Frequently asked questions about veterinary care in Woodside, NY

A full wellness examination is $75 and a same-day sick visit is $95, both including the consultation itself. A puppy or kitten first visit is $60 and includes thirty minutes to ask everything. Anything beyond the consultation — tests, imaging, dentistry, surgery — is quoted in writing before it happens, and you are never asked to agree to a procedure without a price attached to it. The full list is on our pricing page.

Usually, yes. We hold back a block of appointments on every single day for animals that were well yesterday and are not well today, which is exactly what those slots exist for. Call in the morning if you can. If what you describe sounds urgent, the desk will put a veterinarian on the phone rather than book you an appointment.

Yes, and it is one of the things we have built the practice around. Cats arrive through their own street entrance into a cat-only waiting room, are seen in cat-only consulting rooms, and are hospitalised in a ward where no dog is ever within earshot. Most feline distress at a veterinary practice is created by the practice, and it is largely avoidable.

Dogs and cats are the bulk of what we do. We also see rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, ferrets and other small mammals. We do not see birds, reptiles, fish or farm animals, and rather than do a poor job of it we will refer you to a practice that sees them properly. Our species page sets out exactly where that line is.

Your animal, secured — a carrier for a cat or small mammal, a lead for a dog — and any records you have from a previous practice. If you cannot get hold of them, tell us and we will request them for you. Bring the packaging or a photograph of any food or medication your animal is on, and if you have noticed something specific, a short phone video of it is often more useful than a description.

We work with every insurer and we will complete claim forms for you, usually within two working days. Most policies reimburse you rather than paying us directly, so payment is normally due on the day, but if a claim is large we will talk to your insurer about direct settlement. We will always tell you before a procedure whether we think it is likely to be covered, and we will never tell you a policy covers something we are not sure about.

Tell us. It is a normal conversation and we have it most weeks. There is very often a cheaper clinically acceptable plan, and where there is we will set out both and be honest about what the cheaper one gives up. We can stage treatment over time, and we can write a prescription so you can fill it wherever is cheapest. The one thing that does not help anybody is saying nothing.

No. We are open eight to seven on weekdays, nine to five on Saturday and ten to three on Sunday, and outside those hours you should contact a 24-hour emergency animal hospital. We will tell you where the nearest one is and send your records straight over if your animal ends up there. A practice that claims to cover nights on top of a full day list is either not doing it, or not doing it well.

Yes, for the consultation, and we would rather you did. For radiographs and most procedures you cannot, partly for radiation safety and partly because most animals are calmer without their owner present than people expect. For euthanasia you may stay throughout, for as long as you want, and there is no time limit on the room.

Yes, and it happens often. Watchful waiting is a real clinical option and it appears on our estimates as one. If we think the right answer is to do nothing and see you in three weeks, that is what we will tell you — and we will tell you exactly what would change our mind in the meantime.

Yes, at $110, including a full review of the records from the other practice. We will happily agree with the first opinion if we think it is right, and we do more often than not. A second opinion is worth having precisely because the answer is not guaranteed to be different.

Ask us, in any form you like, and we will send them anywhere free and the same working day. We will not ask why, we will not try to talk you out of it, and there is no fee. Your animal's records belong to your animal's care, not to us.

For most routine procedures, no — you see the written estimate, you agree to it, and you pay when your animal is collected. For a longer or more expensive procedure we may ask for a partial payment at booking, and we will always tell you before you agree to the appointment, not when you arrive for it.

Ask us before the procedure rather than after the invoice arrives. We can often stage planned, non-urgent treatment across more than one visit so the cost lands in more than one month, and we can point you toward third-party financing for a larger bill if that suits you better. What we cannot do is discuss it usefully for the first time at the till.

For most cats, yes, noticeably. Arriving through a door that no dog uses, into a room where no dog is waiting, removes the single biggest source of feline stress at a veterinary visit before your cat has even been examined. It will not turn every cat into a relaxed patient, and a genuinely anxious cat still benefits from a covered carrier and a few minutes to settle — ask us for carrier and travel tips when you book, and we will talk you through what actually helps.

Because rushing a cat wastes the appointment rather than saving time. Twenty unhurried minutes lets a cat come out of a covered carrier on its own terms, which is usually the difference between a full hands-on examination and one that has to stop halfway through. A dog appointment can move at a faster pace without losing anything; a cat one genuinely cannot.