Hello Aloha Dog & Cat Community,

Masks are still required inside the building at Aloha Dog & Cat, and will be until further notice.

Throughout April and May 2022, cases in Oregon and Washington County have consistently been on the rise. We want to keep our staff and clients as protected as possible, and also minimize the need to reschedule pet appointments due to staff illness. Requiring masks in our building is the best way for us to try to accomplish that goal at this time.

Thank you again for your understanding as we continue to evaluate the current situation and do our best to make the right decisions.

Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital

Hello Aloha Dog & Cat Community,

It has been awhile since we’ve had to update on any COVID  19 protocols.  It has been a long 2 years and we appreciate all your support during this crazy time we’ve been living through.

We are glad to see new COVID cases dropping and the lifting of the Oregon mask mandate happening this week, however, we are going to maintain mask requirements in our building for the remainder of March and then reassess and decide if we want to become mask optional. 
This means clients and staff will remain masked until the end of March and we will make another decision then on policy going forward.

Please respect our decision as a private business to try and keep our employees and community safe and protected. Our lobby is still open and we are happy to welcome you into the building wearing a mask. We will continue to offer curbside appointments to those who do not wish to come in the building yet.

Thank you again for all being in this together and for all of you who have given us kind words and support through these last two years.

Stay safe and be well,

Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital

We are returning to regular hours effective July 6, 2020:
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM Monday – Friday
8:00 AM – 4:00 PM Saturday

While we are anxious for everything to return to normal, at this time we continue to provide only curbside check-in for appointments. This follows guidance issued by the Oregon Veterinary Examining Board, the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, and the Oregon Health Authority. Stay tuned for updates.

If you’ve been asked to screen for a possible phone/telemedicine appointment. Please send a picture or video of what signs or symptoms your pet is exhibiting. Please send the pictures or video to: consult@alohadogandcat.com . The doctor will call you at the phone number you have provided for us. Please let us know if a certain time does not work for you, otherwise we will try to reach you as soon as possible.

-We may determine that your pet needs to come in for an in hospital visit, or we may be able to just prescribe medications based on the phone call and photos/videos.

-Our telemedicine fee is $50, which will not be charged if we determine your pet needs to come to our hospital, we will just charge our usual office call fee.

-If we feel that your pet’s needs can be filled by our phone/telemedicine consult, we will prescribe medications or treatments as needed and the telemedicine/phone consult fee would apply.

Thank you so much for helping us try to keep people at home where we can during our state of emergency.

March 30, 2020

Hello again to our Valued Clients of Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital,

We have been adapting daily to our new protocol of curbside service. We so appreciate all of you working with us on this! We have some new updates with regards to scheduling appointments, and some tips on trying to improve our curbside service to make it smoother and safer.

ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO LIMIT PUBLIC INTERACTION

The best way to keep our clients and staff safe during these next few weeks is to reduce the amount of close contact between our staff and our clients. By limiting exposure, we increase the likelihood of being able to stay open and continue to serve your and our community, and we do our part to slow the spread of COVID-19.

NEW HOURS

Starting Monday, March 30, we will have new clinic hours from 9am to 4pm Monday-Saturday. We will keep you updated when we return to regular hours. You can always check our website for current clinic hours of operation and updates on our COVID-19 policies. http://www.alohadogandcat.com

EXAM SCREENING CHANGE AND TELEMEDICINE APPOINTMENTS

Requests for appointments of a less urgent nature may first be asked to schedule a phone consultation with one of our doctors. Prior to the consultation, we ask that you send a picture or video of the signs and symptoms your pet is having, if you have the means to do so. Please send those emails to: consult@alohadogandcat.com with your pet’s first and last name in the subject.

Our phone/telemedicine consultation fee is $50, and if, during the call, we determine an in-office visit is necessary, we will charge a discounted office call fee. Right now, our telemedicine options are limited to phone and email, but we are looking at other new options as well, and will keep you updated.

The Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board has relaxed the definition of our client/patient relationship to give us temporary ability to perform exams and prescribe medications in a phone/telemedicine setting.

TOP TEN CURBSIDE SERVICE TIPS AND WALKTHROUGH OF HOW IT WORKS:

1. We now have numbered spots in front of our building. When you arrive, please call our front desk to let us know you are here and which numbered spot you have parked in. 503-649-5611

2. If possible, please try to park at least 1 spot away from other cars to increase our compliance with social distancing and make it easier to get pets out of your vehicle.

