Leashes and Carriers
For the safety of all patients in our facility, we require all pets to be restrained on a leash or in a carrier. Please keep dogs and cats close to you and avoid interactions with unknown pets.
Rabies Vaccine Requirement
Legal regulations for pet ownership require all pets to remain up to date on their rabies vaccinations.
- Vaccine records are required prior to the first visit
- Rabies vaccines must remain up to date
- Puppies and kittens are vaccinated against rabies according to our vaccine schedule for their stage of development
Overdue Rabies or Rabies Status Unknown
The following describes how we handle patients without up-to-date rabies vaccines
- Muzzles must be worn at all times
- Pets are not eligible for Tech Visits - all visits must be with a doctor
- Pets will be vaccinated as soon as they are well enough to receive a vaccine
Payment
- Payment is due when services are rendered. We make every effort to inform you of the costs associated with services prior to performing those services.
- For your convenience, we accept cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.
- If a payment plan is needed, we accept CareCredit and Scratchpay.
- We are unable to accept checks, trades for service, or other payment plans.
Patient Records Request
- By law, patient records are the property of the principal veterinarian facility.
- Invoices and vaccination records are provided at time of visit upon payment.
- A welcome message is electronically transmitted after your first visit with information about creating an account with VitusVet or downloading the VitusVet app to gain access to your pet's records 24 hours a day and while on the go where you are able to share the records with groomers, boarding facilities, or emergency veterinarians from your mobile device.
- To protect your privacy, records requests from other facilities (veterinary hospitals, groomers, boarding facilities, etc.) will not be honored without consent of the pet's owner(s). If your boarding or grooming facility will need updated records, share the information via the VitusVet app or give us a call and we will be happy to e-mail a copy to them with your permission.
Additional Information
- All pets must be current patients to receive medical services or prescriptions. This means they must have received a complete physical exam by our doctor within the past 12 months. For older patients or management of chronic conditions, the doctor may require exams every 6 months to ensure they are able to provide appropriate treatment. New illnesses, injuries, or concerns require a physical exam prior to running diagnostics or dispensing any medications.
- All pets must have an exam visit with us before scheduling any surgery appointment.
- Previous records must be submitted for new patients before scheduling an exam.
- New patients must receive an exam prior to dispensing any prescriptions. Some prescriptions will also require blood work prior to dispensing or refilling. Certain chronic medications may require bloodwork run every 3-6 months prior to refills.
- All patients are expected to arrive early for their appointments. Late arrivals (more than 5 minutes) will be treated as walk-ins and will be seen as time becomes available between scheduled appointments. For more detail, check out our Appointments page.
- Out of courtesy for our time, if an appointment cannot be honored, we ask that you call ahead as soon as you know you will not be able to arrive on time. We are happy to reschedule for a time that works better for your schedule. While we understand the need to cancel or reschedule appointments, repeated occurrences will incur a penalty. For more detail, check out our Appointments page.
- Avoid using public green spaces surrounding the facility if you have a puppy or sick pet. Because we cannot control access to those areas, your pet is better protected from acquiring or spreading contagions if you avoid walking them in these areas.
- Pets with potentially contagious conditions are asked to wait in the car or outside of the facility. You may give us a call when you arrive and we will meet you at the car and bring you directly into an exam room as soon as one is available. Potentially contagious conditions include upper respiratory conditions (coughing/sneezing), vomiting, and diarrhea.
- Records of rabies vaccination are required for all services not requiring a veterinarian including but not limited to nail trims, ear cleanings, and anal sac expressions.
- Medications prescribed will be dispensed by us or through our online pharmacy. Foods prescribed will be dispensed by us, through our online pharmacy, or from the pet food manufacturers. If you wish to order prescription items from alternate sources, we require a small annual fee to cover the extra time and supplies required to process these requests.