The staff at Heartland Veterinary Clinic

Welcome Dr Rotaru!

2010-04-08T12:18:00.006-06:00

We are pleased to introduce Dr Gheorghe Rotaru to Heartland Veterinary Clinic as the practice's new owner. Many of us know Dr. Rotaru (or Uncle Gheorghe as he sometimes prefers) from other veterinary clinics. He also brings Angela with him - a new technician to add to our team.

Dr Rotaru is originally from Romania and he and his wife are both veterinarians. Gabby is the owner of Chestermere Veterinary Clinic. Gheorghe has been a veterinarian in Canada for 6 years, but was trained and originally certified in Romania.

Gheorghe has a passion for dentistry, orthopedics, and giant schnauzers. He has 1 giant schnauzer at home - Moxie, and 3 cats - 2 of whom travelled with the family from Romania.

The newest addition

2010-01-28T10:11:00.002-07:00

Some clients may know that Christina, one of our animal health technicians, was due to go on maternity leave in the middle of January. Well....the new little addition has arrived! Mason Douglas was born in Calgary on Jan 19, 2010, and all the family is doing well.

Congratulations to Christina and her family, and welcome to Mason. Christina would like to thank all the clients who have inquired about her at the clinic and she appreciates all their good wishes.

Goodbye Nikki...

2009-12-17T11:25:00.006-07:00

Every client has a unique story and a special place in our hearts, but Deanna and Mike recently showed us that Heartland has a place in their hearts too.

Their lab Nikki dealt with various chronic diseases through her life, but then over a few months took a turn for the worse. Through the 7 years we've known Nikki, her enthusiasm and joy of life never ceased to put a smile on our faces. Recently Deanna and Mike decided it was time to let her go and we all knew that their lives would never be the same again.

Yesterday at our weekly client service meeting, Mike and Deanna came by to express their thanks for all we've done for Nikki and the rest of their furry family, and brought us this gorgeous cake with a cute little "Nikki" on top made of edible fondant. (Don't worry, we haven't eaten her!)

Summer Staff Party 2009

2009-09-16T15:48:00.009-06:00

Well, as always, a get together of Heartland staff was an awesome time. Everyone was able to come, and we all gathered at our office manager's office - thanks Tammie and Jeff!!! Games were played, food was eaten, hot-tubbing was done, and a great time was had by all.

Everyone gathered in Tammie & Jeff's house to eat some great food, including cat litter!!! The cat litter dessert is real food - a cake with some crushed cookies on top, completed with cat poo (melted Tootsie Roll Pops).

We had an obstacle course to be completed by two teams made up of staff members and their family. The first event was to stand far away from a tiny cup (maybe a couple ounces big) and fill it with a water gun. I think most were glad to get that one out of the way first!

Various event were hula hooping, catching a ball in a toilet plunger and going down the playground slide with it, and shooting nerf-style balls into circles across the field. There were plenty of water-related events, including the first and second prizes which were coolers filled with water balloons. No-one came out of the events dry!!!

It's safe to say that everyone had a fantastic time enjoying some friendly competition and spending some

The Ride to Conquer Cancer

2009-07-04T15:45:00.002-06:00

This past weekend, Kim and Christina participated in a 2-day, 200km bike ride to raise funds for the Alberta Cancer Foundation. An amazing 1,742 riders took part and raised $6.9 million!!!

Even though Kim and Christina were only able to participate for the first day due to previous injuries, they had a great time riding and bonding.

For more photos and video visit www.conquercancer.ca.

Photos to come....

Girl Guide Tour

2009-04-01T15:08:00.009-06:00

On Monday March 30, Vicky, Erica, Meagen and Christina stayed after hours to host a Girl Guide troop at the clinic. The girls had decided that to earn their Pet Lover Badge, they would like to visit a veterinary clinic, and since Vicky's daughter Chelsia is in the troop we were a natural choice.

The group was very eager and listened well as we gave them a tour of the clinic, demonstrated a full physical exam on two staff pets, during which every girl was able to interact by looking into both pets' mouths, as well as listening to the difference between a cat's and dog's heartrate. The troop learned about the benefits of advanced technology in their pet's care as we compared traditional x-rays to our new digital x-ray system, and explained our laser surgical system. We also demonstrated tooth brushing and discussed the Hills T/D diet as part of our current promotion of dental care.