3. Please make sure your cell phone is on and not silenced. Please try to not make other calls during your visit with us so we can have direct communication with you ASAP. We have six phone lines, five of which you may not recognize, so please answer all calls during that time. If you do not have a phone, let us know by knocking on the front door, we will come out to you and we can determine a plan.

4. After checking in, the staff will alert one of the doctors that you are here and the doctor will call you to talk about your concerns about your pet and get a history of what has been going on.

5. Please have your pet ready after calling to check in with a secure leash and collar or harness or in a secure carrier. We will also have slip leads hanging outside-that are washed and clean as well as a bucket to put them in afterward so we may clean them between patients. You are welcome to get one to have ready to slip on your pet when our staff member arrives at your vehicle.

6. One of our staff will come out to get your pet. When our staff member comes to the front of your vehicle, please help by getting them out of the car for us. Please be mindful that we will try to maintain the recommended 6 feet distance between us as much as possible. (We know we will have to be close for a few seconds while we hand off the leashes). We will place one of our slip leads onto dogs for extra security and take them into the clinic. For pets in carriers, please help by getting them out of the car and placing the carrier on the ground for our staff to pick up.

7. After the exam the doctor will call you to make recommendations and a plan.

8. After any treatments are done, or medications given, your pet will be brought back to you. Please get out of your vehicle to help our staff be able to hand them off to you easier. Again, trying to maintain the 6 feet of recommended social distancing as much as possible.

9. Our front staff will finish the visit by contacting you one last time to arrange payment over the phone.

10. If you are here to pick up medication or food, just call us when you arrive and we will bring it out to you. For heavy items, if you would like us to put it in your car, please open your hatch or trunk and step away so we may just place it in there with maintaining as much social distancing as possible.

WELLNESS VISITS:

For at least the month of April, as directed by our governor to “Stay Home, Save Lives,” we are asking that you postpone annual wellness exams and vaccinations for our younger, healthier pets.

-For healthy younger dogs and cats, we are asking you postpone annual wellness and vaccination appointments until June. The one exception would be if you are due for a Rabies vaccine, we would like to keep those up to date. If our timeline changes, we will let you know.

–New Puppy and Kitten exams and progress vaccine appointments are still very important and will continue to be scheduled. This includes 1-year booster vaccines for young dogs and cats. Plus, those puppies and kittens give us a hearty morale boost! 🙂

-If your pet is older or experiencing health concerns, appointments are recommended. We are not postponing senior wellness exams at this time as our senior pets often need more care and their medical needs often are recognized at their wellness exams.

CURBSIDE CHECK-IN SYMPTOM-FREE REQUIREMENT:

IF you are coming to our clinic, even for curbside appointments, you must be able to answer NO to the following questions:

1-In the last 2 weeks have you traveled out of state to an area of known local spread of COVID-19?

2- Have you come into close contact (within 6 feet) with someone who has a laboratory confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis in the last 14 days?

3-Do you have a fever (greater than 100.4) or have symptoms of lower respiratory disease such as cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or a sore throat?

If you answer YES to any of the above, we ask that you have a family member or friend who can bring your pet to the hospital for you, or pick up medications or food for you.

IF you are coming into the clinic for an appointment please look over the tips below to help us serve you better and help keep our team safe during your visit with us.

Thank you all again for your patience, understanding and as always for being our wonderful clients. We wish you all health and safety during this time. If you have any questions regarding our changes to our service do not hesitate to call or email.

