We are—for now—continuing the policies we implemented last June 1 when we welcomed clients back into our exam rooms. Here’s a reminder of the basic protocol:
Call the front desk at (317) 852-3323 when you arrive in our parking lot for your appointment.*
If you want to come inside with your pet, a team member will come out and escort you into the building, straight to an exam room.
Please plan on having no more than two people come in with your pet.**
We will be wearing masks and maintaining a safe distance from you throughout your visit.
Regardless of your vaccine status, we expect you to wear a mask covering your nose and mouth all the time you’re in our building.
Once you’re in the exam room, we ask you to remain seated.
Check-out will happen in the exam room.
*Forgot your cell phone? Please come knock on the front door when you arrive.
**Euthanasia appointments can be an exception to the two-person-inside rule, should more than two members of your family wish to be present. Just tell us how many will be coming inside when you call to let us know you’ve arrived.
Curbside service is still an option for those of you who prefer to wait in your cars while we take your pet inside for examination, diagnosis and treatment.
Curbside service is the only option for clients who are unwilling to wear a mask while inside our building.
We are also relying exclusively on curbside service for technician appointments and food and prescription pick-ups.
On Tuesday, June 1, we will reopen our exam rooms to clients who want to come inside for their pets’ appointments.
That’s right! The eye-to-eye interactions we’ve all missed so much during the many months of curbside-only service are once again an option so long as the infection rates in our area stay reasonably low and our clients are willing to follow a few simple precautions.
Curbside service will still be available to clients who prefer to stay in their cars. If you’d rather stay outside and communicate with us by phone, we’ll be happy to take care of getting your pet inside for the appointment and returned to your car when we’re done.
Curbside-only service will continue for technician appointments and food and prescription pick-ups.
Starting Tuesday, June 1—
Call the front desk at (317) 852-3323 when you arrive in our parking lot for your appointment.
If you want to come inside with your pet, a team member will come out and escort you into the building, straight into an exam room.
Please plan on having no more than two people come in with your pet.
We will be wearing masks and maintaining a safe distance from you throughout your visit.
Regardless of your vaccine status, we expect you to wear a mask covering your nose and mouth all the time you’re in the building.
Once you’re in the exam room, we ask you to remain seated.
Check-out will happen in the exam room.
If you are unwilling or unable to take these precautions once you’re inside our building, we will ask you to return to your car for the rest of the appointment.
Why the Masks?
We expect everyone to wear masks because it’s a simple, easy, effective way to continue to minimize risks for everyone—especially for those who are not vaccinated and those who are at high risk of complications from COVID. Masks still are the best precaution we can all take to keep everyone safe and make sure we can continue to care for our patients without interruption.
We will continue to monitor area infection rates as well as clients’ compliance with our guidelines and will revert to curbside-only service if necessary.
Our lobby remains closed until further notice.
Thank you for your continuing patience and understanding. We truly look forward to seeing you again!
Sincerely,
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
Despite the decline of COVID-19 new case and death rates from winter highs to levels close to those experienced last summer, Brownsburg Animal Clinic will continue curbside service exclusively until further notice.
We will also continue following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control regarding wearing masks and keeping physical distance from colleagues and clients.
Like most of our clients, we strongly prefer the more efficient and satisfying face-to-face interactions of indoor appointments. Several of our team members and their pets have recently visited specialty clinics where curbside service was the only option. In sharing their experiences of curbside as clients, they’ve helped all of us understand better than ever our own clients’ frustrations with curbside service.
Other team members have shared recent experiences with providers of human healthcare and dentistry, citing continuing restrictions on family members allowed into exam and hospital rooms.
Within the veterinary industry, we are seeing many clinics and veterinary teaching hospitals continuing to offer curbside only, until further notice—as we have elected to do. Others have reopened their facilities to the public while still making curbside service available to clients who prefer it,. We tried that from last July 6 until November 10, when we reverted to curbside-only as infection and death rates soared.
As a healthcare professional and clinic owner, I am solely responsible for setting policies for our clinic. I consider the current risks of infection too great to reopen our building to the public right now and for the foreseeable future. That’s why curbside-only service will continue at Brownsburg Animal Clinic.
All year long, my first priority has been and remains the health and safety of our staff, our families and our clients. Infections within the clinic could not only make any number of us sick and jeopardize our own and our families’ health, but also shut us down for weeks. I want to keep that risk as low as possible so we can continue to be here for our clients and patients without interruption. I also want to minimize confusion about what our clients can expect when they come for an appointment by continuing the policy we’ve had in place for the past four months until infection and death rates stabilize at lower levels.
As COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available, I am encouraging all on our team who wish to be vaccinated to schedule their appointments promptly. We will track the dates their shots are administered and wait for full efficacy for all vaccinated staff members before we consider reopening the building. We will also continue to monitor the infection and death rates as well as vaccination rates for Hendricks and surrounding counties as we look to restore full access to our building as soon as we feel it’s reasonably safe to do so.
