How old is your hospital and barn?
There are many stories about our lovely historic cape and barn. We,
thankfully, were able to keep all of the historic beams exposed
as we did our conversion. It is really a New England treasure!
Estimated age of the oldest part of the Cape Cod is 1781 based
on historic records. The barn was built in the Queen Anne style
and was raised sometime in the 1800's. It, too, is a joy to own.
Why
do you use Sevoflurane anesthesia?
This is the safest anesthetic gas made and it allows very safe
anesthesia and quick recovery for even our most critical patients.
This is the
same anesthetic gas available for use in human medicine.
Why
does one of your dogs have only three legs?
Our beloved Susie used to live in Florida with
a very nice sheltie breeder, thirteen other shelties and a German
Shepherd.
One day, something snapped in the German Shepherd and, even though
they had lived together all their lives, the Shepherd suddenly
attacked Susie, destroying her leg and attacking her throat.
After
the leg
amputation surgery was performed by Dr. Richter, we fell in love
with sweet Susie and the sheltie breeder gave her and Susie's
mother, Ginger, to our family. Susie gets around great, even
in the snow
and ice, and we adore her and Ginger!
Did
you work at Busch Gardens in Florida?
During my training at the University of Florida's College of
Veterinary Medicine, I had many exciting opportunities to learn
in interesting
places. At Busch Gardens, I really enjoyed working with the
Giant Tortoises from the Galapagos Islands. The breeding colony
there
is full of sweet and affectionate (and huge) tortoises, many
of whom
are over 100 years old. Such fun!
Why
is laser surgery less painful for my pet?
This is "cutting edge" technology ... pardon the pun!
With a beam of laser energy, the blood vessels and nerves are
sealed immediately.
The sealing of the nerves makes recovery much less painful,
and the surgery is virtually bloodless.
What
is a bair-hugger and does it hurt?
We are thrilled to have a bair-hugger around the vet hospital.
It is a pediatric (human) medicine patient warming system
that surrounds
a pet in a blanket of warm air. The surgery patient is
kept toasty warm during surgery and recovery no matter what our
New England
weather may be like outside!
How
many pets do you have ... really?
That is a classified secret, of course! But, just know
there is a saying in the Richter family... if it is in
our house
for 20
minutes
and we have given it a name, it is gonna be there for
life! Currently, we have our two lovely old shelties, Ginger
and Susie, and our young sheltie Peaches, plus lots of
chickens including our rooster chicken Nugget, who thinks he's
a cat. Who knows about next week?
Did
a cougar fall in love with you at the U. of Florida?
You never know who you will be caring for in Gator country.
I had the pleasure, during training in the wildlife
department, to help
in the care of a cougar. Strangely enough, she took
a liking to me and any time I would come into the room,
she would
get up and
come
as close as she could to the cage and purr loudly.
It was really fun to hear a big cat show affection like
our little
fuzzy
kitties
do!
