Scratch This: First veterinary surgery specialty clinic to open in Long Beach

I hope it doesn’t happen, but if your cat eats tinsel this holiday season or your dog breaks away from you and gets injured by a vehicle when some fool sets off fireworks the next time the Dodgers win the Series, you won’t have to sit in traffic for miles on your way to a surgical specialist. On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Stitches Veterinary Surgery will hold its soft opening as the first veterinary surgical specialist in Long Beach.

Stitches is the result of an effort by Courtney A. Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA to provide a necessary service to Long Beach. Campbell is a veterinary surgical specialist and enthusiastic animal-care practitioner who for the past five and a half years was living in Santa Barbara and working as a surgeon in VetSurge, a surgical specialty clinic in Ventura. He’d wanted to open his own practice and saw a need for one when he visited Long Beach.

“The impact I’d like to have on the community is to provide a service that hasn’t been in this area before — the first surgical specialty hospital and the way it can add a level of convenience,” Campbell said. “If you’re in Long Beach and you need specialty care, you typically have to go to Los Angeles or Orange County. And to make that trip, once you look at the traffic, you realize that you can be an hour trying to get care for your pet. And God forbid if they need rechecks and follow-up appointments!”

Campbell grew up in a Connecticut town graced with a lot of woodlands filled with a lot of woodland animals. Those woods planted seeds in Campbell’s spirit that developed into his love for animals and eventual career choice.

“The one phrase you didn’t want to say in my house was, ‘Mom, I’m bored,’ because if you said that, she’d instantly put you to work,” he said. “So to escape and explore, we’d go outside, where there’s an entire wilderness and wildlife. That’s what catalyzed my love for animals.”

Campbell did his undergraduate work at the University of Delaware and finished his veterinary training at Tuskegee University in Oklahoma. He’s been a board-certified veterinary surgeon for 20 years. His research paper dealt with predicting which dogs would have torn ACL tissue and an associated popped kneecap.

“Board certification is different from a regular primary care surgeon,” Campbell said. “Primary care veterinarians are on the front lines, maintaining health: parasite control, vaccines, physical exams, spay/neuter. However, there are cases that require a veterinarian who has additional training, expertise and knowledge of such things as fractured bones, torn ligaments, obstructions in the intestine and big tumors, and that’s what board certification is about.”

Patients will be referred to Stitches by their primary-care veterinarian, and the clinic will work in concert with them. Campbell has already built relationships with veterinarians in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

“I want the bond between the primary vet and me to be ironclad,” Campbell said.

If your pet has an emergency — like the cat and the tinsel — Stitches will see you if it’s during their open hours and will contact your primary-care doctor, but it’s best to call one of the local emergency clinics on this link.

Stitches at this writing is undergoing the final stages of construction. The building, a former paint store and, earlier, a bank, has two levels, which lends itself to Campbell’s idea of an open-concept clinic. The 8,806 square-foot space comprises a ground floor with an intake desk and lobby accessible only from the rear parking lot, four examination rooms where the pets and humans can de-stress, a treatment area and recovery bays, and a long passage that’s used as a gait-examination hallway. Here, the pet parent, as Dr. Campbell calls us folks, walks their buddy down the hallway, and Dr. Campbell takes note of how the pet walks.

“[The gait-examination hallway gives] a good visual of how your pet’s moving, how your pet’s transitioning to standing and sitting and ambulating in general,” Dr. Campbell said. “There’s so much information you can glean from having your pet move from the front to the back to the side — you get to see from how pets with a limp will begin to tire, and you’ll see that limp become even more pronounced.”

The administration, a large conference room for continuing education, break rooms and specialist rooms are on the second floor. Two open rooms await possible additional specialists and the treatment area is visible to staff and pet parents. This, Campbell said, is a trend in veterinary medicine.

“Patrons want to be good stewards of their pets’ medical care, and part of that is to see what’s going on,” Campbell said. “It adds a degree of transparency, openness and relatability, so people can relate to what’s going on.”

Stitches staff includes a receptionist, a doctor’s assistant to make sure clients move smoothly throughout examination and treatment, a surgical assistant, a registered veterinary technician, and a central supply and inventory sterilization assistant for the instruments and tools.

After consultation, a pre-surgical exam and diagnostics such as bloodwork, X-rays, CT scans and biopsies, the staff will use minimally invasive surgery for procedures. This involves placing small windows in the body and using cameras to observe the problem and do what’s necessary to resolve them without doing an open incision.

“It’s the standard of care for humans, and that’s what we should be doing for dogs and cats,” Campbell said.

Postoperative recovery will follow. The patient will stay overnight if necessary, with 24-hour care.

Campbell hopes to provide community projects in the future. He has a long friendship with Lauren Campbell (no relation), the president of Friends of Long Beach Animals, and hopes to work with them to provide discounted services to the rescue community and launch spay/neuter drives.

“Lauren understands that collaboration is key to improving outcomes for animals in need,” Campbell said. “With her backing through FOLBA, I feel energized to establish Stitches Veterinary Surgery as a trusted resource for both veterinary specialists and rescue organizations. Optimistically, with Lauren and FOLBA's support, I hope for a network that not only supports rescue efforts but also enhances the quality of care for all animals.”

