Welcome to our new website & inaugural blog

We are really looking forward to communicating with all of you in a timely and interactive way on our new website and through this blog.

My hope is that this blog is a place to give you general medical recommendations that are near and dear to our hearts, discuss current events and happenings at the clinic, and just some personal reflections on life as a veterinarian. We hope that you all will give us feedback on what topics you might want some insight on, as there are so many things we are only able to briefly touch on during your appointments.

One comment I hear from many of you when you are in for a visit, is how entertaining it is on some days to be in the lobby and observe the parade of pets and their people. I know you are often left wondering what the whole story was, as there are many amazing adventures and connections that we get to be a part of.

I will share one such story from last week. Wednesday was a particularly busy day at Companion Animal, and late morning a petite, 84 year-old woman walked in and announced that her 5 1/2 pound Chihuahua had been attacked by a bear the previous night. The bear, attracted by garbage in the neighbor’s yard, was just outside her backdoor when she let her little friend outside.

The bear immediately scooped little Bianca into her mouth and was seconds away from making a meal of her.

The bear, however, did not realize that Bianca had a mama bear of her own. Fueled by shock and concern, out of the house charged Bianca’s mom. She snatched Bianca out of the bear’s jaws and yelled “go away” in a very fierce voice. The bear made a hasty retreat.  Bianca did suffer significant bite wounds before her rescue but, luckily, she had some extra padding that stopped the bear’s teeth from doing worse damage. This was the only time in my career I was happy a patient was overweight.

Dr. Tolle took Bianca to surgery to repair the wounds. Bianca’s family thought she looked like a porcupine leaving the clinic from all the drains placed to help her wounds heal. Unfortunately, a bear’s mouth has a tremendous amount of bacteria and her tissues were also damaged by crushing so she required a second procedure this week. Considering tiny Bianca was literally snatched from the jaws of death, she is healing very well.

This is one of those stories that I wouldn’t been able to believe if I hadn’t witnessed the wound myself. The reaction this diminutive lady had to her beloved friend being in peril was incredibly brave and selfless. We all felt in awe of her actions, and energized that we were able to help put her little buddy back together. 

On the really tough days at Companion Animal Wellness Center, I always remind myself that we are constantly being touched by the amazing, the humorous, the life affirming, and the remarkable. My job is never boring.

~ Dr. Lisa Newnham