Aiken Veterinary Clinic

07/10/2020

As of today - we are still accepting cash payments, however we ask that you pay with exact change. Thank everyone in advance

07/08/2020

We’d like to pass along some information to our clients to help navigate curbside veterinary medicine.
1. When you arrive for your appointment please call or text to check in, someone will come out and place a number on your windshield letting us know that you’ve been checked in. Once the doctor is available we will come out and get your pet – please let us know if you have refill requests at that time.
2. Annual and wellness exams are booking about a month and a half in advance currently, Please call as soon as you get your reminders to make your appointments.
3. Book recheck appointments when checking out from your initial exam.
4. Due to an increase in “sick visits” we’d like to let our clients know how we work these appointments:
- Potentially critical pets may be referred to the emergency clinic
- Make sure your pet is up to date on his/her annual exam, this ensures that your pet is an active patient and will allow first access to “sick appointments”
- Do not wait to schedule “sick visits”. If your pet shows signs of illness, book immediately. We would rather cancel appointments if the situation resolves, rather than having our clients wait for a “work-in appointment”
- We do not rec. cancelling a “wellness appointment”, because we cannot promise we will have another appointment within days of your original appointment.
5. We do understand it is often times difficult to get in through our phone lines, know that we are on the other line with other clients, and trying to get to each patient’s needs. It may be easier to text our office, if you can’t get an answer when initially calling. We are trying very hard to get to everyone, we are very concerned about our clients and patients.
6. If you need refills, since we are doing curbside service, if you can, go ahead and pay ahead of picking up the medication. All medications called in the morning will be filled that afternoon, all afternoon calls will be filled the following morning.
7. When possible, if you can make notes for the veterinarian regarding any issues your pet needs to have addressed, to give to the assistant when they come out to get your pet.
8. Any client that does come in the building will need to wear face covering for the entire visit.

07/08/2020

We are closed for an administrative day today - please stay tuned for some updates on how we are running appointments and medication pick up. We will resume normal office hours tomorrow. Until then, tell all our furry little friends to behave themselves!!!

07/02/2020

We will be closed Friday July 3rd in observance of July 4th. We hope everyone has a safe and happy Holiday!!!

06/15/2020

We would like to ask, if you need a refill of medication, please call ahead. You can also text for refills, but please make sure that you receive a confirmation text back. It is our very busiest time of the year, so we do have an increased call volume, it may be difficult to get through some days.

05/15/2020

Happy Friday Everyone!!!! We hope all our clients are staying well. As we continue to work through social distancing and keeping our staff as well as our patients healthy, we understand that there may be hiccups along the way. As it gets hotter outside and our schedule continues to stay busy, we know that it can be uncomfortable. If you need something outside, a cup of water (for you or your pet) we are happy to bring one out - please just let us know!!!! Feel free to sit in the chairs outside - we do spray them down and keep them sanitized. The phones are quiet busy with people calling in, if you get a busy signal or a voice recording - please send a text, so that we can get to you as quickly as possible.

04/28/2020

Good Morning!!! We'd first like to thank all our clients for being so patient and kind as we figure out a system to navigate the challenges of not having one on one visits with our clients. We get asked "When are you going back to normal" and at this point we just don't know. We are focusing our efforts on providing the best care in the safest way possible. For now, we ask that if you are able to work with us, and know that your pet is our first priority and even though you can't be in the building with them, they are getting all the same love and care inside with our amazing staff. We ask that you continue to support us, and we miss your smiling faces!!!!

04/21/2020

Is anyone missing this dog, found on Powderhouse Rd

04/15/2020

Good morning! We hope all our clients are staying home and staying safe. We do have some new protocols we are putting into place to be able to better serve our clients and patients. We are having clients waiting outside while we treat their pets inside the building. We do ask that they call our main line (or text 803-648-6886) to let us know they are here. Also medication pickups need to be called in advance, and paid for over the phone. Medication pick up is between 11-12 for AM pick up and 5-6 pm for evening pick up. Thank you for being patient as we work through this difficult time.

04/05/2020

Update on our schedule and hours for the upcoming week - we will be open normal office hours Monday Tuesday and Thursday- we will be closed Wednesday and open half a day for Good Friday. We are working half staff, so please be patient with us as we try accommodate our sick and emergent patients. Thank you and everyone please stay safe during this time.

03/26/2020

We want to say how much we appreciate our clients being so supportive and understanding while we learn a new way to manage our patients health while trying very hard not to lose a personal touch with our clients. Please continue to be patient with us. If you can't get us on the phone, please don't hesitate to send a text to 803-648-6886 (our main line). We are short staffed, so we are sometimes unable to get every call.

