Hello everyone. I hope everyone is doing well.
Yesterday afternoon April 03, 2020, the Ontario government released a new essential services list. Under section 11 of this list we are still deemed an essential service BUT we now have to go down to URGENT CARE ONLY and can be fined up to $10 million dollars if veterinary clinics do not comply. The safety of our staff and clients are our top priority. What does this mean? I will try to outline this as simple as possible and tell you what changes are happening at the clinic.
What is considered URGENT: (list may not be fully inclusive and can be managed on a case by case basis, please call)
– An animal that is ill which cannot be assessed and managed over telemedicine.
– Life threatening condition
– An animal that requires surgery and cannot be managed medically (ie. large wounds, broken limbs, abscess drainage and some others.) We can assess this over the phone.
– Vaccine for an animal that has had a vaccine recently and needs a booster (ie puppies/kittens etc). We also can assess each situation individually.
– Vaccination of an animal that is overdue by several months for either Rabies or parvovirus for a pet in which the environment cannot be controlled.
– Providing food, prescription medications and Parasite prevention.
– Euthanasia to prevent or aleve suffering.
What is considered NOT URGENT: (list may not be fully inclusive and can be managed on a case by case basis, please call)
– Yearly wellness visits which includes yearly vaccination (can be assessed based on past history)
– elective surgery (spays/neuters/benign lump removals/dental prophylasis etc..)
– conditions that can be managed via telemedicine with photos and videos to assess.
– routine blood monitoring for chronic conditions
– Management of Pain and chronic conditions – can be managed via telemedicine as best as possible
– nail trims, anal gland expressions, and ear plucking unless there is an issue causing discomfort or infecton. (hopefully will be posting a video on how to cut your pets nails)
– boarding services
What are the things that have changed here at the clinic?
- The front door will be locked : any patient that needs to be seen will be received in the parking lot and a staff member or Dr. Robinson will speak to them by phone to get a history etc.. Communication over the phone will be used to discuss the case.
- All yearly exams and vaccinations as well as elective surgery are cancelled. You will receive a call from a staff member in the days before your currently scheduled appointment to reschedule to a future date.
- The pick-up table will be set up outside the front of the clinic instead of in the entrance. Look for your name on the product which will be clearly marked.
- Implementing the use of telemedicine when possible: call the clinic and if we can see the issue by photo or video we will try to do this as much as possible. Unfortunately, there is a cost to having staff and it does take time to look at the media and assess the issue so a fee will be charged for this service.
- Prescribing medications for chronic conditions that Dr. Robinson is aware of and has treated in the past – call clinic for assessment
- Dispensing Flea and Tick medication. In the past weeks we have been sending 2-3 months of flea and tick medication home with patients. At this time of year ticks can be at their worst. We feel this is a necessary thing to do in order to prevent an infestation. Call the clinic and we can get what you need and set it on the pick-up table and can accept payment via credit card over the phone or via e-transfer.
- No longer accepting cash. We will accept payment via VISA or Mastercard over the phone or via e-transfer using the email [email protected]. In special circumstances we can use our mobile payment terminal to pay in the parking lot.
- Food sales will continue. Please call the clinic to place your order and as with everything else we will accept payment over the phone or e-transfer and will set the product on the table at the front of the clinic. I really encourage everyone to check out the Myvetsore where you can order your food, pay for it, and have it shipped to your home or pick up at the clinic. With the Vetstore there are several discounts available. Check out https://robinsonvet.ca/ and click MyVetstore on the top menu to see this years promotions. For the month of April I am lowering the free shipping threshold to $75.00 in order to encourage ordering on the Vetstore and having direct shipping to your home. Also only order what you need, a 4-6 week supply is suggested in order to minimize back order situations and so others can have product as well.
- SPECIAL NOTE: With the current situation, our supplier is experiencing a higher volume of orders and supply shortages. If ordering on the Vetstore or calling in, please do so with a minimum of 10 days before you need the product as there may be issues obtaining the product whether it be food or medications.
- Online appointment booking will still be available but, unless you are booking your appointment for June or July please refrain from doing so as we will need to reschedule if we are not to full service by then.
- Yearly Email Reminders will still be sent automatically, we ask that you make a reminder in your calendar to call and book an appointment when we are able to return to full service. We will be calling all overdue reminders when the situation is looking better to book appointments.
- Clinic Hours: For the week ahead we will have hours of Monday to Friday 8:30-4:00pm with the exception of Wednesday which will be 8:30 to 1:00pm. For the week after Easter our hours may decrease even more depending on the need. Please read emails or like our Facebook Page to get quick updates.
It is unfortunate that this is what needs to be done but hopefully by doing this we can contribute to minimizing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Please continue to monitor your email or this blog post found at robinsonvet.ca/blog/ for further updates on the situation and for the time when we can get back to full service. Please call the clinic 519-542-9588 with any issues you have and we can work through the situation. Thank you for your understanding and we hope to see you all soon.
Dr. Brent Robinson
