As all of us watch Covid 19 impact not just Minnesota, but the whole world, we wanted to let you know that Paws & Prairie Animal Clinic is implementing a plan to keep services running as smoothly as possible. This will take a village and your assistance is especially critical to keeping the clinic open and functioning.
Our first priority is the health and welfare of our staff, clients and patients. We are asking that anyone who is “at risk for illness” tell us in advance.
An “at risk” person is someone who is feeling ill, has had any contact with a someone who has been sick in the last 48 hours and/or especially if they have had any contact in the last 2 weeks with someone who has been diagnosed with Covid 19 or a facility that has a known Covid 19 diagnosis.
We want to stress that meeting these criteria does NOT mean we will not see your pet. We will make sure that your pet is taken care of but we need to know this information so that we can do that as safely as possible. If Dr. Niemi or Dr. Krell become ill, our ability to provide healthcare for our patients will be severely limited.
We will handle “at risk for illness” appointments as follows:
1. If you have a routine, non-urgent appointment, please call us to reschedule it.
2. If your pet has a known condition that has gotten worse, we will utilize telemedicine as much as possible to prescribe new medications and/or alter dosages of current medications.
3. If your pet has a new condition and you and the doctor feel that the new condition can be resolved without a visit to the office and your pet has had an annual exam in the last 12 months, we will utilize telemedicine as appropriate.
4. If your pet has a new condition that cannot be addressed with telemedicine, we will schedule an examination in the office. If you meet the “at risk for illness” criteria we will handle your exam so that we can protect our staff health as much as possible. This means we will bring your pet into the clinic and ask that you remain in your car. We will communicate with you what the findings are via phone during the exam and you will be immediately involved in all decisions. Please bring your cell phone to these appointments so we can communicate as effectively as possible.
Please be aware that regular exam and consultation fees will apply to all telemedicine appointments. These services utilize clinic staff and facilities and our veterinarian’s education, experience and expertise.
When you call the clinic, please be ready to provide our reception staff with as much information as possible so they know how to help you best.
Office staff have been instructed to stay home if they are feeling ill. This may result in staffing shortages in the clinic. Please have patience with us, we will do our best to make sure everyone is provided care.
We have ordered extra supplies to keep the clinic stocked in the event of supply shortages and delivery delays in the coming weeks. Please call the clinic at least 10 days in advance if you need a refill of a medication or prescription food so that we can make sure we have it in stock.
Based on what we have seen happen in other countries, we do expect the number of ill people in our community to increase in the next 14-28 days. Hopefully, measures taken by Governor Walz will help slow down the spread of the illness so that our human medical services do not become overwhelmed. “Flattening the Curve” is important and it is the basis for our plan to handle this pandemic. Please help us by letting us know if you have any risk of illness. We cannot stress enough that we will make sure your pet is cared for but not giving this information could put all clinic services in jeopardy for all our patients.
Thank you for your help! We will get through this crisis if we work together! Please stay safe and check in on your at-risk friends and relatives.
All the Staff at Paws & Prairie Animal Clinic”
