Sick Visits at Home

Sick Visits

When something is wrong and you don't know what

A sick visit is any appointment that isn't routine. Your dog has been throwing up since yesterday. Your cat has stopped eating. Something is off and you've been watching it for two days hoping it resolves on its own.

The things we see most often at home:

Vomiting, diarrhea, or a stomach that will not settle

Not eating, or refusing water

Limping or sudden lameness

Ear infections and constant head shaking

Itching, hot spots and skin problems

A lump you just found

Coughing, sneezing or congestion

Urinary accidents, or straining in the box

Unexplained weight loss

Bad breath and a painful mouth

Just not acting like themselves

That last one counts. “Something is off and I cannot tell you what” is a legitimate reason to be seen, and it is often the earliest sign of something real.

The Difference

Seeing your home is part of the diagnosis

This is the part that surprises people. A house call isn't only more convenient — for a sick pet it's often more informative.

In a clinic, a vet gets your description of the problem plus eleven minutes with a frightened animal on a metal table. At your home, I can look at the litter box myself. I can watch your dog take the back steps instead of asking you whether the stairs are hard now. I can see which food is untouched, where they've chosen to sleep lately, how they move through a space they know well.

Stress also changes the exam itself. A frightened animal runs a higher heart rate, breathes faster, and tenses the abdomen — the exact things I'm trying to assess. A pet examined on their own couch gives more honest information than the same pet examined after a car ride.

On Site

What we can do in your driveway

A full physical exam, and then whatever that exam calls for:

Digital X-rays and dental radiographs, carried on board

Blood, urine and fecal samples collected at your home

Ear cytology and skin scrapes read on site

Lab work sent to our reference lab the same day

Most medications dispensed at the visit, so there is no pharmacy trip afterward

If what we find needs a procedure, that often happens at home too — see surgery and dental care. If it needs a specialist or overnight hospitalization, I'll tell you plainly and help you get there.

Important

When to skip us and go straight to an ER

We are a mobile practice, not an emergency hospital. We keep scheduled appointments across set areas on set days, which means we are the wrong call when minutes matter. Please go directly to a 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital, without calling us first, if you see any of the following.

Trouble breathing — laboured breathing, stretching the neck out to breathe, gums that look blue or grey, or a cat breathing with its mouth open. A cat open-mouth breathing is an emergency every time.

A male cat straining in the litter box — going in and out, crying, producing little or nothing. A blocked cat can die within a day and this is the single most time-critical thing on this page.

Retching without bringing anything up, especially in a large or deep-chested dog with a swelling belly. This can be bloat, which is measured in hours.

Collapse, unresponsiveness, or a seizure that does not stop within a few minutes or repeats.

Major trauma — hit by a car, a fall, an attack by another animal — even if they seem fine afterward. Serious internal injury frequently hides behind a normal-looking pet.

Bleeding that will not stop, a known or suspected toxin, or a pregnant animal straining without producing a puppy or kitten.

Pricing

What does an at-home sick visit cost?

A sick visit is $184 — the same as any other appointment. That covers the house call and a full exam, flat across every area we serve. Each additional pet seen in the same visit is $85. Diagnostics, medications and lab work are billed on top, and we will tell you what something costs before we do it rather than after.

Membership plans waive exam fees entirely and include discounts on diagnostics, which is worth a look if your pet is managing something ongoing. See full pricing, or check the areas we serve.