Clinic Rabies Policy

Rabies is a condition that is transmitted from animals to people by exposure to saliva. As veterinary health care professionals we are at elevated risk of rabies exposure. Rabies infection is fatal. Working with unvaccinated animals represents a risk to the health of our staff and an increased potential health care burden for our team.

Vaccination is an effective way to prevent rabies in your pet. Unvaccinated animals who are accused of biting or who may have been exposed to a rabid animal are required to be quarantined away from all pets and people at the owner’s expense or euthanized and tested for rabies.

For these reasons, our staff will not be permitted to perform non-urgent procedures on pets who are > 20 weeks of age and not vaccinated for rabies unless they have a medical exemption.

If rabies vaccination is not up to date, vaccination will be offered during your pet’s exam, or set up for a follow up exam. If vaccination is declined, future services will be referred to another clinic.

The supervising veterinarian will determine if a pet is well enough to receive rabies vaccination when presenting for an exam. If a pet is deemed too ill to receive vaccination, a follow-up exam for rabies vaccination at a later date will be scheduled with the supervising veterinarian.

Medical exemptions will be granted by the supervising veterinarian if in their judgement receiving the rabies vaccination endangers the life of the pet. Hives and itchy skin, swelling or pain at the injection site, and hair loss are not reasons for vaccine exemption, rather, these pets will be pre-medicated with an antihistamine.

The rabies vaccines available for animals are safe, immunogenic, and efficacious when administered as recommended. While adverse effects are possible, the benefits the vaccine confers to human and animal populations outweighs the individual risk. If reactions occur, medical exemptions may be applied depending on severity of symptoms.

Our policy requiring compliance with rabies vaccination is not intended to place undue burden on our clients, but rather to protect your pet, our staff, and the greater community from potential harm. Please contact us directly with questions regarding this policy, or for information on low-cost vaccination options.

We thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this important matter. Sincerely,

Your friends at Rum River Veterinary Clinic

Clinic Cancellation Policy

Rum River Veterinary Clinic prides ourselves on our skilled team members and our amazing clients. To ensure our clients receive the highest level of care, we have a cancellation policy in place.

We ask clients to give a minimum of 24 hours notice when cancelling or rescheduling an appointment. In doing so, this allows potential for another pet owner to call and request an appointment for a potentially sick pet to be seen.

We understand life happens, and we understand you can’t always give 24 hours notice for an appointment cancellation. Because of this, we allow 3 “late” cancellations or reschedule requests within 24 hours of each pet’s appointment time, in a 12 month period. If you bring multiple pets in at once, the cancellation policy applies per pet.

If you cancel or reschedule within 24 hours of your appointment, we will log it in the system as a “late cancellation”. After 3 instances of cancelling or rescheduling within 24 hours of your pet’s appointment time, we require a deposit equivalent to the exam fee for the appointment to be scheduled for each pet. This deposit is non-refundable, and will be applied to the invoice when you come in for your scheduled appointment(s).

Once 12 months have passed from the initial “late” cancellation or reschedule, we clear your account of all instances. The next “late” cancellation or reschedule for each pet would apply as if there were no prior instances, and be considered the first instance.

This policy has no exceptions. If you have any questions about our cancellation policy and what it entails, please ask a team member and we will be more than willing to assist you.