New Client and Missed Appointment Policy Updated March 15, 2023

We continue to experience an increase in pet owners missing scheduled appointments.

Therefore:

All NEW clients will be asked to provide a credit card when making an appointment. A deposit is required to schedule an appointment. The non-refundable deposit charged to your card will be equal to the EXAM fee for each pet to be seen. The policy also applies to existing clients with a history of missing appointments. The deposit will be credited to charges generated during the appointment.

A missed appointment is when you fail to attend an appointment without notification of at least 48 hours of BUSINESS DAY notice. Canceling over the weekend via email, PetDesk, or voice mail is not sufficient notice for a Monday or Tuesday appointment. You will not be refunded if you fail to attend your pet’s appointments. 

A veterinary/client relationship is built on mutual trust and respect. House Paws’ goal is to provide quality, individualized medical care in a timely manner. As such, we strive to be on time for your scheduled appointments and ask the same of you. As a courtesy to you, we provide reminders via email, PetDesk, or a phone call before your appointment. However, you are responsible for remembering your appointment regardless.

Other pet owners cannot obtain routine or urgent care for their pets when scheduled appointments are missed without sufficient notification.

You will be charged (25% of your estimated fee) if you have a missed surgery appointment. We allocate a fixed number of time slots depending on the type of surgeries scheduled and are unable to re-book a missed surgery appointment (for whatever reason) at short notice due to the prerequisites for surgery.

We hope this allows us to serve you and your pets better.

How to Cancel/Change Your Appointment: To cancel or ask to change your appointment, you may do so on our Petdesk app or call/email the hospital where your appointment is scheduled. If you do not reach the receptionist upon calling, please leave a detailed message on our voicemail. 48 hours business hour notice applies. If you cancel or need to reschedule before the 48 hours limit, your deposit remains on your account until the appointment is rescheduled.

New modified Curbside Service Policy

When making your appointment, please let us know if you wish to come into the exam room with your pet or remain in your car while your pet is being seen. This affects our scheduling as we minimize the number of people in the building and also the number of pet interactions that would occur in our waiting room.
One pet parent will be accommodated.

1. Upon arrival, please call into the hospital to check-in. If we are not quite ready for you at that time, we will call you back and ask you to bring your pet into the building. From there, one of our technicians will escort you to an exam room, or go back and wait in your car.

2. Technician and re-check appointments will remain curbside while you wait in your car.

3. When you are waiting in your car, we will call you when your pet’s appointment is finished and review the appointment with you. We will then ask you to come into the building for checkout while the technician gets your pet (and any meds that might be going home) ready for discharge.

4. For surgery or other drop-off procedures and other day-long drop-offs, a technician will come out to your car with the surgical authorization paperwork that you will need to sign and obtain all related medical history. We will call when your pet is ready to be picked up.

Our Philosophy

We treat your pets as if they were our own.

LOCATIONS
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Our Philosophy

  • We believe in providing wellness solutions to help keep your pet happy and healthy for a long lifetime.
  • We believe our pet companions deserve the best medical care possible.
  • We believe in preventative care to detect and treat conditions BEFORE a problem becomes a crisis.
  • We believe all animals deserve compassionate and gentle treatment.
  • We believe in open communication with our clients to ensure all clients understand treatment options and post-visit home care of their animals.
  • We believe that old age is not a disease, that pets can have a quality life well into “old” age without heroic measures and WITH a well-managed holistic wellness program – not just pills and shots.
Are we the veterinarian for you?
We understand that you came to us for your pet’s care, and we are committed to ensuring they live long, healthy lives by offering thorough examinations.

During these exams, our experience allows us to identify potential health issues. We believe it’s our responsibility to inform you of anything we find, especially since this is the purpose of the exam fee. What you choose to do with this information is entirely up to you.

We also know that unexpected news can be overwhelming, especially when facing potential costs. If full treatment isn’t feasible, we can explore options to address issues gradually, depending on the severity.

You might wonder why a previous vet didn’t mention a particular issue. It’s possible the condition wasn’t present during the last visit or a recommended test wasn’t completed.

Delaying treatment often leads to more complex and expensive issues, like with lump removals or dental disease. In many cases, early action is key, and while some conditions do resolve on their own, others need timely attention.

If you’re seeking the lowest-cost option, or want a vet to overlook problems, we may not be the right fit. We’re here to provide the best care possible, not to ignore potential health concerns.

Lastly, we ask that our team is treated with respect. If that’s not something you can offer, we’d rather not move forward.

Ultimately, our priority is your pet’s well-being, and we will work with you to provide the best care within your means.

