October, 2000

Volume 2,Issue 10

Inside this issue:

Pick-up and Delivery Service

Pick-up and Delivery is another service our clients really Appreciate. This service is offered Monday through Friday and is usually done by our long time employee Herbert Mack. Medications and food can also be delivered. Please contact Julie Plauche, our head receptionist, at the hospital (835-4266) to coordinate pick-ups and drop-offs.

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MSAH Bulletin #19

Volume 2,Issue 10

Employee of the month

Stephanie has worked for Metairie Small Animal Hospital for two years as a technician.

She is a student, currently attending the University of New Orleans to fulfill her prerequisites to apply to nursing school. She will hopefully attend

the Louisiana State University Nursing School in the Spring of 2001.

She is a resident of Metairie and when not studying, enjoys spending her time off with her boyfriend Shawn and her cat, Samantha.

    Stephanie Mitchel

Dog Sense

A dog can hear sounds 250 yards away that most people cannot hear beyond 25 yards. The human ear can detect sound waves vibrating at frequencies up to 20,000 times a second. But dogs can hear sound waves

that vibrate at frequencies of more than 30,000 times a second. 

Dogs cannot see as well as humans and are considered color blind. A dog sees objects first by their movement, second

by their brightness, and third by their shape.

A dogs sense of smell is about one thousand times as sensitive as a humans, with some of the scent hounds vastly more sensitive than that.

MSAH Bulletin #19

Volume 2,Issue 10

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10 Cat Facts

1. In Great Britain, black cats are thought to bring good luck.

2. The ancestor of all domestic cats is the African Wild Cat which still exists today.*

3. In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.

4. In ancient Egypt, mummies were made of cats, and embalmed mice were placed with them in their tombs. In

one ancient city, over 300,000 cat mummies were found.

5. Hunting is not instinctive for cats. Kittens born to non-hunting mothers may never learn to hunt.         

6. The first cat show was in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London.

7. Today there are about 100 distinct breeds of the domestic cat.

8. Genetic mutation created the domestic cat which is tame from birth.

9. Like birds, cats have a homing ability that uses its biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the Earth's  magnetic field. A cat taken far from its home can return to it. But if a cat's owners move far from its
home, the cat can't find them.

10. Cats bury their feces to cover their trails from preda

Canine Evolution

The dog traces its ancestry back to a five-toed, weasellike animal called Miacis, which lived in the Eocene epoch about 40 million years ago. This animal was the forebear of the cat, raccoon, bear hyena, and civet, as well as of the wolf, fox, jackal, and dog. Miacis, undoubtedly a tree climber, probably also lived in a den. Like all den dwellers, it no doubt left its quarters for toilet functions so that the den would remain clean. The ease of housebreaking a modern dog probably harks back to this instinct. Next in evolutionary line from Miacis

was an Oligocene animal called Cynodictis, which somewhat resembled the modern dog. Cynodictis lived about 20 million years ago. Its fifth toe, which would eventually become the dewclaw, showed signs of shortening. Cynodictis had 42 teeth and probably the anal glands that a dog still has. Cynodictis was also developing feet and toes suited for running. The modern civet--a "living fossil"--resembles that ancient animal (see Civet). After a few more intermediate stages the evolution of the dog moved on to the extremely doglike animal

called Tomarctus, which lived
about 10 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch. Tomarctus probably developed the strong social instincts that still prevail in the dog and most of its close relatives, excluding the fox. The Canidae, the family that includes the true dog and its close relatives, stemmed directly from Tomarctus. Members of the genus Canis--which includes the dog, wolf, and jackal--developed into their present form about a million years ago during the Pleistocene epoch.

Metairie Small Animal Hospital
101 Metairie Rd             (835-4266)
5040 West Esplanade     (455-2345)
4041 Williams Blvd.       (443-4400)

Phone: 555-555-5555
Fax: 555-555-5555
Email: xyz@microsoft.com

Case of the Month

This 4-5 week old foundling kitten was presented to us by a private client who has been very successful in rescue and placement, for an examination because it was unable to use it's right front leg.
Although the kitten's body temperature was normal, the elbow joint was severely swollen and movement was felt in the mid-shaft  of  the right humorous.

concurrent abscess in the elbow joint .
The kitten was administered anesthesia  and a drain placed in the elbow. A splint was formed from a coat hanger and the fracture reduced.

At the time of this writing, the drain has been removed and the leg is healing properly.  Thank you Joanne for another rescue.