There is still time to donate to our annual Holiday Pet Food Drive to help needy dogs and cats in our community. A great many dogs and cats will need food and warmth this winter, so please donate to help them! Animal Hospital of North Asheville will match the first 2,000 pounds of food donated, so bring those bags and cans in. Donations will be distributed to Asheville Humane Society (which now includes Animal Compassion Network), Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, and Meals on Wheels Pet Food Program. Drop any canned or dry pet food, blankets, pet toys and/or monetary donations off at Animal Hospital of North Asheville during normal business hours before January 1st. Click Here to learn more about how you can help.

We will be observing the following holiday hours:

• Thursday, December 24th 7:30AM - Noon
• Friday, December 25th Closed
• Saturday, December 26th 8:00AM - 5:00PM (no change in regular hours)
• Sunday, December 27th Urgent Care: Arrive at 4:00 PM (no change)
• Thursday, December 31st 7:30AM - 5:00PM
• Friday, January 1st Closed
• Saturday, January 2nd 8:00AM - 5:00PM (no change in regular hours)
• Sunday, January 3rd Urgent Care: Arrive at 4:00PM (no change)

We are not having our free behavior classes in December due to the pet food drive and the holidays.

No Puppy Preschool on Dec 24th or Dec 31st

By Dr. Amy Plankenhorn

Meet sweet Apollo, a big, beautiful 5 ½ year old bundle of Labrador Retriever energy. We first met Apollo in July, 2015, when he saw Dr. Amylisa Parker with a complaint of coughing. During her complete physical examination, Dr. Parker discovered that all of Apollo's external lymph nodes were enlarged. She aspirated some cells from one of the lymph nodes, and sent the cells on a slide to the pathology lab. She also took chest x-rays and performed a complete blood count and chemistry profile to assess Apollo's general health. Unfortunately, Apollo's report from the pathologist came back confirming that he had a type of cancer called lymphosarcoma, also known as lymphoma. Fortunately for Apollo and his family, Dr. Parker explained that we can often get lymphoma into remission with chemotherapy and thus make Apollo's remaining life longer and a time that he feels good. Click Here to read the rest of Apollo's story.

If you have a cat, you don't need us to tell you how challenging it can be to keep your cat out of restricted areas of the house. Cats are curious little animals. So, even though you have set up a nice little perimeter around the Christmas tree to keep small creatures out, cats have a way of squeezing their bodies through anyway -- or leaping over the obstacles. What can be done, short of hanging the tree from the ceiling?

Please click the photo below to enjoy this video of our staff and patients enjoying the holiday season! Most of these photos were taken by our staff during our Free Holiday Photo of Your Pet for a Pet Food Donation Night on December 8th.

AHNA wants to give two amazing young people our most sincere thanks for their extraordinary generosity. Selfless and caring sisters Lindsey, age 10, and Lauren, age 12, both asked for donations of pet food instead of birthday gifts for themselves! They carefully stored the donations until our pet food drive began and are thrilled that the food will benefit three organizations that work to help needy pets. This is Lindsey's second year donating her birthday gifts and now Lauren has joined her, which means that many more hungry pets will be helped! Lauren and Lindsey are seen in this picture together this year with their donations.

Click Here to read more about these sisters and to read about Lindsey's donations last year.

Once again, the staff members of Animal Hospital of North Asheville have provided Christmas presents for several of Buncombe County's foster children. Everyone here at Animal Hospital of North Asheville really enjoys being able to make the holidays brighter for these deserving children!

Each year, Cathy, our Client Care Team Supervisor, contacts Buncombe County Foster Care Association and gets the names, ages, and sizes of each child and a list of gifts that the children need or want. Cathy puts all the gift requests on cards and our staff members take the cards, buy gifts, and wrap them for the children.

All of us at Animal Hospital of North Asheville are thrilled that Tails at Twilight-Taste of Compassion raised over $100,000 to help needy pets in our community. We feel fortunate to have an organization such as Asheville Humane Society caring for the needy pets of our community, so we feel honored to be a sponsor for this great event. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make it spectacular and to everyone who came out to help the animals! Click Here to see pictures from the event and to read more!

Have your furry friends filled out their holiday wish lists yet? Are you looking for that purrfect gift to give your four legged friend? We have some great ideas for you! With the help of our recommended certified pet trainers and our staff, we have compiled a few new items to add to our comprehensive gift guide for this holiday season.

If you are happy with the care and service you and your pet have received at Animal Hospital of North Asheville, we would greatly appreciate your taking a few minutes to write a review online.

We have made it easy for you to review us on Google - just Click Here for easy instructions - and thank you!