Business Spotlight: High-tech pet care comes to La Jolla Village Veterinary Hospital

• BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:

Imagine a cherished pet having access to state-of-the-art medical equipment and professional veterinary assistance. It’s already happening for lucky La Jolla pets at Village Veterinary Hospital.

While owner, Sue Morizi, Ph.D., VMD, has worked as a La Jolla veterinarian since 1989, she opened a purposefully built custom facility in June. The animal hospital’s new digital radiography machine tops the list of all of the modern equipment she said would make a major difference in the quality of pet care.

“It’s like having a digital camera, but I don’t need film or a processor and I receive an immediate X-ray image that can be manipulated (just like on a digital camera) on the computer screen by pressing a button,” Morizi explained. “I can zoom in and rotate the X-ray and send it to a radiologist or surgeon. This is a huge benefit when there’s an emergency with a pet on the treatment table.”

And the treatment table is anything but ordinary. It’s heated, flexible and can be reconfigured into a v-shape if needed. It sports all-new surgical equipment, including an oxygen concentrator, which includes a portable anesthesia machine, as well as a new monitoring machine.

“Our monitor for anesthesia measures blood pressure, EKG, pulse, temperature, oxygen concentration and carbon dioxide,” Morizi said. “These parameters on the monitor are hooked up to be graphed and alarmed, and then a USB is hooked up to the monitor so I can remove the chip and put it into a computer and print out everything being monitored.”

The new facility also has a new suction machine, and a dental machine with an ultrasonic scalar and polisher.

In the new in-house lab, equipment is available to do thyroid, pancreatic and blood testing all within a half-hour.

Village Veterinary Hospital also has a new boarding facility with separate areas for dogs and cats, and an isolation ward with its own ventilation and lighting system, in case a contagious animal comes in.

Furthermore, 15-year veteran groomer, Peg Cuppy, also became a registered veterinary technician. Morizi boasted, “Peg’s still a groomer here, but she works at a veterinary facility at night.”

For pet-owners waiting for their animals in the exam room, Pet TV is available with 140 educational videos with information about medical conditions.

• La Jolla Village Veterinary Hospital, 7527 Draper Ave., La Jolla. Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Early drop-off by appointments 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. (858) 412-4776. villagevetlj.com

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