Entries Tagged 'Administrative' ↓

As of August 22, 2011, we began using the services of Littleton Area Veterinary Emergency Service for after-hours care of our patients and clients.  They are just down the road from us at 59 W. Main Street, and can be reached by phone at 603-444-5533.  They are fully staffed for emergencies, and are open between the hours of 5PM and 8AM on weekdays, and 24 hours a day on weekends and holidays. We are so excited to have them here!

After serious consideration, Dr. Winter has decided that the emergency needs of our very special clients and patients will be best met in the future by referral to a specialized, 24-hour emergency clinic.  We have chosen Winnipesaukee Veterinary Emergency Center at 8 Maple Street, Suite 2,  in Meredith, NH, to provide that emergency care for our patients.  They can be reached at 603-279-1117.  Click here for directions.  Several of our clients have already traveled there for emergency care, and have been very pleased with the caring treatment they and their pets have received.

The decision to change our emergency procedure was a difficult one, and we did not make it lightly.  We have been very pleased with the care our patients have received from our local colleagues over the past several years.  We know that the distance to Meredith will almost certainly be farther than clients have traveled in the past for emergency care; however, the amount of time elapsed between your initial call and your pet being seen by the doctor will very likely be the same or shorter than it has been.  When you call, you will reach WVEC immediately, and will be assisted in making the decision to travel for emergency care.  You can then head south, and arrive at the emergency clinic in roughly an hour.  If you know that your pet needs to be seen on emergency, you can simply get in the car and start driving to Meredith, and call them on the way to let them know you are coming.

Another advantage is that there will now be only one place you will have to go for emergency care.  You won’t have to wonder whether it will be St. Johnsbury, Danville, Ryegate or East Haven on any given night.  You will also receive the care of a veterinarian whose primary purpose is to provide after-hours emergency care, and who already on-site, awaiting your arrival.  The vet and staff will be well-rested, and able to provide the same kind of care you would expect from the staff at Companion Pet Care during the day.

Because the travel distance will be greater in some cases, we do encourage all of our clients to call our office as early as possible during the day when you suspect that your pet is ill enough to be seen that day.  We will be making every effort to squeeze in sick pets throughout the day, and will be offering convenient drop-off appointments for our established clients.  If you come home to check on your pet at noon and find him or her to be sick, please don’t wait until you come home after work at the end of they day to call.  We will be much more likely to be able to accommodate you if we hear from you earlier in the day.

Please note the new hours on our homepage.  Dr. Billie has made what she has described as a “quality-of-life” decision to close the clinic on Saturday mornings.  With two little kiddos at home, she feels that being away from them every day of the work week, and Saturday mornings as well, is just too much.  After investigating the situation, and realizing that virtually all other professional offices are closed on Saturdays, and almost all of our own veterinary emergency call group as well, she decided that it would help her provide better quality of care during the week if she closed on Saturdays as well. 

Never fear, though.  We have made some accommodations for our clients who cannot get away from work during the week for routine wellness care for their pets.  We have decided to stay open late on Wednesday evenings so folks can come after work if needed.  We will be in the office until 8PM on Wednesdays, and will be seeing many of our normal Saturday patients for scheduled appointments in those evening time slots.  We will occasionally have Saturday hours, on Saturday mornings that we are on emergency call for our call group.  If you need to schedule a wellness appointment for a Saturday morning, please call the office to find out when the next available Saturday appointment might be.

Our emergency call group, which includes our clinic, St. Johnsbury Animal Hospital, Dr. Steen’s Animal Hospital, North Country Veterinary Clinic, Danville Animal Hospital, Ryegate Small Animal Hospital, and East Haven Veterinary Clinic, is available to see emergency cases on Saturday mornings, just as it is on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. 

As always, we reserve appointments during the day for sick patients belonging to our regular clients, and we can arrange for convenient drop-off appointments for established patients.  For those who are unfamiliar with drop-off appointments, in many cases we can provide day hospitalization for a patient to allow us to spend more time on observation and diagnostics, and for convenient drop-off and pick-up times for the client.  Please understand that most drop-off patients will be staying with us until late afternoon.  Many of our evaluations and diagnostic tests will be done during our “lunch break”, and treatments will be determined during the afternoon.

Remember, all New Hampshire dogs must be licensed with their town clerks by May 1, 2008.  You must present a valid rabies certificate to qualify for licensure.  Generally, it is a bit less expensive to license a neutered dog (male or female) than an intact dog.  Town clerks will accept either a spay or neuter certificate from your veterinarian, or the statement on your rabies certificate indicating your dog’s gender as neutered male or spayed female.  You may want to check with your town clerk; I have heard that some clerks require that your dog’s rabies vaccination be valid for at least 6 more months in order to issue a license.

According to New Hampshire state law, all dogs, cats, ferrets and wolf-hybrids must be vaccinated for rabies, although only dogs are required to be licensed at this time.

After several years of trying to find the time to keep our main CPC webpage updated regularly, I have decided to launch the CPC News blog.  I find the blog format to be much easier to access and update, and my plan is to post interesting information of all kinds here.  Check here regularly for educational tips, local administrative issues, and general news about our clinic.  Enjoy!!!