Client Information
General FAQs
- What time can I drop-off and pick-up my pet?
Drop Off is between 7am-8am. Expect to spend about 15 minutes here during drop-off as you’ll need to sign a surgical consent form, help check-in your pet, and talk through the procedure with the surgeon. If you want to save some time you can prepay online, and download/fill out the surgical consent form (linked above).
Pick Up is between 4pm-6pm. At this time, we’ll review how your pet’s day went with you, cover post-op care and instructions for any medications, and collect any payment still due.
- What vaccines does my pet need?
Check out our Blog Post on the subject!
There are a lot of vaccines out there, and costs can add up quickly. You know that it’s probably important for your pet to stay up to date on shots, but which ones? Below is a brief overview of the most common vaccines as well as when you should give them.
Core Vaccines
Rabies: This one is pretty obvious, we would recommend this shot for pretty much every pet over 12 weeks old. In some cases it’s a legal requirement and in all cases it’s a good idea. Pets can have it as soon as they’re 3 months old, after which their second shot is due in 1 year. However, after that you only need to update it every 3 years. So keep your pets records!
DHPP/FVRCP: These combination vaccines are occasionally nicknamed ‘distemper’ although they treat for much more than that! DHPP (for dogs) helps protect against Distemper, Adenovirus, Parainfluenza, and Parvovirus while FVRCP (for cats) helps protect against Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus and Panleukopenia. In both cases, it’s a good idea to administer the first vaccine around 6-8 weeks and then booster it every month until they reach 4 months old. After that, it should be good for one year, and then 3 years for each subsequent shot provided they stay up to date.
Dogs
Bordetella: The ‘kennel cough’ vaccine. This is recommended if your dog is going to have an active social life – boarding, dog parks, day care or other exposure to new dogs. This vaccine is good for 1 year.
Leptospirosis: Found in rodent urine, this disease can be extremely unpleasant and even fatal. This vaccine is recommended in cases where the risk of exposure is high: dogs likely to spend time running around in the woods, irrigated fields, or other wet and marshy areas where wildlife can be found. This vaccine is administered in 2 doses 2-4 weeks apart, after which it should be updated at least once per year.
Lyme: This tickborne disease can also be extremely unpleasant or fatal, but pets on flea and tick preventatives run a much lower risk of contracting the disease. This vaccine is administered in 2 doses, 3-4 weeks apart and should be updated annually.
Cats
FeLV: Feline Leukemia is a widespread immunosuppressant virus and is the most common cause of cancer in cats. It is spread through contact with other infected cats and is therefore recommended for outdoor cats or cats likely to come into contact with other infected cats. This vaccine is administered in 2 doses, 3-4 weeks apart and should be updated annually.
- What if my pet is in heat? Can they still have surgery?
The short answer here is: Yes! We can safely spay or neuter your pet even when they’re in heat. We see pets in heat regularly, there are usually at least a couple here on any given day, and our surgeon is extremely comfortable operating on them. A lot of vets have big scary warnings about the concerns associated with spaying a pet in heat and we get asked about these a lot, so what’s the truth about going into heat?
When your pet is in heat, there is more blood flow to the area – all of the blood vessels become engorged and the blood pressure in the area is higher. This means that you need to be extra careful to tie off and suture everything carefully. In cats and small dogs this typically results in a couple extra sutures just to be safe. In large dogs it actually doesn’t change the procedure much since the blood pressure necessary in the circulatory system of a larger animal is already high enough to necessitate additional suturing. In both cases it means that the procedure takes Dr. Meghan a couple extra minutes but there is no additional charge associated with it. Just please let us know ahead of time so we can make a note and let her know what to expect.
- What age is best to spay or neuter my pet?
This subject is the topic of a lot of debate. For anyone particularly interested in reading up on the details this article covers the subject pretty thoroughly.
Our surgeon (Dr. Meghan) is exceptionally skilled and practiced in pediatric spays and neuters and so can safely and comfortably operate on healthy puppies as young as 2 months weighing at least 2 lbs. and healthy kittens as young as 6 weeks weighing at least 1.5 lbs. We recommend you bring your pet in as soon as you’re comfortable doing so. If you really want a good milestone to use, if you check out the “What vaccines does my pet need?” section on this page. A lot of people will time surgery to coincide with one of the dates associated with those to save on vet visits!
- Why might the cost of the procedure change?
The price posted includes everything that you’ll need for a routine spay or neuter on a healthy pet – including take home pain medications to help make recovery more comfortable.
If we notice anything concerning on the pre-op exam we’ll give you a call before proceeding. If you have any concerns regarding your pet’s health please discuss them with our vet at drop-off.
Basically, the only thing that would add an unavoidable cost would be fleas ($5), which we have to treat for the sake of the other pets visiting us that day.
- What do I need to do before surgery?
Most importantly, please do not feed your pet after midnight the night before their spay or neuter. Having food in their stomach while under anesthesia can lead to vomiting.
If you’re interested in vaccines, please bring a copy of your pet’s medical records with you or email them to [email protected] ahead of time.
Other than that, if you want to get a jump on the morning, you can download our surgical consent form and fill it out ahead of time.
- Wait, why is my pet getting a tattoo?
Every good spay or neuter should be accompanied by a tiny (1 cm|1/2 in) green mark near the incision. This just serves as a flag to other vets and rescues that your pet has already been spayed/neutered in case you ever misplace their records (and can’t get in touch with us to reprint them) or they run away.
- What if there is an after-hours emergency?
If you are experiencing an after-hours emergency with your pet, please call an emergency clinic to discuss the signs you are noticing at home. Local emergency clinics include:
Veterinary Emergency Services—East Side
4902 East Broadway
Madison, WI 53716
(608) 222-2455Madison Veterinary Specialists
2704 Royal Avenue
Madison, WI 53713
(608) 274-7772UW Veterinary Care Emergency Services
2015 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 263-7600VCA Emergency Services—Middleton
1612 N High Point Road
Suite 100
Middleton, WI 53562
(608) 831-1101Veterinary Emergency Services—Janesville
3710 E Racine St.
Janesville, WI 53546
(608) 314-3510 - Will you guys declaw my cat?
- What’s with the phone system? I hate it!
Yeah, that’s fair, so do we. Honestly, I’m really sorry for the phone tree, I wish we could avoid it but our receptionists were having trouble getting anything else done. We receive well over 100 calls per day and there are only two people up there. They also check in appointments, handle emails, and perform about a thousand other tasks to keep this place running smoothly so we had to give them a break somewhere. Using the phone tree to take messages allows them to batch tasks and triage calls more efficiently and without constant interruptions. While I totally get that it’s way less pleasant than being able to get through to a human immediately when you call, it’s made an incredible difference in our ability to keep things organized up front, which, in turn, makes the whole place flow more smoothly.
- Most options are going to route you to a voicemail box so that they can review your message and get it to the appropriate person (even if you get the reception team on the phone, they still need to wait for the vets to have a chance to answer most questions).
- The more detailed the message, the easier everything gets — let us know how you’d like us to get back to you and when. If you have a medical question, please leave a detailed description of what’s going on, this will help reduce back and forth.