New House Call Veterinary Practice...?

[Vet-To-Pet]

Hi~
I've recently relocated to Sonoma County from out of state. Before moving here, I had a successful veterinary house call practice for dogs & cats for several years, which I truly enjoyed. I'm considering starting a similar practice here, in western Sonoma County, and would like to get some feedback from the community about whether or not they'd use such a service. Some examples of the clients that were grateful for my services in my former location were senior citizens who no longer could drive, people who had multiple pets (& it would be a circus to load up everyone for their annual exams/vaccinations/ect), people who were house-bound or disabled (even temporarily, like post-operative restricted activity), people with multiple children who made getting even one pet to the vet clinic a circus, people with work schedules which made it difficult to get to their local vet clinic during their regular hours (my hours would include some early evening appointments, up 'til about 7 or 8:00pm), people who had a pet who went crazy whenever they took him/her to the vet (or any car ride), and some clients who simply liked the convenience of having the vet come to them rather than waiting in the clinic's waiting room/going out in bad weather/worked at home & didn't want to lose the time from their own schedules or miss important phone calls, etc.

I was able to do most of the services provided by "regular" pet hospitals, with a few exceptions, like radiographs, ultrasound, or serious/complicated surgeries (ex: orthopedic surgeries, collapsed lungs or diaphragmatic hernias, C-sections), but if your pet needed treatment for something like those conditions, I would try to help you transport her/him to a clinic if transportation were an issue for you and/or your pet. However, I would not be an emergency/ambulance practice; I work on an appiontment schedule, usually working during the early-mid afternoons until late afternnoon or early evenings. I will often make an efffort to accomodate clients who can only make an appointment on a weekend or a holiday, when other vet hospitals are usually closed, as long as I don't have a "personal life" thing already planned (altho I did stop by at a clients' home to put their dog down (euthanasia) on my way to a social event & was "dressed up" for the evening, because I understand that, once that difficult decision has been made, no pet-lover wants to wait while their pet is suffering or declining quickly). I try to understand the urgency behind the reason for my services being requested & do my best to treat each animal with the care & expediency I'd want for my own pets. Home euthanasias were a siginficant portion of my previous house call practice, and I realize how comforting it can be to have that provided in the familiar surroundings of the pet's home & family, rather than a clinical setting.

I'd appreciate any feedback from the companion animal friends out there who could let me know if they think such a service would fill a need in our community. I'd be investing quite a bit of money to get this started, so I'd really be grateful for any comments before I invest in something that I feel is a useful service, but which might not work, for one reason or another, around here. Thanks a lot in advance.
Guppy
(Paula T Loniak, DVM)

[Larissad]

I would be very open to a business like this. I have two cats and getting them in the cat carrier and to the vet office is always a challenge. Are you prices similar to other vets?

[Vet-To-Pet]

I would be very open to a business like this. I have two cats and getting them in the cat carrier and to the vet office is always a challenge. Are you prices similar to other vets?

Hi~
Thanks for responding. My fees are generally about the same as the local vet clinics', but my initial house call fee might be higher than their typical "ofice visit" or "exam fee". However, it's not per animal, it's for up to 4 animals; above that, I'd probably charge an additional per-pet exam fee. So, my initial house call fee would be somewhere around $60 (still investigating fees) to cover my time spent getting to your place, gas, & an initial general exam on up to 4 pets. If there were 5 or 6 pets, I'd charge an additional $20 (approx) for their general exams, and if anyone needed an additional exam for a specific problem (eye infection, diarrhea/vomiting, ear infection, etc), there would be an additional fee for examining the animal for that particular condition, somewhere around $20 to $40, depending on how involved the problem was. My basic fees for healthy pets (vaccinations, heartworm tests & such) would be comparable to other vets' fees. I hope this answers your question, since I'm still just getting things lined up & don't have some details/fees worked out yet.
Smiles,
Paula (Guppy) Loniak, DVM