CLIENT BEHAVIOR POLICY:

We understand that veterinary visits can be stressful and, at times, frustrating. We do our best to exceed our clients’ expectations but even with our best efforts, we may occasionally fall short. When this happens, we hope that our clients will give us the opportunity to improve, and we will welcome calm and kind approaches to help us do just that. However, unkind, or abusive behavior will not be tolerated in any situation, this is a zero-tolerance policy, there are certain behaviors that are not suited for our practice and should never be tolerated from clients, for example threatening behavior, this includes verbal, physical, legal, and online threats. The team doesn’t deserve to have to deal with that; our job is stressful enough. Considering an inappropriate behavior, the veterinary-client relationship between Jog Lantana Animal Clinic and the client will be immediately terminated and all medical records will be emailed to the client once any outstanding balance is paid.

PATIENT ARRIVAL POLICY:
For your protection, and that of others, all dogs must be on a leash and properly controlled while in the lobby area or exam rooms. We recommend walking your dog before taking him/her in your car.

If your pet is coughing, has vomiting or diarrhea, please pull over in front the clinic, and call front desk to alert our receptionists to your arrival and the situation. We may ask that you remain in your car with your pet until we are able to bring you directly into a room.

All cats must be presented in an appropriate cat carrier. If your cat is afraid of your carrier, follow these instructions:
A few days before your scheduled visit (preferably 1 week), take your carrier out of storage and place it near your cat’s feeding area. Next, leave the carrier door open and put your cat’s favorite blanket and some toys in the carrier so it becomes a familiar part of your cat’s environment. After some time, place some of its favorite foods inside or on top of the carrier. Because the next stressful event for many cats is simply traveling in your car, which always means a visit to the vet clinic, minimize your cat’s fear by taking it for a couple of short rides before the day of your visit. Your cat should eventually consider its carrier a haven.

  • DROP-OFF
    For your convenience, “drop-off” appointments are available. A “drop off” means you could bring your pet at the time that works best for you and leave him/her with us for a couple of hours. Usually we will ask you to “drop off” sometime in the morning so our doctor can examine the patient in between appointments or at the time purposely reserved for admitted patients. Once the doctor’s examination is done, we will send you an estimate and you will receive a call to go over the diagnosis.

AGGRESSIVE PET POLICY:
Pets who are aggressive will be required to wear a muzzle and may be required to take sedative medications prior to their visits.

WALK – IN APPOINTMENT POLICY:
Walk-in clients are welcome; however, appointments are preferred, and walk-in clients are subject to a waiting time list. Emergency cases receive top priority followed by clients with previously scheduled appointments.

RABIES VACCINE POLICY:

All pets, regardless of lifestyle, are required to be up to date on their rabies vaccines to be patients of the Jog Lantana Animal Clinic. This is for the safety of our staff. If a pet is ill and requires medical attention but is not up to date on their rabies vaccines, we will treat the pet with the understanding that once the pet is well, they will get their rabies vaccine. The pet will not be allowed to return to the Jog Lantana Animal Clinic for subsequent visits until the rabies vaccine is updated.

CANCELLATION POLICY:
If you must cancel an appointment, we ask for 24 hours’ notice. For surgical/dental appointments we ask for 48 hours’ notice (2 days). Additional fees will be applied to your account for last minute cancellations.

If we determine that this policy is being abused, we reserve the right to discontinue reserving our staff’s time for that client or we may charge a $25 cancellation fee. We thank you in advance for abiding by these policies and helping us keep our clients, staff, and patients on schedule and safe!! We have created this policy out of respect for those clients who are waiting to have their pets be seen.

LATE ARRIVAL & NO-SHOW POLICY:
A veterinary/client relationship is built on mutual trust and respect. As such, we strive to be on time for your scheduled appointments and ask that you give us the courtesy of a call when you are unable to keep your appointment. As a courtesy, we provide reminder calls/emails/texts before your appointment. However, you are responsible to remember your appointment regardless.

Unfortunately, like other medical practices, we also have the occasional late arrival or no-show appointment. We do try and manage these as apart from impacting on those who have arrived on time for their appointment; it has a negative impact on the medical team. Often there are cases being treated in the clinic and the staff attempts to schedule their day to ensure that they can meet the needs of those patients and scheduled appointments. Arriving late or not showing at all impacts on their ability to manage treatments for these pets. As a result, we do have a few rules and guidelines that the staff work with in terms of late arrivals and no-shows.

