Cancer, unfortunately as it is with humans, may affect young pets, too. While always devastating news, at an early age, cancer diagnosis is not expected, therefore may have a greater emotional impact on the patient’s families.

Prada is an energetic two years old Pitbull, and one could imagine how shocked was her family to learn that their beautiful dog has lymphoma. Thankfully, cancer treatment has progressed a great deal over the recent years, opening a window of hope and optimism for our patients. Providing cutting-edge treatment, our oncology department has been successful with helping patients into remission, providing a good chance for quality of life, for years to come! Cancer is a manageable disease and most dogs do not get sick from chemotherapy as people do.

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, our veterinary oncology department is ethically guided by your beloved pet’s best interest. Quality of life is our focus, professional expertise is our tool, and compassion is our policy.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Linderman, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping you and your pet, is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

Dr. Gal Vatash
East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center
Riverhead, NY

Lily and Savannah, two amazingly cute 7-weeks-old kids (as in baby goat), were presented at our veterinary emergency center in Riverhead, NY on April 14^th, 2013 severely ataxic, vomiting and barely able to stand-up, due to neurologic instability.  Both kids were adopted by their owner just a day earlier and each ate 10-15  Mountain Laurel leaves.  Mountain Laurel is highly toxic to goats and clinical signs may vary from vomiting, anorexia, slow heart rate and ataxia to seizures, coma, and death.

Savannah and Lily were hospitalized by our pet emergency team and treatment was initiated at once.  Due to the intensive care, medical needs and cost, the owner elected to save Lily and euthanize Savannah.  Sandra, a highly-skilled LVT (licensed veterinary technician) and our Canine Rehab specialist, could not bear the euthanasia decision and offered to save little Savannah by footing the bill.  After three days of intensive care treatment, the goats fully recovered and discharged.

Lily and Savannah’s story is important not only to bring Mountain Laurel toxicity’s awareness, but also to remind us all, that an individual’s act of selflessness and kindness, does save lives.

Thank you Sandra for your kindness!

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping patients, is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

Several days ago as, I was picking up my car from  long term parking returning from a family trip, I noticed an unfamiliar scratch on my car’s bumper. Understandably upset, I complained to the parking lot manager demanding an action.  Several minutes later, I had the pleasure of reviewing my own car on the day I originally parked it, clearly proving that the scratch I was so accusatory about, was actually there  prior  to my arrival. My apology was accepted.

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, we invested in a high definition CCTV system three years ago. Our system provides us not only with clear images but audio as well.  Needless to say, our employees and clients are informed of such system.  Within the first year, the system already proved to be a solid investment when financial transactions were recorded and a suspect was cleared of any wrong doing. Last week however, our investment, simply put, recorded evidence that protected our  self image and reputation as an organization that values ethics above all.

Our organization was viciously attacked on social media, by a grieving client that sadly lost her beautiful young Great Dane. The patient was presented for gastric dilatation and torsion ( bloating and twisting of the stomach ).  Both surgical and medical recommendations were declined by the owner, who made a conscious decision to remove her dog from our hospital against medical recommendation. The owner then travelled  to the Animal Emergency Services in Selden, where a similar action by the owner was repeated. The poor dog died in agony at the owner’s home. A classic case of owner’s poor judgment. The grieving owner, turned against our organization, blaming us for improper handling, and unethical behavior, spreading lies all over our social network. Needless to say, such negative publicity could result in a devastating outcome. While our hearts goes out to the poor dog and its grieving owner, her lies are easily disputed since the whole transaction, from the moment the patient stepped into our veterinary emergency and specialty center in Riverhead, to the time the owner was dragging her dog outside against medical recommendation, was recorded and saved.

Sadly enough, while 98% of our clients are wonderful caring individuals, a tiny minority are hostile from the time they arrive, likely due to their inability to cope with their emergency situation. These people lack the basic personal responsibility expected from a mature adult, and are thriving on negative action. This is life. Can you afford not to protect yourself?

