General Interest

Technician handling test samples with gloved hands

Celebrating National Veterinary Technician Week

General Interest, Veterinary Medicine /

We invite all our clients to join the Brownsburg Animal Clinic team in celebrating National Veterinary Technician Week October 13 through 19, 2024.

In close collaboration with our veterinarians, veterinary assistants, client/patient service representatives, clinic assistants and office management staff, our registered veterinary technicians (RVTs) play a vital role in the day-to-day operations of the clinic, caring for our patients and helping keep our clients well-informed about their pets.

What Registered Veterinary Technicians Do

Our RVTs’ daily to-do lists most often include—

  • Taking the pet’s medical history and understanding current health concerns
  • Giving medicine and vaccines as prescribed by our veterinarians
  • Teaching clients to give medicine and provide home care for their pets
  • Taking x-rays
  • Assisting in surgeries and dental procedures
  • Collecting samples and performing lab tests
  • Cleaning and bandaging wounds
  • Removing stitches
  • Maintaining patients’ medical records

Our RVTs’ Qualifications

To be qualified as an RVT in Indiana, our team members have successfully—

  • Completed an American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited two- or four-year program leading to an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree in veterinary technology,
  • Earned certification from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, and
  • Taken and passed the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE) and a written jurisprudence examination.

The computer-based VTNE presents 150 multiple-choice exam questions plus 20 more questions being tested for future exams. There’s a three-hour time limit on completing the exam.

The questions focus on nine areas:

  • Anesthesia
  • Emergency Medicine/Critical Care
  • Pharmacy and Pharmacology
  • Pain Management/Analgesia
  • Dentistry
  • Laboratory Procedures
  • Diagnostic Imaging
  • Animal Care and Nursing
  • Surgical Nursing

In Indiana, only those who have met these requirements may use the title “registered veterinary technician” or the abbreviation “RVT.”

Once they’ve earned their license, our RVTs must keep current by completing 16 hours of continuing education every two years.

In Appreciation

We appreciate the commitment and dedication shown by our RVTs and thank them for their service to our patients and clients. We are pleased to recognize and honor their contributions to veterinary medicine during this special week.

We encourage you to express your appreciation for our RVTs on our Facebook page or your next visit to the clinic.

Celebrating National Veterinary Technician Week Read More »

Silhouette of a woman with two dogs by water

Is Owning a Dog Good for Your Health?

Dogs, General Interest /

We’ve all heard and read news stories affirming the health benefits of dog ownership. Here’s a one-minute video that humorously sums up prevailing beliefs about the positive impact of dog ownership on human health.

The “Prescription Dog” video is from The Pet Effect campaign of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI). Founded by animal health company Zoetis, HABRI is a non-profit research and education organization that gathers, funds and shares scientific research demonstrating health benefits of companion animals. Visit the HABRI website for highlights of pet-related research on human health.

This video from Insider Science, “What Having a Dog Does To Your Brain and Body,” features Meg Olmert, author of Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond.

Olmert’s commentary helps explain our physiological response to our dogs. 

How Dogs Benefit Our Health

An article from the American Kennel Club, “10 Science-Based Benefits of Having a Dog,” lists these benefits:

  1. Dogs make us feel less alone.
  2. Dogs are good for your heart.
  3. Dogs help you stop stressing out.
  4. Dogs help us cope with crisis.
  5. Dogs encourage you to move.
  6. Dogs make you more attractive—even virtually.
  7. Dogs make us more social.
  8. Dogs are so adorable they make us love them.
  9. Dogs make us happier.
  10. Dogs help seniors with cognitive function and social interaction.

Read the AKC article to learn more about the science behind these assertions.

In a blog post from pharmacy savings card marketer SingleCare, “9 health benefits of owning a dog,” the listed benefits include:

  1. Dogs help you stay active.
  2. Dogs can help reduce risk of heart attack and heart disease.
  3. Dogs can help reduce triglyceride levels.
  4. Dogs can help reduce cholesterol levels.
  5. Dogs can help lower blood pressure levels naturally.
  6. Dogs can help lower stress levels.
  7. Dogs can help fight loneliness.
  8. Service dogs can save lives and help people live more independently.
  9. Dogs can help bolster your microbiome.

See the SingleCare blog post for details on each of these nine points and the research supporting them.

Mixed Results?

Despite so much scientific research supporting the idea that dog ownership is good for your health, there have been studies suggesting the opposite. Some studies have found no difference between the health of people who do and do not own pets. 

In a CNN article, “The benefits of owning a dog—and the surprising science behind it,” psychologist Harold Herzog, a Western Carolina University professor who studies the human-animal connection, noted there are studies that indicate pet owners “are more likely to be lonely, depressed and have panic attacks, more likely to have asthma, obesity, high blood pressure, gastric ulcers, migraine headaches, and use more medicine, et cetera.”

Quoted in the same article, Co-Director of the Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction Megan Mueller said, “A lot of us who have pets think, ‘Oh, they must be uniformly good for us.’ We’re finding is it is a little bit more complicated than we originally thought.

”I always say that it’s not a great question: ‘Are our pets good for us?’ It’s who are pets good for, under what circumstances, and is it the right match between the person and the pet?”

Are You and Your Dog a Match?

While the CNN article says, “Research in this area is booming,” those of us who already own and love our dogs are free to enjoy and benefit from their companionship now, regardless of what researchers report. 

Our advice is to make the most of your relationship with your dog. Focus on cultivating mutual love and loyalty, provide good care and most important of all, have fun!

Is Owning a Dog Good for Your Health? Read More »

Dog looking at cat on outside steps

Keep Your Pet From Getting Lost

General Interest, Safety /

An estimated one in three pets gets lost during his or her lifetime. While many of them are happily reunited with their families—especially those with microchips and identification tags—some never find their way back home. 

Whatever the outcome, the anxiety and heartbreak that come with having a pet disappear for any length of time can feel almost unbearable. 

At Brownsburg Animal Clinic, we are strong believers in preventive medicine and, in that same spirit, we strongly encourage you to take a preventive approach to keeping your pet from getting lost. 

In observance of Lost Pet Prevention Month, we offer our suggestions for steps you can take now to cut the risk of a lost pet. 

Reduce you pet’s desire to roam.

Our first suggestion is a medical one. 

Unless you are planning to breed your dog or cat, we recommend spaying your female pet or neutering your male pet at the appropriate age. 

Besides offering many health benefits and reducing the population of unwanted pets, spaying and neutering at a young age relieve pets of the natural urge to roam, seeking a mate. 

If your pet is still intact—that is, not yet spayed or neutered—talk to your veterinarian and see our post, “When to Spay or Neuter? It’s Complicated” for detailed information about this beneficial procedure and the best time to do it. 

Choose and maintain a fence suitable for securing your dog.

While most cats can easily scale just about any fence, when it comes to containing dogs, all fences—and all dogs—are not created equal. 

Ideally, your calm, easy-going dog is content to stay within the confines of your fence—roaming about, sniffing and lying in the shade while you trust you’ll find them safely where you left them when it’s time to come inside.

Then there are the escape artists—

  • Jumpers who take a running start and sail over the fence,
  • Climbers who get a leg up by crawling onto lawn furniture, wood piles, playground equipment, boulders or garbage cans or the fence itself to make it over the top,
  • Diggers who relentlessly burrow their way out underneath the fence,
  • Chewers who gnaw their way to freedom,
  • Opportunists who push through loose boards they discover on their routine rounds of the yard,
  • Hard-chargers who rush the gate every time it’s opened, and
  • Intellectuals who figure out how to open latches.

Highly motivated pets may use a combination of strategies to escape the confines of just about any fence.

For more details about choosing the most appropriate fence (or modifying the fence you already have to make it more secure) and specific strategies for keeping your dog contained inside, see the American Kennel Club’s articles, “What Type of Dog Fence Should I Have?” and “How to Help Prevent Your Dog from Escaping the Yard.”

Tips from the AKC for stopping your dog from bolting out doors—included in the section on training below—will work equally well for discouraging charging through fence gates, car doors and other entrances and exits.

And remember, even the best-constructed fence is no good at securing your dog if a gate’s left open. Before you release your dog into your fenced yard, check the gates to make sure latches are securely closed and, if necessary, padlocked or fastened with an extra hook-and-eye closure.

Be security-conscious around the house.

All but the most timid pets can easily teach themselves to push through unlatched doors and window and door screens. 

All members of your household can help keep pets safely inside by making it a habit to close exterior doors securely and block pets’ access to window and door screen panels large enough for the pet to push and pass through. 

Be especially vigilant when workers or guests are in and out of the house, creating confusion and possibly leaving doors and gates open without realizing the potential for your pet to escape. 

Choose and use secure collars, harnesses and leashes.

As an animal owner in Brownsburg, you are responsible for controlling your pet any time it leaves your property. The applicable ordinance states, “No owner of any animal, licensed or unlicensed, shall permit the animal to be at large.” 

“At large” means, “Any animal, licensed or unlicensed, found off the premises of its owner and not under the control of a competent person, restrained within a motor vehicle, housed in a veterinary hospital or kennel, or on a leash or ‘at heel’ beside a competent person and obedient to that person’s command.”

The code further states, “Any owner violating any of the provisions of this chapter may be subject to a fine in an amount not to exceed twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500). Each day of violation shall be a separate punishable offense.”

Technically then, a leash isn’t required when your pet is off your property so long as the animal is inside a vehicle or building or otherwise under a competent person’s control. We’ve all seen what that looks like as the confident dog owner, out in public with an off-lead dog, apparently has the dog under complete control. 

We appreciate the time and training expertise it takes to accomplish absolutely reliable control over an unrestrained dog. But unless you’re an advanced trainer with a thoroughly proofed and seasoned dog, we can’t help but wonder what might happen if your off-lead dog were to be startled by a loud noise or distracted by another animal appearing unexpectedly and triggering an instant fight or flight response. 

It would take only one out-of-the-ordinary circumstance for a loose dog that usually stays close and comes when called to take off running and get lost or injured. That’s why, in most circumstances, no matter how good a trainer you are, we don’t think it’s worth the risk to forego the leash outside enclosed areas. 

Our best advice: Let go of your ambitions to go off-lead when you’re out in the open away from home. Instead, fit your dog with a sturdy collar or harness and leash and use your training expertise to teach your dog to walk on-lead, comfortably at your side, without pulling. 

To fit a traditional collar, adjust the length so that you can slip two fingers between the collar and the pet’s neck. It should be snug but not tight. If your dog’s head and neck tend to slip out of a regular collar, try a martingale collar that tightens without choking when the dog pulls on the leash.

Dogs and cats can also safely and comfortably wear harnesses so long as they are properly fitted and attached to a strong, well-made leash.

Prepare in advance for thunderstorms and fireworks. 

If you’re lucky enough to have a pet who’s unfazed by loud noises, you can disregard this section. But we know it’s common for thunderstorms and fireworks to bring out extreme anxiety and trigger a flight response among many of our patients that could result in a lost pet. 

That’s why July 5 is one of the busiest days for taking in strays at animal shelters.  

We have written about this topic at length before. See our posts, “Is Your Dog Noise Phobic?” and “Managing Your Pet’s Noise Anxiety” for our best advice on keeping your noise-averse pet safe.

See also, “How to Keep Your Dog Calm During Fireworks” for training advice—some of which can work to soothe and condition anxious cats as well as dogs. 

Secure your pet in a crate or carrier when traveling.

When you’re venturing beyond the security of your home and yard, when not on a leash, keep your pet safely confined in a crate or carrier inside your vehicle and motel room. 

The extra measure of security is well worth the benefit of reducing the risk of losing a pet in unfamiliar territory. 

Teach your dog potentially life-saving skills.

We chose the following articles from the American Kennel Club website to help you teach your dog several useful skills to keep from getting lost. 

“How to Teach Your Dog to Come When Called.” With attentive supervision and a reliable recall, should your dog get loose, you can help him or her resist the temptation to chase another animal or take off to explore with this essential command.

“How to Teach Your Dog to Sit” and “How to Teach Your Dog to Lie Down.” Either of these two fundamental commands, if reliably trained, can be used to replace an undesirable behavior—like running away—with another behavior that makes the undesirable behavior impossible. 

“Teach Your Dog to Wait at Doorways” and “Teaching Your Dog Not to Door Dart” offer step-by-step instructions for helping your dog learn a potentially life-saving skill that will work in a variety of settings.

Finding a Lost Pet

If, despite your best preventive efforts, your pet gets lost, see our post, “How to Get a Lost Pet Back Home.”

Keep Your Pet From Getting Lost Read More »

Cat playing with yarn while dogs watch

Preparing Your Pets for Disaster

General Interest, Safety /

June is National Pet Preparedness Month—an ideal time to prepare to care for pets, along with the rest of your family, in the event of an emergency.