03/24/2020

NEW COVID 19 UPDATE 3-24-20
We are having to reschedule all wellness exams scheduled at least the next week or so. If your pet has a wellness exam scheduled this week or next please call the office or text us to reschedule. We are having to limit patients to sick or emergencies

03/22/2020

**Protocol Update**
We are asking all clients to call or text 803-648-6886 when they arrive to our office. We are still filling medications, but we ask that payments be taken over the phone prior to coming to pick up medication.

For office visits: once you have notified the office that you have arrived an assistant will be out shortly to receive your pet and get patient's history. Please be ready to give the assistant a list of refills you may need while here. Once your pet has been examined by a doctor - they will be returned to you. You can pay by check or call/text in a payment to 803-648-6886.

For Surgery and Daily Drop-offs : please text the office when you arrive (the phones do not come on until 8:00 am). Shortly an assistant will come out to take in the patient and go over the instructions for pick up.

Please understanding that during this time we are receiving an overwhelming number of calls, and that whenever possible please text the office, this is the easiest way for us to make sure we are answering everyone's questions.

If you have been sick, please don't bring your pet in, make arrangements for someone to bring in the pet for you, or reschedule to a later date.

We are still seeing scheduled appts, as of now. We do ask that you be patient with us, wait times may be longer than normal, as we are all working through a new method of working with owners and pets. Thank you, and everyone please stay safe!!!

03/19/2020

We understand that pet's need medication too!! And we are here to help! Please make sure to call the office to let us know which prescriptions you need and we will take a payment over the phone. You should call or text when you get here to pick them up, and they will be taken outside to your car. Our client's and our patient's health is our first priority.

03/17/2020

In adherence to social distancing guidelines we are going to ask that everyone call in medication refills before coming to the office, and then call in a credit card to pay. These medications will be brought to you, when you arrive (you should text or call the office when you get here). This is newly implemented plan - so please be patient with us as we are trying to accommodate our clients while appreciating the severity of the current environment.

03/17/2020

Good Morning!!! We are open for our normal office hours but in an effort to adhere to new safety guidelines we are asking our appointments to text us or call us once they have arrived in our parking lot and we will go out and get our patients once their room is ready.

03/15/2020

With everyone on high alert, we will be adding chairs outside to wait, if that makes our clients and patients more comfortable and after you check in, we can come and get you when your room is ready. With our new texting service we can also send a text. We will continue to keep our patient’s care our first priority.

03/09/2020

We are VERY excited to announce we have our new ability to accept text messages to our regular telephone number!!! If you have simple inquiries or if it would be easier for you to text vs. calling, you would send the message to our number 803-648-6886. Please be patient with us, while we learn our new system.

02/28/2020

Our clients should look for an e-mail from us regarding Petlocity!!!

02/25/2020

01/31/2020

February is DENTAL MONTH!!! So we are again celebrating by doing our "Dental Packages" special. Any dental that is scheduled during this month will be a part of this special. The appointment itself may not be in the month of February but as long as you schedule during this month, you will qualify.

01/30/2020

Would you like to be able to text our office ? We are discussing adding Text capabilities to our main line, and would like to have clients let us know how they feel about this option.

01/29/2020

This is a story we live everyday!!! We love your pets as if they were our own!

“Dear Pet Owner,

I am writing this to you because I am human. I am a Veterinary Assistant, or a Veterinary Technician with hours of education and debt, or a Veterinarian with even more hours of education and even more debt. But I am still human. My feelings can be hurt.

For those of you that think we only do this for the money, google the average salary of a veterinary assistant (about the same as an Aldi cashier) or a veterinary technician (about the same as a carpet cleaning technician) or a veterinarian (about the same as a marketing manager). I can assure you, the physical and emotional toll is not worth what we are paid.

We do this for the love of animals. Or at least that's how it starts. A glimmer of something bigger than us. The thought that we can make a difference in the lives of pets and their owners. We want to save lives, heal the sick and help ease the passing of those we can’t.

Before you accuse us of only wanting financial gain, ask us when was the last time we helped an owner to relinquish a very sick pet because we could not bring ourselves to see it die because their good hearted human just didn’t have the money. Ask us why we then take on the debt of the surgery or treatment and lifelong care ourselves. Ask us how we feel when we cannot help because we are already paying that large bill from the last one we tried to save, whether or not that pet lived.

