Pet hospital ensures happy and relieved pet owners
The care provided to animals earned Associate Pet Hospital the top spot in the voting for best veterinarian clinic in Swift Current.
“We love to hear that kind of feedback from people,” Dr. Sarah Allin said about the voting results. “We do the job because we love it and we want to do well for everybody’s pets, but to hear that people feel that we’re accomplishing what we would like to is a really good feeling.”
She noted that all veterinarian clinics are working hard to provide good service, but she is especially proud of the staff at Associate Pet Hospital.
“I think we have a pretty amazing staff in our clinic,” she said. “One of the comments we get a lot is how welcomed they are in our practice. We have excellent technicians and receptionists and people who are knowledgeable besides the veterinarians as well that can answer questions and are just very welcoming.”
This general veterinary practice for small animals was established in 1993. Dr. Allin has worked there for 15 years and in 2013 she partnered with Drs Glen and Christy Griffin to purchase Associate Pet Hospital.
A significant change occurred in January 2018 when the practice relocated from the Hillside Plaza in Swift Current to its current location just west of the city along North Service Road West.
“It was a much smaller practice then and we could only at most have two veterinarians on staff in that building, and even then it was quite squishy,” she said about their previous location. “So two years ago we built a new practice out on the west end of town beside our large animal hospital, and now we can house three veterinarians and more staff.”
There are definite advantages to having several veterinarians available at this general practice to assist with medical care of animals.
“We do all have our specialties and things that we like to focus on and work on a little bit more, and we can refer to each other on those more difficult cases too,” she said. “So we’re not a specialty practice, but we do have people within our practice who have particular interests and have worked on developing those interests a little bit more.”
The support staff at this pet hospital include three veterinary technicians, three veterinary assistants, a receptionist and an inventory manager.
Their current facility is not only significantly larger than the previous location, but they were able to plan the layout of the building to suit their needs.
“We can do things more efficiently and we changed things that we found frustrating in the old clinic so that we can provide better service,” Dr. Allin said. “One of the biggest things we changed that people would appreciate is that we have separate dog and cat kennel rooms now. So cats don’t have to be housed in the same room as the dogs. It would often stress them out, even just smelling and being in the same room as the dogs. I think that is a huge improvement in this new space, and also we have a separate dental room now. We do a lot of pet dentistry and we have a room dedicated to that now with dental X-ray.”
There is a dedicated isolation room where animals with any potentially contagious illness can be received and treated. There is also a grieving room where pet owners can have some private time after the loss of a beloved pet and it also has a separate exit.
“So people don’t have to go back out through the front end of the clinic if they don’t want to afterwards,” she explained. “We have a couch in there and some extra decorations and things just to try and make it a little more comfortable for people in that difficult time and separate it a little bit from the rest of the clinic.”
Associate Pet Hospital is a very service-oriented clinic that aims to provide the best possible service to pet owners and their animals in a friendly atmosphere. Their goal is to adapt their service to the needs of each pet owner and to provide a personalized approach.
“Veterinary medicine has expanded significantly and there are a lot of things that can be done for pets,” she said. “That’s part of the reason why we don’t do everything in our clinic, but we pride ourselves on keeping up to date and being aware of the opportunities there are, and knowing when there are other options and when we can refer for something.”
It might mean that pet owners will have to make decisions about different treatment options, for example the use of chemotherapy to treat cancer in pets.
“Not everybody wants to take that route, and we try to tailor our approach to the client and what they want for their pet,” Staff carry out a surgery at Associate Pet Hospital. she said.
The work done by veterinarians will not only make a difference to keep animals healthy, but it also benefits human and public health, for example through vaccinations of animals and treatment of common intestinal parasites.
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“More timely would be the coronavirus issue,” she said. “We really don’t know for sure how it is transmitted yet, but we take those precautions and we’re trying to stay on top of the possibilities so that we can protect people as well as the animals.”
Veterinary clinics are considered an essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Associate Pet Hospital made several changes to the services still provided to pet owners.
“Very early on in the whole process we had to discontinue our elective surgeries, so spays and neuters and things that can wait now,” she said. “The biggest thing with that was the masks and the gloves that we need to use for those surgeries. We need to save those for human healthcare, where they might be more needed at this point.”
Animal vaccinations are still taking place and they will provide care to animals in case of serious health situations or sudden emergencies, but proper social distancing measures will be followed and it will be only drop-off appointments.
The front doors of the clinic will therefore remain closed, even during times when they are open for business.
“We come out to the vehicle, get the pet and bring it in, so that the people are not crossing paths as much,” she explained.
“People will come and sit in the parking lot in their vehicles, but we don’t have a waiting room full of people at any point any more.”
The precautionary procedures during the pandemic are more time consuming and it also means a veterinarian cannot discuss an animal’s condition with a pet owner during the examination. “When the owners aren’t in the room with us, then we need to phone them every time a question comes up or there’s something we want to discuss,” she said.
“So it definitely makes for a long day and we just miss that interaction with people. That’s part of it, because people are a very huge part of it and we do miss that interaction too.”
Associate Pet Hospital has been offering a free delivery service for pet supplies since it opened at its current location two years ago, and this service is now even more convenient during the pandemic to help clients to maintain social distancing.
Free delivery is done within city limits on Tuesday and Thursday.
In addition, Associate Pet Hospital has now started a new online web store to allow clients to order supplies directly from their supplier, which can then either be picked up at the clinic or dropped off to clients through the existing delivery service.