CVC Program Updates

Lingering Covid restrictions, more time spent in the digital space… in a year when it’s been so easy to feel disconnected, we are cherishing the ways our community is connected through the love we have for our pets! At our Community Veterinary Clinic, we are honored to work with the local pets and families who rely on our supportive services.

Our CVC currently has funding to operate two days per week and demand for our services remains high. As we continue to prioritize the most urgent cases and endeavor to reach more of the pets who need us, we have opened up additional slots on additional days to spread appointments throughout the week. As you can imagine, our veterinary team packs a lot of lifesaving veterinary care into each and every one of those visits!

Connected to each animal we serve is a person (or persons!) concerned for their pet’s health and wellbeing. Your support for our program helps us function as a resource to these families when they need it most! The following stories from recent cases highlight just a few of the ways our compassionate community joins us in ensuring all pets are safe, loved and well-cared for.

Our clinic’s vital role in our community is partially funded by grants, including support from DogsTrust USA, Petco Love, Grey Muzzle Organization and PetSmart Charities, but we need your support to help us meet the ever-increasing demand. Your compassion helps sustain services for pets and their owners in their time of need – and keeps these beloved pets in their homes and out of shelters.

COMMUNITY VETERINARY CLINIC

At Humane Society of Sonoma County

Your support saves these precious lives. Thank you!

COSMO: A GOOD SAMARITAN, A MICROCHIP & OUR CVC HELP HIM FIND HIS WAY HOME!

When we got a call from a concerned person saying they’d found a cat with a severely injured leg, we immediately agreed to take the cat in and give him medical care. When he arrived, we saw he had a severe compound fracture to his back leg and would need an amputation ASAP. He also had multiple pelvic fractures. We scanned the cat and found a microchip! We immediately called his owners and got quite a surprise - Cosmo had been missing for a year and a half! His owner, LeeAnna, immediately rushed in to see her long lost cat. After discussing his medical needs, she called several vet clinics and quickly discovered the cost of amputation at a regular clinic was prohibitively expensive. Thank goodness for our CVC! They were able to perform Cosmo’s surgery and treatment at a price she could afford. The next morning Cosmo had his surgery and was well enough to go home that evening. When his owners came to pick him up, Dr. Ada outlined the TLC Cosmo would need for his recovery. They asked her for guidance on re-introducing him – as soon as he was well enough - to the best friend he grew up with, a blue-heeler named Dingo. After giving Cosmo quiet time and space to recover, they gradually reintroduced the two best buddies. LeeAnna reports that it’s like Cosmo and Dingo never spent a day apart, they went right back to sharing the same close bond they had before!

COSMO

GROUCHO: BELOVED COMMUNITY CAT RECEIVES CARE

Groucho is an outdoor community cat who lives at a women’s group home and is cared for and dearly loved by its employees and residents . One of her caretakers, Meliea, brought the beautiful Tuxedo cat in for evaluation of a new lesion on her nose. Our CVC team did a cytology screening and diagnosed the lesion as a Squamous Cell Carcinoma, a type of malignant cancer that can be induced by exposure to sunlight. A procedure called “Curettage and Diathermy” was performed to remove this aggressive cancer, a very effective treatment when the lesion is caught early. We are delighted to report that Groucho’s procedure was successful and this special cat is back to bringing comfort and joy to her circle of dear friends.

SPAY/NEUTER TEAM

We are on track to exceed 2,000 surgeries through our weekly low-cost public spay/ neuter clinics by the end of 2021! We asked HSSC Director of Veterinary Services, Lisa Labrecque, DVM, what is making this year such a success. By the end of 2020, she reminds us, “we’d kicked things into high gear to catch up from temporary pandemic-related closures. We honed curbside drop-off and discharge procedures for clients, enacted new disinfection guidelines and streamlined our surgery suite for enhanced workflow and social distancing.” This year, with those elements in place, our team has been able to focus on getting faster and even more efficient!

“We’ve been implementing more HQHVSN (high-quality, high-volume spay neuter) techniques, which apply not only to the surgeon, but the entire team. Each person has a role and, working together, things eventually ‘gel’ into a good flow - a sort of ‘zen’ of HQHVSN surgery!” Dr. Labrecque explains. “With one surgeon and two tables, the techs are able to set up the next patient while the surgeon is finishing on the other table, so all we have to do is open a new surgical pack, change our gloves, and continue with the next surgery.”

“Efficiency like this cannot be taught,” she says. “It takes a dedicated team, excellent clinical skills, lots of practice, and good teamwork to make it happen. I’m very proud of this team for their hard work!”

We are deeply grateful for the support of Community Foundation of Sonoma County, the Ted and Joyce Picco Endowment Fund and YOU for making our subsidized services accessible to our community! Your donations help us ensure that every pet is safe, wanted and loved.

Please visit humanesocietysoco.org/donate and select Spay/Neuter from the drop-down menu. Thank you!

PETE’S CABOOSE: LOCAL VETERINARIAN’S GIFT HELPS 70 ANIMALS!

Local veterinarian, Dr. Peter Henriksen, has been a highly-respected fixture in the community for many years. He was also an early supporter of our CVC! Last year, he worked with our CVC team to establish a matching fund for client co-pays. His generous donation has really helped keep our clinic chugging along. In its first year (September 2020 – August 2021), the “Pete’s CabooseFund” helped cover the cost of medical care for 39 cats and 31 dogs!

Special surgeries covered by this fund included gastric surgeries for dogs to remove foreign bodies, mast cell removal, treatment of feline lower urinary tract disease, dental care, hernia repair, eyelid surgeries, urgent care medical exams and procedures ranging from wound care to heart failure to diagnostics for diabetes and seizures. Thank you Dr. Henriksen!