Welcome to the Shor-Line Blog!

Shor-Line cages are vital components to many animal care businesses. Our talented American craftspeople have been making these stainless steel beauties in our Kansas City manufacturing plant for decades. Now, you can purchase any of these stainless steel cages or their accessories for a great sale price...there are hundreds of options on sale!!

Why do people like Shor-Line cages so much? Here are 8 reasons--one for every decade Shor-Line has been in business.

1. Premium craftsmanship goes into every cage. Our workers hand-weld and inspect EVERY cage so you receive the durability you expect from Shor-Line.

2. Strength is built in. Every cage has a 1"-square stainless steel tube frame.

3. Doors receive additional welds. We use computer-controlled welding at every intersection of the door because we know your pet clients can be hard on doors.

4. Rounded corners for easy cleaning. We create rounded corners to help you clean more easily, making a better environment for the pet.

5. Double cages build in versatility. Our Double Door (DD) cage latch assembly lets you house larger dogs or insert a divider for two smaller animals. You can remove the divider to slide in dogs following surgery. One cage has many uses.

6. Continuous innovation. The tighter spacing on the first five vertical cage rods on our small and mid-size cages help keep small paws from getting caught, which means we all worry less. This is just one example of our continuous improvement!

7. Low stress, quieting options. All Shor-Line stainless steel cages come with sound-dampening patches. We also worked with University researchers to develop a Silent Latch Mechanism that is available as an option on new or existing cages.

8. Durability you can depend on. Our craftspeople in Kansas City are so attentive to details and extremely high-quality work that Shor-Line cages last for decades. Pair that with our high-quality stainless steel and you have an investment you can pass down.

GREAT SALE OPPORTUNITY:

Our cages rarely go on sale. Take advantage of this sale that includes ALL stainless steel cages and cage accessories. If you would like to download a copy of the sales flyer, do so here.

Don't forget, this sale only runs through June 30, 2015 and it is in the U.S. only. Any taxes and/or shipping charges are additional.

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Beautiful, durable Shor-Line cages have been a mainstay in animal care for decades but our creative customers are finding new uses for them every day.

Because we believe our cages are so versatile that you can always use another cage bank, we are putting all cages and accessories on sale (U.S. only) through June 30, 2016! Here are some ways cages can help:

1. Mobile recovery care. Especially for small practices, there will be times when someone needs to cover the front desk or chart in the office as well as keep an eye on a recovering patient. A mobile cage can provide flexibility.

2. Play breaks for Daycare. Although many dog daycares advertise "cage free," we have worked with many who have found that having cages for break time actually improves the pets' experience. The dogs have a place to rest, nap and regroup before going back out  with friends. One daycare provider reported the breaks reduced the need for "timeouts" and the overall atmosphere improved.

3. Housing for Exotics. There will be times when you need to take in rabbits, guinea pigs or other exotics. The mobile 4' cage bank gives them a secure home away from home...you roll it to the best place for the exotic pets to rest! 

4. Felines with Upper Respiratory Infections. Keeping cats isolated from the general population is a key component for controlling disease. An Isolation Cage with a tempered glass door provides the cat's needs. Don't forget to have staff clean that room and cage last to avoid cross contamination.

5. O2 cage. With pets living longer and chronic disease treatments improving, senior pets may need short-term oxygen support. You can convert most Shor-Line cages into O2 cages with an oxygen door. (Some earlier cage models will need a conversion kit.) Pair the door with an oxygen concentrator, and you can improve the quality of the pet's life without uncomfortable O2 masks.

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We know Shor-Line equipment is an investment for our customers, so we travel the country to help as many people as possible see and feel our quality for themselves at trade shows. Check on our listings on the Shor-Line home page.

We are partnering with Barkleigh to give our customers FREE passes to attend the Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo West 2015, May 6-7 in Burbank, Calif., and Intergroom, June 6-8 in Sommerset, N.J. 