Meanwhile, we are allowing clients into the building for euthanasias. If you observe clients entering the building, we ask that you understand this is the most likely reason for their visit and offer them the same respect and compassion you would appreciate if you were saying goodbye to your pet for the last time.
We will notify our clients by email, website post and Facebook post when we feel it is safe to reopen our building to clients. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration our continuing curbside-only policy may cause you as a client.
Curbside Protocols
As a reminder, here’s how curbside works:
Call in advance to make an appointment for your pet’s visit.
When you arrive for the appointment, call the front desk at(317) 852-3323 to let us know you’re in our parking lot.
A technician will call you to discuss your pet’s history and the reason for the appointment.
A technician will then come to your car and bring your pet into the clinic for examination and treatment.
Cats must be in a secure carrier—not loose in your vehicle. We provide secure leads for dogs.
Our staff will not reach into your vehicle for your pet. We’re asking you to place cat carriers on the ground by your vehicle for the staff member to pick up or stand by your vehicle with your dog on a leash until the staff member secures the slip lead and you can safely hand the dog off.
Unless it’s a drop-off appointment or special arrangements have been made in advance and approved by the veterinarian, we expect clients to remain in their vehicles in our parking lot throughout the appointment.
All communication concerning diagnosis, treatment options and check-out will take place on the phone. Because of the increased call volume, you may experience delays in having your call answered and long hold times. Please know we are doing our best to manage phone calls as quickly and efficiently as we can.
At the conclusion of the appointment, after you’ve paid your bill, a staff member will return your pet, along with any prescribed medicines or foods, to your car.
We ask that you maintain a distance of at least six feet from anyone you encounter during your visit to our clinic.
We expect you to wear a snug-fitting mask covering your nose and mouth while interacting with our staff members and other clients who may be waiting in the parking lot.
Food Orders and Prescription Refills
If you need to visit the clinic to pick up food or medicine, we ask for more than the usual 24-hours’ advance notice. Call well ahead of time, charge the merchandise to your credit or debit card, and we will let you know when your order will be ready. Call the front desk when you arrive for pickup and we will bring it out to you.
We all join you in looking forward to the time when we can safely reopen the building to our clients—and we most certainly will—just as soon as we feel it is prudent to do so again.
Thank you for your continuing patience, cooperation and understanding.
Sincerely,
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
P.S. My team and I understand waiting can be frustrating! I assure you, we are doing our very best to respond promptly to every call we receive, in order of urgency, and to operate as efficiently as we possibly can. Regardless of your wait time, we expect you to be civil to our team members, once they are able to help you.
As Hendricks County’s rate of new COVID-19 cases continues to climb to the highest levels yet, my team has expressed growing concerns for their own and our clients’ safety.
I’m concerned, too, and have made the difficult decision to take a step back and revert to curbside service only, effective immediately.
It’s become clear since we reopened the building to our clients on July 6, about three-quarters of them prefer to come inside. We prefer the more efficient and satisfying face-to-face interactions with our clients, too, although we have become increasingly anxious interacting with a growing number of clients who refuse to wear masks properly and consistently.
Meanwhile, we have been happy to continue offering curbside service to the 25-30 percent of our clients who have preferred to play it safe and not risk coming inside.
I now see returning to curbside service exclusively as the safest, most efficient way to continue to be here for you and your pet while doing our very best to keep our clients, ourselves and our families safe.
Curbside Protocols
Our curbside service protocols have continued to work well since we first implemented them last March, and we greatly appreciate your cooperation with us as we revert to allowing only staff inside the clinic for the foreseeable future.
As a reminder, here’s how curbside works:
Call in advance to make an appointment for your pet’s visit.
When you arrive for the appointment, call the front desk at(317) 852-3323 to let us know you’re in our parking lot.
A technician will call you to discuss your pet’s history and the reason for the appointment.
A technician will then come to your car and bring your pet into the clinic for examination and treatment.
Cats must be in a secure carrier—not loose in your vehicle. We provide secure leads for dogs.
Our staff will not reach into your vehicle for your pet. We’re asking you to place cat carriers on the ground by your vehicle for the staff member to pick up or stand by your vehicle with your dog on a leash until the staff member secures the slip lead and you can safely hand the dog off.
Unless it’s a drop-off appointment or special arrangements have been made in advance and approved by the veterinarian, we expect clients to remain in their vehicles in our parking lot throughout the appointment.
All communication concerning diagnosis, treatment options and check-out will take place on the phone.
At the conclusion of the appointment, after you’ve paid your bill, a staff member will return your pet, along with any prescribed medicines or foods, to your car.
We ask that you maintain a distance of at least six feet from anyone you encounter during your visit to our clinic.
We expect you to wear a snug-fitting mask covering your nose and mouth while interacting with our staff members and other clients who may be waiting in the parking lot.
