Old North End Veterinary Clinic
57 North Champlain, Burlington, Vermont
802.861.6500
WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE NOT…….
We are a very small, neighborhood clinic. To keep our costs low, we use the laboratory, x-ray, and surgical facilities at the clinics listed below. If you have been to our clinic, you have seen it all – one exam room, one waiting room, one small office. We do not have a large staff, just one doc (Susan), one practice manager (Becky), and one part-time employee who often returns your calls (Robin).
We are mobile 50% of the time with Vet to Pet Mobile Veterinary Service and, therefore, we have limited clinic office hours. We are at the clinic on most Wednesdays and Saturdays. We answer our phone messages as soon as possible. When you leave a clear message, we will return your call.
We refer emergencies to the Burlington Emergency Veterinary Service (863.2387), and urgencies to one of the clinics listed below.
We have a pharmacy on site and we also take advantage of an on-line pharmacy and a local compounding pharmacy. We ask that you give us 4-7 days notice for refill requests since we are not always in the clinic and do not maintain stock of all prescribed drugs. By watching our inventory, we can keep our costs as low as possible.
Our families must sometimes take priority. We are fortunate to have four living parents, all out of town and in their 70s and 80s. We have promised to help them as best we can. If ever they need us, we will go there. During these periods, we will cover our clinic calls as best as possible and will do everything we can to be sure your pets’ needs are cared for by the other clinics in town.
We offer the best basic medical care possible given the intentionally scaled back nature of our clinic, the demands of our mobile practice, and the limitations inherent in being a small operation.
In other words, we are not a full service clinic. If you or your pets are more comfortable with a one stop full-service clinic that is fully staffed during all business hours, we very strongly recommend:
Orchard Veterinary Service
1333 Shelburne Road South Burlington
658.2273
Green Mountain Animal Hospital
1693 Williston Road South Burlington
862.7021.
Mission Statement
We believe that every pet owner should have access to basic affordable veterinary care for their pets. We offer limited basic medical care at our clinic. We work closely with two local full service clinics to offer more advanced diagnostic, treatment, and surgery options.
Wellness Care
This is more than vaccinations. Wellness care is prevention, nutrition and weight management, appropriate lab testing and diagnostics, thorough physical exams and history taking, pre-emptive pain management, spay/neuter programs, behavior information, and client education. Appointments are 30 minutes long, so we learn about your pets, their routines, diet, foibles, and needs. For this reason, we ask that the primary care-giver come to appointments. We encourage all pet owners to feed the best pet food they can afford as this is the cornerstone of every animal’s health.
Vaccinations
Our vaccine protocol recommends core vaccines to all pets, indoors and out. Core vaccines include only those vaccines that protect against diseases which are a) serious or potentially fatal diseases,
b) contagious, or c) transmissible to humans (rabies).
After initial vaccines, many adult pets get on a 2 or 3 year vaccine schedule. We want to see your pet yearly for a physical exam and will vaccinate on a regular, but often not yearly, schedule.
After the core vaccines, we recommend further vaccines based purely on the risk of each pet. Our goal is to protect your pet while not over-stimulating the immune system with unneeded vaccinations every year.
Zoonotic Diseases
We strive to educate clients about the potential for disease transmission from our pets to ourselves, with emphasis on the risk to children and immune-compromised individuals. We stress regular de-worming, and flea and tick prevention.
Pet Population Control
We very strongly encourage that every animal be spayed or neutered at the earliest safe age. We perform these surgeries a couple of days each month and we also refer to the low cost spay/neuter options in the area. We discourage owners from breeding pets and strongly promote the adoption of animals from our local humane society, which is truly the best deal in town.
End of Life Care and Euthanasia
Since we have no reason to think that animals understand the notion of a long life, let alone have the ability to trade current suffering for a prolonged life, we offer hospice care with an emphasis on pain relief and relief from suffering and distress. As stated in “Ethical issues in geriatric feline medicine” (Rollin, BE, 2007), “animals do not appear to fear death, but they clearly fear pain, and death can be a merciful tool for escape from pain.”
We perform compassionate euthanasias, when necessary for the ultimate benefit of the client and the patient. We take the time needed, before, during, and after the procedure so that the client feels as comfortable as possible with the decision. We sedate the animal to minimize discomfort and stress.
Old North End Veterinary Clinic Payment Policy
We keep our costs as low as possible and we pass these savings along. However, we must be paid for our services. We have a cash only policy (no checks and no debit or credit cards) and unless arrangements are made with Becky before an appointment, payment is due at the time of each appointment. This policy helps us to avoid expenses involved with bounced checks, credit card charges, and accounts receivable. It is the only way that we can keep our doors open.