A Family Emergency Plan

A preparedness plan for your pets, within your larger family preparedness plan, includes:

  • Identifying in advance a safe place where your pets will be welcome in the event of an emergency evacuation.
  • Arranging with neighbors, friends or relatives to care for or evacuate each other’s pets in an emergency if the pet owner is unable to do so. 
  • Having your pet microchipped and making sure your contact information is up-to-date. Provide a secondary contact person who lives outside your immediate area in case local communication is impacted by the emergency.

If officials tell you to evacuate before a storm or other disaster, take your pets and their supplies with you. It may be days or even weeks before you are allowed to return to your home. Animals left behind can be lost, injured or killed. 

Your Pet’s Emergency Supplies Kit

Your pet’s emergency supplies kit should include:

  • Nonperishable food and water. Pack several days’ supply of food in an airtight, waterproof container, replacing the food every time you replenish your main supply to keep it fresh. Rotate bottled water to keep it fresh, too. If you’re packing canned food, bring along a can opener if needed.
  • Food and water bowls.
  • Sanitation supplies. Pack several all-purpose full-size trash bags along with smaller bags for picking up after your dog. For cats, pack a litter box and scoop, along with a supply of litter.
  • Grooming supplies. Pack shampoo and towels in case your pet needs cleaning up.
  • Medicine. Pack a supply of your pet’s medicines in a waterproof container, regularly using up and replacing it as expiration dates approach.
  • Extra collars, harnesses and leashes. Attach ID tags with your contact information to the collars and harnesses. 
  • Copies of vaccination records. Make hard copies and enclose them in a waterproof bag. Make electronic copies for your mobile phone.
  • Photographs of you and your pet together. If you become separated from your pet, photos will help others identify your pet and establish your ownership.
  • Travel crate or carrier. Be prepared to bring along a crate or carrier to keep your pet safely contained in an emergency evacuation.
  • Stress reducers. Pack familiar toys, bedding and treats to comfort your pet.

Your Pet’s First Aid Kit

To prepare for illnesses and injuries that may befall your pet, we recommend assembling a pet first aid kit.

To build your own kit, we recommend visiting the ASPCA’s “How to Make a Pet First Aid Kit” page and downloading the PDF document as a shopping list. 

The Red Cross provides a more comprehensive list of suggested first aid kit contents, also downloadable as a PDF.

Preassembled pet first aid kits are available online.

For information on pet first aid, see our post, “Pet First Aid Basics.”

More Resources

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has prepared a brief video, “Preparing Makes Sense for Pet Owners,” summarizing recommended pet preparedness measures. 

For much more comprehensive emergency preparedness information including planning forms, supply lists and advice specific to a variety of possible disasters and emergencies, visit Homeland Security’s official website, ready.gov.

Preparing Your Pets for Disaster Read More »

Dog and cat being held in someone's arms

When—and Why—We Refer to Emergency Clinics

General Interest /

Among the most common sources of misunderstanding and disappointment we hear about from our clients are referrals to emergency clinics—particularly when we make them during our own office hours.

We know when you’re worried about a sick or injured pet, a referral from your “regular vet” to an ER can be upsetting. When you’ve depended on us as your primary care veterinarians for most, if not all your pet’s life, at the very time when you feel you need us most, instead of directing you to come to our office, we send you down the road to an emergency clinic.

When that happens, we understand you may feel we’ve let you down. Why would we do that? Here’s why:

As much as we’d like to care for our patients ourselves, we know the referral is in your pet’s best interests.

At Brownsburg Animal Clinic, we see patients by appointment only. While we do leave slots open for sick pets every day, those appointments often fill quickly, and our doctors and technicians are booked solid for the day—maybe even for the next several days.

When our schedule is full, we refer you to an emergency hospital if, in our judgment of the symptoms, our next available appointment is too long for you to delay getting help for your pet.

In addition to already-committed team members, facilities and equipment may also be scheduled for use by other patients. If we think your pet may need surgery and we know we already have back-to-back procedures planned for our surgical suite, we refer you to an emergency hospital.

We also refer you directly to an emergency hospital if, based on the symptoms, we believe your pet will likely need continuing care and monitoring after-hours.

Area Emergency Hospitals

Fortunately, there are several nearby emergency hospitals as well as the Pet Poison Helpline available to serve you and your pet when we feel the best option is to make a referral.

For your convenience, we list 24/7 and after-hours emergency hospitals in the right sidebar on every page of our website. Here are the emergency resources we recommend:

24/7 Emergency Hospitals

IndyVet Emergency & Specialty Hospital
5425 Victory Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46203
(317) 782-4484
(800) 551-4879

MedVet Indianapolis
9650 Mayflower Park Drive
Carmel, IN 46032
(317) 872-8387

VCA Advanced Veterinary Care Center
7712 Crosspoint Commons
Fishers, IN 46038
(317) 578-4100

Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care West
6136 Crawfordville Road
Indianapolis, IN 46224
(317) 491-1900

After-Hours Emergency Hospital

Airport Animal Emergi-Center
5235 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46241
(317) 248-0832

In Case of Poisoning

Pet Poison Helpline
(855) 764-7661

We suggest you familiarize yourself with these clinic locations and visit their websites to learn more about each one before you may need them.

Tips for Avoiding Referrals

  • As primary care practitioners, we recommend regularly scheduled exams, screening tests, vaccines and heartworm and flea and tick preventives as the best way to detect and prevent developing health problems before they become urgent.
  • As a general rule, the earlier in the week and the earlier in the day you call us, the better your chances of booking an appointment with us for a sick or injured pet.
  • When your pet first shows symptoms of illness, call us without delay so we can assess the urgency of the situation and help you determine your options for diagnosis and treatment. The longer the symptoms have been ongoing when you call, the more likely your pet needs immediate medical attention we may not be available to provide.

Thank You for Your Understanding

Rest assured, all of us at Brownsburg Animal Clinic are dedicated to seeing that all our patients receive the care they need, when they need it.

When we can provide that care, we do not hesitate to do so.

When we feel we are unable to provide the care your pet needs in a timely way, we do not hesitate to refer you to qualified, available caregivers who can.

We appreciate your understanding of our referral policies. Please know when we refer you to an emergency clinic, we are acting in the best interests of your pet. We encourage you to accept the referral without delay.

When—and Why—We Refer to Emergency Clinics Read More »

Cat and dog walking along a pathway through a field

How to Get a Lost Pet Back Home

General Interest, Safety /

An estimated one of every three pets gets lost during its lifetime. 

Any pet can get lost, but newly-adopted pets are as much as four times more likely to run away, compared with established pets. Taking your pet on vacation or moving it to a new home can also increase the risk of its getting lost.

In observance of National Lost Dog Awareness Day—April 23—we recommend simple actions you can take to reduce your dog’s—or cat’s—risk of being lost and improve your chances of getting a lost pet back home.

See our previous post, “Could We See Some ID?” for recommended ways to identify your pet.

Keeping Your Pet from Getting Lost

There are a number of measures you can take now to keep your pet safely at home where he or she belongs.

Secure your yard, making sure fencing is intact and gates are closed. Fill in any gaps at the base of the fence and, if necessary, install wire mesh above and below to discourage jumping and digging. 

Secure windows and doors. A motivated pet can easily push through a window screen or unlatched door. Be particularly attentive when workers or guests are coming and going and doors may be left open.

When outdoors, keep your dog on a leash. While your off-lead dog may usually stay close and come when called, even the best-trained dog can be startled by loud noises or irresistibly tempted to chase other animals that unexpectedly appear on the scene.

Spay or neuter your pet to reduce the urge to roam. Mating instincts are powerful!

Secure your pet in a crate or carrier when traveling. While your home may be relatively secure, conditions away from home may not be, and the area will be unfamiliar to your pet.

Plan ahead for fireworks, thunderstorms and other noisy situations that could trigger your pet’s flight response. See our posts, “Is Your Dog Noise Phobic?” and “Managing Your Pet’s Noise Anxiety” for advice on keeping your noise-averse pet safe.

What to Do if Your Pet Gets Lost

If you lose a pet, call the Hendricks County Animal Shelter immediately. Be prepared to supply photographs and a description of the pet and details of where and when you lost it. 

For a video overview of preventing pets from getting lost and finding those that do, see “How to prevent and deal with lost pets!” from the Jackson Galaxy YouTube channel. Although the channel is focused on cats, the recommendations apply to dogs as well. 

This 5-minute video from the City of Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter, “How to Find a Lost Dog,” offers practical advice on improving your chances of recovering your lost dog. 

The Sacramento shelter has a similar video, “How to Find a Lost Cat,” that describes how to adapt your search methods to typical lost cat behavior.

If You Find a Pet

If the pet will come close enough to allow it, check for an ID tag and call the phone number listed. If the pet has a digital tag with a QR code, scan it with your phone to access the owner’s contact information.

If you can safely capture the pet, if possible, confine it to your home and/or fenced yard to keep it safe while you attempt to contact the owner. If you are unable to keep the pet in your home while trying to find the owner, make arrangements with the Hendricks County Animal Shelter to bring the pet to the shelter. 

If there are no ID tags, knock on doors to see if neighbors recognize the pet.

Photograph the pet and post on community and neighborhood social media pages.

Have the pet checked for a microchip at a veterinary clinic or shelter. If a microchip is present and the owner has kept contact information current, you can get the information you need to contact the owner from the microchip registry.

How We Can Help

If you’ve found a pet and are unable to contact its owner based on collar tags, call us to arrange a convenient time to bring the pet in to the clinic so we can scan for a microchip.

If you report a lost or found pet to the Hendricks County Animal Shelter as we strongly recommend, we will help spread the news by sharing lost and found Brownsburg pet posts from the shelter’s Facebook page on the Brownsburg Animal Clinic page. 

It’s our way of doing what we can to help get lost pets back home where they belong, and nothing pleases us more than to see “HOME” added to a post we’ve shared.

How to Get a Lost Pet Back Home Read More »

Cat with Christmas gifts

Holiday Gifts for Pets

Cats, Dogs, General Interest /

If you are like most of our clients—and, according to a recent Nielsen survey, 95% of pet owners—you consider your pet to be part of your family. And if you’re like 90 percent of cat-only owners and 96 percent of dog-only owners surveyed by VetStreet, you buy holiday gifts for your pet.

According to VetStreet, half the owners who buy gifts for their cat spend $10 to $25, 22% spend less than $10, 19% spend $26 to $50, 7% spend $51 to $100 and 2% spend more than $100.

Nearly half of gift-giving dog owners spend in the $10 to $25 range, 26% spend $26 to $50, 15% spend less than $10, 8% spend $51 to $100 and 3% give their dogs gifts costing more than $100.

Treats were the most popular gift for dogs, followed by toys. Owners said they were less than half as likely to buy holiday-themed gifts for their dogs, followed by leashes, collars, harnesses, bowls, feeders and beds.

The most popular gifts for cats were treats and toys, followed by “home items” like scratching posts, cat trees, beds and bowls and holiday-themed toys and clothing.

Of those who own dogs or cats, 66% also buy gifts for other people’s pets.

A November 2022 survey by online pet supplies retailer Chewy.com found that 94% of pet owners shop for holiday gifts for pets, 58% wrap the pets’ presents and 87% hang Christmas stockings for pets. Among the pet owners responding to the survey, 58% said they usually buy their pets two to three gifts, generally spending about $50.

Gift Ideas

Type “Christmas gifts for pets” into a search engine, and you’ll see dozens of sponsored links to shopping sites, along with multiple rows of images advertising individual products.

We suggest the following articles to guide your gift-giving this holiday season.

What’s Under Your Tree?

What’s on your Christmas shopping list for the dogs and cats in your life? We think treats are a wonderful choice, so long as your pet doesn’t overindulge on Christmas morning. Ideally, the gift of treats will last well into the new year!

In choosing toys, we recommend playthings designed specifically for pets. Avoid toys that can be swallowed, either whole or in parts.

In return, you’ll receive the gifts of love and loyalty from your pet.

Happy holidays from the Brownsburg Animal Clinic family to yours!

Holiday Gifts for Pets Read More »

Older woman with yellow Labrador retriever

‘Make A Wag’ Helps Elderly Clients and Their Pets

Community Service, General Interest /
Jeff Sutarik, DVM with a brown dog
Jeff Sutarik, DVM

I recently returned to the Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine campus for a conference. There I met the mother of one of my Purdue vet school classmates, Jeff Sutarik, DVM. 

The Class of 2005 was hit hard back in Fall 2019 when we learned Jeff had died unexpectedly. 

During his 15 years in practice, Jeff had become passionate about helping aging pet owners care for their pets. To honor his memory, his family founded Make A Wag—a charitable organization that helps elderly pet owners of limited means pay for unexpected and/or emergency veterinary care for their pets. 

