March 26, 2020

To our valued clients,

As we all find our way in this ever-changing world, we want to assure you that we are striving to do everything we can to keep your pets healthy and happy.  The government has deemed businesses that provide veterinary services essential. Practices may remain open and provide essential services while following best practices for infection control.

Our challenge is finding the best way to help our 4-legged friends while keeping our 2-legged staff and clients healthy!  As you know, we have a very small group of staff so we must do our best to stay healthy in order to keep the clinic functioning.  We have implemented a number of changes to help limit personal contact.  Keep in mind that as the situation changes, this information may change.

• Routine wellness visits – Appointments for wellness care such as annual vaccines, routine blood screening, nail trims etc. will be rescheduled to a later date.  Puppy and kitten vaccine boosters will still be performed as these are very time sensitive.
• Urgent and emergency cases – We will continue to see pets in need but with a different approach.  When ever possible, we will come and get your pet from the car and the doctor will communicate with you by cell phone.  You can find a medical history form in the resources section at the bottom of this email that can be sent to us prior to your appointment. When you arrive for your appointment please call from the car and we will give you further instruction. 
• Surgery – Non urgent surgeries will be postponed when possible.  This is a direct result of an industry wide shortage of surgical masks and gloves. As we do not know when this shortage will end, we must ration the supplies we have so that we may still provide care to patients in urgent need.
• Pet food and supplies – We will be offering “drive-thru” service for pick up of food, medications and supplies (sorry, no coffee!). Simply call us from the car when you arrive and we can process your payment over the phone and bring the items directly to your car. Our suppliers currently have adequate stock level of our normal products but they are now rationing our food orders.  We are only able to order what we have averaged weekly over the past 6 months.  Deliveries are also taking longer than usual. We ask that you avoid stock piling more than is reasonable for your pet or we may quickly find ourselves facing back orders. We are also encouraging clients to order food and supplies directly through our webstore. This gives you the option to have it shipped directly to your home and limits personal contact.  The minimum order amount to qualify for free home shipping has been reduced to $50.

www.myvetstore.ca/royalcity

• Medication refills – We will continue to dispense ongoing medications as usual.  The veterinary regulatory body has also temporally adjusted some of rules related to prescribing drugs.  This is on a case by case basis but we may be able to dispense certain medications by telemedicine for our regular clients.
• Parasite Prevention – It is now time when most dogs begin taking flea and tick preventive medication.  We would normally have your dog come in before dispensing these to confirm weight and health status but that is currently not feasible.  If your pet has been seen in the past 14 months and is over 2 years old, we can prescribe flea and tick meds for you to pick up.  Dogs under 2 that have not been in during the past 2 months will need to come in briefly and get weighed to determine what size of medication they need. Heartworm testing is also typically done at this time as we want to ensure your dog does not have heartworm before starting medication on June 1^st.  Our hope is that we will be able to start testing before that time but we will have to wait and see.  Lyme and wellness testing is not time sensitive like heartworm testing so it can be postponed.
• Grooming – Our grooming centre has now been closed.  Donna is monitoring the situation and will call to rebook cancelled grooming appointments when able. 
• Reduced hours – As of March 23 we have reduced our hours of operation.  We realize this will cause some inconvenience but unfortunately, as a small business, we will need to reduce some overhead costs if we are going to weather this storm!  If you have an emergency, Campus Estates Animal Hospital will remain open 24 hours and can be reached at 519-837-1212.

Sincerely,

The Team at Royal City Animal Hospital

Stay Home, Stay Safe & Have Fun With Your Pets!