Why does my pet need a physical exam before receiving vaccines?
We often get questions about the need for a physical exam when a pet is due for vaccines, especially if the pet seems healthy.

We understand that some owners want to save time, money, or avoid stressing their pet, but a physical exam is essential before vaccinations—and for good reason.

Virginia law requires a veterinarian-client-patient relationship before administering any medication, including vaccines. A physical exam within the last year is necessary to maintain that relationship. If we haven’t seen your pet in over a year, an exam will be required before vaccinations.

Even if we’ve seen your pet recently, the exam is still necessary. Veterinarians are trained to catch health issues that may not be obvious to pet owners. Pets often hide symptoms, and it’s not uncommon for us to delay a vaccination if we discover a health issue during an exam.

Vaccines are meant to protect pets from serious diseases, prevent their spread, and protect public health (such as with rabies). Giving a vaccine to a pet that isn’t healthy could compromise their immune response and delay recovery. A full exam helps us ensure that:

  1. The vaccine won’t compromise your pet’s health.
  2. Your pet is healthy enough to build the antibodies needed for protection.

This applies to all pets, including those of our staff. There’s no flexibility regarding this policy because it’s in the best interest of every pet.

Most Commonly Asked Questions

What is your cancellation policy?
You must cancel or change and existing appointment 48 business hours before your appointment time. You must do so via our PetDesk app or speaking with a receptionist or sending a email before the 48 hour window. Otherwise, you will be charged a fee for late cancellation or missing your appointment. Cancellation message left on a Friday after noon for a Monday morning appointment do not suffice.

We started this policy as we were experiencing an increasing number of no shows for appointments, wasting time slots and denying availability to other pets requiring care. Some clients will be required to pay a deposit before making an appointment.

How can I prevent ticks, fleas, and parasites?
We recommend flea and tick prevention for all pets to prevent infestations that can also affect you and your family. The prevention minimizes the chances of your pet transporting these pets into your home.

Intestinal parasites (worms) can be prevented by avoiding fleas and having your pets contract these infestations via monthly heartworm prevention – which also prevents intestinal parasites.

Why do I need heartworm tests and prevention?

Mature heartworms live in the heart and greatly harm you pet many ways. Heartworms are spread by mosquitos – one bite from an infected mosquitos is enough to infect your dog (or cat) with heartworms.
Heartworm prevention cost about $10-$15 per month. A heartworm treatment for a positive dogs is lengthy and cost $5,000-$6,000.

The yearly heartworm test ensures your pet is negative (hopefully) from heartworms AND also three tick borne diseases (Lyme, Ehrlichia and Anaplasmosis). It is a four way test.

IF for some rare reason you dog becomes heartworm positive, the manufacturer of the prevention will pay for the treatment:
ONLY IF your dog receives a yearly heartworm test AND takes the monthly prevention purchased from your vet (us) (very important) AND we can prove you did so via our records. If you buy the prevention from an online pharmacy, then you are out of luck. No one tells you this fact.

What vaccines does my pet need and how often?
Cats need:

  • a rabies vaccine, required by law every 3 years after the first year.
  • feline distempter every 3 years after the first year.
  • feline leukemia every year (If the cat goes out – EVEN A LITTLE) or otherwise interacts with cats that go outside.

Dogs need:

  • a Rabies vaccine, required by law every 3 years after the first year, 100% fatal and transmittable to humans.
  • Canine distemper (every 3 years after the first year), this is a deadly disease to dogs and is expensive and time consuming to attempt to treat.
  • Bordatella (kennel cough) dogs in daycare or kennels (boarding) needs this administered at least 2 weeks prior boarding in a kennel or starting day care.
  • Canine Influenza: Some kennels require this vaccine and we administer upon request and should be given at least 2 weeks prior to your dogs entering day care or kennel situation.
  • Leptospirosis: Protects against the organism found in outside water sources and that may have been contaminated by infected wild life. It causes kidney damage and possible death due to that reason. Appropriate for dogs that drink from outside standing water, swim in ponds and streams and all outside working dogs. Given yearly.
    • What if I am a new patient?

    We are welcoming new clients. We will need your pets records from your prior veterinarian.

    We have an initial new patient exam fee to help defray the cost of the time required to setup a new client account and transfer your pets records from your old vet AND enter these records into our system and then to review these records to prepare for your first appointment to provide the best care possible.

    We will ask for this fee in advance to make an appointment for each new pet to be seen. The fees are applied to the total cost of your appointment.

    We have two locations and an in-home service.

    We proudly serve pets in Lovettsville, Round Hill, and mobile services all over Northern Virginia. To contact us or request an appointment, find the location nearest you below.

    Emergency Services

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