We thoroughly enjoyed having these young ladies in our practice, as they were attentive and full of excellent questions.

We encourage any clients (or potential clients) to ask us lots of questions about our clinic and the different services we offer. We are all proud to work at Heartland Veterinary Clinic and are more than pleased to tour anyone through the clinic and take the time to answer questions. No matter how silly you may think your questions are, they indicate a valid concern you have and we want you to have all the information you need to provide your pet with a healthy and happy life.

***Many thank-you's to Vicky for organizing this event on Heartland's end, as well as Christina, Meagen, and Erica for staying to help. In addition we thank some of the girls' mothers who filled the role of chaffeur from Calgary to Aidrie. But mostly, we can't forget to thank the pets who "volunteered" to help - Christina's 'Zoey' and 'Smudge', and Erica's 'Ruddy' who stole every girl's heart!***

Goodbye Amanda!

2009-03-21T12:40:00.010-06:00

Amanda is a tech student who just completed her program back home in Ontario. With family in Airdrie, she decided to apply to us in order to complete her externship part of the program. We've enjoyed having her with us for the past weeks as she gains practical experience and puts her book learning to use! Amanda has been a great asset and we wish her well in all her future endeavours!

The going-away cake needs some explanation...when Amanda introduced herself several weeks ago, she let us know that she grew up on a beef farm. One of our staff heard this comment and thought she had said "bee farm"!!! There was some initial confusion, but now it's a running joke here.

Good luck in your new career Amanda...stay away from those bees!

Dental Time at Heartland

2009-03-20T15:44:00.012-06:00

Here at Heartland we're fully into our dental quarter, sponsored by Hills, whose food we carry and stock regularly. Erica kindly brought her puppy, Ruddy, in to teach all pets how to brush their teeth.

Getting ready to brush...am I doing it right mom?

Let's start with incisors....don't forget the back teeth...

All the way in the back! Bottom teeth too...

I think I'm all done...see all my clean teeth!

We have a demo of how Hills T/D works to keep teeth cleaning with chewing action, as well as a poster describing how we grade dental tartar.

It's important to keep tartar off teeth, because the rough surface of tartar will accumulate more plaque and bacteria, robbing your pet of his pearly white smile and fresh breath. Gingivitis can come with tartar or be a problem independant of visible plaque and tartar on the teeth. Gingivitis means that there is bacteria under the gumline irritating it, and causing potential damage to the tooth underneath.

If you have questions about your pet's dental health, please give us a call so we can help you help your little one!

The Ride to Conquer Cancer

2009-02-13T17:15:00.004-07:00

Many of us have had experiences with cancer, whether personally or watching a friend or family member deal with it. Meagen, Kim and Christina all work at Heartland and have formed a team to participate in the Ride to Conquer Cancer - a bike ride that covers 200 kilometres on June 27-28. As the Aidrie Amazons, they have pledged to raise $7500 to benefit the Alberta Cancer Foundation and every little bit helps.

The Alberta Cancer Foundation supports research to discover how and why cancer happens and what we can do about it.

If you wish to participate in this event as a rider or volunteer, or would like to give to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, please visit http://www.conquercancer.ca/.

While you're there, check out the Airdrie Amazons' page at http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Alberta2009?pg=team&fr_id=1282&team_id=13820.

Snowmen of the World, UNITE!

2008-12-13T10:10:00.004-07:00

This being the winter season, we at work started talking about winter traditions. It turns out that one of our staff has a problem with snowmen...SNOWMEN of all things!!! Cindy is one of the techs here and has a serious issue with the frigid fellows. As she says, "the song says button nose people, not carrot nose". So we decided to have a little fun with her...

The sign says "Snowmen of the world UNITE...against Cindy!" and as you can tell, he has a snowball all ready to go.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-17T08:58:00.016-07:00

This Halloween, we all decided to dress up...but what could we wear that would allow us to do our jobs, not scare the pets, and still have fun??? Well, I think we rose to that challenge very nicely!!!

Dr. Prince and Sue as Indiana Jones and his girfriend Marion. Dr. Prince had a couple rubber snakes and even an Indy Jones whip!!! Miss Muffett - Vicky, Vampire - Tammie, Vampire - Christina, Clown - Cindy, Princess - Erica, Tooth Fairy - Kim.

Wedding News

2008-07-24T07:34:00.002-06:00

On July 22, 2008, two families and many friends celebrated as Erica (one of our technicians) was married to her fiance Jay. The following day was the reception and a good time was had by all!

