I Have a Question

I am a Veterinarian and I recently purchased a small animal hospital. As I am learning about managing the business, one thing I am looking to do is figure out ways to increase business. One thing I notice is that a lot of people have cats that they never even mention. So many times I have a client that I have seen forever, and then one day they bring in an old cat that is sick, and we have no idea that they even had a cat!

So, my question is this. What are some things your Veterinarian could do that would encourage you to bring in your pets, especially bring in your cat? Certain incentives maybe? Discounts?

Overall, Cats seem to sometimes be forgotten a bit, and are so prone to kidney disease that research shows monitoring for kidney disease as early as 6-8 years old is cats is needed.

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questionWeaver

The service model is different for cats.

People do not want to drop them off.

Sedation is a mess

If the service model was walk-in, with the cat and I can stay with the cat, during the exam and treatments ... I would not only come in more, I would pay premium.

BeardedDoc · 36-40, M

@questionWeaver Walk in can be hard, but what about appointments with your cat and you stay with your cat, and not a drop off?

Personally I only sedate a very few amount of cats, and those are the ones who try and kill me before I even do anything, otherwise almost all can be done without sedation.

I only take the cat away from the owner to get blood, as a lot of times the cats don't like that and the owners seem to hate seeing that, plus it always seems much harder to get blood from a cat with an owner watching over your shoulder.

questionWeaver

Appointments are okay, but staying with the cat is important.

Not everybody wants to stay.

But, it is the ones that can not, that you lose.

The ones that want to stay, will pay a premium to be there.

Vet killed my cat 4 times with sedation and incorrect drugs, that was clerical and would have been avoided if I was there.

My cat allowed me, at the vet, under their instructions, to operate without sedation, to remove a feeding tube.

The vet staff refused to get closer than 6 feet.

Sinnerwithaheart · 56-60, F

@BeardedDoc My vet has walk in hours and I love it.