The Grand Rapids Veterinary Clinic provides urgent care and emergency triage for pet patients in the Grand Rapids, Minnesota area and triage for pet patients experiencing emergencies.
Infectious Diseases
Erika Butler, DVM grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota where her passion for animals, wildlife, and the outdoors became apparent at an early age. She graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2002, with a bachelor's of science in wildlife and fisheries management. Following her advisor’s encouragement, she applied and was accepted to the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Erika took a non-traditional path in her schooling and early career. She focused her veterinary education on wildlife population health and disease detection, surveillance, and management. Following graduation in 2006, Erika worked as the state wildlife veterinarian for both the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR), which provided amazing opportunities to handle a wide array of free-ranging wildlife and participate in ground breaking wildlife disease research. Some of her favorite experiences included collaring moose, caribou, bighorn sheep, deer, and wolves and serving as the primary investigator for the MN DNR’s Moose Mortality Project. In 2014 Erika accepted a veterinarian position at Nor-West Animal Clinic in Fort Frances, Ontario, which is her husband’s, Pete, hometown. There she treated both large and small animals. She also worked with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to help translocate a Lake Superior island population of endangered woodland caribou and assisted them with various wildlife rehabilitation cases. In 2020 Erika and Pete began considering a move back to Minnesota. The lakes and forests surrounding Grand Rapids, coupled with its proximity to their families, sealed the deal for them and Erika joined the Grand Rapids Veterinary Hospital in June of 2020. Erika’s professional interests include infectious diseases and promoting ethical and responsible breeding practices (such as breed appropriate health testing) and she is currently in the process of becoming certified to do PennHip testing. She and Pete are passionate fishermen (both hard and open water) and enjoy bird hunting. They spend much of their free time chasing fins and feathers and can often be found camping on islands on Rainy Lake and lakes north of Grand Rapids. Erika is also a “rock hound” and it is not unusual for her to have a pocket (or trunk) full of rocks or fossils. Their three dogs, Lindy, Lota, and Keeper, join them on nearly every adventure (they even sleep in their own tent!), while their two cats, Winnie and Piglet, patrol the house.
Electrocardiogram
We utilize our complete diagnostic capabilities to identify the problem as quickly and accurately as possible. Electrocardiograms, radiographs, blood profiles, bacteriology and other laboratory tests may be used to reach a diagnosis and develop a prognosis. The resulting treatment, whether medical or surgical, will be based on sound medical principals. Every attempt is made to help pets live long, comfortable and healthy lives.
Immunizations
To maintain the wellness of your pet, we encourage regularly scheduled visits for preventative procedures such as vaccinations, dental care, heartworm test and examination for internal and external parasites. In the event your pet is injured or becomes ill, we have the diagnostic capability of identifying the problem as quickly and accurately as possible.
For cats, an additional routine blood test is recommended in order to check for hyperthyroidism, a common ailment in senior cats. Additionally, depending on your individual pet’s condition and other factors, other tests and assessments might be recommended. These include heartworm tests; feline leukemia/feline immunodeficiency virus test in cats; blood pressure evaluation; urine protein evaluation; cultures; imaging such as x-rays, ultrasound, and echocardiography; and special ophthalmic evaluations, among others. Additional tests become especially important in evaluating senior pets that show signs of sickness or are being prepared for anesthesia and surgery.
Radiology
That’s where pet radiology and digital x-ray come into play. These tools allow our experienced staff to take a look inside your pet’s body to learn exactly what’s happening below the surface. This provides for a more timely and accurate diagnosis, and subsequently a better outcome for your pet.
When it comes to animal surgery, our experienced team is here to answer your questions, discuss your concerns and set your mind at ease. We offer a full range of surgical services, all of which are delivered in our state of the art surgical suite. Most orthopedic and advanced surgical procedures are provided at our Grand Rapids clinic via the board-certified veterinary surgeons from Minnesota Mobile Veterinary Surgery. Drs. Brian and Nate Rose have undergone significant additional training and travel to our clinic as needed. We use the most modern surgical techniques along with the safest, most effective pain relief products to ensure that not only is your companion’s procedure a success, but a positive and stress-free experience for you both.
The first and less common of the two is frostbite. Frostbite happens when an animal's (or a person's) body gets cold and pulls all the blood from the extremities to the center of the body to stay warm. The animal's ears, paws, or tail can get cold enough that ice crystals can form in the tissue and damage it. The tricky thing about frostbite is that it's not immediately obvious. The tissue doesn't show signs of the damage to it for several days. If you suspect your pet may have frostbite, bring her into a warm environment right away. You can soak her extremities in warm water for about 20 minutes to melt the ice crystals and restore circulation. It's important that you don't rub the frostbitten tissue, however--the ice crystals can do a lot of damage to the tissue. Once your pet is warm, wrap her up in some blankets and take her to the veterinarian. Your veterinarian can assess the damage and treat your pet for pain or infection if necessary.