Food Orders and Prescription Refills
If you need to visit the clinic to pick up food or medicine, we ask for more than the usual 24-hours’ advance notice. Call well ahead of time, charge the merchandise to your credit or debit card, and we will let you know when your order will be ready. Call the front desk when you arrive for pickup and we will bring it out to you.
We all join you in looking forward to the time when we can safely reopen the building to our clients—and we most certainly will—just as soon as we feel it is prudent to do so again.
Thank you for your continuing patience, cooperation and understanding.
Sincerely,
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
P.S. My team and I understand waiting can be frustrating! I assure you, we are doing our very best to respond promptly to every call we receive, in order of urgency, and to operate as efficiently as we possibly can. Regardless of your wait time, we expect you to be civil to our team members, once they are able to help you.
Thank you for your patience and goodwill as our “new normal” continues to evolve.
Like veterinary practices nationwide, we are busier than ever! Pet adoptions have been on the increase, and since people have been spending more time at home, they’ve been paying closer attention to their pets and noticing more potential health problems.
Demand for our services is at an all-time high, and all of us are grateful for the opportunity to keep doing the work we love, caring for our patients and clients!
Wellness Visits
Many practices—ours included—built up a backlog of deferred wellness visits during March and April, when we were able to offer only essential care.
I’m happy to report the backlog of deferred wellness visits has eased somewhat. Wellness appointments are now available within a week or two—particularly to those who call to schedule early in the week.
Getting ‘Back on Track’
The adjustments we made following the July 4 holiday are working out well as level 4.5 of the governor’s “Back on Track” plan continues.
Since we reopened our building to clients—while continuing to offer curbside service to those who prefer it—we’ve received positive feedback for both types of appointments.
Those 70-75% of clients who are choosing to come inside tell us they feel safe, and they appreciate our stepped-up precautions—continuing to wear masks and maintain physical distance and sanitizing all exam room surfaces, including doorknobs, after every visit.
We still have about 25-30% of clients choosing curbside service for scheduled appointments, and curbside service continues for food and prescription pick-ups.
Our check-in process remains the same.
Whether you plan to come inside or wait in your car, call the front desk at (317) 852-3323 when you arrive in our parking lot for your appointment.
If you want to come inside with your pet, wait for a team member to escort you into the building, straight into an available exam room.
Please plan on having no more than two people come inside with your pet. (Additional family members may be present for a euthanasia.)
We will be wearing masks and doing our best to maintain at least 6 feet of distance from you throughout your visit, but keeping our distance may be a challenge during the exam. That’s why we expect you to bring and wear your own mask and stay as far away as possible from our team members to protect all of us!
Expect Delays
Call volume remains extraordinarily high.
When you call the clinic, if you are not calling about a medical emergency, you may be placed on hold—even if you’re calling simply to let us know you’ve arrived in our parking lot for your appointment.
Please be patient as we handle our calls as efficiently as we can. One of our team members will reconnect with you as soon as possible.
There may also be delays in our technician’s arrival at your car to bring you and/or your pet into the building. With the return to inside service, additional sanitation measures have to be completed between appointments. We need extra time to keep everyone safe!
My team and I understand waiting can be frustrating!
I assure you, we are doing our very best to respond promptly to every call we receive, in order of urgency, and to operate as efficiently as we possibly can while handling a combination of curbside and in-house appointments.
Regardless of your wait time, we expect you to be civil to our team members, once they are able to help you.
Drop-Offs to Minimize Your Wait Time
In many cases, dropping off your pet and returning later that day for pick-up is a great way to minimize your wait time while getting your pet the care he or she needs in a timely way.
If your pet’s medical needs are not urgent, a drop-off can be a convenient way for you to avoid a potentially long wait on a busy day.
Dropping your pet off frees you to make better use of your own time, knowing a veterinarian will see your pet as soon as possible and you’ll be notified immediately when your pet is ready for pick-up.
Welcoming Our New Associate
To further meet the increased demand for services, I’m pleased to announce Kelli M. Barton, DVM, will be joining our team as an associate, working on Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting October 7.
Dr. Barton has been in practice since 2012, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the clinic. We’ll be introducing her to you more fully in the coming weeks.
For the Good of Your Pet
Throughout the past seven months, our dedication to caring for our beloved pet-patients while keeping everyone safe has remained the first priority for our entire team.
We are all under unprecedented levels of stress and uncertainty, making it more important than ever to treat each other with kindness and consideration.
Thank you for entrusting us with your pet’s care. We look forward to continuing to serve you, and we hope you and your loved ones are staying well.
Sincerely,
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
P.S. We have been experiencing a higher-than-average number of “no-call/no-show” appointments in recent months. If you find you are unable to keep a scheduled appointment, please call or email us—ideally, at least 24 hours in advance of the appointment time—so we can offer the appointment to another client.
To you, our valued client—we hope you and your loved ones (both human and animal) are staying well as the pandemic continues to impact all our lives.