  • Late Arrivals

Please be aware that our clinic has a policy wherein if you are more than 5 minutes late for your scheduled appointment time, we will be adjusting our schedule and moving you to the walk-in list when you arrive. While we certainly understand that delays may happen, we feel we have an obligation and responsibility to do our very best to service clients and patients who are here for their appointments on time. We strongly encourage all our clients to arrive at least 10 minutes early for scheduled appointments, if possible, as we do have administrative paperwork that will need to be completed, especially if you are a new client or have a new pet.

  • Appointment No-Show:

A “no-show” is a client who misses an appointment without providing 24 hours’ notice of cancellation. A failure to be present at the time of a scheduled appointment will be recorded in the patient’s chart as a “no-show”. The first time there is a “no-show” there will be no charge to the client. A 2nd occurrence will result in you being charged our “no-show” fee of $20. For a 3rd occurrence you will be prohibited from scheduling an appointment with one of our doctors. We will still see your pet, but it will be as a walk-in arrival only following two subsequent no-shows for appointments. We recognize that your pet may need medical attention, and we do not wish to turn your pet away, but you will be subject to any wait times associated with the walk in/urgent care service.

  • Surgery/Dental Procedure Appointment No-Show Policy:

A surgery/dental procedure “no-show” is a client who misses a surgery/dental procedure appointment without providing 24 hours’ notice of cancellation. The first time this occurs we will call to offer to reschedule the appointment and will be requested to place a $100 hold fee on the surgical/dental appointment. The hold fee will be credited to the cost of the surgical/dental procedure. At the second missed surgical /dental appointment, we will call to reschedule, and you will be charged a missed surgery/dental appointment fee of $150 and will be requested to place a $100 hold fee on the surgical/dental appointment. The hold fee will be credited to the cost of the surgical/dental procedure.

PRESCRIPTIONS REFILLS POLICY:
Federal law requires that we must examine your animal prior to prescribing or dispensing medications. An annual examination and/or blood tests or other procedures may be required for prescriptions. These requirements are for your pet’s safety… AND IT’S THE LAW… Your understanding in this matter is appreciated. If you have any questions about what is required to get a prescription refill, please do not hesitate to ask. Prescriptions require 24 hours’ notice to be filled.

  • Prescription Outside Pharmacy Fee

If a prescription is requested to be filled at a pharmacy, we reserve the right to charge a prescription fee for the time taken to review your pet’s chart and to call to the pharmacy.

EUTHANASIA POLICY:

Euthanasia is an important and necessary procedure meant for the purpose of preventing unnecessary suffering when patients are terminally ill or injured. As it is a medical procedure, it is ultimately performed at the discretion of the Veterinarian as circumstances warrant. Euthanasia is chosen for a variety of reasons when continued life is deemed unacceptable, including to end suffering in patients with physical and/or emotional problems that lead to a significant decrease in quality of life and well-being. Veterinary professionals must evaluate what is in the best interest of the patient. Euthanasia is appropriate when:

  • A patient is terminally ill and can no longer be satisfactorily palliated or managed.
  • A patient is so severely injured or ill that its prognosis for recovery with reasonably and commonly available treatment is very poor, grave, or hopeless.
  • A patient has a condition that can no longer be managed by reasonably and commonly available treatment.
  • A patient has a severe aggression problem, and an appropriate treatment attempt has been made unsuccessfully.

Euthanasia is not appropriate and will not be provided when:

  • A patient is minimally ill or injured, financial issues and no reasonable attempt at diagnosis or treatment has been made.
  • The pet is unwanted, or the owner has died and “it’s in their will.”
  • For the convenience of the owner (i.e., owner finds it easier not to provide care).
  • Perceived old age (i.e., owner is of the opinion pet should not receive care because they’re too old). Age is not a disease. We have no way of predicting a patient’s life span any more than we could be expected to predict the clients. It is not reasonable to base health care decisions on perceived old age other than as it may impact management and the individual’s prognosis. Responsible pet owners take care of their pets for their entire life.