At the conference, Jeff’s mom asked any of us with our own clinics if we would help spread the word about Make A Wag. Of course, as owner of Brownsburg Animal Clinic, I am happy to oblige.

How Make A Wag Works

Make A Wag logo

Make A Wag reimburses veterinarians and veterinary clinics to cover the costs of unexpected and/or emergency care for pets whose owners are 65 years old or older and of limited financial means. 

A veterinarian fills out the Make A Wag application and supplies documentation to request reimbursement of expenses already incurred. 

Clinics with multiple veterinarians can apply multiple times, but each veterinarian is limited to a maximum reimbursement of $2,500 per calendar year to cover costs of veterinary care for one or more elderly clients’ pets.

Make A Wag distributes funds directly to the veterinarian or clinic making the application. The veterinarian then reimburses the client or credits his or her clinic account for the amount of the Make A Wag grant.

If You Need Help

If you are 65 years old or older and struggling to pay for your pet’s veterinary care, talk to your veterinarian about applying for reimbursement from Make A Wag. 

If You’d Like to Help

To make a tax-deductible donation to Make A Wag, visit the organization’s website.

Jeff was a great person and veterinarian, and Make A Wag is a worthy cause. I encourage you to join me in honoring Jeff’s memory by supporting elderly pet owners and their pets through this organization.

‘Make A Wag’ Helps Elderly Clients and Their Pets Read More »

Cat inside shelter cage reaching for a man's fingers outside the cage

‘A County Shelter We Can Be Proud Of’

General Interest, Pet Adoption /

Brownsburg Animal Clinic joins the Humane Society of the United States in celebrating National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week November 6 through 12.

In particular, we honor our own Hendricks County Animal Shelter for its many years of dedicated service to our county.

“I’m really proud of our shelter,” said Cherie Fox, co-founder, board president and director of animal operations for Misty Eyes Animal Center, an all-volunteer rescue organization based in Avon that collaborates with shelters to save lives and place pets in loving homes.

“The Hendricks County Animal Shelter is a government-run shelter,” said Fox, “but it’s not a 1950s dog pound any more. They are doing a remarkable job. It’s a county shelter we can be proud of.”

LaDonna Hughes is chief animal control officer and Hendricks County Animal Shelter manager. She’s been in charge of running the shelter since mid-2013.

“We’ve come a long way,” said Hughes, “but I still hear the word ‘pound’ a lot. We get called the dogcatcher. There’s so much more to what we do than catching dogs.”

Besides capturing and providing a safe haven for stray animals county-wide, our county shelter takes in pets from owners who can no longer care for them and makes homeless pets available for adoption. The Hendricks County Animal Shelter is also charged with investigating abuse and neglect cases and following up on reports of injured animals. They are responsible not only for domestic pets but livestock and wildlife, too.

Shelter Facts and Figures

There is currently no organization officially charged with tabulating statistics for animal shelter operations in the United States. The following nationwide figures are estimates from several sources.

  • As of 2021, there were more than 3,500 animal shelters.
  • About 6.3 million companion animals are taken into shelters each year, including about 3.1 million dogs and 3.2 million cats. Of those, about a quarter are pets surrendered to the shelter by their owners. About half are captured as strays.
  • The average shelter admits more than 1,100 animals a year.
  • About 10% of shelter animals have been spayed or neutered.
  • About 25% of dogs in shelters are purebreds.
  • About 810,000 stray animals taken into shelters, including 710,000 dogs and 100,000 cats, are reunited with their owners.
  • About 4.1 million shelter animals, including 2 million dogs and 2.1 million cats, are placed in new homes each year.
  • Indiana shelters house 2.11% of the nation’s shelter animals and account for 2.07% of shelter adoptions.
  • About 920,000 animals are euthanized each year, including 390,000 dogs and 530,000 cats.
  • About 65% of dogs entering shelters are adopted and 13% are euthanized.
  • About 66% of shelter cats are adopted and 17% are euthanized.

The Hendricks County Animal Shelter

Our county’s animal shelter is in Danville at 250 East Campus Boulevard. The phone number is (317) 745-9250. The shelter is open to the public six days a week.

  • Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Thursdays 12 noon to 6 p.m.
  • Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The shelter is closed on Sundays and holidays and in inclement weather.

Local Statistics

During 2021, the Hendricks County Animal Shelter took in 1,490 animals. Of those, 455 were placed in adoptive homes. 

Rescue organizations pulled 338 animals from the shelter in 2021, including about 300 rats and small animals confiscated in two hoarding and neglect cases handled by the county last year.

The euthanasia rate in 2021 was 6%. Only severely ill and dangerously aggressive animals were euthanized.

“I am pretty proud of that 6% euthanasia rate,” said Hughes. “There was a time about 10 years ago, when our rate of euthanasias was 77% of our total admissions.”

Admissions to the Shelter

The shelter has 34 dog kennels and 60 cat cages to accommodate animals admitted to the shelter.

Animals come to the shelter as strays or from owners who can no longer care for them. Owners who want to surrender their pets to the shelter may be referred to a rescue organization or put on a waiting list until space is available. 

The intake process involves a basic medical examination and essential health care.

“We check them over the best we can,” said Hughes. “We give them core vaccines and start them on flea and tick preventives. We test for heartworms and start them on preventives or treat them if they test positive.”

The shelter has to hold animals taken in as strays for three business days before making them available for adoption so that owners have a chance to claim them. “We take their picture and put up a shelter alert on our Facebook page in hopes of finding the owner,” said Hughes.

Animals surrendered by their owners may be placed for adoption 24 hours after being admitted to the shelter. 

“People still ask, ‘Are you going to kill it after three days?’” said Hughes. “We get that a lot. 

“If they’re adoptable, they will be cared for and kept safe either here or with a rescue organization until they’re adopted. We don’t set deadlines on these animals, and we don’t euthanize for space. Only if an animal is dangerously aggressive or too ill for treatment, will we euthanize.”

To Adopt a Shelter Pet

Some pets available for adoption from the Hendricks County Animal Shelter are listed on Petfinder.com.

You can also see available pets as well as recently-adopted pets and their new families on the shelter’s Facebook page. 

For your convenience, the shelter makes the adoption application available online for you to complete and bring with you when you visit the shelter.

“We’re open to the public six days a week, and we invite anyone looking to adopt a dog or cat to stop by for a visit to see all the pets available now for adoption,” said Hughes. 

“Sometimes we have multiple applications for the same animal. We go through those and try to get the best fit, based on the applicant’s situation and their interactions with the animal. For some, we might suggest a better fit—maybe encourage them to go home and do some research to find a breed that might be better-suited to their activity level and lifestyle. 

“We always do our best to place each animal into the best possible adoptive home.”

Current adoption fees, set to help defray the costs of vaccines, spaying or neutering and any needed medical treatment, are $70 for adult dogs, $150 for puppies, $20 for adult cats and $70 for kittens.

To Donate to the Shelter

The shelter welcomes donated supplies. While needs change over time, some supplies are always welcome. “Right now, the most helpful donation would be regular chlorine bleach,” said Hughes. “We can always use any kind of dog food as long as it doesn’t contain red food dye, and any kind of cat and kitten food. We also need clay litter.”

Tax-deductible cash donations to the Hendricks County Animal Shelter can be made to the Hendricks County Friends of the Shelter, a 501(c)(3) organization.

“All the money given to Friends of the Shelter goes directly into a medical fund for the animals,” noted Hughes.

To Volunteer

The shelter welcomes volunteers to help care for and play with the animals, clean cages, launder blankets and towels, do clerical work and staff special events. 

To volunteer at the shelter, you must be 18 years old or older or at least 16 years old and accompanied by a parent. You must complete a Volunteer Application Form and attend a volunteer orientation session before starting to work.

“Right now, I would most love to have more volunteers in here walking the dogs,” said Hughes. “We walk them all in the morning, but sometimes we can’t get to all of them in the evenings.” 

If you are interested in providing a temporary foster home for a pet, the shelter will connect you with a partner rescue group in our area, such as Misty Eyes.

Other Ways You Can Help

“We have a huge pet overpopulation problem and the pandemic has intensified it,” said Fox.

“In central Indiana we have five low-cost spay and neuter clinics that had to shut down for months at the outset of the pandemic. That left us with thousands of animals that haven’t been fixed and thousands of unwanted litters. Despite everything we’d done to get ourselves ahead with spays and neuters, the pandemic set us back about 10 or 15 years.”

“I agree 100 percent,” said Hughes. “We’ve been over capacity for a good year now.”

You can do your part to help reduce the pet overpopulation problem by spaying or neutering your own pet.

You can also minimize the chances your pet will be taken in as a stray at the shelter by taking these simple steps:

  • Do not allow your pet to run loose.
  • Keep a collar with identification tags on your pet at all times.
  • Have an identification chip implanted in your pet.

In Appreciation

We at Brownsburg Animal Clinic appreciate the vital role the Hendricks County Animal Shelter plays in looking out for the welfare of all the animals in our county.

We applaud the progress the shelter has made in recent years to reduce the euthanasia rate to 6%—a direct result of their commitment to find homes for every adoptable pet, whether through direct placement from the shelter or through a rescue organization such as Misty Eyes.

We hope you will consider supporting the shelter and the dogs and cats waiting there to be adopted into their new homes.

‘A County Shelter We Can Be Proud Of’ Read More »

2022 Word Rabies Day logo

World Rabies Day

Cats, Disease Management, Dogs, General Interest /

September 28 is World Rabies Day.

The day is celebrated annually by the World Health Organization to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating this deadly disease.

This year’s theme, ‘Rabies: One Health, Zero Deaths,’ will highlight the connection of the environment with both people and animals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an informative page about rabies on their website. We encourage all our clients to visit the page and learn more about how to protect themselves and their families from this deadly, but vaccine-preventable disease.

In Indiana, all dogs, cats, and ferrets three months of age and older must be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian. After their initial vaccine, dogs and cats receive boosters according to the vaccine manufacturer’s recommendations. Although there are rabies vaccines for dogs and cats that specify annual boosters, more often only the first booster is due after 12 months, with remaining boosters due every three years after that.

Visit the Indiana state website for additional information about rabies.

Besides risking your pet’s and your family’s health, keeping a dog six months old or older that has not received a rabies vaccination is against the law. For complete information about Indiana’s laws concerning rabies vaccines, visit the state web site.

To make sure your pet’s rabies vaccines are up-to-date, call our office. We will be happy to check your pet’s records and let you know when the next vaccine or booster is due.

We require all patients visiting the clinic to have current rabies vaccinations. If you bring in a pet whose vaccine is overdue, we will administer the vaccine if the pet’s health permits. Read about our policy here.

World Rabies Day Read More »

White cat nose-to-nose with cream-colored dog

All About Appointments

General Interest /

Like most general veterinary medical practices, we manage our workflow and minimize our clients’ waiting time by seeing patients by appointment only. We offer several types of appointments to accommodate the pet’s and the owner’s particular needs.

Among the options:

  • Wellness visits
  • Sick visits
  • Emergency visits
  • Work-in visits
  • Drop-offs
  • Tech Visits
  • Referrals

To keep things running smoothly, we have established policies for dealing with scheduling, delays, cancellations and “no-shows.”

For details of the types of appointments we offer and how we manage them, visit the Appointments page in the Client Information section of our website.

All About Appointments Read More »

Google home page screen shot

Calling Dr. Google

General Interest, Veterinary Medicine /

Within the medical community, doctors and staff sometimes refer disparagingly to “Dr. Google”  and the clients who search the Internet for medical information.

67% of pet owners bring Internet research on their phone or web page print-outs.

At Brownsburg Animal Clinic, we choose a more enlightened view of our Internet-based colleague. We appreciate it when our clients take the initiative and try to learn more about their pets’ health so they can ask better questions and make better-informed decisions.

To get the greatest benefit out of online resources as a complement to the medical advice you receive from our veterinarians and staff, we suggest you stick to mainstream veterinary medical sites. In our experience, sites maintained by professional societies and colleges of veterinary medicine offer more reliable information than sites maintained by individual veterinarians.

Here, in no particular order, are some of our favorite online sources:

The American Heartworm Society’s web site has a pet owner resources section that is ideal for learning the basics about heartworm disease and its treatment and prevention.

The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) maintains an informative web site with guidelines for controlling internal and external parasites that threaten the health of pets and people. There are sections for dog owners and cat owners and one containing articles of interest to families. Clickable maps show the prevalence of various kinds of parasites in the United States. Click on Indiana and see a county-by-county breakdown. The Resources tab reveals a list of brochures and articles.

VeterinaryPartner.com has a wealth of reliable veterinary medical information for pet owners. While the site design is busy and dated, the search function makes it easy to find articles about specific topics.