As healthcare professionals, we know the threat of infection by the coronavirus remains very real. At the same time, we feel ready to take a few cautious steps toward “the new normal.”
The following are some adjustments we’ll be making when we return after our July 4 holiday, when the clinic will be closed.
Effective Monday, July 6
Our weekday office hours will revert to 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with the final appointment of the day at 5:00.
While the lobby remains closed, we are opening our facility back up to clients who wish to come inside with their pets, directly to exam rooms, for their appointments.
Curbside service will still be available to clients who prefer to stay in their cars.
Curbside service will continue for food and prescription pick-ups.
Here’s how our revised check-in will work:
Call the front desk at (317) 852-3323 when you arrive in our parking lot.
If you want to come inside with your pet, a team member will come out and escort you into the building, straight into an available exam room. Please plan on having no more than two people come inside with your pet.
We will be wearing masks and maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from you throughout your visit, and we ask that you wear a mask and stay 6 feet away from our team members to protect all of us!
Expect Delays
An unusually high volume of incoming telephone calls to the clinic continues to be a challenge as we communicate by phone during appointments with pet owners in our parking lot, answer more called-in health-related questions than ever before and process requests for prescription refills.
Even with two additional phone lines to help your calls get through, we are still having a hard time keeping up, and we are well aware the longer-than-usual hold times are aggravating to many of you.
Please know we are doing our very best to respond promptly to every call we receive, in order of urgency. And despite the longer hold times, we ask that you please be civil to our team members, once they are able to take your call.
We are also still working through a backlog of deferred wellness visits that built up in March and April when we were able to offer only essential care. While we set aside times in our daily schedule to take care of sick pets and administer timely puppy and kitten vaccines as needed, our next available wellness appointments are several weeks from now.
Returning to our former schedule and staying open an additional hour every weekday will help ease the situation, but it will still take time to clear the backlog to pre-pandemic levels.
Until we are able to get fully caught up, you may expect delays in scheduling a wellness appointment. We ask for your patience with our team members when you call.
Collaboration for the Good of Your Pet
Caring for our beloved pet-patients has always worked best as a collaborative effort among our clients, our veterinarians and the entire clinic team.
Ideally, our interactions take place in a cordial atmosphere of trust, respect and goodwill on all sides.
These days, when all our nerves are frayed because of the continuing threat of COVID-19 and the stress of not knowing just what the future holds, it is more important than ever to be kind and courteous to each other as we continue to get through this unprecedented time in our history together.
Thank you for entrusting us with your pet’s care. We look forward to continuing to serve you.
Sincerely,
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
As safeguards to minimize the spread of the coronavirus are being relaxed statewide, several of our clients have asked when we will reopen our lobby and exam rooms to the public.
The answer is, not yet.
When we implemented curbside service on March 20, we saw it as the safest, most efficient way to continue to be here for our clients and patients while minimizing the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
So far, the curbside strategy—combined with stepped-up sanitation protocols and social distancing—appears to be working. Our doctors and staff have stayed well during the past two months while continuing to keep our patients healthy and ourselves, our families and our clients safe.
Meanwhile, as our state moves to re-open, the infection continues to spread.
According to the Indiana COVID-19 Data Report dashboard, as of noon Monday, May 11, the Indiana State Department of Health had reported 25,127 known cases of COVID-19 and 1,444 known deaths caused by the virus in our state. Hendricks County accounts for 984 of those positive cases and 55 deaths. Next door, Marion County reports 7,632 positive cases and 429 deaths.
Of the statewide total COVID-19 cases, the State Department of Health confirmed 566 new cases between March 23 and May 11.
Those numbers remind us the risk of infection is still very real and, in my opinion as a health care provider, now is not the time to cut back unnecessarily on sensible, effective precautions aimed at keeping all of us safe. Despite some inconveniences, our curbside service is working well and we intend to keep it in place until we see a definite, persistent downward trend in new cases of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, as clinic owner, I remain committed to keeping my team and our clients safe and the clinic open for business, caring for patients. If just one of our team members contracts the virus, we’ll be forced to shut down for as long as two weeks, delaying and denying much-needed care to all our patients.
We all look forward to the time when we can safely reopen the lobby and exam rooms to our clients—and we most certainly will—just as soon as we feel it is prudent to do so.
Thank you for your continuing cooperation and understanding.
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
Governor Holcomb recently issued an executive order allowing health care providers, including veterinarians, to resume offering elective procedures, provided we have adopted policies and best practices that protect patients, doctors and staff against COVID-19 and also have sufficient gloves, masks and surgical gowns on hand.
At Brownsburg Animal Clinic, we meet the conditions stated in the governor’s executive order, so we have resumed scheduling elective procedures, preventive care exams and tests essential to your pet’s continued wellbeing.
