Welcome to Our Hospital
Meet Our New Office Manager, Zelek Kebede!
Zelek is a graduate of Westmont College here in Santa Barbara, where he graduated with a major in Economics and Business. He has been a member of the VCA family since June of 2004 and has since spent time at a number of clinics in the southern California area the main support office in Los Angeles. Zelek has been here with us at VCA Noah’s Ark since August of 2009. Zelek’s favorite part of working with everyone here at the clinic are the people he gets to interact with everyday. He says, “I love being part of a team that cares so much about what they do; from the support office to our clinic, everyone brings something unique to the table.” When asked about where he sees his future with our VCA team he answered, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I have enjoyed working with our clients and patients very much and am excited about continuing to build these relationships.” We are very excited and grateful to have Zelek join us here at VCA Noah’s Ark and hope that our clients will be able to get to know him and build lasting connections for their pets’ lifetimes.
Dr. Angela Dyer is on Maternity Leave!
Dr. Dyer has given birth to a happy baby boy this month of December! She’s expected to return to VCA Noah’s Ark in February 2010. In the meantime, we will have Dr. Jen Surmick here as our relief veterinarian. She has been working as an emergency surgeon for 8 years and has spent her past year traveling to various VCA hospitals providing her services as needed. We’re excited to have her here and hope everyone will have a chance to meet her, as we are very thankful for her help.
Local Medical Issues
Preventative Care is the Best Medicine!According to the "Weathering the Recession" study done at the AAHA Yearly Conference, emergency and acute care are on the rise as clients try to save money by postponing care for ill pets.
Here at VCA Noah’s Ark we are very aware of the hard economic times. We would like to remind people that the best medicine is preventative medicine. Even though your pet may seem fine on the outside, they may have something wrong on the inside. Yearly wellness exams are essential for your pet. Although our veterinarians always perform a thorough exam on your pet no matter the reason they are here, there are some very large differences between a health problem exam and an annual wellness exam.
*At a health problem exam, the doctors are mainly concerned about the pets presenting health issue. Although they will do things such as listen to your pet’s heart and lungs, the doctor will spend the majority of the time scheduled addressing the current health problem.
* An annual wellness exam is very important to do when your pet is healthy so that we can concentrate our time and energy on all of the preventative measures necessary to keep your pet in good health. We use this time to discuss the pet’s lifestyle with the owner and will do a full examination of the pet to be sure that it is healthy. If the pet needs vaccines, we can do them at that time. If a pet is not feeling well, we will not do vaccines due to a variety of reasons, but mainly because they are not as effective since the pet’s immune system may be compromised and already working on fighting a different health issue. Our doctors work directly with the clients to determine which vaccines each pet needs and how often they should be administered. These are decisions that only a doctor can make with the client’s input on their pet’s lifestyle at the wellness exam. We will also address parasites, lab work, and diet recommendations, as well as any other measures specific to your pet.