Closed Circuit Television, privilege, or necessity?

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping our patients is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center has been leading our veterinary community since the turn of the century. We believe that a responsible organization must care for its community, and our way of doing so is by providing Suffolk county veterinarians and veterinary technicians with continuing education seminars, expanding our knowledge and together benefiting our patients.

We are proud to announce that our organization was awarded a certificate of approval from the New York State Education Department as an official sponsor of continuing education and CE credits for veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping our patients is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

Pal, a 15 year old Bearded Collie has been our Physical Rehabilitation ambassador for several years.  Pal’s owner, the most wonderful person, has been extremely devoted to this lucky dog, despite the fact that Pal has been paralyzed for the past four years.  The following video, is a simple example for a positive attitude we should all aspire for.

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping our patients is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

One of the most important things to know about chemotherapy and radiation therapy in dogs and cats is that it is NOT the same as in people; 90% of the pets we treat handle therapy incredibly well with little to no toxicity.

In addition, most pets are treated as outpatients with visits typically lasting 30-60 minutes, so the time spent away from you is minimized as much as possible. It’s also important to remember despite what you are going through; there is always a tre­mendous amount of HOPE!

So much has changed in the last 5 years and there has been a rapid and significant progress in cancer diagnostics and therapies. Because of this we have partnered with The Veterinary Cancer Center to ensure that you have the most current information in regards to the treatment options, including clini­cal trials, available for your pet’s cancer.

We understand that hearing the word “cancer” stirs up many emotions (fear, anxiety, and depression) and we want to address those feelings by providing important information that will allow you to make the decision that is right for you, as well as for your pet.

• Toxicity - Chemotherapy and radiation therapy in dogs and cats are very different from these treatments in people. Veterinary oncologists and pet owners have made the conscious choice NOT to put our pets through what peo­ple go through. We have designed protocols to maximize BOTH quality and quantity of life. In addition, there are wonderful new ways to prevent side effects of therapy from ever oc­curring in the first place. When side effects are

• Efficacy - Cancer is NOT a death sentence. Cancer is much more treatable now than ever before as we have far more options. New therapies have been developed for the most common types of cancers that have increased life expectancy by over 100% in some cases. With combination therapy, many animals are living with cancer for years and have a wonderful quality of life. (see success stories at http://www.vcchope.com/petowners/suc­cessstories)

• Cost - Cancer therapy does not have to be expensive–in terms of finances or time. With the advent of oral chemotherapies, metro­nomic chemotherapies and clinical trials, the cost of treatment is less likely to be a factor for most people. Metronomic chemotherapy is the use of very low dose oral chemotherapy and other medications given daily. This combi­nation of drugs causes almost no side effects and works to slow down the growth of almost all cancers. Again, remember that over 95% of our patients are treated as outpatients and your clinic visits typically last less than an hour (http://www.vcchope.com/petowners/costof­care).

• The Median is NOT the Message - Despite what you may read on the internet or in many scientific papers, the outcome of an individual pet is not known. Statistics are wonderful for comparing groups – either people or animals. However, they have far less meaning to the individual patient. Every pet, just like every person, is an individual, and may respond far better than the average. We will never treat your pet as a statistic and always strive for the best outcome.

Brought to you by our partners at The Veterinary Cancer Center of Norwalk CT
Photo Credits – Boprey Photography: www.boprey.com /315-287-2020

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping our patients is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

Murph, a four years old cat was rescued and brought in by the Riverhead Fire department to our Emergency department. Physical evaluation revealed burn lesions of the cat’s face, and ulcerations of all four paws. Luckily, the cat’s lung sounds were clear and did not suggest of smoke inhalation damage. Since neither the cat’s nor the owner’s information was known to us at the time of admission, it was named Smokey, and intensive care was initiated at once. Two days later, as the owner was discharged from his own hospital stay, the cat’s identity was revealed and his records were corrected.

