Never again do you need to lie to your pet, disguising a trip to the dreaded vet’s office as an outing in the park.
No matter how great your veterinarian is, many a pet cannot stand sitting on the cold tile floor, surrounded by the noise of other anxious animals, waiting for a white lab coat to appear. Many cats refuse to be caged for such trips.
Convenient Care Mobile Veterinary Service keeps your pets calm and comfortable during checkups by setting up shop directly at your home.
Owner Janet Van Horn, a Queen Anne’s Countian, has been a veterinary doctor for 28 years. Dr. Van Horn’s love for animals is a driving force in her continual research and education in providing the best comfort and care to our animal companions.
Getting to know you and your pet at a location in which all are comfortable allows Dr. Van Horn to gain additional insight into your pet’s needs and therefore provide the best care possible. Dr. Van Horn promises that 99.9 percent of the time, she — rather than an associate — will be the vet arriving at your door.
Next time your pet needs a checkup, consider calling Dr. Van Horn to your house and avoid those sad puppy eyes begging you not to drive to the vet’s office.
Convenient Care Mobile Veterinary Service
509 Buckingham Dr., Stevensville; 410-643-7565; www.kimobilevet.com
Crunchies Natural Pet Foods
Your pets are what they eat
Natural dog food is not fancy, and it’s not a fad. It may cost less than what you’re now spending — plus saving you vet bills in the long run. Most important, you’ll be nourishing your animal companions with the basic ingredients for good health.
Health begins with what you eat. Mass-produced pet food is full of chemical additives, grain, soy, corn and other ingredients alien to the natural diets of our now-domesticated animals. Meanwhile, many naturally nutritious elements are refined out.
The pet food you buy is what your dog or cat eats day in and day out. If you were going to live on one thing, wouldn’t you want it to be the best it can be? A $1.99 fast food burger? Or real meat?
When Crunchies Natural Pet Foods owner Julia Brewer began to search for healthy, natural food for her ailing cat Bonkers, she had no easy task. Eventually she found a supplier willing to deliver to her house. Word got around, and Brewer was soon taking orders for natural pet foods.
Selling healthy food out of her living room led to the opening of Crunchies, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Now, Crunchies is trusted by customers who agree that their pets’ health and longevity begin with diet.
Crunchies is also the proud supplier of food for many Maryland police canine units, including the Prince George’s County Police Department and Sheriff’s Department, Maryland Park and Planning Police and Greenbelt Police. That says a lot about the quality of food sold at Crunchies because police dogs need to be healthy, at the proper weight and able to go at a moment’s notice at peak performance 24 hours a day.
At Crunchies, you’ll be guided to good food choices for your pets based on weight, age, preferences and routine. You’re offered free samples to take home for taste-testing. Pets are welcome to shop with you and enjoy free treats.
Crunchies Natural Pet Foods
2421 Crofton Ln., Suite 11, Crofton; 410-721-5432; www.crunchies.com
SPCA of Anne Arundel County
Everyone deserves a forever home
Who makes you more welcome than a loving animal greeting you after a long day at work? When you walk in that doorway and hear little — or big — paws running toward you with the anticipation of a good belly rub, the stress of the day seems to melt away. No matter what, you know that your pet will always be there for you because you share a great love for one another.
Not all animals have loving owners to greet. At the SPCA, dogs, cats, rabbits and other small animals wait for you to give them a forever home.
Bindi, a small Australian shepherd and sheltie mix is still waiting for a family to love. This gorgeous little girl came to the Anne Arundel SPCA in early May at two months old. Paralyzed in both back legs, Bindi needed physical therapy and a way to better get around.
Bindi’s therapy started with swimming, allowing her front legs to strengthen enough to pull a cart that would serve as her back legs. Now Bindi lives with a foster family who takes her to cart fittings as she outgrows her last one. This family cares for Bindi, but she is still seeking a forever family. The SPCA hopes to find Bindi a special home with an open floor plan and ramps so that she can roll around to her heart’s content.
