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Bringing home a new puppy is an exciting time, but can also be stressful if you’re not prepared. From puppy-proofing your house to starting potty training the right way, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with your responsibilities in order to make your puppy’s transition a success.

With all the excitement and anticipation around welcoming your puppy home, it’s easy to forget important steps. But, preparing your home and your family for your new arrival can put you on track and ensure a happy dog for years to come. We’ve asked experts across the country, from Orlando, FL to Portland, OR, to share their best tip for bringing home a puppy.

To Our Covid Weary Pet Owners

As of June 17, 2021, and in light of California and CDC recommendations, we are taking a cautiously optimistic approach and partially unlocking our front doors! Your pets will be so happy to be accompanied into our building by their people again AND so will we! For our safety and yours, our doors will not be “wide open” quite yet. Let us define our Cautiously Optimistic Approach:

We will still have ALL appointments types call us from the parking lot when they arrive.

Welcome home! You’ve just unlocked the door and walk inside to find your living room covered with your chewed-up couch material. Or, you walk in and find that your cat has eliminated on the rug, instead of in the litter box. You grit your teeth and start to clean up, wondering what has come over your pet these days. 

Are they angry with you for leaving the house and punishing you? Probably not. Chances are, your pet is experiencing anxiety and fear. 

You’re ready to adopt a new pet! Congratulations. Of course, your first thought is probably to check out our local shelter, and we couldn’t agree more. Shelters and rescue organizations have many loving and wonderful pets of every size, shape, and personality just waiting for their forever homes.

Adopting a shelter pet is most successful if a little planning and preparation takes place before you set foot in the building. Felton Veterinary Hospital is ready to be your tour guide along the journey of adopting a shelter pet. 

Anyone who has pets knows the pain of resisting puppy dog eyes at the dinner table. As cute as they are, our pets often win the battle on that one. But when it comes to Thanksgiving safety for pets, it’s important to understand the risks and repercussions of giving in. 

But letting your pet partake in the feast is not the only risk to their health around the holidays. Keep reading for Felton Veterinary Hospital’s best tips for Thanksgiving pet safety, and avoid an emergency room visit on this, the most festive of holidays. 

Many of us were woken in the middle of the night on August 16, 2020 by a violent wind and dry lightning storm. But perhaps few of us were aware that we would be evacuating our homes hours or days later. The CZU Lightning Complex fire, which started from dry lightning strikes in our beloved Santa Cruz Mountains, ultimately caused the evacuation of over 64,000 people, burned over 80,000 acres in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties, and destroyed over 1400 buildings, according to Cal Fire. 

Is your older kitty “slowing down?” Has your agility dog suffered an injury that just won’t heal? In these and many other scenarios, it’s possible that laser therapy could be the answer to your pet’s pain and discomfort. 

Used for years in humans, laser therapy for pets uses Class IV laser light to stimulate healthy cell growth, repair damaged cells, and promote healing and pain relief. 

At Felton Veterinary Hospital, we are proud to offer this therapy, and we are thrilled to share the benefits with our patients and friends. 

Thank you all for your patience over the past 2 months while we had you wait in your cars as we examined your pets inside our building. Your cooperation (and appreciation) has been amazing! You have helped us find a rhythm to a difficult new routine. We realize retail businesses have started to open their doors. With the intimate nature of our business (face to face in the small exam room while we examine your pet), there is a lot to consider before we do the same. We want to do what is right for you, our clients, and for our staff. With the recent rise in Covid cases, for now, we want to continue our “new rhythm” of having our clients wait in their cars during their pet’s exam. We cannot wait for the day when our office is not just full of wags, purrs and tweets (ok, we admit, not all of our patients are THAT happy to see us) but also full of YOU, our wonderful clients from our wonderful community!

In light of the ever-changing conditions surrounding the pandemic, our protocols have also been very fluid.
In an effort to continue to protect our clients and our employees without sacrificing the care of our patients we have decided to discontinue the “traffic” into our building.
If you have a scheduled appointment, please call our office when you arrive in the parking lot. We will ask that you remain in your car while we take your pet’s history by phone. A nurse will take your pet from your car into our building for its exam by the doctor. After the exam, the doctor will call you with any questions or concerns, the nurse will return your pet to your car and we ask that you make your payment by phone before you leave.

Update as of 3/16/2020:

Today, along with many other counties in California, Santa Cruz County has issued a “Shelter in Place” order.  Veterinary Clinics are considered an “Essential business”. Our doors will remain open! We will continue to schedule appointments, we can refill your pet’s prescriptions and supply their prescription dog food. We will, however, be canceling our Wednesday vaccine clinics for at least the next 2 weeks as an extra safety precaution.