The Cornell Feline Health Center web site,  published by the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, focuses on all major aspects of caring for cats.

Cornell’s Canine Health Center web site offers similar resources to help care for dogs.

Calling Dr. Google Read More »

Medical records folders on a shelf

HIPAA for Pets

General Interest /

At Brownsburg Animal Clinic, we maintain detailed medical records on every one of our patients. From time to time, our clients ask us to share those records with veterinary specialists, emergency clinics, breeders, groomers and training clubs. By state law, we cannot release your pet’s records without a signed authorization from you.

Doctors’ handling of human patients’ medical records are subject to HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. While HIPAA does not apply to veterinary records, many states—including Indiana—have implemented similar regulations to protect the privacy of animals’ medical records and information about their medical condition.

Here are the specific regulations for Indiana, as summarized by the American Veterinary Medical Association:

An animal’s veterinary medical record and medical condition is confidential and may not be furnished to or discussed with any person other than the client or other veterinarians involved in the care or treatment of the animal without written authorization of the client with the following exceptions:

An animal’s veterinary medical records and medical condition must be furnished within five (5) business days without written client authorization under the following circumstances:

(1) Access to the records is specifically required by a state or federal statute.

(2) An order by a court with jurisdiction in a civil or criminal action upon the court’s issuance of a subpoena and notice to the client or the client’s legal representative.

(3) As part of an inspection or investigation conducted by the board or an agent of the board.

(4) As part of a request from a regulatory or health authority, physician, or veterinarian:

(A) to verify a rabies vaccination of an animal; or

(B) to investigate a threat to human or animal health, or for the protection of animal or public health and welfare.

(5) As a part of an animal cruelty report and associated applicable records that are part of an abuse investigation by law enforcement or a governmental agency.

(6) To a law enforcement agency as part of a criminal investigation.

An animal’s veterinary medical records and medical condition may be furnished without written client authorization under the following circumstances:

(1) To the School of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University, the animal disease diagnostic laboratory, or a state agency or commission. However, an animal’s veterinary medical records remain confidential unless the information is disclosed in a manner allowed under this section.

(2) Veterinary medical records that are released by the board of animal health when in the judgment of the state veterinarian the disclosure is necessary or helpful in advancing animal health or protecting public health.

(3) For statistical and scientific research, if the information is abstracted in a way as to protect the identity of the animal and the client.

Authorize Now

We have a multi-purpose form that includes an authorization to release your pet’s records when you ask us to.

For your convenience, we encourage you to download and complete the form now and return it to our office so we may respond without delay any time you ask us to share your pet’s medical records.

You can also use this form to notify us of changes in your address or phone number.

HIPAA for Pets Read More »

Fireworks display

Managing Your Pet’s Noise Anxiety

Behavior and Training, Dogs, General Interest, Safety /

Over the upcoming extended Independence Day weekend, chances are at least 40 percent of our canine patients will experience anxiety during the celebratory fireworks—the most common trigger for dogs with noise aversion.

Fireworks are a source of suffering for 81% of dogs diagnosed with noise aversion. That’s why the busiest day of the year for intake of runaway dogs in animal shelters is July 5 and why we strongly recommend that you not take your pet to any holiday celebration that includes a fireworks display.

Unlike most people, noise-averse pets do not enjoy fireworks, and may become anxious enough to break free and run away. Trying to find a lost pet after dark in a large, crowded public space is a challenge we don’t want any of our clients to face!

Summer thunderstorms can trigger similar fears, causing panic and dangerous reactions, destruction of furniture and fixtures, self-inflicted injuries and frantic escapes.

Cats can be noise-averse, too, but their fear responses are usually not as pronounced. A cat may retreat to a favorite hiding place when frightened by noise, but otherwise appear unfazed. So most of our clients’ concerns about noise anxiety involve dogs.

Diagnosing Your Dog’s Noise Aversion

Illustrations Showing Noise Aversion Symptoms

The manufacturer of Sileo, a drug we prescribe to treat noise aversion, offers a checklist you can download and print to diagnose your dog. (Hit the back button on your browser to return to this page.)

Home Remedies for Noise Aversion

Home remedies we recommend in mild to moderate cases include playing soft music to mask the noise and carrying on as usual. It’s tempting to comfort a fearful dog, but a better approach is to signal all is well by engaging in normal behavior. A little cuddling is fine, but anything you can do lighten the mood is most helpful. If you can, just be present to your dog.

You may create a “safe spot” for your pet in a windowless interior room, like a closet or bathroom, complete with bed and blankets, where he or she can feel secure while riding out the storm or fireworks display.

Making favorite treats and toys available can help—especially toys that might distract, like a peanut-butter-filled Kong toy. In administering treats, just be careful not to reward fearful behavior.

Thundershirts, which work by applying gentle, constant pressure to the pet’s body, similar to swaddling a baby, are also popular and have helped many dogs and cats.

Helpful Medical Treatment

If noise makes your dog anxious, and home remedies aren’t working as well as you’d like,  we can help.

For more severe cases, there are drugs we can prescribe to reduce anxiety and keep your dog relaxed and safe during fireworks, storms and other noisy conditions.

The drugs we most often prescribe to alleviate anxiety symptoms are Xanax and Sileo, and for the best effect, we recommend administering them 30 minutes prior to the anticipated noise.

If home remedies are not effective and you would like to see if drug therapy is indicated, the first step is an office visit to assess the severity of the anxiety and discuss treatment options with you.

While we can’t promise a quieter summer, we may well be able to provide a calmer, more relaxed summer for your noise-averse dog. If you’d like our help, call to schedule an appointment today.

Managing Your Pet’s Noise Anxiety Read More »

Face mask being held by someone wearing a white coat and gloves

Mask Requirement Update

General Interest /

In response to recent revisions to the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for managing COVID-19 risks, face masks are now optional inside our building.

Our masks-optional protocol aligns with CDC recommendations for Hendricks County—currently classified at “low” for our community level—a county-by-county rating based on new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days.

To check the current community level for Hendricks and other counties of interest, use the CDC’s online tool.

What This Means to Our Clients and Team

As long as our community level stays at “low,” our clients and team members will no longer be required to wear masks indoors.

In keeping with the CDC guidelines, should the Hendricks County community level rise to “medium,” we will expect clients and employees who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease to talk to their healthcare provider about whether or not they need to wear a mask and act accordingly.

If Hendricks County’s community level rises to high, we will once again require everyone to wear a mask indoors.

Regardless of our current community level, we expect some clients and team members will continue to wear masks simply because they feel more secure wearing a mask indoors.

CDC Guidelines for All Community Levels

At all three community levels, the CDC advises everyone to stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters and to follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested, if exposed to or having symptoms of COVID-19.

Free at-home tests are available from the U.S. government at COVIDtests.gov. We encourage all our clients and employees to order these tests for their households and keep them on hand to use if someone develops symptoms, has a close exposure to someone with COVID-19 or wants to spend time indoors with someone who would be at high risk if they were to catch the coronavirus.

If you are sick or test positive for COVID-19, or if you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, we ask that you stay home. Call the clinic at (317) 852-3323 to reschedule your appointment.

Curbside Service Still an Option

For clients who prefer not to come inside, given the new masking protocol, we will continue to offer curbside service.

Curbside service is also a convenient option for prescription and food pick-up and technician appointments.

Whether or not you plan to come inside with your pet for your appointment, we ask that you call (317) 852-3323 when you arrive in our parking lot.

Mask Requirement Update Read More »

Dead mosquito

Heartworm Prevention is a Year-Round Commitment

Cats, Dogs, General Interest, Heartworms /

One crisp winter day, I spotted—and swatted—a mosquito in my kitchen. As much as a I love all creatures great and small, I am first and foremost a doctor dedicated to protecting my loved ones, including family members and patients, from the many diseases mosquitoes carry—not to mention, the discomfort of itchy mosquito bites.

Long before the mosquito-borne Zika virus became such a concern in human medicine, heartworms, which are also carried by mosquitoes, have been a concern for veterinarians.

Fortunately, the proverbial ounce of prevention for dogs and cats is readily available in the form of heartworm preventives, such as the many brands we carry in our online store.  We also stock heartworm preventives at the clinic. Our doctors are happy to discuss how these products work and help you choose which one is right for your dog or cat.

All the pets in our household are on heartworm preventive year-round, so even if the mosquito I encountered had managed a bite,  the risk of their being infected would have been quite low.

But some clients insist their pets need heartworm preventive only during the summer months because mosquitoes are not a problem at other times of the year. A few insist their pets don’t need heartworm preventive at all because they stay in the house all the time.

The fact is, while there are more mosquitoes during the warmer months, there is no time of year when mosquitoes are not present in our climate.

And mosquitoes can and do come indoors, looking for people and pets to provide the protein and iron found in blood to make their eggs.

To learn more about heartworms, visit The American Heartworm Society’s “Heartworm Basics” page.

Heartworm Prevention is a Year-Round Commitment Read More »

Pet owner shaking hands with ddog

New Job Title for Front Desk Staff

General Interest /

During Brownsburg Animal Clinic’s more than 50 years of operation, the team members who work at the front desk have been called “receptionists.” While they do indeed receive clients and patients visiting the clinic, they do so very much more!

To recognize and reflect the role played by our front desk staff more accurately, we have created a more fitting job title: Client/Patient Service Representative—CPSR for short.

“The new title suggests a much more accurate and complete description of the role our front desk team members play in our relationships with clients and patients,” said Brownsburg Animal Clinic owner Timea Brady, DVM. “Most often, they are the first team members our clients interact with when they call or visit the clinic and the last ones they see when they check out. But there’s a lot more to the job than that.

“They have always been much more than receptionists,” added Dr. Brady. “They are also listeners, educators, advocates, scheduling gurus, decision-makers and liaisons between clients and the rest of the team. The Customer/Patient Service Representative title does a better job of conveying that.”

The Job Description

Receiving human, canine and feline visitors to the clinic is only one of many duties of a CPSR. Here’s a more complete list:

  • Greet clients and patients on arrival at the clinic and let technicians know they have arrived
  • Check out clients after appointments, prescription and food pick-ups
  • Answer phones, check voicemail messages and return phone calls
  • Monitor and respond to email messages to the main clinic account, mail@brownsburganimalclinic.com
  • Monitor the fax machine and send faxes as needed
  • Answer and assess the urgency of clients’ questions in person, by phone and by email, conferring with technicians and veterinarians as needed to see that the patient receives timely, appropriate care
  • Log clients’ questions and concerns into the medical records and bring the information to the attention of the veterinarians as needed
  • Log prescription refill requests and forward them for approval by the prescribing veterinarian
  • Schedule appointments, dental procedures and surgeries
  • Manage the clinic’s prescription diet orders to make sure the foods our patients need are always in stock
  • File charts and loose paperwork from the previous day
  • Print appointment check-in sheets for the next day and retrieve the patients’ charts
  • Keep the front lobby and reception area clean and organized
  • Unlock the building in the morning and lock up at the end of the day

A Focus on Patients as Well as Clients

While many veterinary clinics have adopted the Customer Service Representative or CSR title for their front desk staffs, the new, more complete title includes patients as well as clients, an idea Dr. Brady approved. 

“When we began considering the title change, I suggested making us not just client service reps but client and patient service reps—CPSRs—because we don’t just advocate and act as liaisons with the rest of the team for the client. We are always advocating for the best possible care for the pets—our patients—as well.”

The CPSR Team

“I think one of the most challenging parts of the job for me is the constant need to switch between tasks,” said Katherine, who joined the clinic team in late 2017. “It can certainly make the day go by quickly, but toggling between the variety of tasks we have, such as checking clients in, checking clients out, scheduling appointments, entering prescription refill requests and passing patient updates and concerns on to the doctors—just to name a few—all while answering sometimes non-stop phone calls—certainly keeps us on our toes!

“We love helping all our patients, but I think one of the most rewarding parts of the job is seeing a sick patient regain their health with the help of our team. Nothing beats seeing a happy wagging tail or hearing a happy purr from a patient who was really feeling under the weather.”

For Stephanie, who came to work at the clinic in September 2021, the primary challenges are in learning a new field. “Fortunately, I love having the opportunity to learn new things every day and I find it very rewarding to use my growing knowledge to help people and their pets.”

CPSR Kelly, who joined the team in December 2021, finds it challenging to be thought of as “just a receptionist.” She said, “I have been in this field for more than 25 years, and I work hard every day to learn and provide the best care to all—pets and people.” For her, the greatest satisfaction comes with “knowing that at the end of the day, I have provided the best quality of care that I possibly could to clients, pets and co-workers.”

We’re Here to Help You and Your Pet

To contact any member of the Client/Patient Service Representative team, call (317) 852-3323 or send email to mail@brownsburganimalclinic.com.