East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center is a private organization independent of any governmental or public financial support. The secret to our success is in our founding principles of focusing on the patient’s best interest while respecting the owner’s decisions, and doing so with the utmost morals and ethics. Finances are a reality to us as it is to any other private organization. Poorly management of our finances will result in inability to keep the superior medical and surgical standards we offer. When tragedy occurs, such as Murph’s and his family, we open our doors, and our hearts with pleasure, and help in any way we possibly can, leaving financial discussion for a later time, when the owner is emotionally capable to deal with such reality. Our philosophy is simple, should the owner is able to pay either by themselves or with the help of their friends and family, we will accept payment for services rendered. Should the owner is unable to pay or raise the funds, it would be our gratification to extend our help beyond medical treatments and absorb a financial loss.

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping our patients is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

• Unexplained Bleeding - Bleeding from the mouth, nose, gums or blood in the urine or stool that is not due to trauma should be examined. Although bleed­ing disorders do occur in pets, they usually are discovered at a younger age. If unexplained bleeding starts when a pet is old, a thorough search should be undertaken.

• Cough - A dry, non-productive cough in an older pet should prompt chest radiographs to be taken. This type of cough is the most common sign of lung cancer. Please remember there are many causes of cough in dogs and cats.

• Lameness - Unexplained lameness (especially in large or giant breed dogs) is a very common sign of bone cancer. Radiographs of the affected area are useful for detecting cancer of the bone.

• Straining to Urinate – Straining to urinate and blood in the urine usually indicates a urinary tract infection, however, if the straining and bleeding are not resolved with antibiotics or are recurrent, cancer of the bladder may be the underlying cause. Cystoscopy or other techniques that allow a veterinarian to take a biopsy of the bladder are useful and sometimes necessary to establish a definitive diagnosis in these cases.

• Oral Odor - Oral tumors do occur in pets and can cause a pet to change its food preference (i.e. from hard to soft foods) or cause a pet to change the manner in which they chew their food. Many times a foul odor can be detected in pets with oral tumors. A thorough oral examination with radiographs or CT scan, requiring sedation, is often necessary to determine the underlying cause.

Courtesy of   

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty center, helping you is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

Like any other industry, it is important for us, the veterinary professionals, to understand and define our final “product”.  This simple question and its answer are essential, and without, we can never achieve clarity, understand our goals and the path we need to take to achieve these goals.  At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, our final product is simply “high quality veterinary care”.  While many steps are necessary to achieve this final product, each and every one, is finely tuned to assure progression toward our goal.  Whether client’s or colleague’s, communication is most valuable and should be prioritize as such that it, too, will lead to achieving the set goal (product).

In our veterinary reality, it is our responsibility to communicate with our clients, our medical expert advice as well as the cost of services.  We must respect our clients, and avoid making financial decisions for them; after all, we wouldn’t want our server at the restaurant to pick and choose what item on the menu he or she will offer us, based on her assessment of our financial situation.  If the latter was a common practice, those among us who are dressed in a luxurious manner would be offered the Lobster while the others, would eat Hot dogs…  We, as restaurant diners, expect to see the complete menu.

As Veterinarians, it is our responsibility to remember our “product” and offer our clients the best medical options available, without discrimination.  Once medical options were clearly displayed, the owner can make an educated decision.  Only then,  finances should be presented.  It is important however to avoid confusion and to assure that the recommendation is clear.  After all, clients came in seeking our expert advice.  When I, for example, am meeting my accountant, he is not leaving me to decide which of the tax forms I should complete, but clearly directs me of the right path.

Our clients need the same clarity from us.  After all, veterinary medicine for most of them is as foreign as tax codes are for me.  Our clients should be respected, treated with kindness, compassion, and armed with the tools they need to help their pets = family members.

At East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping your patients, is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.

Thank you Tim (Onyx’s owner and best friend), for allowing us to help Onyx to flourish despite his diagnosis.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Linderman, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center  (631)-369-4513

At East End veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center, helping you, and your pet, is not only our mission statement, but our absolute pleasure.