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The first show, Expo West, will showcase our latest boarding options, including the NEW luxury Barkolyn Boudoir Dutch Door Kennel™. Click on the link here to request your FREE 

 

The second show, Intergroom, will host several nationally recognized grooming competitions as well as the latest in education and products. Click on the link here to request your FREE passes, good for three people.

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Come to a show and see all that Shor-Line has to offer...and inspire yourself with new ideas! Passes are good for one day, your choice of day. The links also have information about the activities at each show. Remember to order your passes early because we need your submissions by April 30, 2015 for Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo West and May 20, 2015 for Intergroom.

Don't forget to request your passes early because we are mailing them out!

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The HSUS Animal Care Expo returns to New Orleans this week. It will recognize the 10^th anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, which also became the largest animal rescue operation in U.S. history.

Hurricane Katrina goes down as the third deadliest U.S. disaster, claiming 1,836 lives and doing $110 billion in damage.  For pet lovers around the world, the heart-breaking stories of people being forced to leave their beloved pets behind mobilized the animal care community.

.(photo credit: GRIID.org)

But for every rescued pet, there were 8-9 who did not survive.  

“The single most compelling fact for emergency managers to learn from Katrina was that approximately 44% of people who did not evacuate for Hurricane Katrina stayed, at least in part, because they did not want to leave their pets,” the Fritz Institute reported in 2006. 

PETS Act of 2006

This brings us to the second set of heroes—those who helped pass the Pet Evacuation & Transport Standards (PETS) Act in 2006 so that never again will people be forced to decide between their animals and their safety.

Although the PETS Act was intended to protect humans, it had a surprising effect. In a study conducted post Hurricane Ike (Texas 2008) found that some evacuees left because they wanted to get their pets to safety.

There continues to be work to be done to help people understand they can take their pets with them if they need to evacuate. Great progress has been made in creating plans to evacuate people with their pets and identify facilities to handle the influx. And, work to help displaced animals continues.

The animal care community can take a bow for its world-leading efforts in championing the human-animal bond in disasters. The work HSUS and committed animal professionals have done has changed the fate of not just animals in the U.S. but around the world.

Shor-Line at HSUS

At Shor-Line we are proud to be part of the animal care community. Check out the Shor-Line Booth at HSUS. We also have donated one of our newest innovations, the Kat Play-Around™, for the HSUS raffle. It provides multi-cat housing that keeps groups together in a kennel that lets cats be cats.

It is just one of many products Shor-Line has developed to help the shelter community improve the lives of companion animals. See ya at the show!!

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Color sends people messages hundreds of times each day, including the moment they walk up to your facility. Color can make us happy one minute and anxious the next.

“People make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial reactions with either people or products. About 62-90 percent of the assessment is based on colors alone,” reported Satyendra Singh of the University of Winnipeg in her research. 

How does color choice influence your customers? You actually have two audiences—the pets and their pet parents. In a perfect world, both would like the color choices.

What dogs see

For years the book on dogs and cats was that they only saw in black and white. Research has now determined that dogs do see some color.

Both humans and dogs have special light catching cells called cones inside their eyes. These cones respond to color. However, dogs only have two types of cones while humans have three. Researchers believe this is why dogs see much like a color-blind person—able to see some color but not the whole spectrum.

Jay Neitz at the University of California, Santa Barbara, tested the color vision of dogs and found that they see a spectrum of green, yellow, blue and gray. An article in Psychology Today by Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C., suggests a dog’s vision spectrum is like the chart below.  

Veterinary Vision, Inc., in San Francisco is a group of veterinary ophthalmologists. The practice’s website shared research on what dogs see. “Behavior tests in dogs suggest that they can distinguish red and blue colors but often confuse green and red,” an article on the website reports. 

So, if pet parents wonder why their dog can’t find the red ball in the green lawn, color might be the issue. A blue ball would be better.