New Job Title for Front Desk Staff Read More »

Reclining dog sniffing reclining cat's ear

New Clients to Deposit Exam Fees Before Scheduling Appointments

General Interest /

Effective immediately, Brownsburg Animal Clinic is collecting advance payments from prospective new clients before scheduling their first appointments.

The payment amount is $58 per pet to be seen at the appointment—our standard fee for a physical examination—and will be credited to the prospective new client’s account and applied to the first invoice.

How It Works

  • The prospective new client calls our clinic to schedule a first appointment for one or more pets.
  • After gathering the basic information about the client and pet(s), our team member asks for credit or debit card information and authorization to charge the exam fee(s) to secure the appointment.
  • If the prospective new client needs to reschedule the appointment and lets us know during our normal office hours at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled appointment time, we will reschedule the appointment and the prepayment will remain as a credit in the new client’s account.
  • If the prospective new client decides to cancel the appointment and lets us know during office hours at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled appointment time, we will refund the advance payment.
  • If the prospective new client cancels without sufficient notice or simply fails to show up for the appointment, the advance payment is forfeited and there will be no refund.

Why the New Policy?

Like any veterinary practice that works by appointment, we have always had the occasional “no call-no show” client who scheduled an appointment and then failed to show up. Sometimes an emergency or an unexpected delay occurs or the client loses track of time or simply forgets. We understand. Life happens.

Unfortunately, as demand for veterinary services has increased and scheduling backlogs have built up during the pandemic, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of scheduled appointments that are neither cancelled nor kept—particularly among prospective new clients.

In addition to all the usual reasons for failing to keep appointments, we believe these pet owners may be calling multiple practices and scheduling multiple appointments, planning to keep only the one with the first available veterinarian at any clinic in town. Unfortunately, they sometimes neglect to cancel the appointments they don’t plan to keep, and one or more veterinary teams is left waiting to care for the new patient who never arrives.

We find this especially frustrating at a time when there are so many clients who would have been happy to have that unkept appointment for their pet, and we would have been happy to spend that time caring for our patient sooner rather than later.

We hope by implementing this advance payment policy for prospective new clients, we will encourage them to be more mindful of the appointments they make while reducing the number of appointments that go to waste.

This policy also applies to established clients who have a history of failing to keep scheduled appointments.

New Clients to Deposit Exam Fees Before Scheduling Appointments Read More »

Sleeping cat and dog

Policy Update for Prescription Refills

General Interest /

To make sure our patients have uninterrupted access to their prescription drugs, Brownsburg Animal Clinic has recently updated our prescription refills policy, asking clients to allow at least 48 hours or two full business days for us to process refill requests.

Previously, we expected to refill most prescriptions within 24 hours—and we often still do.

But in these times of increased demand for our services, we’ve determined a more realistic turnaround time is 48 hours, or two full business days.

For drugs we don’t normally keep in stock, the lead time required could be even longer.

If we haven’t examined your pet recently, we may not be able to approve the refill until you’ve scheduled an appointment for an exam.

And if the prescription is for a controlled substance, Indiana law requires us to comply with strict regulations to help prevent drug abuse and drug trafficking, creating additional paperwork and documentation before we can dispense the drug.

What This Policy Change Means to You and Your Pet

If your pet has an ongoing need for a prescription drug, we ask for your cooperation in making sure you have it on hand when you need it. That means:

  • Keeping an eye on your supply and requesting the refill well before you run out.
  • Calling or emailing to ask if an examination will be required before the refill can be approved and if so, scheduling an appointment.
  • Being prepared to supply identifying information and a photo ID of the pet’s owner and/or the person to whom we’ll be dispensing the drug if the prescription is for a controlled substance.

To request a refill, email us at mail@brownsburganimalclinic.com or call us at (317) 852-3323.

For more details about how we manage prescription drugs—including Indiana’s Prescription Monitoring Program for controlled substances—visit the Prescriptions and Refills page on our website.

Policy Update for Prescription Refills Read More »

Gloved hand holding two test tubes containing blood

How We Manage Lab Test Results

General Interest /

If your pet has needed laboratory tests lately, you may have been impacted by yet another of the many continuing consequences of the pandemic: It usually takes longer for us to receive, review and interpret test results now than it did in the days before March 2020.

Here’s why:

  • Like our veterinary colleagues throughout the nation, we are experiencing unprecedented demand for our services. 
  • In the earliest weeks of the pandemic response, we were allowed to offer only “essential” services, creating a backlog of demand for wellness visits and elective procedures. 
  • Clients spending more time at home with their pets continue to notice more health issues and call for more appointments. 
  • We (and many of our colleagues) are seeing more new clients and patients who need our services. 
  • Although we’ve improved with experience, curbside service is still somewhat less efficient than face-to-face interactions, reducing the number of appointments we can offer in a given day and lengthening the time required for each visit. Phone lines are often tied up. Hold times are longer. Nerves are frazzled. This situation has eased since we reopened our exam rooms to clients, but we are still offering curbside service to clients who prefer it and for tech appointments and prescription and food pick-ups.

Through it all, Brownsburg Animal Clinic has been and steadfastly remains here for you and your pet. Our mission is to care for as many patients as we can capably manage while upholding our standards for safety and quality of care. While it may not be “business as usual” as we and our long-term clients had come to know it before the onset of the pandemic, our veterinarians and team remain committed—as always—to providing uncompromising patient care to the very best of our abilities.

The Pandemic’s Impact on Laboratory Test Results

Every laboratory test result requires careful scrutiny and thoughtful evaluation by the veterinarian handling the case. The process cannot and should not be rushed. 

How soon our veterinarians and team members are able contact you to discuss your pet’s test results depends on a number of factors. To manage these factors and address the many competing priorities demanding our time and attention every day, we rely on a triage (pronounced TREE-ahzh) system to manage our workflow, including review and analysis of laboratory test results. 

When you bring your pet in for an appointment and the doctor or technician take tissue, urine or a fecal sample, or draw blood, we send the specimen to the laboratory—either in-house or outside, depending on the test. How soon we receive test results can vary depending on the lab’s case load and the type of test.

Once the results are in, how soon the veterinarian or a team member can be ready to discuss test results with you varies, too, depending on our current workload and the potential urgency of the case.

In the past, each of our doctors typically had one or two test reports to review and interpret each day. Currently, we are each receiving results from as many as five to seven lab tests a day, and we have to review and interpret each report, formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan options for every case, and contact each owner to discuss next steps. 

Using our triage system, we fit this higher volume of lab report-related tasks in among our other duties—seeing pets at regularly-scheduled appointments, performing surgical and dental procedures, completing medical records, reviewing requests for prescription refills, offering medical advice, answering questions and, if necessary, handling emergency cases that may come in.

Within the context of all these daily duties, here’s how we apply triage principles to lab reports:

  • Test results for more urgent cases and sicker pets take priority over more routine tests, such as wellness blood tests for apparently healthy pets. A veterinarian treating a seriously ill pet will typically make time to review lab test results at the first opportunity.
  • Depending on the purpose of the test and the pet’s medical history, we can sometimes analyze a lab report showing all results within normal ranges more quickly than we can evaluate a report showing one or more abnormalities. A pet who shows symptoms of illness yet tests normally may require further consideration and analysis.
  • Regardless of the pet’s apparent state of health, lab reports showing concerning abnormalities may prompt a full review of the pet’s medical records and, perhaps, additional research and consultation to arrive at a diagnosis and develop treatment plan options. 

We realize waiting for test results can be agonizing—especially when you’re worried about a sick pet and anxious to find out the diagnosis and get on with treatment. We share your concern and assure you, we always do our very best to process lab test results in the most insightful and timely way possible. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

How We Manage Lab Test Results Read More »

Pug dog with chin resting on a car window frame

Curbside-Only Continues

Clinic News, COVID-19, General Interest /

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.

You can also order supplies for delivery directly to your home from our online VetSource store.

Thank 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's signature

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.

Curbside-Only Continues Read More »

Seresto flea and tick collars for dogs and cats

Are Seresto Flea and Tick Collars Safe?

General Interest /

On March 3, 2021, USA Today published an article with this alarming headline: 

‘Popular flea collar linked to almost 1,700 pet deaths. The EPA has issued no warning.’

The collar in question is Bayer brand’s Seresto flea and tick collar for dogs and cats, now sold by Elanco, which acquired Bayer Animal Health in August 2020. Since Bayer introduced the collars in 2012, more than 25 million have been sold in the U.S. The collars are effective at controlling fleas and ticks for eight months.

We understand how clients reading the USA Today article would be deeply concerned—especially if their pets wear Seresto collars!

On our first read-through, we found the article concerning ourselves! 

After all, we’ve been recommending these collars for years as a convenient, effective alternative to monthly oral and topical preventives. We sell them in our online store. 

However, in all our years of recommending Seresto collars for our patients, we’ve witnessed no such severe side-effects as described in the USA Today article. We’ve heard no such stories from other veterinarians, nor have we read about them in veterinary medical publications. The clients who use Seresto collars for their pets seem to love them.

So are Seresto flea and tick collars safe? 

Rather than look to the popular press for definitive veterinary medical information, we decided to find out what veterinary toxicologists—none of whom were interviewed for the USA Today article—have to say in response to the article. 

Here’s what we found:

While the article alluded to numerous consumer reports to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implicating the collars in the deaths of nearly 1,700 pets, injuries to tens of thousands of pets and health problems for hundreds of pet owners, there is no way to know for sure, based solely on raw, unverified anecdotal evidence, that the collars actually caused such a myriad of problems. 

’The signs are very random.’

Quoted in an article published by the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) on March 5, 2021, Dr. Tina Wismer, medical director at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center and a toxicology consultant for VIN, said, “Looking at these reports, these are very random things, ranging from ruptured eardrums — which I can’t make fit really at all — to liver failure, to heart problems, to kidney failure. The fact that the signs are very random makes me think that probably [the collar] is not involved.”

‘You cannot make a cause-effect connection.’

A second VIN toxicology consultant, Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, pointed out that consumer reports to the EPA are often anecdotal and unverified. “Anyone can report anything to regulatory agencies,” she said. “That doesn’t mean it’s true or accurate. This is why looking at the raw data from these agencies is so dangerous — they reflect only the reports, not any ancillary information required to determine if there’s actually any merit to the report.” She added without a veterinary examination or necropsy (an animal autopsy) to rule out other potential causes of illness or death, “you cannot make a cause-effect connection.”

‘The toxicity of these collars is extremely low.’

On a listserv for veterinary toxicologists, Gwaltney-Brant said her colleagues expressed surprise at the concerns about Seresto collars. Even when pets ingest the collars—which happens fairly often with dogs—she said, “the toxicity of these collars is extremely low, and they have no ‘red flags’ on this particular product.” 

‘You don’t necessarily know where these collars are coming from.’

Both toxicologists agreed the prevalence of counterfeit products could make it difficult to interpret the incident reports. Fake collars, packaged to look like the real thing and usually priced somewhat lower than the genuine product, may not only fail to protect pets from fleas and ticks but contain ingredients that do harm pets.

“You don’t necessarily know where these collars are coming from and what actually is in them,” Wismer said. “And that could explain a lot of the different kinds of clinical signs we are seeing.”

‘We feel very comfortable with the safety profile of these collars.’

An article titled “Collar-Gate,” published on March 5, 2021, in The Canine Review called the USA Today report “flawed, incomplete, and misleading.” 

The article quoted American Board of Veterinary Toxicology President-Elect Dr. Ahna Brutlag as saying, “We feel very comfortable with the safety profile of these collars.” 

Dr. Brutlag is the Director of Veterinary Services at the Pet Poison Helpline and has worked with the Helpline since 2004. During that time she said she has not seen any examples of serious adverse events connected with Seresto collars. “Our data has really shown that the collars are not associated with severe adverse events.” 

Dr. Brutlag noted that the active ingredients in Seresto collars—imidacloprid and flumethrin—are widely used and based on experience, have “a pretty wide and favorable safety profile for the collars.”

Until we see solid scientific proof, and until our own profession issues warnings, we intend to keep recommending Seresto collars.

Veterinarians weighing in on a VIN message board about the matter have been contacted by concerned clients—as we have. Like us, after years of recommending the collars, they have had very few if any serious adverse reactions to the collars reported. 

And until we see solid scientific proof of a direct, causal connection to serious adverse reactions, we intend to keep recommending Seresto collars.

Rest assured, if any solid medical evidence of harmful effects of Seresto collars does emerge in the aftermath of the USA Today article, we veterinarians will be among the very first to know and to respond immediately and appropriately to keep our patients safe. The safety and wellbeing of your pets always has been and always will be our first priority!

Meanwhile, here are a few more points to keep in mind:

In our part of Indiana, we strongly recommend some form of flea and tick control year-round.

