In response to DebnPat D.:\r
Making the decision to put your put pet to sleep can be one of the most difficult and emotional ones to make. Everyone on our staff are pet owners and at one point or another have had to make that hard choice. And honestly, it can be very difficult for our staff to make sure we get all the information from a client when their upset but we try to get this information ahead of time so we can make the process as easy possible … it’s never easy though. This client called on a cell phone with poor reception so our receptionist was not able to understand everything that this client was trying to say. After reading this comment I was disappointed that we had communicated so poorly to this family on how we handle euthanasia appointments and services. We do give clients options as every family handles this circumstance differently. Some families have been agonizing over this decision for quite some time and are just emotionally spent, some have young children that wouldn’t understand, some just don’t want to be present (physically or emotionally). If owners choose not to be present, for whatever reason, we take the pet immediately back to our treatment area and do the services at that time. If families decide they want to be present before, during, and after we do need to make an appointment for them so we can ensure an exam room is available for them as soon as they walk in the door. The staff unfortunately stumbled when trying to explain about making an appointment. For those that are present they often need to coordinate with other family members, friends, as well as school and work schedules so we do ask when would they like to come in, again, we’re trying to work with their schedule and needs. I’m sorry that this family didn’t feel they were treated compassionately but I know that all of our staff has cried with clients, hugged clients, held their hands and even stayed with them if no one else could be there with them. We do have a compassionate group of folks, unfortunately this client didn’t see it.\r
From the way this comment is written it is evident that emotions were running high and they were very sensitive. I feel terrible that they had this experience with us.\r
I do, however, greatly appreciate the feedback so we can take pause and learn from this experience. I have already had a staff meeting, once we found this comment, on how to properly walk a client through the questions that need to be discussed.\r
We’ve been serving our surrounding area for over 45 years. We do try to be available when clients need us that’s why our doctors hours and hours of operation are longer than most in the area. Our doctors do have two hours in the middle of the day, one for lunch and the second to review their medical cases for the morning as well as any diagnostic analysis that had come in during the morning and early afternoon so they can make definitive diagnosis, call clients with a treatment plan, approve prescription refills, return client calls, etc. \r
We also offer cremation services to all of our clients as well as send them card that includes their pet’s pawprint and a tuft of their hair tied with a ribbon. We’ve received many “thank you” cards and emails from clients through the years that have appreciated not only our compassion but the care we showed their pet during their lifetime. \r
Again, we feel badly that this client did not feel well served over the phone but glad they were able to find someone that better met their needs.\r
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