The Team at Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital

Dear Valued Clients of Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital,
Thank you for your continued support during this turbulent time. We as a medical practice
need to try to balance the needs of our patients while adapting to minimize risks to our
team and our community. In this way we hope to be able to stay open as long as we can
and be available to help our clients and provide the best possible care to our patients. If
we all take responsibility and do our part, we are confident we can accomplish these goals
together.
YOUR ROLE AS OUR VALUED CLIENT AND COMMUNITY MEMBER:
To help us reduce the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19), we are asking you to take the
following actions:
-CURBSIDE SERVICE: We will be starting curbside service effective immediately and
continued until further notice. When you arrive at the clinic please call 503-649-5611 and
someone will come out to bring in your pet. Please bring pets on a secure leash or in a
carrier so we may safely transport them into the building. Doctors and technicians will
examine your pet and call you in the parking lot to make decisions regarding your pet’s
care and needs. Then your pet will be returned to you in your car with any medications or
supplies needed. If you don’t have a phone, please knock on the front door for curbside
service. As much as we love spending time with you and your pet in our exam rooms and
lobby, we feel this step is necessary to help maintain the safety and health of our team. We
promise we can all catch up and spend time together more after all this is over!
-If you prefer to remain with your pet, we will ask you upon entering our building to please
wash hands with soap and water and then remain with your pet in an exam room. If you
are planning to stay with your pet, please try to bring as few family members as possible to
again try to help maintain our social distancing.
-Please understand that this will place a lot more stress on our phone system, so calls to
the clinic may be slower and more difficult to get through than usual. If your need is not
urgent, please consider using our email to ask questions or request refills on medications.
Our email again is: info@alohadogandcat.com.
-This change in our service is very new to us and we apologize in advance if service is slow,
or if you have delays while waiting for a response from us in the parking lot. Please try to
reach us again by phone.
-If you are experiencing any symptoms of respiratory illness, such as cough or fever:
Please call to reschedule your appointment. We have no problem with you canceling or
rescheduling your appointment and there are no penalties for canceling. We are also
happy to work with other healthy guardians that may be able to bring your pet in for you.
If you are not sure what the symptoms are, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/
-Call ahead to order prescripton refills or food and try to streamline the process by paying
for it when you order it. That way you can call us when you arrive and we can deliver it
right to your car! Please note we are limiting our supply of food for pets at this time to 1
bag and 1 case at a time unless you have called ahead to special order a larger quantity.
CALL US AT 503-649-5611
OUR PART
These are the precautions we are taking at Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital to prevent the
spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Ensuring employee health. We are strictly directing all of our employees to call out
sick if experiencing symptoms and we are sending home employees who exhibit any
symptoms at work. We expect this may not always be convenient to our work flow
and occasionally cause delays or reduced appointment availability, but we are
prioritizing keeping the rest of our team and you safe.
We are increasing our disinfection frequency. While we have always cleaned up
rooms after each exam, we are increasing the level of disinfection after each room
use as well as the number of times we do a general clean for our lobby and
treatment areas.
We will constantly evaluate our practices for ways we can further protect our
communities. The most important thing we can do during this situation is be aware
of current recommendations and adapt. Please be assured our management team is
keeping a close eye on this pandemic so we can continue to protect our team, our
clients, and serve our patients. We know the solutions won’t always be convenient
or flawless, but we are being diligent in doing all that we can to reduce the impact of
coronavirus (COVID-19) on our communities.
Thank you for working with us as we make our way through this global health crisis. We
truly believe if we all take it day-by-day and take appropriate measures to protect
ourselves and the unknown number of people we can affect each day by our actions, we
will minimize the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19). The extra effort and inconvenience
now will pay off and the sooner we can return to normalcy. Together, socially distanced, we
will get through this!
Take care and be safe everyone!
Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital Team

With the quickly developing changes in our community in the last few days we wanted to keep you all up to date on what is happening here at Aloha Dog and Cat Hospital. We are currently OPEN and will continue to work with normal hours as long as it is safe for our clients and staff.

The good news for pets is that they do not appear impacted by the Coronavirus nor capable of passing the infection to us. It is a good idea to keep an extra supply of chronic medications and pet food on hand in case you’re unable to leave your home during a quarantine period. The Oregon Veterinary Medical Association is keeping a well updated webpage on Coronavirus in pets as we learn more information, as well as links to other helpful webpage:  https://www.oregonvma.org/care-health/zoonotic-diseases/coronavirus-faq

We understand how serious and scary the Coronavirus/COVID outbreak is and wanted to let you know what we are doing to keep you safe and what you can do to help your pets.

1. We have heightened our cleaning regimen and switched to antiviral cleaners for counter surfaces and doorways. We also have hand sanitizer available throughout the clinic.

2. If you would prefer to stay outside or in your car during your pet’s appointment, please call when you pull in to the parking lot and we can arrange for a technician to come out to get them (please have pets in carriers or on a leash, and we will need to also slip one of our leashes on to all dogs) and communicate with you by phone through the appointment and check-out.

3. If there are other accommodations you’d like to request before your appointment, please let our office know by phone or email prior to your appointment.

4. If you are planning a visit but don’t feel well, please call our clinic to reschedule at a later date.

5. If you need prescription pet food and cannot make it to the clinic to pick up, consider using our online food store at https://alohadogandcat.vetsfirstchoice.com/

We hope this all passes quickly and you all stay safe and healthy. We will keep everyone updated if things change here.

Updated doctor and staff bios and photos are now available!
 
 

Cardiologists have noted a significant increase in heart disease and failure in dogs eating grain-free, mostly those that have legumes (lentils, peas) or potatoes in their top 10 listed ingredients. If you feed grain-free, we recommend checking out the label on your dog food. More information is available at this link to the FDA’s website.