All flea and tick preventives come with some degree of risk of adverse reactions, but the risks of discomfort and diseases spread by fleas and ticks to animals and humans far outweigh those risks.

If you are currently using Seresto collars and the concerns about them have you feeling uneasy, we encourage you to click through and read the articles linked to on this post. Then talk to any of our veterinarians about oral and topical alternatives to protect your pet and your family from flea- and tick-borne diseases. 

Before using Seresto collars—or any other pet product or medication, for that matter—discuss the risks to your particular pet with your veterinarian, read the entire label and follow instructions to the letter. 

Counterfeit pet care products are widely offered by independent sellers through Amazon, Ebay and other online sources, usually at a lower price than the genuine product. Make sure you buy genuine Seresto collars and other pet supplies only from reputable sources. We guarantee any products you buy in our office and through our VetSource online store are the real thing. 

With any flea and tick preventive in any form, watch your pet closely after administering it—especially for the first time—and call us immediately if you see any signs of discomfort or distress. 

Are Seresto Flea and Tick Collars Safe? Read More »

Puppy cradled in owner's arm

Moving Toward ‘the New Normal’

Clinic News, COVID-19, General Interest /

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's signature

Timea H. Brady, DVM
Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic

Moving Toward ‘the New Normal’ Read More »

German shepherd dog looking out a car window

Why We Are Continuing Curbside Service—For Now

Clinic News, COVID-19, General Interest /

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's signature

Timea H. Brady, DVM
Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic

Why We Are Continuing Curbside Service—For Now Read More »

Pug on bed with sleeping owner

COVID-19 May 4 Update

Clinic News, General Interest /

To you, our valued client:

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's signature

Timea H. Brady, DVM
Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic

COVID-19 May 4 Update Read More »

Woman reading magazine with dog

COVID-19 April 11 Update

General Interest /

To you, our valued client:

We’re still here for you and your pet!

And we deeply appreciate that you continue to be here for us as we work together to keep your pet happy and healthy in these challenging times.

We’re continuing to take extra precautions to minimize the risks of infection for you and our staff, including curbside service (see details of some fine-tuning below), and still closing an hour early at 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.

Essential Services

Under our governor’s stay-at-home order—now in effect until Monday, April 20—it’s still OK to bring your pet to our clinic for essential veterinary care that can’t safely or feasibly be delayed.

Here’s what that includes:

  • Care for sick and injured pets
  • Emergency care
  • Rechecks for follow-up and ongoing treatment
  • Puppy and kitten wellness visits for essential vaccinations
  • Rabies vaccinations required by state law
  • Required recurring visits for medicines such as Cytopoint, Adequan and ProHeart and fluids for kidney disease

Surgeries and Dental Procedures

As directed by our governor, we are doing our part to conserve personal protective equipment—masks, gloves and gowns—in support of our counterparts in human medicine.

As long as this vital protective gear remains in short supply, we are rescheduling elective surgeries and dental procedures for later in the year.

Our doctors are examining and diagnosing patients and advising clients case-by-case on whether a recommended procedure can be safely deferred without impacting the pet’s wellbeing and quality of life. If it can’t be deferred, we will encourage you to schedule an essential procedure sooner rather than later.

Preventive Care Exams and Vaccines for Adult Pets

Essential preventive care exams and routine vaccination boosters for adults pets, other than rabies vaccines, can be safely postponed for a short time, but not indefinitely!

As always, for most adult pets, we recommend annual preventive care exams, including heartworm checks. For older pets and those with serious chronic health conditions, we recommend more frequent exams.

If you’re not sure when your pet is due for an exam and vaccines, call the clinic at (317) 852-3323 to find out and discuss options. If your pet needs prescriptions refilled before you can schedule an exam, our doctors may be able to prescribe a limited quantity of some medications to see your pet through the coronavirus crisis.

Our doctors will assess your pet’s situation and prescribe as needed to assure the pet’s safety and wellbeing—typically prescribing a one-month supply at a time until you can bring your pet for an exam.

For heartworm preventives, if your dog has missed more than one or two monthly doses, a heartworm blood test will be needed before we can safely restart the prescription. If you’ve forgotten or fallen behind on monthly heartworm preventive doses, call the clinic at (317) 852-3323 to schedule a test.

Curbside 2.0

Our curbside service protocol has been working well, and we greatly appreciate your cooperation with this “new normal” intended to protect all our clients and staff from the coronavirus. We plan to continue allowing only staff inside the clinic for the foreseeable future.

Now that we have some experience with curbside service, we’ve done a bit of fine-tuning. Here’s how it works now:

  • Call in advance to make an appointment for your pet’s visit.
  • To make check-in as efficient as possible, a technician will call you before the visit to discuss your pet’s history and the reason for the appointment. As time permits, we are normally making these calls the afternoon before morning appointments and the morning before afternoon appointments.
  • When you arrive for the appointment, call the front desk at (317) 852-3323 to let us know you’ve arrived in our parking lot.
  • A technician will 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 with your dog on a leash by your vehicle 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, a staff member will return your pet, along with any prescribed medicines or foods, to your car.
  • We ask that you practice social distancing throughout your visit to our clinic, refraining from any physical contact and maintaining a minimum distance of six feet from our team members and other clients who may be waiting in the parking lot.

If you need to visit the clinic to pick up food or medicine, we ask for more than the usual 24-hours’ advance notice during these challenging times. 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.

You can also order supplies for delivery directly to your home from our online VetSource store.

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.

Thank you!

Personally and on behalf of the entire Brownsburg Animal Clinic team, I want to thank you for continuing to entrust us with your pet’s care and for collaborating with us to keep all the humans involved safe as well!

We’re all in this together, and we appreciate your support!

Sincerely,

Timea H. Brady's signature

Timea H. Brady, DVM
Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic

P.S. We’re receiving more than the usual number of phone calls from clients these days. We appreciate your patience as our team works as efficiently as possible to field your questions while handling our appointments and other patient care responsibilities.

COVID-19 April 11 Update Read More »

Man on sofa with cat

COVID-19 March 25 Update

General Interest /

Now that Indiana’s stay-at-home order is in effect at least through Monday, April 6, you may be wondering how the order impacts your access to veterinary care for you pets.

The good news: In Indiana, veterinary clinics have been declared essential businesses, and even with the stay-at-home order in place, Hoosiers are allowed to seek medical care for pets, should they need it.

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health has provided us with further clarification, advising, “Veterinarians may continue to provide care and treatment to animals as a matter of health and welfare.”

That means Brownsburg Animal Clinic is here for you! We’re open for business and, as mandated, continuing to maintain the health of our patients.

As always, if your pet is sick or injured, call us at (317) 852-3323 to ask for advice and if needed, schedule an appointment. If you’re not sure if you should bring your pet in, call anyway and we will help you decide.

Vaccines and boosters—especially rabies vaccinations—should continue on schedule for pets of all ages.

We are still limiting access to our building to staff only. 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. Please be sure your cat is in a secure carrier. We’ll provide leads for dogs. 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.

It’s still critically important to continue giving your pet heartworm and flea and tick preventives, along with any other prescribed medicines or diet. 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. You can also order supplies from our online VetSource store.

We are mindful of the nationwide shortage of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), including masks and gloves used by all health care providers. We have enough PPE on hand to care for our patients in the immediate future, but we may postpone some elective procedures to conserve these supplies until it becomes clear when we can replenish them.

So far, thankfully, we all are symptom-free, and the team is under strict orders to stay at home if they experience fever, cough or shortness of breath.

We are continuing to stay at least six feet away from clients and fellow staff members and following stepped-up sanitation and hand-washing protocols.

The Board of Animal Health has prepared guidelines for pet owners who have been or may have been exposed to the coronavirus. If you believe you or someone in your household has COVID-19, I encourage you to read this document and, as the letter recommends, call us before bringing your pet in to the clinic.

For those of you who are concerned that your pet could contract or spread the coronavirus, there is currently no evidence that animals can do so. The College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign has provided detailed information about pets and COVID-19 on their website.

If you have any questions about your pet’s health and whether or not you need to visit the clinic, please feel free to call the front desk at (317) 852-3323. We are happy to advise you and, if needed, schedule an appointment.

And for those of you who are working from home, we hope this additional time with your pet will make your human-animal bond even stronger!

Timea H. Brady's signature

Timea H. Brady, DVM
Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic

P.S. On weekdays we are closing one hour early—at 5:00 p.m., with the last appointment at 4:30.

COVID-19 March 25 Update Read More »

COVID-19

How We Are Further Reducing COVID-19 Risk

Clinic News, COVID-19, General Interest /

Dear Valued Client,

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's signature

Timea H. Brady, DVM
Owner, Brownsburg Animal Clinic

How We Are Further Reducing COVID-19 Risk Read More »

German shepherd in water

Answering Your Questions About Leptospirosis

Dogs, General Interest /

Many clients have been asking us about some recent news stories about leptospirosis—a deadly bacteria primarily affecting dogs but also, rarely, in cats.

Leptospirosis is nothing new and in fact, has been in Indiana for many years. The recent increase in diagnosed cases could be due to improved diagnostic tests for the disease, improved tracking, as well as increased contact between pets and the environment where leptospirosis can be found.

Fortunately, there is a leptospirosis vaccine available for dogs, which we recommend for all dogs that have any potential for exposure. If there is wildlife in your neighborhood, your pets are at risk. Another risk factor is exposure to or drinking from rivers, lakes or streams.

This disease can be fatal to our canine friends and is zoonotic, meaning humans can contract it. These are two reasons we highly recommend this vaccine for most dogs.

In some patients, the leptospirosis vaccine can cause a vaccine reaction. In most cases, the reactions we see are mild, with some facial swelling and hives. If your pet has a history of reactions to vaccines, please speak with your veterinarian to discuss the pros and cons of administering this vaccine.

To learn more about leptospirosis, visit the American Veterinary Association web site.  To have your pet vaccinated, call the clinic to schedule an appointment.

Answering Your Questions About Leptospirosis Read More »

Timea H. Brady, DVM, and her dogs

Our One-Star Review

Clinic News, General Interest /

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!

Our One-Star Review Read More »

A black Labrador retriever sniffing a toy duck floating in a pond

Estate Plans to Cover Your Pets

General Interest /

When it comes to estate planning, most of us update our wills and name beneficiaries of insurance policies and retirement funds so that our heirs and favorite charities will be provided for.

But what about our pets?

What will happen to your pets if they outlive you? Have you considered including your four-legged loved ones in your estate plans?

Depending on your family, financial and tax situation, you may provide for your pet’s care and support within the provisions of your will or in a trust document. For many people, the best approach is to execute a revocable trust incorporating provisions for pet care. Here’s why:

  • A revocable trust can easily be revised to add or remove a pet.
  • With a revocable trust, the assets you allot for your pet(s) are not tied up in probate, which can take a great deal of time and leave your pets without care.
  • Generally, assets in a revocable trust are not taxed as part of the estate.

Should you change your will or create a revocable trust to provide for your pet(s) in your estate plans? Only an attorney familiar with your situation and estate planning law knows for sure.

As veterinarians, we can’t provide legal advice, but if you are concerned about providing for your pet’s welfare in your estate plans, we encourage you to to ask a competent, licensed attorney.

Estate Plans to Cover Your Pets Read More »

Two dogs seated with a reclining cat between them

Client Forms

General Interest /

Updates and Authorizations

Use our multi-purpose Updates and Authorizations form to:

  • provide the information we need for our records if you’re a new client or have added a new pet to your household
  • report changes of address and changed phone numbers
  • provide an alternate contact person
  • confirm you accept responsibility to pay for the services we provide your pet and most important
  • authorize us to release information about your pet to veterinary specialists, emergency clinics, boarding kennels, groomers, training clubs and others with whom you want us to share your pet’s medical records

We encourage you to print, complete and mail or drop off this form for our files.

Photo Consent

We invite you to to allow us to shoot and share photographs and stories featuring you and your pets on our social media pages, website and other promotional materials. Use our Photo Consent Form to grant us your permission.

Client Forms Read More »

Terrier nose-to-nose with cat

Site Terms & Conditions of Use

General Interest /

The following Terms and Conditions of Use (the “Agreement”) constitutes an agreement between you and Brownsburg Animal Clinic (the “Clinic”), owner and operator of www.brownsburganimalclinic.com and www.brownsburgvet.com (the “Web Site”). By using the Web Site, you agree to be bound by and accept the terms of this Agreement.

Brownsburg Animal Clinic may alter the terms of this Agreement from time to time without prior notice to you. No alteration of this Agreement by you will be binding upon the Clinic except as expressly agreed in writing and signed by an authorized agent of the Brownsburg Animal Clinic.

