CAPSER — The daily work of Wyoming veterinarians goes far beyond treating dogs and cats. They regularly treat rattlesnake bites, dogs eating their owners’ medications and even perform surgery on the sensitive scent glands of skunks.
In addition, there are a number of animal diseases that can cause some veterinarians to have to leave their practice and go to nearby farms.
Veterinarian Ashleigh Evans and her husband Mitchell Blehm are the new owners of Rocky Mountain Animal Hospital at 1551 Centennial Court in Casper and plan to keep their clinic open 24 hours a day, doing more than just on-call.
They are convinced that this can help increase awareness of the popular company founded by veterinarian Jane Mohr.
They already provide emergency care to animals, including around-the-clock surgery.
“One of the things that was really important to me when we bought this was that I really like emergency work and I want to provide that 24/7 option if someone needs an emergency vet,” Evans said. “So the vision for this place is to continue as a (general practice) and continue to provide those emergency services as well.”
Evans said she and Blehm, who runs the business side of the operation, met in Missouri, where she was attending veterinary school at the University of Missouri and he was running a business. She worked at another clinic in Casper but wanted to own her own practice.
Happy Doctor
With the help of Casper real estate agent Jason Lewis, the couple purchased the property from Mohr in July, and Mohr said she “couldn’t be happier.”
“It’s hard to sell a practice that’s been your baby for a long time,” she said. “But I couldn’t be happier with Ashleigh and Mitchell. They have the same vision for the place as I do, and she reminds me a lot of myself. She’s ambitious and a good doctor.”
Mohr said she will continue to work full-time at the facility through next year and then become more of a “snowbird” during the winter months. Her plans include continuing to serve her client base at the clinic well into the future.
When building the veterinary clinic, she designed it to be open, with lots of windows and an interior space that allows a good view of everything, says Mohr.
She also wanted an adventurous, western outdoor atmosphere, including a moose head in the lobby. (No, it’s not a former patient.)
Blehm said that since taking over the business, they have expanded their hours and the goal is soon to be open 24 hours a day.
Evans said to ease the transition, she worked at the clinic a few days a week for a month before the purchase. And her surgical skills were put to use in the operating rooms, intensive care unit and well-equipped pharmacy.
“We pride ourselves on having a large amount of emergency medications and supplies on hand,” Blehm said. “Since we purchased it, I’ve invested about a quarter of a million dollars into the inventory so we can handle more advanced and urgent situations than we have in the past.”
Antidote for rattlesnakes
One of these situations is the bite of a rattlesnake.
The couple said they treated three animals that had been bitten in the past week. Blehm said many veterinary clinics do not stock antivenom because a small vial costs $500.
The clinic and its 12 employees care for an average of 40 to 50 pets per day.
Mohr said when she had the facility built in 2015, she wanted an intensive care unit and an aesthetic that reflected the West while also being an appealing place to work her long hours.
The design allows staff to monitor pets in the intensive care unit from multiple areas of the clinic. The intensive care unit and other areas have oxygen and monitoring equipment.
The clinic has modern X-ray and ultrasound equipment and can examine the animals’ blood for pathogens and other components.
Blehm said they also have isolation capabilities for situations like a puppy infected with canine parvovirus.
Since her arrival, Evans, who says she enjoys performing soft tissue surgery, has successfully removed a 5-pound tumor from a 15-pound dachshund and reconstructed its gastrointestinal tract. Another operation saved a dog that had swallowed a rope toy.
The clinic has a contract with a veterinarian in Colorado who performs specialty orthopedic surgery, although Evans said she also specializes in knee and hip surgeries.
And emergencies occur again and again.
“We’ve had four dogs poisoned by rats in the last two weeks,” Evans said. “They eat rat poison and we try to get them to spit it back out. If they don’t spit it out, their blood gets thinner and if they get even a small cut, they can bleed to death.”
Treatment includes the administration of vitamin K and, in one case, Evans said, a blood transfusion was necessary.
Gummy bears and meth
Their emergency care also included treating animals that had eaten garbage containing meth residue or marijuana gummy bears.
“I have been poisoned by marijuana many times, about 20 in the last two months,” Evans said.
The clinic treats all kinds of non-farm animals, including all kinds of exotic animals, from macaws to guinea pigs, tortoises, raccoons, short-headed gliders and a skunk whose scent glands they removed so its owner could keep it as a pet.
Evans also recently treated a 4.2-meter-long, 45-kilogram python whose owner thought it was suffering from egg binding, with eggs stuck in its body, and X-rays were required.
“We had to wrap the snake in tape every time we moved it because you couldn’t get the whole thing in one go,” Evans said.
Evans, originally from Texas, said she told Blehm after her first few months in Casper that she wasn’t leaving town. That motivated him to look for a clinic for her. The hunting and fishing opportunities and an environment where they could eventually raise a family attracted them both.
For now, they are still available for emergencies, but plan to get to the point where the clinic’s doors will be open 24 hours a day by spring next year.
Blehm said he believes the clinic already has enough clients to fund those hours. People from as far away as Riverton, Buffalo, Glendo and beyond have brought their pets there.
Evans said she thrives in the unexpected situations and “the kind of chaos that comes with them.”
“Any time you get a call at 2 a.m. and can help someone who is in a very stressful situation, it really makes me happy,” she said.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at [email protected].