What Resonates with Pet Parents

Singh predicted that the blue would dominate design the first decade of the 21^st century with complementary colors gray, taupe, aqua and pale brown providing accents. Fortunately for the companion animal world, these trends fall nicely in line with what animals prefer as well.

An American Express Open Forum article shared current research on what messages color sends about your business. This Shor-Line cat condo shows how you can send several messages with pops of color. The clean white interior shows you value cleanliness. The pop of blue and green are trustworthy and down to earth. The gray anchors the condo with a stable, calming presence.

You don’t have to bathe your business in color to create an emotional connection. In an article in Entrepreneur magazine, Jane Porter explained that subtle uses of color can evoke memories. In dog daycare and boarding facilities, a beach theme is common because pet owners want to think of their pet having a vacation just like they are having. Blues, greens, tans and yellow can trigger visions of water, palm trees, sand and sunshine.

Welcoming Color

Let color be your friend in creating a welcoming atmosphere for people and pets. Even small touches add fun. At Shor-Line, we have added the Blue-Line products with a color accent around our durable stainless steel tables. 

Enjoy using color in your business, and send us some pictures about your people- and pet-friendly facility designs!

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The veterinarians at Atwater Veterinary Center in California took a page from the silver linings playbook when they reframed losing their facility to eminent domain into building their dream hospital.

“I guess you would call it a forced opportunity, but ultimately a great step forward for our practice,” said Dr. Carol Chiffelle, the veterinarian who headed up the build.

A Race Against Time

It all started when a highway in California was scheduled to reroute through the facility they had occupied since 1973. That set off a race to make decisions, get financing and permits in place and complete construction in time to create their new ground-up build while continuing to practice medicine for their current patient population.

No pressure there.

They were able to start construction in February 2014, but the old facility was demolished in April 2014. That meant for five months the ENTIRE Atwater staff shared quarters with the nearby Merced office. Twice the staff in half the space made the team look forward to the spacious new hospital! 

It took patience and persistence to stay focused on the future

“We wished to have a modern, state of the art, efficient hospital that would serve our needs for many years to come,” explained Dr. Chiffelle. “The design we desired was clean, professional, yet welcoming.  

“The reception area in particular, was critical to us...we wanted an area that had adequate space to accommodate clients and their pets—an area that was comfortable, visually appealing.”

Choosing an architect

Dr. Chiffelle said choosing the right architect and contractor was stressful but an especially important part of the process. 

“We had reviewed many design books and found bits and pieces that we liked, but ultimately, we left the design to Rauhaus, Freedenfeld & Associates.  Rich [Rauh] brought many, many great ideas to the table, suggestions we might never have considered without his expertise.”

When they interviewed architects, they instinctively knew rapport would be important. With the radical timeline, it proved to be absolutely essential to have mutual communication and trust. 

“There are so many details in a new facility that are just mind boggling,” she remembered. “Rich's expertise is veterinary hospital design, and he knows what works, what doesn't and was a tremendous guide to the contractor as well.” 

 

Envisioning the new facility

The Atwater veterinarians—Mike Copeland, Chiffelle, Nicole Ekblom, Paul Cook, and Keely Bertram—had a vision for improvements they wanted to practice medicine even better than they had been able to before. Top on the list were: 

• Separate dental suite
• Designated radiology suite
  
• Isolation area with exterior door to minimize hospital contamination from infectious disease cases
• Comfort/consultation room

Blending the new with existing equipment

The contractor, Huff Construction, worked closely with the team to build the facility for veterinary efficiency. The goal was to blend old and new products to create a good flow. Building their dream facility sometimes required what Chiffelle called “value engineering” to stay within budget. But in the end, the center was filled with high-quality, durable material and equipment.

Some old favorites that made the trip over from the old facility were the Shor-Line Classic Surgery Table and Shor-Line cage banks.

“We utilized the Shor-Line cages from the old clinic for the most part.  They were in very good condition despite being 40+ years old!” she said. 

