08/24/2026
IMPORTANT UPDATE ON AFTER HOURS CARE:
Due to unexpected events affecting doctor availability we need to adjust On Call Hours for Small Animal services. Effective TODAY, August 24. 2026, and until further notice, our Small Animal After-Hour On Call services will end at 9pm.
Within the last two months our doctor team has had to navigate the departure of three former colleagues who have relocated out of state and two colleagues who are currently on maternity and medical leave until later this fall. This has resulted in a temporary critical shortage of doctors at CVC. This decision has been difficult but necessary to protect the health and well-being of our doctors and support staff who are currently working under extraordinary circumstances.
We recognize that your pets (much like humans) do not always have their health issues occur during normal business hours. To provide care options for companion animals after 9 pm (after Our On Call services have ended) we are partnering with VetTriage to offer video or phone telehealth services. These services are available AFTER 9 pm, until we open the next day, 7 days a week. VetTriage collects a nominal fee ($50.00) to connect you with one of their veterinarians who will assess and provide guidance whether your pet requires an immediate visit to a 24-hour emergency hospital or can provide you with homecare instructions prior to making an appointment with Countryside. The link to access these services is on our website: www.cvcpets.com. IT WILL BE LIVE TONIGHT.
To help clarify the scope of our current business, Countryside Veterinary Clinic is a general mixed-animal practice which means on any given day our doctor team is spread over four small animal hospitals, plus ambulatory vehicles out of which we serve dairy, equine and small ruminant/swine operations across four counties. Our small animal hospitals are especially affected by these temporary staffing changes as we work diligently every day to manage the high volume of surgical, wellness, sick and urgent appointments that need to be made. We acknowledge that it may be difficult to schedule appointments as desired and ask for patience as we find creative solutions. Rest assured we are looking at many different solutions and your pet’s care is of utmost importance to us.
Like most veterinary practices in the area, we are not an emergency clinic but we have remained uniquely committed to serving, to the best of our abilities, our established clients when animal health needs extend beyond regular business hours. In recent years we have been increasingly overwhelmed with requests to take on new clients who have been unable to get veterinary services, especially for urgent and emergent cases. We have always done our best to help as many people and pets as possible, but our current circumstances increasingly require prioritizing the needs of those clients who have been established with our practice.
Like so many medical professions, it has been difficult to find veterinarians willing to work in rural areas such as the North Country. We have broadened our ongoing ambitious recruitment efforts to include international talent with two promising candidates currently working through visa requirements and are hopeful that by late November we will be at full capacity across all small animal hospitals. We have also recently negotiated a collaborative opportunity with a local veterinarian to maintain our practice’s ability to offer advanced surgical services for our clients. We will provide updates as available when our situation improves.
We are grateful for the trust you place in us to care for your pets and farms.
Thank you for your patience, understanding, and support.