We all wish Erica and Jay our best wishes for their new life together.

Photos to come....

Summer Staff Party

2008-07-12T10:41:00.022-06:00

Even though we all have fun working together, the staff at Heartland are constantly getting together outside of work - dinners, wing nights, etc. This past weekend was our summer staff party, held at Erica's house. Not only were current staff there, but so was Amy, one of our technicians who will be returning from maternity leave in a couple weeks.

From the top, we are:

Amy, her husband James, and their son Sean
Our lovely hostess Erica
Brandon and Meagen rocking Rock Band
Brandon's wife Tamsin
Brandon and Zach (Vicky's son) rockin' out!
Chelsia (Vicky's daughter) and her friend Jessica
Our vet student Leonie - good luck in 2nd year at Saskatoon!
The patriarch, Dr. Prince
Tammie and her husband Jeff
Christina's legs and her son Michael

A Vet in the Making...

2008-07-08T19:44:00.005-06:00

Today, all of us at Heartland were excited to see Paul back from his trip to Guelph in Ontario. This past week, he was recalled to the Vet College in Guelph for an interview. The College only interviews those applicants it thinks may be accepted to the school.

Today, Paul got confirmation that he has been accepted to the Ontario Veterinary College!!! He will be staying with us until he leaves for the fall semester to start his new adventure.

CONGRATULATIONS PAUL, AND GOOD LUCK!!!

2008-05-31T08:40:00.003-06:00

WELCOME DR. CLIFFORD!!!

Dr Clifford comes to us with many years of experience and a great enthusiasm. He enjoys practicing veterinary medicine, and has a special love for orthepedic surgery.

Having an associate veterinarian means that our services can be even better. For example, we've always been open for food sales Wednesday and Thursday evenings, but now we can offer appointments later those evenings as well.

Please help us welcome Dr. Clifford to Airdrie and Heartland Veterinary Clinic.

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You may notice that our look has changed. We've gone from our denim blue shirts and khaki pants, to a cream shirt and navy blue pants. Hopefully you like and enjoy the new look!

Happy 50th Cathy!!

2008-03-27T18:14:00.007-06:00

You may never meet Cathy as she works behind the scenes at Heartland as our accountant, but that doesn't mean that she's not part of our team. And when one of our team has a birthday, we enjoy sharing it with them! We giftwrapped Cathy's car for her...

"How am I supposed to drive with all these balloons?!?!"

Staff Training

2008-03-02T09:12:00.008-07:00

At Heartland, we're always looking for better ways to serve our clients and patients. When we updated to the newest version of our veterinary software, we realized that there were some applications that we needed to be trained on, in order to use the software to its fullest extent. On Wed Feb 27, Christa came from Chicago, braving a blizzard and high winds to come teach us!!!

Lunchtime is always a good opportunity to get some candid shots!

Goodbye our friends...

2008-02-25T16:04:00.016-07:00

The day after something big is always a let down, an anticlimax, none more so than Valentine's Day 2008. February 15th was the last day of work for two of the Heartland Family. Our send off included pizzas with our heartfelt sentiments for them both.

Kathy & Jesce are both moving on. Kathy to Ontario and Jesce to Fort McMurray. They have both been excellent co-workers and we wish them the best in the future and hope they keep in touch.

The New Fashion in Casts

2008-01-21T20:06:00.001-07:00

From the couture house of Heartland comes a new line of very stylish and chic, yet playful "cast-wear". Breaking a leg may be painful, but your wardrobe doesn't have to be!!!

Shopping at Heartland

2008-01-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

Our pet boutique has been turned into a fourth exam room. Having things on sale was just too much for one client, as her pet got a new wardrobe!

Christmas Party

2007-11-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well, Christmas is getting ever closer and the staff at Heartland and their families started off the season with a bang! We had our Christmas Party at the Airdrie East Lake Recreation Centre - and it was a great time. Swapping gifts, playing volleyball, swimming in the pool, and watching Christmas movies.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-27T21:32:00.000-06:00

As Halloween quickly approaches, we've been starting to see some pretty funny and creative pet costumes. One that really caught our eye is Lemon (she lives in NYC with Sue's sister Pam). She's one Hot Dog and wishes you all a Happy Halloween! She also wants to remind all pet owners to keep pets away from chocolate during the holidays!