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, 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.