Services may be paid for with cash, by personal check (preprinted and presented by the person named on the check), by business check (if there is a current yellow page listing for that business), or by major credit card (VISA, Mastercard, Discover). Checks are subject to verification. Payment is due at time of visit, a deposit is required for all hospitalized pets.
Some of you may have noticed that the prices on some of the prescription drugs are steadily increasing. Unfortunately, the energy crisis is impacting on the pharmaceutical industry as well and they pass the costs directly on to us. We are having to deal with increased prices, not only because shipping and handling costs are escalating but also because many of the generic drugs are disappearing (temporarily, we hope) from the market and we are being forced to pay "brand name" prices. As prices decrease, we pass the savings on to you, as those of you who purchase enalapril have undoubtedly noticed. Join us in keeping our fingers crossed that the government inspectors will approve some of the plants that are manufacturing the generic pharmaceuticals so that economical alternatives will again be available!
Charges for Office Calls
Regular Appointment
Standard fee. For this charge we have an examination room reserved for you and make strenuous efforts to ensure that you and your pet are able to reach that room without being harrassed or intimidated by the presence of other animals. We make every attempt to ensure that the contagious animals are not coming into contact with healthy animals, particularly those that are very young, such as puppies and kittens.
If you have had an office visit within the past 3 years, your file is pulled and updated with your petĘs weight, reason for visiting and pertinent history. We make every effort to see you at the time that we have scheduled for you and depend on you to be on time for your appointment to avoid having your time overlapping that of someone else. We expect you to be responsible and inform us well in advance (at least 24 hours) if you are unable to keep your appointment. This will help us avoid the necessity of double-booking due to "no-shows".
We also discourage your bringing other pets with you without informing us because we schedule the appointments based on the type of visit and the number of pets being presented. On rare occasions we do fall behind because someone has an emergency but we know that we can depend on you to understand those situations since you would also want your emergency treated as soon as possible should that ever arise. Should you be unwilling to wait, you have only to inform one of us and we will be happy to reschedule your appointment.
Urgent Care
A nominally higher office fee applies to those appointments that you feel must be seen the same day which can be double-booked with a shorter appointment. There may be a slight delay involved as priority is given to the pet who has originally booked that time slot.
Emergency Care
An emergency fee is charged for all of those visits that are not previously scheduled or which involve us postponing some other petĘs procedure or examination in order to treat your pet.
Recheck Examinations
There is a modest fee for those pets being re-examined for the same problem within 14 days of the original examination. If ears are to be examined it is very important that you do NOT medicate the ears the day of the checkup. Please make note of which medications are being given, how frequently you are using them, and whether any improvement or deterioration has been seen.
Important Notes
A financially responsible adult is required to be physically present to discuss and authorize diagnostic procedures and treatments with the doctor. Persons under 18 years of age are not allowed to make legally binding agreements. We accept cash, checks (subject to verification) that are presented by the person whose name and address are pre-printed on the check, or credit cards (also presented by the person whose name is on the card itself). A deposit is required for all procedures that will require your pet to be left with us for any amount of time. Payment in full is due at the time services are rendered and we do not accept post-dated checks.