The cat condos and kennels were new construction to implement current thinking in dog and cat boarding. 

“The cat condos were a must on our wish list.  Quality and durability in this area were critical.  And the aesthetics are great!” she said.

The new Shor-Line Kennel runs contain features to provide comfort for the dogs and ease of care for the staff. “Our boarders love the glass doors!  We love the Lazy-Susan food and water bowl holders to limit dogs trying to escape while feeding,” she said.

The team selected new wet tables, surgery lights and equipment with the goal of lasting for decades. The choices all worked together to show a beautiful facility also could be durable and easy to clean.

A Beautiful Ending

The new Atwater Veterinary Center opened its doors in September 2014. The gorgeous stone front echoes the distant strength and beauty of the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains.

“Our architect has a great interest in the effect of environment on people and their pets, and he created a beautiful, light space with vaulted wood ceiling, large expanses of glass windows, stone columns and a seating area with faux tree to capture the relaxing essence of the outdoors,” she said. “This created a lovely, open-feeling workspace for doctors and our entire team.“

The hard work of Chiffelle, her partners and the Atwater staff, Rich Rauh, AIA, of Rauhaus Freedenfeld and Associates, won the 2015 Veterinary Economics Hospital Design Competition. The project was completed with Huff Construction and Kris Pigman, developer. The advice Chiffelle offers to other practices looking to build is:

• Identify your long-term needs and goals well before you start.
• Find an architect that will be responsive and you have rapport with; and listen to the architect on timelines.
• Establish a good relationship with your bank. It will take time to interview banks, and they will be competitive with each other.
• Choose a contractor who has done multiple veterinary hospitals because it is a unique construction with tricky details.

 And her final piece of advice: “Hug your spouse. A lot. They are going to need it!”

 Photos by Larry Falke, Larry Falke Photography.

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There was electricity in the air at the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) that was palatable despite the cool January temperatures. The economic cloud of the Great Recession has lifted for most in the veterinary field. It felt like a celebration.

Research tells us there is a lot to celebrate. Millennials (18-35) are bringing pets into their lives at rapidly increasing rates. In fact, dog ownership by Millennials and GenX is higher than the Baby Boom generation.

All this is great news for companion animals because Millennials are taking the human-animal bond to new heights. They are most likely to consider their pets as children or “furry babies.”

This comes at a time when veterinary medicine can do more than ever to increase the health and longevity of our best friends. It truly is a golden age to be a pet!

Those of us in the animal care industry—veterinary, grooming, boarding, daycare and training—have the challenge of meeting the needs of this new generation of pet owners. And yes, it will be important to heed the call of the Millennials.

This will be the year the Millennials overtake the Baby Boomers as the largest living generation. Tempered by the Great Recession and nurtured by Baby Boomer and Gen X parents, Millennials bring passion to their jobs, caution in their approach and technological savvy.

At Shor-Line, we’ve benefitted from bringing in three new Sales team members—all veterinary technicians with several years of clinical experience. All of them have the energy, expertise and savvy that Millennials bring to seemingly every endeavor.

We continue to listen to you as we innovate and improve our products. Check out our new products in the new Shor-Line catalog

We can’t think of a better time to be in the animal care industry, so call us and see how we can help you build your dream facility. If you are lucky, you might get to talk with Jennifer Kaschke, LVT, Andi McKenzie, RVT, or Sarah Pugh, BS, RVT!

 

There is a breeze of excitement as customers anticipate Shor-Line’s annual Year End Sale that starts Oct. 1. It could be your best opportunity to make an investment in your business.

Our theme this year is “Update your Facility” because new growth theory in business points to the importance of investing in new equipment. This generates new revenue and helps you and your employees innovate. That strengthens your business.

Small businesses have a lot to be optimistic about this year. Almost three quarters (74%) of small business owners surveyed by Harris Poll (for cloud HR provider TriNet) in January 2014 were confident their business would grow.