Finding loving forever homes for wonderful animals is a priority at the SPCA — along with so much more. In addition to pet adoption, the SPCA offers affordable vaccinations and spaying and neutering services. Pet owners never have to fear their animal companion will go hungry, as the SPCA has a pet food bank for pet owners who meet income qualifications.
The next monthly vaccination clinic is Saturday, August 20 from 9 to 11am. Spaying and neutering — at just $20 for those who meet income qualifications — are by appointment only. Dog and cat food donations are welcome anytime.
SPCA of Anne Arundel County
1815 Bay Ridge Ave., Annapolis; 410-268-4388; www.aacspca.org
Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital
Quality healthcare with passion
When your animal companion is feeling under the weather, you want a veterinarian you can trust. With so many great vets in the Bay area, how do you choose?
At the Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital, your pet is in the good hands of Dr. Scott Andersen, who has been practicing veterinary medicine in Anne Arundel County for over 35 years and is deeply connected to the community.
Dr. Andersen opened Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital in 2002 as part of the growing community of Gambrills. Dr. Andersen’s clinic donates to community groups and fundraisers, works with the SPCA and animal control and takes pro bono cases involving abused or neglected pets. The hospital was voted 2013’s best veterinary clinic in What’s Up West County.
Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital means more than just business to Dr. Andersen; it means caring for his fellow community members. As manager Katie Boring says, “It’s not a job, it’s a passion.”
Choose Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital as your vet, and you’ll get compassionate healthcare and be an active partner in maintaining your pet’s quality of life.
It’s a hassle: Taking time out of your busy day … fighting to get your pet in the car … then on an exam table — only to wait to be seen by a vet … then, after a short visit, repeat. You want your animal companions to be healthy, so you put up with these trips a few times a year. Some pets hate these trips more than you do.
Why not skip the trip for veterinary care for the comfort of your home?
Since 2003, Mobile Pet Vet has offered full-service, concierge-style veterinary care with more convenience for you and your pet. In home veterinary services include regular vaccinations, laboratory services, senior wellness exams, in-home hospice care, nutrition consultations and well and sick-visits. Amenities unique to Mobile Pet Vet are holistic options such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal therapies. These options may be recommended when traditional therapies have not been effective or as an adjunctive therapy to promote and maintain healthy pets.
With Mobile Pet Vet, veterinary visits are easy on everybody and build positive wellness.
Mobile Pet Vet
410-544-8300; www.mobilepetvet.com
Allied Partners Veterinary Emergency Service
Any emergency, any time
At Allied Partners Veterinary Emergency Service (APVES), we are committed to providing the Southern Maryland community with complete, comprehensive, and above all, compassionate emergency veterinary care. We understand that your pets are family members, and we treat each and every patient as if they were our own.
APVES is a group-owned veterinary emergency service operating at the Mid-Atlantic Animal Specialty Hospital (MASH), providing emergency, critical, and surgical care medicine. The hospital is equipped with an in-house laboratory and on-site high-quality diagnostic imaging. Critical patients are closely monitored by our dedicated technical staff, and when needed, our board-certified surgeons are available on-call for emergency surgeries. We are your veterinarians’ choice for after-hour emergency care, open seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Each patient will have a thorough examination by our emergency-trained clinicians, and a customized treatment plan will be presented for your review and approval. If your pet is hospitalized with us, you can expect frequent updates on its condition. We understand that veterinary medicine can be expensive and often unexpected; we try to work with each and every client to get the best care, while being conscious of cost.
This summer, pay close attention to your pets when outside and watch for signs of heatstroke. Have them drink lots of water and exercise early in the morning or late evening. Never leave an animal in the car, no matter how short a time frame. Remember if it’s too hot for you, it’s too hot for them!
Allied Partners Veterinary Emergency Service
4135 Old Town Rd., Huntingtown;410-414-8250; www.vetmash.com/APVES
Kevertin Pet Resort
Get the yappy hour special
While on vacation, you have to make the tough choice of what to do with your dog. Having your furry friend accompany you is out of the question if you have a pet bigger than a Chihuahua. If you leave your pet at home with a sitter, anything could happen. Keys could be lost, messes could be left for you to pick up when you return, furniture could be broken … it’s a risk.
