“It is our commitment to provide quality veterinary care for small and large animals.”
That’s the slogan for Head For The Hills Veterinary Health Services, who have clinics in three locations including Carlyle, Redvers and Kipling with three veterinarians, including Dr. Clark Hill, Dr. Christine Ewert Hill and Dr. Rafael Pineda.
Co-owner Dr. Christine Ewert Hill explains what she loves most about the career she chose as a vet:
“Being a veterinarian in a rural community allows me to get to know my patients and their families on a very personal basis. This is one of the things I enjoy most about being a veterinarian.”
“Another part of veterinary medicine that appeals to me is the variety of skills we get to use (doing surgeries, solving medical cases, diagnosing pregnancies, creating herd health protocols, doing diagnostic testing).”
Over the years, Hill has dealt with many animals but one incident stands out in her mind during her time at the Carlyle clinic.
“Not only does our profession allow us a large scope of practice, but as rural practitioners, we also get to work on a variety of species. Most days we spend treating dogs, cats, horses, and cattle, but one of my most memorable days in Carlyle’s clinic involved treating a tiny little guy named Stuart Little. Yup, you guessed it, Stuart was a mouse, and poor little Stuart had a bout of diarrhea that needed some medication to clear up.
“His owner was a sweet young gal about 10 years old. I recall showing her the medication in the small syringe and showing her how she needs to give it to her pet mouse. While I was demonstrating, Stuart bit my finger. Ouch!”
The young girl said, ‘Here, let me try it.’ And Hill remembers doing an eye roll.
“How’s a little kid going to wrangle this mouse into taking his meds if I can’t?”
“Was I wrong! The bond she shared with her little tiny mouse was a powerful thing to witness. She reached towards Stuart and spoke kindly, ‘Come here Stuart. Time to take your medicine.’ He happily walked towards her hand and started licking his meds off the tip of the syringe.”
Hill goes on to say:
“I learned a lot that day about the human/animal bond. It is not limited to large animals. Even Stuart’s tiny little mouse sized brain and mouse sized heart knew the love and trust between his caregiver and himself.”
Veterinarians can offer all kinds of good and helpful advice for our pets.
“If I had advice for pet owners these days, (when so many of us have adopted new pets through COVID) it would be to take the time to attend dog/puppy training classes,” says Hill, who adds, “The skills learned by both owner and pet will make life safer and more fun - plus it’s great to hang out with other like-minded folks and bond with your pet.”
Another of Head For The Hills veterinarians is Dr. Rafael Pineda.
He has spent 20 years as a vet since graduating from his country of origin Colombia but had to redo everything once arriving in Canada, graduating five years ago with his credentials.
Pineda says he had his sights set on being a doctor since he was a young child with his second option as being a vet.
“I think I made the right decision,” he says.
Pineda explains at this time of year people are most concerned with small animals.
“We are probably 60 to 70 per cent small animals and the other 30 to 40 per cent large animals.”
During calving season it gets really busy with cattle, so they are pretty much 24 hours looking after that from mid-February to June.
The Redvers location deals with mostly the large animals and Carlyle is pretty steady with small animals as is Kipling.
Pet owners bring in their animals throughout the year for their shots, etc.
"We vaccinate pets almost every day - the one thing that we see the most - that's kind of a daily thing,” says Pineda.
“We try to encourage people to vaccinate their pets yearly especially because of the exposition to wildlife around such as raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, which are considered reservoirs of rabies virus.”
Pineda has had his fair share of memorable moments including being bitten by some pets but says that just comes with the job.
He’s been kicked by a cow but he does try to be very cautious especially with the large animals.
One incident that sticks out in his mind was a dog that an infection in its spine which may have been from a puncture wound that got infected, or the infection migrated from some other organ.
“The owner really loved his dog,” Pineda recalls. “I was really impressed that he did everything that he needed for the dog.”
“It was fairly expensive because of the type of the lesion and the nature of the disease we had to inject a specific antibiotic which is fairly pricey. A lot of people would have declined that sort of treatment because of the price, but the love of his pet won over.”
A good result was the dog pulled through.
“That's very rewarding as a doctor .... seeing your patients pull through and survive and see the owner is content and happy. We work for animals but we're also working for the owners.”
Dr. Pineda enjoys working with both small and large animals.
"It gives me a wider range ... it's good to be here out in the rural setting getting a break from the clinic and working outside.
“It breaks up the routine working with a variety of animals rather than just the small animals.”
Other than cows and horses, Pineda’s patients included pigs, goats, sheep, chickens and turkeys.
“Sometimes we see the odd different animal such as birds and bearded dragons, which are very popular as pets now.”
For advice or more information, don’t hesitate to contact one of the three locations.
