HOME VISITS BY VETS MAY BE THE PERFECT SOLUTION

Spike hasn’t been eating recently.  Sasha is peeing outside the litter box.  Sunny needs his vaccinations, but is incredibly shy.  Dexter has put on a few pounds.  You have been meaning to book a vet appointment, but the logistics of the “when, where, and how” can be a nightmare to busy Washingtonians.

As a pet sitter in Washington, DC, I am frequently asked to recommend possible veterinary services for new or current pets.  I always present concierge vet services as a possible option.  A vet or vet tech visiting your beloved pet in comfort of your home is a growing trend especially in urban areas such as Metro area.

THE ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYERS

Concierge vet services may be the perfect solution for your pet for a variety of reasons

  • Nervous or anxious pets don’t have to experience the ordeal of strange animals, unfamiliar locations, or too many people in the waiting room
  • You don’t have to wrangle multiple critters down the elevator or stairs and into the car for the annual healthy check-up visit
  • You or your pet have limited mobility
  • Your pet needs special care that you are unable to provide
  • Frequently you get more time with the vet in a more relaxed setting
  • Many D.C. residents don’t own cars and public transportation or short term car rental services such as ZipCar don’t allow pets
  • Time is a premium.  Wouldn’t it be nice to work or hang-out around the house until the vet arrives instead sitting in a waiting room thinking about everything that has to be done?

SERVICES

Types of services that may be offered during a veterinary house call might include:

  • physical exams such as the new pet or annual wellness check 
  • vaccinations
  • routine lab testing
  • pre or post operative care
  • senior pet care
  • behavior consultation
  • quality of life consultation
  • hospice care
  • at home euthanasia


PETS AND PET PARENTS WHO LOVE THE VET VISITING THEIR HOUSE

SUNNY

Sunny is a new Washingtonian.  He needed vaccinations and a wellness check.  Visiting the vet would not be on Sunny’s bucket list of top ten road trips.  Mom was not looking forward to navigating to another new location in D.C.  She contacted a visiting vet and everyone was happy.

SAM

Sam is a giant Maine Coon kitty.  His 85-year-old Mom dotes on him, but he can be a handful when it is time for him to head to the vet.  Problem resolved when the vet came to him.  Mom no longer had to wrestle him into the crate and down to the car.

HO-HUM III and HO-HUM IV

Ho-Hum III, a very shy kitty, with special medical needs.  Going to a regular vet was an ordeal, so he was visited regularly by a veterinary house call service.  In fact, this was the same vet who visited Ho-Hum II.  Last summer, he started to fail rapidly which sparked an overnight stay at a vet facility.  The test results were not good. The decision was made for Ho-Hum to come home to pass.  A concierge vet came to his house and he passed with the comfort of his favorite blanket and the familiar smell of his Mom laying next to him.

A few weeks later, 4 month old Ho-Hum IV arrived in his forever home and met his new vet while sitting on that same bed where Ho-Hum III passed..

CHARLIE AND LIZZIE

These two frisky felines hate being in the car, so going to the vet was a nightmare.  They would read Mom a non-stop riot act.  Medical care became so much easier when the vet started to visit them at home.  Their final visit here in D.C. was when they received an exam and also a tranquilizer as they motored with their Mom to a new home in Pennsylvania.  Their Mom said she would never be able to get the pill administered, but the vet did it in a heartb