Copley Township native Connie White Lawless put up her veterinary shingle in her hometown just a year ago. She has agreed to be the Beacon Journal’s newest pet expert, focusing on wellness and nutrition.
Lawless, who bred imported German shepherds for a decade, is as concerned about her patients’ eating habits as she is with what she feeds her own dogs.
“Pet food labels are very confusing. I tell my patients to look for the term “animal byproducts,” on the label. It means the food may contain the carcasses of euthanized dogs [and cats] with their collars still on,” she said. “I tell them not to buy anything that says it contains animal byproducts.”
Lawless, a 1989 graduate of Copley High School, got a late start in her chosen profession, she said, enrolling in Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine at the age of 31. She graduated in 2011.
She opened the “walk-in” Pet Vet clinic in 2012 at 2777 Copley Road next to the FirstMerit Bank, offering low-cost services for wellness visits and minor illnesses. For more complex health issues, she refers her patients to a local emergency clinic.
Advertising her services as low cost has been a bane as well as a boost to her practice.
“Because I’m low-cost, people think I’m a nonprofit,” said Lawless, who frequently finds her large waiting room filled with pets and their owners or completely empty.
She has not yet gotten to the point where the practice provides her with a regular weekly paycheck, she said.
“We’re actually getting busy,” she said recently, citing her busiest day yet when she saw 18 patients.
The mother of two returned to Copley after living for several years on a farm in Ashland with horses, chickens, dogs, cats and hamsters. She fell in love with the shepherds imported from Germany when she was still a child.
“They are amazing dogs and very intelligent and protective. My great-grandfather, an Akron police officer, owned one,” Lawless said.
The dogs, which have their “pink papers,” the highest-rated level of dog breeding in Germany, cannot be bred until the age of 2 and must have their hips checked for dysplasia, a hereditary condition commonly found in shepherds and other large-breed dogs, said Lawless.
The owner of two horses, she is an equine veterinarian and will make house calls to nearby patients, she said.
Lawless is the former president of the OSU Theriogenology (reproduction) Club, a certified weight coach for Purina and a category II Nationally Accredited Veterinarian, meaning she may treat all animals.
From experience, she knows her practice will begin seeing animals with itching problems as summer wanes into autumn.
“In September and October, we are going to have a lot of dogs with allergic reactions,” she said.
And she has a regimen to treat them.
Learn about Lawless’ Cat “Clipnosis” technique that will make your cat easier to handle and less stressed at the vet by visiting her website at: www.copleypetvet.wix.com/pet-vet-1# or the clinic or by calling the office at 330-576-3095. No appointments necessary.
If you have a medical question you would like Lawless to answer, send questions to Kathy Antoniotti at the Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640; or send an email to kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com. Please include your full name and address and a daytime phone number where you can be reached. I will forward your questions to the expert I think is best suited to answer your particular problem. Phoned-in messages will not be taken.