Now Scheduling Elective Procedures and Preventive Care Exams
In addition to all essential diagnostics and treatments listed in my April 11 update, we are now scheduling—
Dental procedures
Elective surgeries
Preventive care exams
Heartworm tests
Adult vaccines
Other tests, exams and procedures we may have postponed
If you have postponed an elective procedure or preventive care exam during the past few months, we encourage you to call the clinic at (317) 852-3323 to schedule an appointment.
Given the backlog of demand that has built up over the past two months for elective procedures and preventive care, we have some catching up to do!
You may experience a somewhat longer-than-normal wait time for an available appointment as we do our best to accommodate clients who have deferred care while keeping enough time slots open for sick and injured pets. With help from our relief vets, we look forward to getting everyone taken care of and back on preventive care schedules soon.
Office Hours
For the time being, we will continue opening at 8:00 a.m. and closing an hour early at 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Saturday hours are 8:00 a.m. to noon. We will let you know when we plan to resume our normal weekday office hours once the decision is made.
Curbside Service to Continue
We remain strongly committed to keeping our clients, doctors and staff safe!
To minimize the risks of infection, we plan to continue allowing only staff inside the clinic until we are confident new cases of COVID-19 are definitely on the decline in our immediate area.
For full details of how our curbside service works, please review the “Curbside 2.0” section in my April 11 update.
If You Are Ill
If you have an appointment scheduled and are experiencing coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue or fever, or if you know you have had close contact with someone with COVID-19, we ask that you call us to reschedule.
If your pet has a medical emergency and you are ill, we strongly encourage you to have a healthy family member or trusted friend bring your pet to the clinic for treatment.
If you are unable to make these arrangements, call us to let us know you’re ill and discuss options for getting your pet the care needed while protecting our team.
While it appears highly unlikely you can catch COVID-19 from your pet, there are several known cases worldwide of pets who appear to have contracted the disease from their owners. If you are ill, you can minimize the risks of infecting your pet by wearing a face mask and washing your hands thoroughly before any interactions. Better yet, ask a well family member or friend to take over caring for your pet until you are well.
Thanks Again!
We greatly appreciate the ongoing cooperation and understanding you’ve shown as we’ve worked together to make sure your pet is well cared-for while minimizing the risk of infection for all the humans involved.
We look forward to getting caught up on any deferred exams and procedures in the coming weeks. And as always, it means so much to us for you to entrust us with your pet’s care!
Sincerely,
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
Rest assured, we are still open and here to care for your sick and injured pets as well as those with ongoing medical conditions.
However, we are making a few key changes to our routines to further reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
Based on the latest recommendations from the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we will shift to all curbside service, effective Friday, March 20. That means only the clinic staff will be allowed inside our building.
If you have a scheduled or drop-off appointment, call the front desk at (317) 852-3323 to let us know you’ve arrived in our parking lot. A technician will come out to your car and bring your pet into the clinic for examination and treatment.
All communication and check-out will take place on the phone before a staff member returns your pet, along with any prescribed medicines or foods, to your car.
While essential puppy and kitten wellness visits for vaccines will continue on schedule, we will reschedule wellness visits for adult dogs for after April 6.
If you need to visit the clinic to pick up food or medicine, we will deliver it to your car. Just call the front desk, charge the merchandise to your credit or debit card, and we will bring it out to you.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as together, we get through these difficult times.
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
For those of you who share our concerns about COVID-19, we want to assure you we’re taking measures at the clinic to minimize the risk of introducing or spreading the virus to team members and clients while continuing to care for our patients.
In addition to following our usual cleaning protocols, we are doing even more frequent and thorough disinfecting of surfaces everyone touches—phones, keyboards and door handles—than ever before.
We are refraining from handshakes and hugs.
We have advised our team members to stay home if they are experiencing any respiratory symptoms and to return to work only after going at least 24 hours fever-free without medication.
We are asking our clients to stay away from the clinic if they or anyone in their household have symptoms of the virus or believe they may have been exposed to it. We will be happy to reschedule the appointment.
This situation is evolving rapidly, and there is much uncertainty ahead. We are committed to doing our best to keep our team and clients healthy and will remain flexible in our response to COVID-19 in the coming days. Updates will be posted on our website and Facebook page as needed.
We appreciate your patience and understanding.
Timea H. Brady, DVM Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic
Our clinic owner, Dr. Timea H. Brady, recently earned certification to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on dogs and cats.
Dr. Brady’s certification by the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) initiative required 8.5 continuing education hours of online coursework in basic and advanced life support followed by four hours of hands-on training using stuffed dog manikins in a live workshop setting. She completed the requirements on September 19 at Purdue University’s Fall Veterinary Conference, becoming one of approximately 1,000 “Certified RECOVER Rescuers” worldwide.
