hope she learns to trust us enough to stay when we release her from the kennel. See more

We have decorated an area behind the clinic for anyone in the community to use to take holiday photos of their pets, family and friends. Everyday we put out some props, mugs and blankets and today someone took our blanket. They may need it more than we do. All are welcome to our photo booth but please leave our props.

Thank you to whoever left this in the rock bed at the clinic.

Today we are celebrating Annie passing her exam to become a Registered Veterinary Technician. Congratulations Annie.

Finn was patiently waiting for a treat that took too long to come so he took matters into his own paws.

We got to see Chloe today. This kitten has a travel bubble that allows her to go on some outings with her family. What a great way to travel, in a room full of toys.

Dr. Hirzer brought us all a seasonal treasure! Puffball to share for all!

We are closed today for thanksgiving Monday. We hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend. If you have a medical emergency, please contact the Emergency Veterinary Clinic at 519-650-1617

One year ago today I had a heart attack. I started most days with a run and had done so for 41 years. I was experiencing numbness in one arm on my weekday runs ...and I had to abort my Sunday 10 km run due to more rapid on set of the numbness and tightness in my chest. After a couple of hours of silent analysis I decided to go to the hospital so they could confirm that everything was OK. I was soon told I had had a heart attack. Over the next 2 days I was diagnosed with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) and Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD). I year later I feel normal again, and may even be healthier and more physically fit than ever. I share this to raise awareness of these rare diseases and share the following lessons I have learned. Listen to your body. Especially if you are a woman. Listen to your doctor. When a rock slide blocks your life path realize you can’t go back and you can’t stand still. Go forward with the attitude that your new path may take you back on track or it may take you to somewhere even better. Today I stray from my healthy eating path to one that includes a big piece of cake.

Today we are sadly wishing farewell to technician Christine. She has decided to experience living in the city(Toronto). Good bye Christine and thank you for being awesome.

We have been informed that a number of our clients have received phishing emails from scammers pretending to work for North Waterloo Veterinary Hospital. We take information security very seriously and ask that you also be vigilant in order to prevent fraud and to help protect our common interests. Here are a few precautions to take:... Confirm the sender’s identity before replying to email requests and before opening attachments or clicking on links, even if they appear to come from a legitimate source. Call us to validate communications originating from North Waterloo Veterinary Hospital. Here is an example of a fraudulent email request. (Note that the email is being sent from [email protected]) If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the clinic at 519-669-2901. Thank you for your vigilance.

We are currently experiencing difficulty with our email. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please call us at 519-669-2901 to book appointments or with any questions or concerns.

Just a reminder that we are closed today for the Civic Holiday. We hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend! If your pet has a medical emergency, please contact the EMERGENCY VETERINARY CLINIC at (519) 650-1617.

We will be closed today, Saturday August 1st and Monday August 3rd for the Civic Holiday Long Weekend. If your pet has a medical emergency, please contact the EMERGENCY VETERINARY CLINIC at (519) 650-1617.

Celebrating Dani’s Birthday in the 5 free minutes we have today.

Celebrating Deb’s birthday today. She keeps the clinic ship shape. We couldn’t all be in the photo due to social distancing.

How we are adapting to Covid and the heat wave. We are still working as a closed to the public clinic so we are providing some shaded waiting areas outside. We have also created a seating area outside the window of our exam room where our clients can stay a socially safe distance from us and watch the exam.

Take a book, leave a book, outside the clinic.

We are hosting a tiny library. Larry Wiens (builder), Dan Holt (idea man) with Sooner and Dr. Linda Hirzer (host) are trying to socially distance around the new tiny free library at North Waterloo Veterinary Hospital.

Several weeks ago The Observer featured an article about local citizens placing a free library in Elmira. Dan Holt, a client of North Waterloo Veterinary Hospital, had the idea and the library was built by Larry Wiens. Dr. Linda congratulated Dan on one of visits to the clinic( with the best dogs ever, Sooner and Nugget) and Dan told us there was another library. We offered to give it a home and they were happy to donate it. We mounted the library after work on Saturday and planned to bring books today. When we arrived this morning it was half full of books. What a great community we live in. Thanks Dan and Larry. (photos to follow) https://observerxtra.com//neighbours-see-bigger-as-better/