Departments

Internal Medicine FAQ

What happens during a visit?

On the day of your pet’s appointment you should arrive at the CARE Center prior to your appointment time with any referral information (radiographs, medical records, lab work, etc.) sent with you by your family veterinarian. You can fill out the registration form online if you would like to save time. Once paperwork is complete, the specialist’s staff will get vital signs on your pet and relay them to the internist. The internist will then speak with you regarding your pet’s history and conduct an examination. If any diagnostic procedures are suggested they will discuss the recommendations and then present to you an estimated cost for the procedures. This discussion will then recur at every point a new diagnostic test is finished, and new results are in.

Can I visit my pet?

Sometimes our Internal Medicine patients are in hospital for extended periods of time. Even those here for only a day or two are of course missed by their owners.
Yes, you can absolutely visit your pet. We feel strongly that visitation is of enormous benefit to both you and your best friend. We encourage families to visit if they feel comfortable doing so. We have no strict visitation hours, but we do request that owners do not visit from 8am-9am or 4pm-5pm, when we are changing personnel. We also ask that owners limit themselves to 30 minute visits in an exam room, and 15 minutes in the ICU. We strongly suggest waiting to visit patients receiving anesthesia until the day after the anesthetic was given, as they are usually too groggy to appreciate their family’s presence, or may even become agitated by it.

In all cases where you wish to visit, we recommend calling before you come, to make sure we will not have to keep you waiting. We make every effort to provide you and your pet with an exam room in which to spend some quality time. During very busy times, there may not be such a room available.

When will I get a call?

The Internist or her staff will call you when new diagnostic information is obtained (for example, after an ultrasound is completed), or if a new treatment or diagnostic approach is considered necessary. This may be at any point during the day. For stable patients, it is likely that the doctor will be calling in the evening, after all procedures and diagnostics have been run, in order to give the most complete picture of your pet’s health status.
The Internal Medicine staff keeps very long hours, often many hours after the last appointment time of 5pm. So we urge families to not become anxious if they haven’t received a call back before 5pm; you will receive a call. Also keep in mind that CARE Center is a 24-hour facility, and so your pet is ALWAYS being monitored and cared for by trained veterinarians and nurses.