Please read this Agreement carefully. This Agreement limits the Clinic’s liability and may substantively affect your rights.

1. Use of the Web Site

Age Restriction. You must be eighteen (18) years old or older to access this Web Site. If you are younger than eighteen years old, you may not access this web site for any reason. Because of the age restriction for use of this Web Site, no information obtained by this Web Site falls within the Child Online Privacy Act (COPA) and therefore the Web Site is not monitored as required by COPA.

Permitted Use of the Web Site. Use of and access to the Web Site is limited by the terms of this Agreement. You agree:

  • Not to use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Web Site for any purpose without the Clinic’s express written permission.
  • Not to take any action that imposes, or may impose in the Clinic’s sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Clinic’s servers or other infrastructure, or to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper operation of the Web Site or any activities conducted on the Web Site.
  • Not to copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute or publicly display any content from the Web Site, including but not limited to “framing” Web Site content within another site, except for your own reasonable personal use, without the prior express written permission of the Clinic.
  • To use the Web Site only for lawful purposes, and to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in connection with your use of the Web Site.

Use of User Accounts. Access to certain areas of the Web Site, and content and services contained therein, requires the creation of a User Account having a unique user name and password. Without limiting the foregoing, you may not share your username and/or password for your User Account with any third party except those within your immediate organization or living within your household and under your direct control. You are responsible for all activities of persons using your User Account to access the Web Site, including but not limited to such person’s compliance with the terms of this Agreement.

Termination of Use. Brownsburg Animal Clinic may at its sole discretion terminate or limit your use of the Web Site for any reason, including without limitation for any violation of any of the rules contained in this Agreement, or for any conduct, whether by act or omission, which in the Clinic’s sole opinion adversely impacts the operation of the Web Site. The Clinic may so terminate or limit your use of the Web Site without prior notice to you. If such termination or limitation is for reasonable cause, the Clinic will not be obligated to refund any fees or dues paid by you.

2. Services

Services Generally. The Clinic may provide services in connection with the Web Site. The Clinic will make its best efforts to ensure that such services are available, operate correctly and are free from malicious code (e.g., computer viruses). You agree to release and hold harmless the Clinic for any damages arising out of your use of the Web Site, including but not limited to the unavailability, failure or improper operation of services provided in connection with the Web Site.

3. Products and Related Information

Any products offered for sale and the content presented on the Web Site are intended to provide information on the title subject. Products and information are not intended to substitute for a professional veterinarian or other professional advisor. Brownsburg Animal Clinic shall have no responsibility or liability with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused, by application of the information contained in the Web Site or the products offered.

Use of Products. Use of the products offered on the Web Site, including but not limited to use by non-qualified individuals, may be dangerous and may result in personal injury or other damage. Brownsburg Animal Clinic, its directors, officers, employees and agents shall not be liable for any damages or causes of action arising out of your use of the Clinic products and/or your reliance on the information provided on the Web Site.

4. Third Party and Other Content

Third Party Content. Brownsburg Animal Clinic may provide content authored by third parties such as articles, interactive educational content, seminars, interviews, and audio and audio-visual content (“Third Party Content”). The views expressed in Third Party Content are those of the authors of such content and not necessarily of the Clinic. Brownsburg Animal Clinic shall not be liable for the truth or accuracy of Third Party Content.

Other Site Content. Brownsburg Animal Clinic may provide additional content which is not Third Party Content. The Clinic will make its best efforts to assure the accuracy of such content. You agree to release and hold harmless the Brownsburg Animal Clinic for any damages arising out of your use of or reliance on such content.

5. Offsite Links

The Web Site may contain links to World Wide Web content which is not a part of the Web Site. You agree and acknowledge that Brownsburg Animal Clinic is not responsible for such content.

6. Submissions

You hereby grant to Brownsburg Animal Clinic the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, and display all content, remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics or other information communicated to the Clinic through the Web Site (together, known as the “Submission”), and to incorporate any Submission in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

Brownsburg Animal Clinic will not be required to treat any Submission as confidential, and may use any Submission in its operations (including for products, Web Site content or advertising, without limitation) without incurring any liability for royalties or any other consideration of any kind. Brownsburg Animal Clinic will not incur any liability as a result of any similarities that may appear in future Clinic operations.

Brownsburg Animal Clinic will treat any personal information you submit through this site in accordance with its Privacy Policy as set forth on this site.

7. Intellectual Property

The Web Site contains intellectual property protected under applicable state and federal law. You agree not to violate any valid intellectual property rights in connection with your use of the Web Site.

“Brownsburg Animal Clinic” and domain names derived therefrom are trademarks of Brownsburg Animal Clinic. Web Site content and Web Site layout are copyright by Brownsburg Animal Clinic. The visual appearance of the Web Site is protected trade dress of Brownsburg Animal Clinic under 15 U.S.C. § 1125 et seq.

8. Rights Of Intellectual Property Owners

Brownsburg Animal Clinic respects the intellectual property rights of others, and operates the Web Site in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512 et seq.

Owners of intellectual property rights, including but not limited to rights in the nature of trademark, patent or copyright (“Rights Owners”), who believe Submissions, User-Provided Content or other content you provide infringe their intellectual property rights may request that the Clinic remove User-Provided Content or other content you provide from the Web Site. Upon receiving a valid request from such an owner, the Clinic will remove the allegedly infringing User-Provided Content or other content you provide and notify you in accordance with 17 U.S.C. § 512.

Upon receiving a notification pursuant to the preceding paragraph, you may counter-notify Brownsburg Animal Clinic.

9. Warranties

BROWNSBURG ANIMAL CLINIC HEREBY WAIVES ALL WARRANTIES EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR AN INTENDED USE, IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEB SITE.

10. Dispute Resolution

Any dispute arising out of use of the Web Site or this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Indiana without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. You hereby agree to personal jurisdiction in the courts of the State of Indiana and agree not to bring any action against Brownsburg Animal Clinic in any other jurisdiction. Nothing in this Agreement shall limit the rights of Brownsburg Animal Clinic to initiate an action against you in any other jurisdiction where such jurisdiction may be properly exercised.

Site Terms & Conditions of Use Read More »

Dog with paw over its muzzle

Privacy Policy

General Interest /

This website is owned and operated by Brownsburg Animal Clinic, 1557 East Main Street, Brownsburg, Indiana 46112, telephone (317) 852-3323. The clinic’s primary e-mail address is mail@brownsburganimalclinic.com.

We do not collect data without your knowledge when you visit our site, and if you choose to provide your name and email address to us, we do not make it accessible to any other individual or business.

We collect your email address if you communicate with us via email, participate in our surveys, submit content or comment on posts and pages on the site. We also collect additional information you volunteer, such as survey responses and/or site registrations, name and address, telephone number, fax number and payment information (e.g., credit card number and billing address).

We do not sell, transfer or give away our site visitors’ or users’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, credit card information or sales information except as necessary to complete transactions initiated by you.

Any email messages we send you from our mailing list server include an unsubscribe link. You can easily remove your email address at any time from our list by clicking on the link.

To track and improve the effectiveness of our site, we collect aggregate and user-specific information on what pages site visitors access or visit.

We use cookie technology to track the origin of visitors and improve your experience as you visit our site.

The clinic will make its best efforts to maintain all user information securely. You agree to release and hold harmless Brownsburg Animal Clinic for any damages arising out of any failure of such efforts.

Privacy Policy Read More »

Dog sniffing reclining cat's face

Links

General Interest /

While we can’t guarantee the accuracy of information you’ll find on the websites listed here, we offer them for your convenience and hope you’ll find them useful.

Preventive Vet is a web site providing information, educational resources, tips and advice for pet  owners to help pets avoid the pain and discomfort of preventable accidents, poisonings and illnesses.

Vetted Search from Preventive Vet offers authoritative answers to your pet care questions from veterinarians and animal behavior specialists.

VeterinaryPartner.com has numerous articles written by veterinarians about caring for dogs, cats, small mammals and reptiles.

Fear Free Happy Homes is dedicated to preventing and alleviating fear, anxiety, and stress in pets by inspiring and educating the people who care for them.

Your Pet Insurance Guide is a web site by Dr. Doug Kenney, a veterinarian in Memphis, Tennessee, dedicated to helping pet owners and veterinarians understand how pet insurance works and the strategic role it can play in helping pay for a pet’s healthcare expenses. Dr. Kenney also hosts The Pet Insurance Guide Podcast.

Pet Insurance University is a site created and maintained by Dr. Fran Wilkerson to help pet owners make well-informed decisions about buying pet insurance to cover the costs of veterinary care. There’s a nine-lesson guide, plus comparisons and company reviews.

The Veterinary Oral Health Council web site offers information about dental health for dogs and cats. The council authorizes the use of the VOHC Registered Seal on products intended to help retard plaque and tartar on the teeth of animals. Downloadable lists of approved products for dogs and cats are available on the site.

PickyOrSick.com has a five-question quiz to help owners decide if their cat needs a visit to a veterinarian when not eating.

The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement is a nonprofit organization of trained volunteers who help people cope with the final days of life and the death of a pet.

Links Read More »

Timea H. Brady, DVM, and her dogs

About Our Practice

General Interest /

The doctors and staff of Brownsburg Animal Clinic have been caring for the community’s small-animal companions and their owners since 1970, when Ronald P. Miller, DVM, started our practice.

In June 2009, Timea H. Brady, DVM, assumed ownership.

Under Dr. Brady’s leadership, we continue to serve our loyal clients and patients, many of whom have been with us for years.

We are also welcoming new patients and clients to the practice.

Nearly all our patients are dogs and cats.

Our emphasis is on preventive medicine. Keeping pets healthy is our first priority.

If you have questions or need more information about any aspect of the services, products, policies or procedures at Brownsburg Animal Clinic, please call us at  (317) 852-3323.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and your pet.

About Our Practice Read More »

Hunting dog

Directions

General Interest /

It’s easy to find our office. We’re at 1557 East Main Street/Highway 136 near the intersection with North Country Road 900 East.

From Interstate 74 Brownsburg Exit 66, turn south onto North Green Street/Highway 267. Turn left onto East Main Street/Highway 136. Look for our office on the right.

From Interstate 74 Exit 68, turn south onto Ronald Reagan Parkway. Turn right onto East Main Street/Highway 136. Our office is on the left, just after you cross North Country Road 900-E.

From the Speedway, go west on Crawfordsville Road/Highway 267 about six miles. Our office is on the left, just past the intersection with North Country Road 900-E.


View Larger Map

Directions Read More »

Cat scratching its head

Flea and Tick Control

General Interest /

Fleas and ticks can quickly become a serious problem for Brownsburg-area pets during our warm spring, summer and autumn months.

The fleas you see on your pet account for only 15 to 25 percent of the total population. The remaining 75 to 85 percent are larvae, pupae and eggs that have fallen off your pet onto your furniture and carpets.

By far, the best approach is to start your pet on a flea and tick preventive before an infestation takes hold and to maintain the protection year-round.

Fortunately, there are a number of new products now on the market that are easier to administer and provide greater protection from more of these pests than ever before. We stock the best of them in our pharmacy.

Flea and Tick Control Read More »

Dog and cat next to each other

Heartworm Prevention

General Interest /

In our climate, heartworm disease is a year-round threat for all dogs and cats in our care. Spread by mosquitoes, heartworms are difficult to treat and potentially deadly. Fortunately, regularly administered heartworm preventives reduce the threat of heartworms to near zero.

What is a Heartworm?

Heartworm disease is caused by a parasitic worm called Dirofilaria immitis. Once transmitted to a pet by a mosquito, heartworms mature into adults, mate and produce offspring while living inside the infected animal. The worms are called “heartworms” because the adults live in the heart, lungs and associated blood vessels.

Heartworm Preventives

Most commonly-used heartworm preventives come in tablet form, with the monthly dosage based on the pet’s body weight.

The preventive works by killing any heartworm larvae that may be present in your pet’s body from a mosquito bite that occurred since you administered the preventive the previous month.  The active ingredients do not stay in your pet’s bloodstream for the 30 days between doses, but the monthly dose prevents any heartworm larvae from reaching adulthood because it takes longer than a month for the larvae to mature.

Preventives do not kill adult heartworms already present.

Required Testing

You can purchase heartworm preventives only by prescription from a veterinarian, and the prescription can be written or renewed only after a blood test to confirm your pet does not have an active infection of heartworms. Pets already infected with heartworms who receive preventive can have severe, life-threatening reactions to the dying, circulating larvae in their bloodstreams. That’s why the doctors at Brownsburg Animal Clinic will not prescribe or renew a prescription for heartworm preventives without a test.

