Why is our front door still locked?

Why do you try to fit in, when you were born to stand out? Dr. Suess

We wanted to take a moment to help explain why our front door is still locked to the public.  The months of Lockdowns and Covid restrictions on businesses were very stressful on most of us humans, however, we learned very quickly that the pets were much less stressed in the veterinary setting when the hospital was not bursting with barking dogs, distressed meowing/hissing of cats, or a lobby full of people making noises and sudden moves.

When restrictions lifted, we opened our door back up only to find pets (and therefore pet parents) with increased anxiety again.  As a bold move, we locked our door for good, and our pets and clients with appointments can now come in without having to brave the noise and extra anxiety of having to deal with several other animals, people, and children. Many pets are coming in sick and already stressed so adding more anxiety to both pet and owner is not ideal.

Our Goals with this Decision:

1. Decreased stress on the pet and pet owner by decreasing the anxiety of other animal interactions. You have a room cleaned and ready for you when you enter.
2. Increased safety of your pet. We have had several pets try to escape the exam rooms when fearful.  Having the door always locked, protects them from accidental escape.
3. Increased safety for our staff. We have had a few recent instances of potential robberies we have seen individuals lingering outside our door without pets then suddenly making rapid moves for the door but running away immediately when they felt the resistance on the door.
4. Improved use of our staff. With persistent shortages of employees, we can use our staff more effectively to help pets directly rather than having to sit at the desk in case someone walks in without an appointment.
5. Increased privacy dealing with financial discussions and emotional decisions.
6. Car side delivery of your prepaid medications and prescription diet refills for client convenience.
7. A much more pleasant environment to work and visit.

Helpful Hints:

1. Call ahead for refills of medication and food. This will allow us to run out to you similar to a drive-through lane 😊
2. You can always knock on the door if you are not able to get through on the phone or in case you have an emergency.
3. We close from 12-1:15 pm for staff lunches and to allow us to complete cases from the morning. You can still call us as we have our remote receptionist available during this time.
4. We allow medications to be picked up after 5 pm M-F (if you alert us) by placing your items outside the building in a patio box. This is not an option for controlled substances.