Dr. Timea H. Brady (right), owner of Brownsburg Animal Clinic, uses a manual resuscitator on a CPR patient simulator in the September 19 RECOVER workshop at the Purdue Veterinary Conference while fellow Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine alumna Dr. Katharine Wentworth performs chest compressions. Purdue University photo / Kevin Doerr
“My staff wanted to learn more about CPR and how to do it, but I realized I had only very basic knowledge—certainly not enough to teach it,” said Dr. Brady. “When I saw Purdue was offering the course at their Fall Conference, I jumped at the chance to learn so I could improve my patients’ chances of survival as well as teach my entire team the evidence-based best practices.”
Dr. Brady set aside two full staff meetings for CPR training. The October 22 meeting focused on the basic and advanced life support coursework. In a follow-up training session on November 12, the staff will practice CPR techniques on a stuffed animal.
Using handouts, demonstrations and hands-on practice, the training covers how to recognize cardiopulmonary arrest, the CPR procedure itself and post-cardiac arrest care. Dr. Brady has ordered copies of the RECOVER guidelines and emergency drug dosage posters for permanent display in the clinic’s surgery and dental suites and treatment area.
“We’ll be practicing on a stuffed animal, but in the workshop at Purdue, we had dog-shaped CPR dummies called simulators that had an open mouth with teeth and a tongue so we could practice intubating them,” said Dr. Brady. “The simulators were also designed to give realistic resistance when we were doing the chest compressions. Our stuffed animal won’t have those features, but I think it will still be helpful in learning the techniques.”
In keeping with RECOVER recommendations, the clinic has ordered additional supplies for the emergency crash cart, fully stocking it with multiple sizes of endotracheal tubes and IV catheters, a manual resuscitator bag, fluids and emergency drugs such as epinephrine, atropine and naloxone.
“Our cart has just about everything paramedics for humans have on their trucks, but in more different sizes to suit the smallest to the largest pets,” said Dr. Brady. “Our staff training will cover what’s in the crash cart and where, so there will be no delays in accessing the tools and supplies we need during an emergency.”
About Veterinary CPR
Veterinary cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is called for when an animal’s breathing and heartbeat stop. The causes may include heart disease, metabolic diseases, low levels of oxygen in the blood, electrolyte imbalances, dehydration, adverse reactions to a drug, electrical shock or brain trauma.
The mortality rate is extremely high in veterinary cases of cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA). For animals experiencing CPA while hospitalized, only 1.6 to 6 percent of dogs and 2.3 to 9.6 percent of cats survive to be discharged from the hospital. In humans, approximately 24 percent of adults survive an in-hospital CPA.
CPR is the only treatment of cardiopulmonary arrest. In both animals and humans, the odds of survival after CPA improve with the quality of CPR delivery, including early recognition and response to CPA, skillful application of effective basic and advanced life support techniques and post-cardiac arrest care.
Although one person can administer basic veterinary CPR, alternating between timed chest compressions and breaths, having two people handle both simultaneously makes the procedure easier.
“Once you have an unresponsive dog or cat, it works best to begin immediately with chest compressions, with a second person handling respiration,” said Dr. Brady. “These two can swap places every two minutes, because the chest compressions are tiring, but you want to keep it up until you’ve given the heart a chance to start again on its own.
“If you’re in a hospital setting and your team is trained and available, they can provide advanced life support—things like inserting an IV catheter and administering drugs, intubating and getting the patient hooked up to oxygen and an EKG machine. Team members can also look in the patient’s medical history for health problems or adverse reactions to drugs and write down all that’s being done in the moment to revive the pet so we have it for our records.”
As in human medicine, Dr. Brady said CPR alone doesn’t always restart a cat or dog’s heart, and even if it does, long-term survival is far from guaranteed. “With CPR, we’re mainly trying to buy time and keep oxygenated blood flowing to the brain and heart in hopes of a successful resuscitation with minimal tissue damage. Ideally, if CPR works, the heart starts back up and you get them breathing again. If you can do that, you then have a chance to diagnose the problem and try to solve it.
“You have the best chances of a successful result when CPR’s a team effort, and what you’re doing is based on current, evidence-based best practices. That’s why I’m excited to pass on to my entire staff what I learned to get certified.”
About the RECOVER Initiative
The RECOVER initiative is a non-profit, volunteer effort undertaken in 2010 by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care and the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society. More than 100 board-certified veterinary medical specialists spent 18 months systematically reviewing the experimental and clinical evidence in CPR research and devised evidence-based, consensus CPR guidelines for dogs and cats. The organization published its first RECOVER guidelines in 2012 and, based on its continuing work, anticipates publishing revised guidelines in 2020.
So far, about 9,000 veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary nurses and students worldwide have completed the RECOVER online course. In addition to about 1,000 certified RECOVER Rescuers, there are about 190 certified RECOVER instructors qualified to lead certification workshops and labs.
Although the guidelines have been available since 2012, RECOVER Initiative Program Director Kenichiro Yagi said, “RECOVER is at its initial stages of adoption by the veterinary field. Progressive individuals and practices wanting to adopt the best evidence-based practice in veterinary CPR are the ones who find RECOVER.”