Often, active heartworm infections in animals on preventive happen when the owner forgets a dose or runs out for a month or two. Even clients who faithfully administer the preventive can unknowingly miss a dose if their pet spits out the pill or vomits it up in the yard. Testing at least once a year, or at any time you want to resume using preventives after one or more missed doses, is the best way to minimize risk and provide the best care for your pet.

Year-Round Protection

In our climate, mosquitoes are much more numerous during the spring, summer and fall than in winter, but any time we experience unseasonably warm temperatures, mosquitoes can appear right here in Brownsburg during the winter months, too.

Because of these unpredictable seasonal temperature changes, the American Heartworm Society now recommends year-round prevention in every state. We strongly recommend year-round protection for Brownsburg-area pets, too.

As an added benefit, some heartworm preventives help control other parasites, such as fleas, mites, ticks, roundworms, hookworms and whipworms. Talk to your veterinarian about the available options and guidance in selecting the best product for your pet.

Heartworm Prevention Read More »

Dog and cat side by side

Pain Management

General Interest /

We are happy to report numerous recent advances in pain management for pets, including surgical procedures we can perform to correct painful injuries and structural problems as well as drugs we can prescribe to relieve arthritis pain common to senior pets.

If you believe your pet is in pain, we encourage you to schedule an appointment for an examination. The chances are better than ever we can identify the source of the problem and recommend one or more promising solutions to improve your pet’s comfort and quality of life.

Pain Management Read More »

Standing cat sniffing reclining dog's head

Health Care & Wellness Services

General Interest /

As strong advocates of keeping pets healthy and whenever possible, heading off problems before they begin, we strongly recommend annual wellness check-ups for all patients during the first seven years of life.

To get your new puppy or kitten off to a good start, we conduct a thorough physical exam and worm check on your first visit. When you return for booster vaccines and a heartworm check, we provide a physical exam, too, and we encourage you to continue with annual exams to keep your pet healthy for life.

We recommend twice-yearly wellness exams and appropriate health screening tests for patients seven years old and older. These screening tests for aging pets help us detect many common diseases in their earliest stages and offer you and your pet the best possible chances for enjoying a long, healthy life together.

In addition to wellness examinations and health screening tests, we provide these veterinary services to dogs and cats at all life stages:

  • Preventive medicine and vaccinations
  • Internal medicine—cardiology, endocrinology, ophthalmology
  • General surgery—orthopedics, tumor removal, spay/neuter
  • Dentistry—teeth cleaning, oral surgery
  • Microchipping and scanning
  • Laboratory—diagnostic and health screening tests
  • Radiology—x-rays, diagnostic contrast procedures
  • Pharmacy—prescription drugs, parasite prevention and control products, nutrition supplements, other pet health care products
  • Nutrition Counseling—life stage and prescription diets
  • Behavior Counseling—house training, behavior modification, referrals
  • Nail trims and anal gland expression

Should your pet become ill or injured, we take special care to make an accurate diagnosis–the critical first step in successful management or treatment.

After diagnosis, we explain your pet’s problem to you in detail, as well as the pros and cons of the various treatment options, so you can make an informed decision about how you’d like us to proceed.

Should your pet require surgery, we use only the safest anesthetics and monitor your pet closely according to the highest standards of veterinary care.

Our goal is to help you and your pet enjoy a happy, healthy life together for as long as possible.

Specialized Care

We maintain working relationships with a number of qualified veterinary specialists in the greater Indianapolis area. Should your pet require specialized care, we are happy to refer you to a qualified colleague.

Emergency Care

If your pet experiences a medical emergency during our office hours, call our office immediately. We may ask you to bring your pet to the clinic right away, or we may recommend going straight to an emergency clinic. Whether we see you or refer you out depends on the nature of the emergency, the potential treatment needed, how busy we already are that day, and the hours to closing.

We understand these referrals can be upsetting to clients who are worried about their pet’s condition and depending on us to provide the necessary care.  Be assured, our first and foremost concern is always to see that our patients receive the care they need in the timeliest manner.

Daytime and after-hours emergency clinics are listed in the right sidebar on all pages of our site.

Health Care & Wellness Services Read More »

Crouching kitten next to seated brindle puppy

Vaccines

General Interest /

Recent advances in veterinary medicine have caused us to change the types and frequency of vaccines we recommend. We have stocked up on the newest vaccines and are implementing the new, improved vaccine protocols at Brownsburg Animal Clinic immediately.

Once we complete the series of scheduled puppy and kitten vaccinations so critical to developing immunity during the first year, we now advise boosters every three years for many of the vaccines we used to recommend annually. (We still recommend annual boosters for some vaccines.)

In addition to saving you money, these new protocols using the newer, longer-lasting vaccines, spare your pet from receiving unnecessary shots.

For much more information about vaccines, see our blog post, “Essential Vaccines to Protect Your Pet.”

Vaccines Read More »

Cat snuggling with dog in snow

Products

General Interest /

Our pharmacy and storage area are always freshly stocked with the drugs, health care products and premium-quality prescription foods we find most effective and most often recommend.

We carry Science Diet Prescription diets for dogs and cats, Dr. Brady’s prescription pet food of choice for her own and her clients’ pets since her days as a veterinary student representative for the company. As a Science Diet rep, she toured the production facilities and received a complete education in how the various diets are formulated to address specific nutritional needs of pets based on life stage or condition.

We stock numerous vitamins and nutrition supplements, including glucosamine and fatty acid capsules.

Grooming products we offer include dental care products, medicated ear cleaning solutions and the medicated shampoos and conditioners we have found most effective.

Additional products are available in our online store.

Products Read More »

Siamese cat lying next to dog

Information for Clients

General Interest /

Thank you for choosing Brownsburg Animal Clinic. We welcome you and your pet to our practice!

We are deeply committed to building a healthy, happy relationship with you as we provide the veterinary care your dog or cat needs throughout its life.

Our Best Client Relationships

We have found our best client relationships are characterized by mutual trust, respect and civility shared among all members of the client’s household and all our team members.

Our clients rightfully expect us to provide sound, up-to-date medical advice and treatment options. We, in turn, expect our advice and recommendations to be seriously considered and, whenever possible, heeded.

We encourage open communication with our clients and do our best to answer questions and address concerns with understanding and compassion.

As a general rule, our veterinarians and technicians are unable to diagnose or offer medical advice specific to a particular pet without examining the pet in our clinic. We expect our clients to schedule diagnostic exams and tests when the veterinarian says they’re needed. We also expect clients to follow our recommendations for ongoing preventive or wellness care.

We recognize that the cost of veterinary care is a concern for just about everybody, and we do our best to recommend only essential tests and treatments. We provide written estimates of the costs of any proposed tests for your approval before proceeding, and we are happy to explore with you the pros and cons of possible testing and treatment options so you can make an informed decision about your pet’s care.

Our Least Successful Client Relationships

We’ve found our least successful relationships have been with clients who:

  • Fail to heed our Abusive Client Policy
  • Refuse to follow our policy for rabies vaccinations
  • Insist that we prescribe medicines and/or approve refills without a timely exam and appropriate tests to confirm the medicine is safe to administer and, in the veterinarian’s professional opinion, the best treatment option
  • Insist that we perform procedures we consider unethical and inhumane, such as declawing cats and cosmetic surgical alterations like tail docking and ear cropping for dogs
  • Have a dangerously aggressive pet we are unable to control safely

In these situations, after due consideration of the individual circumstances, we most often choose to refer the client, as well as all family members and pets living in the client’s household, to another practice.

More Helpful Guidelines for Clients

To help us keep our records current and to learn more about additional policies and guidelines for keeping the clinic safe and running smoothly for you and your pet, please visit these pages:

Client Forms

Visiting the Clinic

Fees and Charges

Appointments

Hospitalized Pets

Our Triage System

Rabies Vaccine Requirement

Blood Testing Policies

Preparing Your Pet for Anesthesia

Prescriptions and Refills

Dropped-Off Urine Samples

Abusive Client Policy

Information for Clients Read More »

Timea H. Brady, DVM, and her dogs

Welcome

General Interest /

Love Your Pet? We Get It!

At Brownsburg Animal Clinic, we deeply appreciate the trust you place in us when you ask us to care for your pet.

All of us—veterinarians and support staff—have pets of our own, and we understand just how much your companion animal means to you and your family.

We promise to provide your pet with the same level and quality of care we would want for our own pets as veterinary patients and to treat you the way we would want to be treated as clients of a veterinary practice.

We encourage you to browse our web site for an overview of our locally managed, independently owned and operated primary care practice. If you would like more information about any aspect of our services, products, policies or procedures, please call us at (317) 852-3323.

TBsig

Timea H. Brady, DVM

Recent Blog Posts

Looking for a Veterinarian in Brownsburg, Indiana?

We Are Now Welcoming New Clients

If you live in or near Brownsburg and are searching for a “veterinarian near me,” Brownsburg Animal Clinic is here for you and your pet! In operation as a local, veterinarian-owned small business for more than 50 years, our clinic is a general veterinary medical practice serving dogs and cats at all ages and life stages.

Most of our clients live right here in Brownsburg, but we also see patients from throughout Hendricks County—Pittsboro, Tilden, Danville, Avon and Plainfield—as well as from Clermont and Indianapolis in neighboring Marion County.

To see if we’re a good fit for you and your pet, we encourage you to browse our website where you can get to know our doctors and staff, find out what services we offer and learn how we collaborate with you to promote the best possible health and quality of life for your dog or cat.

To ask questions and schedule your first appointment, call us at
(317) 852-3323.

Timea H. Brady, DVM, owner of Brownsburg Animal Clinic

Welcome Read More »

Timea H. Brady, DVM, and her dogs

Meet Dr. Brady

General Interest /

From the time she was six years old, Timea Brady knew she wanted to be a veterinarian.

Timea, Ryan and Rhys Brady and their boxers

She’d grown up with many pets, including hamsters, guinea pigs, finches, cats and dogs, but as a first-grader, when she began riding horses and participating in dressage, she knew she was destined for a career caring for animals.

During her years at Harrison High in Lafayette, Dr. Brady’s interest in genetics and molecular biology inspired dreams of a career in research, but after spending her first two years as an undergraduate in Purdue University’s molecular biology laboratories, she knew something was missing.

During her junior year, as a volunteer helping rehabilitate injured and orphaned wildlife at the Wildcat Wildlife Center, Dr. Brady realized as much as she loved research, it was the hands-on treatment and interaction with animals and people that she found most rewarding.

After finishing her Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology, with a minor in animal science, Dr. Brady enrolled at Purdue’s School of Veterinary Medicine, spending her summers doing research to trace the transmission of salmonella in hospitalized horses and find better ways to prevent potentially fatal salmonella outbreaks.

Upon completing her veterinary degree in 2005, Dr. Brady and her husband Ryan moved to Brownsburg and for the next four years, she worked as an associate veterinarian at a small animal hospital on the west side of Indianapolis.

While gaining practical experience and honing her skills as a small animal practitioner, Dr. Brady set her own standards for quality of patient care and clarified her vision of how she wanted to practice veterinary medicine. Still a scientist at heart, she knew she wanted always to stay abreast of the latest research and follow clinically-proven protocols using the most advanced therapies and equipment available.

She also knew to sustain her career long-term, she would be most likely to thrive in a practice that supports doctors and staff in maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

As an associate, Dr. Brady lacked the authority to make the medical and business decisions needed to match her ideals. But as a practice owner, she knew she would be able to meet her own standards and realize her vision for her career. She began researching opportunities for practice ownership and, on June 1, 2009, she purchased Brownsburg Animal Clinic, founded in 1970 by Dr. Ronald P. Miller and his wife.

Since buying the clinic, Dr. Brady and her team have continued to serve the practice’s most loyal clients as well as many more discriminating Brownsburg-area dog and cat owners who appreciate Brownsburg Animal Clinic’s friendly atmosphere and the continuously improving quality of care for their cherished pets.

Equipment investments have been a priority for Dr. Brady as well as investments in continuing education and staffing well-qualified professionals for the team. Under her leadership, the clinic actively supports a number of community charities.

As clinic owner, Dr. Brady especially enjoys getting to know clients and their pets while working alongside team members who “have the clinic in their hearts.”

In October 2018, after five years of dreaming and planning, Dr. Brady broke ground on an addition to the clinic’s 1970s-era building that doubled its size, followed by reconfiguring and renovating the original space to accommodate dedicated surgical and dental suites, an updated pharmacy and updated offices. The project concluded in fall 2019.

In the decades ahead, Dr. Brady looks forward to continuing to serve the clinic’s clientele and their pets in the expanded, renovated facility, allowing the clinic to care for even more Brownsburg-area pets with greater flexibility and comfort.

In her free time, Dr. Brady enjoys running and spending time with her family and friends. In May 2016, she and Ryan welcomed a son, Rhys, to the family, which also includes three dogs and a cat.

Meet Dr. Brady Read More »