Boarding is a great option, once you find a boarding facility you trust.
At Kevertin Pet Resort, your worries will be checked at the door. Situated on 30 acres of land on the picturesque Eastern Shore, Kevertin is a dog’s paradise. While staying with Kevertin’s dedicated staff, your pooch is guaranteed to receive all-natural meals, at least one walk a day and several fun outings in the play yards. Social dogs will especially enjoy their time in Kevertin; every day they are treated to a yappy hour where they can let loose chasing a ball or staff.
The wellbeing of your pet is Kevertin’s main concern. Here you can be sure that the next time you are at the beach or on a business trip, your dog will be treated like a VIP: Very Important Pet.
Kevertin Pet Resort
8623 Mullet Branch Rd., Easton; 410-822-8161; www.kevertinpetresort.com
Muddy Creek Animal Hospital
Award-winning service
We all have criteria that must be matched before we give our trust to a business. When it comes to veterinary hospitals, our criteria become very strict. You wouldn’t trust just anyone with the health of your pet. Should they have multiple awards? Be highly accredited? Love animals? Muddy Creek Animal Hospital checks all these boxes — and more.
Owned by doctors Grant Nisson and Glenn Gray, Muddy Creek strives to be the best animal hospital it can be. Dr. Nisson knew he wanted to be a veterinarian from the time he was five years old. After practicing for 30 years, Dr. Nisson is just as passionate as when he was a child. Dr. Gray partnered with Dr. Nisson 10 years ago, doubling the talent and passion for veterinary medicine serving you at Muddy Creek.
As one of the 12 percent of veterinary hospitals accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association, Muddy Creek meets double standards, its own and the association’s. In addition to this accreditation, Muddy Creek has been recognized three times by Bay Weekly readers as the Best of the Bay. The clinic was also voted a finalist Best Veterinarian Hospital by Capital Gazette readers three times and has been recognized for excellence twice in Washingtonian Magazine.
At this award-winning animal hospital, you can count on short wait times, a painless visit and doctors who will make time for you even if they have to stay late. If you cannot make it into the office with your pet, Muddy Creek will come to you.
Whether your pet needs microchipping, a regular wellness exam, surgery or acupuncture, you can trust Muddy Creek.
Muddy Creek Animal Hospital
5558 Muddy Creek Rd., West River; 410-867-0770; www.muddycreekanimalhospital.com
Countryside Kennels
Better amenities than your hotel
Countryside Kennels takes the idea of pampered pooches to a whole new level. With barbecue parties, bedtime treats and televisions in the suites, your dog or cat will be living the sweet life.
Family-owned and operated for 30 years, the luxury boarding and grooming facility gives individual love and care to your pets while you are away. Any boarding facility can feed and house your pet in a cramped kennel for a couple of nights, but at Countryside Kennels you can be sure your animal companion is having a ball … or bone, or catnip.
So what makes Countryside Kennels so special? Aside from the traditional conveniences that boarding and grooming facilities offer, Countryside does everything in its power to make your pet as comfortable as possible. If that means your pooch needs to watch Animal Planet from his toddler-sized racecar bed, then Countryside will make it happen. Will your pet only drink the finest bottled water? That’s no issue. Long petting sessions are offered to ensure your dog or cat — and our staff — get plenty of love. The most envy-inducing feature is the dog bone-shaped pool where Fido can swim during these hot dog days of summer.
Fear not, cat lovers; dogs aren’t the only ones getting spoiled. At the Cattery, a separate section of Countryside Kennels, happy cats doze in their kitty condos. Each condo has a window for optimal sunbathing, much appreciated by our feline friends. More rambunctious cats enjoy 30 minutes of playtime as their condo is cleaned.
Next time you go on vacation, consider Countryside Kennels. Even though you don’t get to enjoy the pool, your pet can.