“We don’t have data to show whether the guidelines have led to increased survival,” said RECOVER Initiative Co-Chair Daniel J. Fletcher, PhD, DVM and Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. “Until we have data to share, what we can say is that folks who complete the RECOVER certification process report feeling much more confident and less stressed when an arrest occurs and feel that they are now more prepared when an arrest happens. So we’re making some progress!”
“Until the RECOVER initiative, there were no published standards or guidelines about veterinary CPR, and that led to a wide range of approaches and I’m sure, a lot of chaos, too,” said Dr. Brady. “What veterinarians and technicians did know was often adapted from human protocols, and it turns out what works for humans doesn’t always work for dogs and cats.
“Fortunately, in general practice, cases of cardiopulmonary arrest are relatively rare. I’ve encountered fewer than a half-dozen or so in my 15 years as a general practitioner. Of course, every one of those cases was pretty stressful.
“Now, as a result of this training, my team and I will be prepared to recognize common cardiopulmonary arrest warnings, we’ll all know the evidence-based treatment strategies and proper drug doses to use and how best to care for surviving patients after CPR. I’m sure we’ll feel calmer and more confident, should we need to resuscitate a patient, and the animal’s chances of survival will improve.
“I feel empowered now! There is no longer any guesswork. I know what to do. No more chaos!”
To maintain certification, Dr. Brady will be required to take a comprehensive online course every two years. RECOVER CPR is the only official veterinary CPR certification recognized by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care and the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society.
For information about RECOVER certification programs for veterinary professionals, first responders and pet care professionals, and pet owners, visit the RECOVER Initiative website.
After nearly a year of work on the project, we’re happy to report all the construction and renovation inside our facility is complete, with only some landscaping remaining to be done outside.
Our spacious new lobby is receiving lots of compliments from clients, as are the larger and more numerous exam rooms. The doctors and staff are enjoying the additional, more attractive workspaces and the significant positive impact these major changes to our facility are having on our workflow.
We have a few finishing touches to put on equipping and organizing the isolation room and our offices, but the separate surgery and dental suite are fully equipped and functioning just as we dreamed they would.
Even in its not-quite-finished state, we’re delighted at the impact the expansion and renovation are already having on our ability to serve our clients and care for our patients even better than ever.
Please ask for a tour next time you’re in for a visit.
Update Impacting Clinic Visitors Saturday, August 3
We thought the paving was all done last Saturday, but a portion of the re-paved older lot needs a do-over, scheduled for Saturday morning, August 3.
Plenty of convenient parking is available in the new lot, and for the sake of our more anxious patients, we hope the noise from the heavy equipment will be minimal!
Update Impacting Clinic Visitors Wednesday, July 24 through Saturday, July 27
We’re almost done!
As we’re putting the finishing touches on our newly-renovated interior space, we have one more major undertaking left to complete on the outside: the parking lots.
In preparing for this phase of the project with our builder, we learned this is a two-day job. First, they have to rip up existing blacktop and haul that away, smooth everything out to prepare the surface and finally pave over both the old and new parking areas surrounding the clinic.
One option was to shut down the clinic for two days straight. But we said no to that! Instead, to minimize the impact on our clients and patients, we worked out the best compromise we could to allow us to stay open and still get our new parking lots done.
The ripping up and surface prep will begin on Wednesday, July 24, and the paving will take place on Saturday, July 27. During that time, parking will be limited to the grassy area just in front of the new gravel parking lot.
We know it’s going to be a mess from Wednesday through the rest of the week, with uneven terrain to cross over a greater distance from your car to the front door. There’s also going to be heavy, at times noisy equipment on site, so that your pet may feel anxious.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience and commit ourselves to helping minimize the impact on you and your pet as much as we possibly can.
If you visit the clinic between now and Saturday and need help getting yourself and your pet into the building, use your mobile phone to call us from your car when you arrive, and a team member will be more than happy to come out and assist you. If you don’t have a mobile phone, call us when you leave your house and we’ll be on the lookout for you! We’ll also escort you and your pet back out to your car after your appointment to get you on your way back home without incident.
Whether or not you will be visiting us during the parking lot paving, to all our clients—thank you so much for your patience and encouragement during our expansion and renovation project. You’ve all been so understanding and so complimentary as our long-dreamed-of facility has taken shape. We can’t even begin to tell you how much we appreciate your bearing with our mess over these many months!
We look forward to serving you in our spacious new, improved facility for many years to come!
Friday, June 28 Update
With new construction done, we’ve been hard at work, radically reconfiguring and renovating our original spaces. We’re especially excited to see our new dental suite taking shape in the space formerly occupied by exam rooms two and three and the pharmacy. Our new table and light will be installed the first week of July, and all our dental equipment—previously in the shared surgical suite—will be moved to this dedicated space for dental procedures soon afterwards.
