Dr. Lena Van Horn demonstrates surgery on a stuffed animal at Signal Mountain Veterinary Clinic’s recent open house.Dr. Lena Van Horn has taken over Signal Mountain Veterinary Clinic, where she had previously worked under Dr. W.W. Ford.
Ford originally opened the practice in 1962 after working at a clinic across the street for several years prior, Van Horn said.
As one of her first orders of business as the new head, Van Horn invited the community to the clinic for an April 16 open house where she and members of her staff explained surgery using stuffed animals and showed off new X-ray equipment.
“It helps us to better diagnose in-house without having to send tests to an outside lab,” she said of the new equipment.
Staff also demonstrated proper dental hygiene techniques for pets and talked about how to prevent heartworms, which can become an issue this time of year for pets whose heartworm prevention treatments were stopped during the colder months, as many pet parents believe – inaccurately, Van Horn said – that treatment is unnecessary when mosquitoes aren’t as prevalent.