A local veterinary surgery clinic at last. A stich — Stitches, actually — in time.

Visit Stitches for their soft opening on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Stitches will work with any insurance provider that uses direct payment and CareCredit. They are located at 2211 N. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach. Hours are Monday–Thursday, 7 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Contact Stitches at 562-579-4899 or info@stitchesvet.com.

Holiday tips to keep your pet out of the clinic

Food toxic to pets are the obvious dangers of the holidays, Dr. Campbell said. Turkey cooling on the stove, chocolates on the coffee table — if something poisonous gets into a pet’s system, it can be tragic.

“Garlic, onions, chocolate, macadamia nuts, grapes, raisins,” Dr. Campbell gave as examples. “None of those are surgical conditions, but they are very important from a holiday standpoint. Toys with batteries can get swallowed, the acidity gets released and can chew through the intestinal wall. Magnets can attract each other on either side of the intestine [and cause damage].”

As for that turkey, a bone can get lodged somewhere in the system, and that may indeed require surgery. If your pet escapes the house because of all the weird little humans yelling for candy and all the visitors coming for holiday visits, they could get lost or, worse, injured by a car.

This holiday season, keep your buddies indoors, in a quiet place, crated if they’re OK with that. (Maybe you can sit outside your front door to hand out treats — might be safer for everyone.) Be sure your pet is wearing an ID collar and has been microchipped — best guarantee ever of a return home.

The ASPCA published a list of foods that are toxic to dogs and cats. If you need an emergency vet, access the link at the end of this column.

Other than that, here’s to a tail-wagging, purringly cozy, face-licking holiday season!

This article has been updated to fix a couple of usage gaffes.

Yours drooly

Lucky 13 is the number of dollars that Long Beach Animal Care Services is asking through Oct. 31, Halloween, for pet adoptions!

Here are a few adorable adoptables, all dressed up and ready to meet you. They hope that their cute ways and tricks will entice you to give them the treat they deserve — forever, loving homes.

Speed the process to adopt or foster any LBACS pet by calling 562-570-4925. Shelter hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 7700 E. Spring St. at the entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors).

Watch out for Potluck (ID#A727370)! He’ll chase you down, catch you and drown you in kisses! Potluck, a year old, strutted into a barbershop one day, and no one in the nearby residential neighborhood claimed him as theirs. So, he went trick-or-treating on Halloween, looking cuter than heck, in the hope that he’d get a loving, forever home in his treat basket.

Potluck is friendly with humans and likes other dogs as well. He seems to have a slight hearing impairment, which shelter staff thinks could be the result of a bungled ear cropping. Nonetheless, like any good spirit, Potluck can sense the approach of a friend. Could it be you? (Video of Potluck by shelter volunteer Ricky Yim.)

If Murdoch (ID#A729136) could fold his forelegs and tap his back foot, he’d complete the look of “Hey! Where’s my treat already?” Murdoch could mean a bully stick or a soft baked biscuit, but he’d like them best in a loving, forever home. Heck, he’d even take the one in the background of the photo if the ghosts inside would take him for walks and give him ectoplasmic scritches on the chin! Murdoch likes mortal humans of all ages, and he’s done well in play groups. Make him your boo!

Here’s Simba (ID#A731032), a 4-year-old Dalmatian who was found wandering the street last week. She’s a nice, sweet doggie, and if her owner isn’t located, she could be yours. Unless you’re Cruella de Vil, of course.

 TAIL-WAGGIN' AND NOSE-BOOPIN' EVENTS

Meowloween returns to Feline Good Social Club for one night!

Wooo! and weow! One more night of furry fury at Feline Good Social Club’s closing Meowloween night! Rush to the kitty lounge before it closes and check out all the purrers in their costumes.

Feline Good Social Club is located at 301 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach. Event runs until 6 p.m., Oct. 31. Access the link to make reservations for the events and see de-tails!

Cool Cat Collective’s Monster Cat Art Show

Not that we need any reminder that cats are strange, but not even Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft — OK, maybe Lovecraft — can show their inner weirdness like the artists at the Monster Cats Art Show. The show runs through Oct. 31, Halloween, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., at the Cool Cat Collective gallery, 2741 E 4th St., C, Long Beach. They’ll be open Nov. 1, so you can likely see the artwork for a little while. While you’re there, check out the concurrent CCLAWS art show, and don’t dare ignore the adoptable rescues from Tipped Ears Rescue. If you’re attracted by all the weirdness, you can have an oddling of your own.

Long Beach TNR and Community Cat Coalition

Do you do TNR (trap/spay-neuter-vaccinate-microchip-release of stray cats) with a passion and want to share resources with and get support from an equally engaged community? Are momcats having kittens in your neighborhood, and are dadcats yowling at them to make more? Are you on your last shred of yarn trying to figure out what you can do? Get some answers at this grassroots meeting, the first in Long Beach to focus on combining forces to humanely stop the birthing of unwanted kittens in the urban wild. Includes demonstrations from rescues, experienced trappers, and LBACS cat coordinator Lindsie Merrick.

The Coalition meeting takes place Saturday, Nov. 9, 1 p.m.–3 p.m. at the Education Center at Long Beach Animal Care Services, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, at the entrance to El Dorado Park. No parking fee for shelter guests.

Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.