What Does Bright
Eyes & Bushy Tails Do?

What is a housecall practice, and why would I want one?

A housecall veterinarian differs from a traditional veterinarian, in that the vet comes to your home to treat your pets, instead of you and your pets traveling to see the vet.
Dr. Jennifer Berger examines Rosie's teeth at a client's house

This has several advantages:

  • Patient comfort
    Many pets do not like traveling to see the veterinarian. Pets may express this displeasure in many ways, including but not limited to urinating in the car, vomiting, becoming anxious or aggressive, hiding either in advance of or after the trip. If we see the pet in its normal household environment, this can be less stressful for everyone involved. The pet is in familiar surroundings, and that often means less struggling and less stress for pet and doctor alike. This is especially true for exotics (such as reptiles) which don't travel well at all.

  • Patient health
    Veterinary hospitals have lots of sick animals in them. That's self-evident. Many viruses, bacteria, and parasites can survive in veterinary hospitals (few clinics are thoroughly cleaned more often than twice daily). With a housecall veterinarian, you don't have to worry about your pet picking up something from the animal who was sitting in the waiting room just before you. Also, you don't have to worry about mediating a fight between your pet and the animal sitting (we hope it's just sitting) next to you.

  • Convenience
    Since the veterinarian comes to you, you don't have to load your dog or cat (or both) into your car and schlep them to the clinic. You don't have to wait in an uncomfortable waiting room. You don't have to find creative ways to entertain your children in the doctor's office, or try to block out the screams of the children sitting next to you in the waiting room. You simply relax in your living room until the vet arrives (we're usually on time, but like any doctor's appointment, sometimes emergencies arise).

  • Cost
    Despite the very personalized service, housecall veterinarians are not necessarily more expensive than traditional vets. We have a low overhead, since we don't need to maintain a full clinic. We don't hospitalize animals, so we don't have to maintain a large staff to care for sick animals. We do have increased travel costs, and housecall vets can't see as many clients per hour as traditional vets, but this usually balances out the financial advantage of overhead and staffing. You'll find that Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails is about the same cost as other Iowa City area veterinary practices. But the basic premise of housecall practices is that you get home service in addition to the services of a traditional vet!

    Housecall veterinarians do have limitations relative to traditional veterinary practices, and there are things you should be prepared for should you choose to allow us to care for your pet:

  • If you have an emergency, you will need to come to the clinic. There are too many unknowns for emergency problems. To properly care for animal after-hours we feel we need access to the oxygen, X-ray machine, blood chemistry machines, surgery suite, and other advanced services that are at our base station.

  • Many laboratory tests will take one day to run. We'll call you with the results, but don't expect immediate answers for blood work and slides which require a microscope (and this is common for many regular veterinary hospitals too).

    Please be ready and waiting with your pet at the time of your appointment. We try to see several appointments each evening, so the doctor will want everything to run as efficiently as possible when he or she arrives.

    Stella (hiding in the rafters of her garage) is not ready. We had to come back to try again.

    If you anticipate that your pet will need added restraint (if he or she is very excitable, or aggressive), please be prepared to provide appropriate space for this to happen. Also, please warn the doctor when you make your appointment, and we can discuss the appropriate setup in advance. Often we can send two people from Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails, to ensure adequate manpower (peoplepower?) for restraint.

    If your appointment involves a euthanasia, please see the special instructions on our euthanasia page.

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    Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails* Veterinary Service

    Jennifer Berger, DVM
    Allan Berger, DVM, PhD

    Bright Eyes & Bushy Tails PLC
    3005 Highway 1 NE
    Iowa City, IA 52240

    (319) 351-4256
    e-mail us

    *Bushy tails optional for reptiles and pocket pets