CLINIC TOUR
Are you new to our practice? Or are you a current client who would like to see what the rest of the building looks like? Here’s a tour, along with some information about our facility.
We will start with the outside of our clinic! We are located on Hwy 19, within an easy drive of many communities. We have a large paved parking lot and are surrounded by a maintained lawn that includes several shade trees if you choose to spend some time outside during your visit.
We have a large reception area that allows more than enough room for our patients to wait comfortably. This area is quite spacious to allow for ample space between patients that are wary of other animals. We certainly do not want our patients to have an unpleasant experience in our clinic because of being too close to another patient in the front office! Please check in with one of our two receptionists when you arrive!
The next room you will see is one of our seven exam rooms. We made many considerations for patient and owner comfort in these rooms, while keeping them fairly simple. The tables are laminate rather than stainless steel, since most animals are fearful of standing or sitting on shiny, smooth steel. The laminate counter tops are still smooth enough to ensure that they can be kept very clean, but do offer a bit more traction for our patients. For patients that seem to still have trouble with the surface, we do have mats to place on the table that can further increase traction.
We have also divided the clinic so that dogs are usually admitted on the west side of the building, while cats are on the east side. This is to help decrease stress for kitties who may not appreciate the scent of previous canine patients in their room! The outside doors of the exam rooms are solid to allow for privacy, while the inside door has a window to allow staff to easily see if assistance is needed. We have also provided an arm chair for owners to sit in while they wait!
If you are visiting us because your pet is not feeling well, they may need to visit this area. We refer to it as our “Treatment Area”, as this is where most treatments are performed. This area of the building has been designed so that everything we need is easily within arm’s reach. This allows us to treat your pet safely, effectively, and comfortably. Typical treatments that may be performed in this area include blood sampling, bandaging, wound care and even nail trims. We are well equipped for both routine treatments and emergency treatments here.
Should your pet require testing, we have a complete in-house lab, where we can perform many types of blood tests, as well as urine and stool sample testing. We can generally provide results within approximately an hour for most routine tests (depending on demand). This allows us to diagnose and treat our patients in a timely manner, without having to wait for long periods of time for test results. We also have the ability to send out more uncommon or specialized tests to an outside lab on a daily basis if needed.
Our x-ray equipment was updated in December 2012 to a digital system similar to what is used in human medicine. This allows us to take detailed images to help diagnose many conditions, including fractures, certain types of cancer, arthritis, and many others.
Some of our patients may require surgery, whether it is a routine surgery, such as a spay or neuter, or a more critical surgery, such as fracture plating or a splenectomy (removal of the spleen). Our surgery room is well equipped to handle both routine, and emergency surgeries. Like the Treatment Area, this room has been carefully designed to make sure that there is easy access to anything that may be required during surgery. We also have the ability to monitor heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and ECG.
This is our prep and recovery area, which is within the Treatment Area. This is where patients are placed under anesthesia and prepared for surgery, and are then moved to the surgery room for their procedure. Following surgery, patients return to this area to recover in the cages where they can be supervised. We also use this area to treat puppies delivered by Cesarean section!
We also provide dental services for our patients. This is our dental table and dental machine. We perform ultrasonic scaling and polishing, and complete dental examinations. Of course this must be performed under general anesthesia for our patients!
Our patients need to stay overnight at times. We generally recommend an overnight stay after most elective surgeries so that patients can be examined for swelling or discomfort the following morning.
For patients that are sick or injured, hospitalization may be required to administer medications, intravenous fluids, or to perform necessary treatments. We have separate canine and feline kennel rooms so that our feline patients do not have any added stress from the smells or noises of our canine patients. The photo above is our canine ward. There are large kennels for large patients, and smaller cages for small patients. All patients receive blankets or towels for their comfort. We have also designed the kennels to that patients cannot see each other, again to help alleviate the stress of unfamiliar neighbours.
This photo is of our feline ward. Again, many cats feel more stress when they can see unfamiliar cats, so we have designed this room to accommodate for this. We also use a Feliway diffuser as needed.
This is our small animal pharmacy. We carry a broad range of medications, so that most medications can be dispensed at the time of diagnosis and treatment. This allows our patients to start on their medications as soon as possible and prevents return visits. Medications can also be ordered through our webstore for patients receiving long term medications.
We also have a room devoted to the wide range of therapeutic diets that we carry. Many conditions can benefit, or even be treated by prescription diets. Those that we do not stock are usually available within 1-2 business days; these can be ordered on our webstore as well.
Finally, we recognize the strong bond between an owner and their pets. Unfortunately there are times when we must say a final goodbye to our beloved friends. We have devoted a room in our clinic to this last stage of time that we spend with our pets. We understand that this is a very difficult time for owners, and want to help make this time as pleasant as it can be. As a result, this room is located away from the other exam rooms, and has a direct exit out of the building so that you do not have to go back through the front office during this difficult and private time. There are also comfortable chairs in this room, as well as many blankets, to allow owners to spend some quiet last moments with their pet.
We hope that you have enjoyed this look into our practice. Please feel free to ask questions about our facility!