Ask us how it feels to be told we have no heart, to be told that if we really cared about animals, we would do this for free. Ask us how much it saddens us when we prepare an estimate only to find it is out of your reach. It kills us that we cannot just reach into our pockets and pull out the checkbook and help you as you agonize over the life and death of your pet. Although sometimes we do. Sometimes we just can’t bear the sadness and we do help to pay a bill. We don’t expect to get paid back, and 99% of the time, we don’t. Your pet’s life is worth more than the money it will take to treat it. Your pet’s life is priceless, to us as well as you.

But the places we work are bound by the same financial laws of every other business. They have to pay the rent/mortgage, utilities, equipment, medical supplies and staff it takes to treat your pet. They even pay the snow plow guy that makes sure you can get into our lot on a cold winter night or the lawn service that makes sure your pet can pee in the grass without disappearing. This is not utopia where money doesn’t exist. If we did every thing for free, just for the love of animals, the place you take your pet for care would cease to exist. We wish it weren’t so, as do you, but it is reality.

Ask us about the multiple animals we support in our own households because no one wanted them or could not fix them. Ask us about those patients that stay with us long after we leave the building. The ones that make us cry through the night while we hug our own pets tightly.

Ask us how heartless we are when we have to look both you and your pet in the eye and deliver bad news. Ask us how many deaths we have witnessed, how many owners we have hugged and cried with. Ask us how we try to keep it together and remain professional until we walk out of the room, then cry. Do not mistake our stoicism for lack of caring. It is merely a thin layer of protection for our hearts.

Ask the ER veterinarian, technician, assistant how it feels to work 16 hours just to have the very pet you diligently attended, grew attached to, pass away or be euthanized because no matter what we did, it was just too sick. Ask us if we grieve with you.... because we do.

Ask us how we feel when we take your bleeding, broken, seizing, crying pet from your arms when you come in the door.

Ask us how we feel when we take your unresponsive pet and race it to the back only to find they are gone and now we have to come back and tell you. We want to hug you while you sob and sometimes we do, because we’ve all been there, we know how it feels. We are all too familiar with the heart wrenching pain that comes with losing a pet, a friend, a family member. Ask us how we feel when we cannot fix our own pets, even with all our resources and knowledge.

Now, let me tell you why we do this for a living…..

For the love of animals”

- Sara Legler, Vet Tech

📸: Marissa Dubois

EDIT: If you'd like to support your veterinary support staff, consider leaving them a good review, writing them a thank you card, sending them flowers, or any edible goodies are never turned away ;)

#vettechlife #movettech #movta

01/28/2020

In an effort to "go Green" we are hoping to lessen the number of post card reminders we send out. Please call the office to add/update your e-mail address. Also add the PETLOCITY app to your smartphone and we will soon be able to take medication refill requests with this app (without having to call them in!!!) All in an effort to help improve our client communication!

01/23/2020

Petlocity is an app for us to connect with our clients. We want to encourage our clients to download this app to their phones, to connect with us and to keep your pets information at your fingertips. If you aren't able to connect, call the office and make sure we have your current e-mail address!!

12/12/2019

22 amazing stockings for our local veterans!!!! Thank you to our amazing clients and staff for getting this project together!!!! So excited about sharing the Christmas spirit

12/09/2019

Just a reminder we are collecting for Operation St. Nick for the Aiken County Veteran's Council. If you are interested in donating a stocking or the stuff to put into the stockings just drop it by the office. We are so excited to be a part of this project and spread the joy of the holidays.

12/02/2019

We are so excited the holidays are here!!! Remember our appointments do book up quickly this time of year, and we want to be there for each one of our furry patients, but we do have extended wait times. We try not to overbook ourselves but emergencies happen, please be patient. Thank everyone in advance.

11/27/2019

Here's hoping everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving

11/26/2019

We are celebrating our clinic family- so Thankful for this group!!!! Happy Thanksgiving

11/21/2019

We have some pretty amazing clients!!!! One week into our project and already we have donations!!! Thank you!!! Keep them coming!!! Show our veterans how much we care!!!!

11/18/2019

As part of our Community Project with the Veteran's Council we will offer a $5.00 coupon to our clients who bring in all of the items that are on the list for Stocking Stuffers. We will Collect these donations until December 13th. (we will also accept partial donations to add to stockings) - if you have any questions please call the office.

11/18/2019

Aiken Veterinary Clinic is accepting donations of the products listed below to be added to stockings for Operation St. Nick. We support our local Veterans and want to share the holiday spirit with Veterans in assisted living facilities!!

Operation St. Nick is in full swing! Please pick up a stocking from any of our participating businesses and return them filled. Have fun everyone!