How do we even begin to describe such a momentous day for our hospital?
Do we start with the fact so many of our employees come to work, for free, on their day off? Do we start with the first patient who got their completely free neuter? Do we start with the reason for the day, Ford Petersen, whose family came to our hospital and provided a free lunch for everyone?
I think that's as good of a place to start as any.
Ford Petersen was a coworker of ours, and often described as "a teddy bear" by those that knew him. To really illustrate that point, one of the photos we share of him is this one, where Ford is wearing scrubs that our hospital administrator, Josh, bought him because they reminded him of Ford. (By the way, if you look closely they are actually monkeys, Josh couldn't find teddy bear scrubs but he felt these were close enough!)
Ford passed just a short while after this photo was taken due to an underlying heart condition in 2013. At the time, he was applying to vet school.
He would have made a pretty amazing veterinarian.
A few weeks later, to honor his memory, we started the first Ford Petersen Spay Day, a day where 50 pets could get spayed or neutered, in memory of Ford.
Ford and his friends had coined the term "Flo" to mean "Forever Live On" as they lived life to the fullest. After he passed, his family adopted the term to mean "Ford Lives On," and we use that as the defining motto for the day.
As of today, almost 500 pets have been spayed or neutered in Ford's memory. And we have just celebrated our 10th Ford Petersen Spay Day.
February 23rd, 2025.
5:30 a.m. The day started, of course, at Denny's (where else??) for our traditional meal to build some excitement for the day!
6:50 a.m. Our staff has started to arrive. At this time we usually do a huddle, and Dr. Wheaton shares the reason for this day for our newer staff members who did not get to know Ford at the time he was with us.
"I was just reflecting on what was special about Ford. He was just such a joyful person and he really brought the joy to the animal hospital and to the people he knew. People describe him as a gentle giant, teddy bear, just the sweetest guy, but I think more importantly was his joy... that's something that we can all be inspired by." -Dr. Wheaton
One fact about Ford, is he always wore "Fresh Socks," (meaning, cool socks). We have carried on the tradition as a hospital by having "Fresh Sock Friday" where we wear our own cool socks.
This year so our team got their own socks for Spay Day! Customized with #Flo25
7:00 a.m. Doors open and our first patients are brought back!
This is our receptionist, Rita, with our patient, "Frenchie." (yes, he's a frenchie named frenchie! His parent found him wandering on the streets and after trying for months to locate his owner, he finally ended up adopting him.)
Each spay or neuter came with a comprehensive exam by a veterinarian, and additional services were provided at reduced cost like microchipping, vaccines, etc.
8:00 a.m. Many of our patients were getting prepared for their procedures.
This is Gunner, an 88 pound lab who immediately became known as the drooler, hence his towel under his chin as our team worked on getting his blood work!
8:21 a.m. The first neuter of the day has started with Dr. Vogel!
For our 10th Ford Petersen Spay Day, we had 9 doctors come to help out! They did so much more than even spaying and neutering. Doctors who were not actively in surgery did exams, helped wake up patients, prep patients for surgery, and help out where needed on the treatment floor.
Most of our doctors did between 5 and 7 spays and neuters throughout the day, tagging each other out. The team work has never been stronger!
8:30 am. The first wave of pets have all been checked in. The second wave starts at 9 am. The reception team has been preparing all week for this day going through paperwork, inputting all the information to our system and preparing our patient's cage cards and collars to make sure checkin was as seamless as possible!
This is the first time many of these pet parents have ever even been to our hospital, and leaving your pets with strangers, especially for surgery, can be so scary. The reception team is the first face that our clients and patients see in the day. No matter how early, this group of people are so welcoming and friendly, and they really shined yesterday.
We are so lucky to have such a dedicated team who could ease many pet parents' worries and help our patients feel more calm before they even set a paw in our treatment area.
8:45 a.m. The first patients are waking up from surgery!
We just wanted to take this time to illustrate the importance of having your pet spayed or neutered.
Spaying and neutering your pet can prevent:
unwanted litters
health complications
behavioral issues
An intact female dog can get pyometra (an infection of the uterus) and are up to 25% higher risk of developing malignant mammary tumors.
Intact male dogs are prone to prostatic hypertrophy (in other words, enlargement), prostatitis (prostate infection) and perianal tumors, not to mention the additional behavioral challenges.
10:00 a.m. The Petersens have come by with a Panera Bread lunch for the team! They also brought mountains of home made cookies and chips. Dr. Wheaton was able to chat with them for a while and exchange stories. It's no wonder Ford was such an amazing person worth putting a day like Spay Day together for; his entire family all embody such a gracious and loving energy. We are so thankful that for four summers, we were able to get to know their son.
11:30 The first patient gets to go home! We like to keep patients for a time after surgery so we can monitor them as they come out of anesthesia.
From this time on, our team was in a "Flo" state, navigating from one spay and neuter to the other, checking in patients, doing exams, waking up patients, sending patients home, checking meds, scrubbing instruments, calling pet parents. 50 spays and neuters in our hospital is a lot to coordinate, and takes immense effort to make happen.
We are going to take this time to thank our office manager, Tim and hospital administrator, Josh for putting in so much effort prior to and on this day to make it happen.
7:15 pm. Our day has come to an end. Our last patient has gone home, safe and sound. Our team is absolutely exhausted. The hospital is cleaned.
50 spays and neuters were able to happen completely for free. Countless litters were prevented.
One of the most important things that pet parents can do is have their pet spayed or neutered to prevent pet overpopulation. The situation is dire now for shelters all across the country. Please consider spaying or neutering your pet. Today is International World Spay Day, and we hope to spread awareness of these issues through our spay day!
We are so happy to play a small part in making a future where less pets end up in shelters, and we are thankful to have had a chance to know Ford.
It was all so, so worth it.
Ford Lives On.
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