Below are photographs taken Friday, June 28, of the space reclaimed for doctors’ offices from exam room three, plus a little extra space from the previous reception area. Dr. Brady’s office will occupy the remaining reception area space. Those brand new cabinets are being installed in our new pack and prep area.
Monday, May 6 Update
As of Monday, May 6, we began welcoming clients and patients to our spacious new wing! Our new entrance, lobby and four exam rooms are now in use!
Phase two of our expansion and renovation projects is now underway, and will involve the renovation of the original building to house exam rooms five and six, a dedicated dental suite, a dedicated surgery room and doctors’ offices.
We promise to have an official open house once all construction is complete!
It won’t be long before we’ll be welcoming clients and patients to our new lobby!
Inside our new addition, walls and floors and being finished. Outdoors, concrete walkways have been poured.
The brick work is done!
We’re delighted to be at the drywall stage!
Progress! We are so excited to see our dreams of a bigger, better facility being realized right before our eyes!
Taking shape, inside and out!
Hoping the rain holds off another day!
The addition is taking shape! The trusses were put in place on December 19.
As of Saturday, December 15, our concrete slab is in place! First, the pea gravel:
Then, the finished concrete. With every construction milestone, we grow more excited about welcoming clients and patients to our new space!
Here’s how the foundation looked, as of November 29.
The footings were poured on November 20.
After years of dreaming, planning and preparation, Brownsburg Animal Clinic’s expansion and remodeling project is at last underway!
We’re building an addition that will double the size of our hospital as well as reconfiguring and remodeling our existing space. When the project is completed in Spring 2019, we will offer our clients and patients—
A spacious new lobby
Four more, larger exam rooms
Dedicated surgical and dental suites
An updated pharmacy
An updated business office
An expanded parking area
New construction and remodeling are scheduled to be completed this Spring. In the meantime, we apologize for any inconvenience.
We’re installing a new practice management software system!
With our expansion and renovation project nearly done, we are upgrading to a new practice management software system. The new system is set to go live on Wednesday, May 1.
Once the new system is up and running, you’ll find it quicker and easier than ever to schedule appointments, check out after a visit and get answers to questions requiring us to access your pet’s medical records.
We’ve been working closely with the vendor for weeks now, migrating our database, learning the new software and preparing for as seamless a transition as possible. In the event of glitches, we will appreciate your patience as we resolve any issues and master our new, improved system.
All of us on the Brownsburg Animal Clinic team feel honored to care for you and your furry family members. We truly enjoy working with you to help maintain your pet’s health, and we’re looking forward to using this new tool to improve our services even further!
Recently, Brownsburg Animal Clinic received its first one-star online review. We discovered it among our eight five-star ratings on Google, and it dropped our overall rating to 4.5. Our perfect 5.0, based on 37 reviews, still stands on Facebook. We also have three 5-star ratings on Yelp.
The one-star review was from someone whose cat had died, and the reviewer blamed the drugs the cat was taking–Cerenia, used to treat vomiting in dogs and cats, and “Covenina,” most likely a reference to Convenia, which we prescribe to treat urinary tract infections in cats.
The reviewer also blamed us. The rest of the review criticized our veterinarians personally as “archaic” and “old school young but stupid” doctors who might be able to treat dogs, but “cats not so much!”
The review concluded with a suggestion that we fire our “partner.”
Naturally, we found this review distressing. Our first impulse was to respond to it online, but upon further reflection, we decided it was better to flag it for review by Google, which prohibits personal attacks in its online reviews, and hope it will be taken down.
Meanwhile, we want to express our sympathy to the client for the loss of his or her cherished cat. Every one of us at the clinic has lost pets of our own, and we understand the pain, grief and yes, sometimes even anger, that are often part of the recovery process.
We also want to note that the drugs mentioned as “killers” are both safe, highly effective medications that have been in use for the past 5 to 10 years–hardly “archaic.” If your pet is taking either of these drugs and you have concerns, please call us to discuss the benefits and risks of the drugs for your pet.
Finally, we want to assure our clients that all of our doctors and medical staff are well-qualified, dedicated general practitioners who follow best practices and protocols in both feline and canine medicine. As small animal practitioners, we keep up with the veterinary medical literature concerning both cats and dogs, and all of us meet all continuing education requirements. We are capable and confident of our ability to provide high-quality medical care for your pet. When more specialized care is called for, we do not hesitate to refer you to the appropriate specialist.
We hope all our clients will feel free to discuss any issues they have about the care we provide in our clinic. If you have a question or concern with our diagnoses or treatment recommendations, we encourage you to discuss it at the time of your visit. While our veterinarians are not always available to take phone calls for much of the day, we are happy to return calls to answer your questions. So please, leave us a message and we will contact you as soon as we are able.
Thank you to all the clients who have awarded us top ratings. We dedicate ourselves to continuing to deserve your trust and loyalty!
