covid 19
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Pandemic News
10/25/21
Welcome back! Effective immediately, we are welcoming one client per appointment back into the hospital. We ask that you wear a mask and keep it on during your entire visit. If you prefer not to do so, we will be happy to conduct a Curbside Care visit for your pet while you wait in your vehicle. As always, euthanasia appointment requests to have other family members in are honored as much as possible.
Please continue to call from the parking lot to check-in or pick up supplies rather than walking inside. We appreciate your continued support during this time.
10/8/21
We regret to share that we are returning to Curbside Service for all appointments except euthanasias, beginning immediately. We are short-staffed due to illness and out of an abundance of caution, we will not be permitting most clients in the building until further notice. We appreciate your patience during this difficult time.
10/1/21
Please call or text us from the parking lot and wait to be invited inside. One client is welcome to attend an appointment with a doctor, while our technician appointments and all medication/food pickups will be handled with Curbside Service. We require all clients who attend an appointment with their pet to wear a mask during the visit. All owners entering the building with a pet must be at least 18 years of age. If you choose not to mask, we are happy to conduct your pet's appointment with Curbside Service while you wait in your vehicle.
Please call or text us from the parking lot for all your needs rather than walking in.
We look forward to continuing to see your smiling eyes behind those masks!
3/18/21
We know you're anxious to come inside again, especially if you've been vaccinated, but unfortunately, many of our team members still are not. At this time, our Patients Only policy remains in place as we wait for our team members to have the opportunity to be vaccinated and monitor the numbers of vaccinated people in the general population.
11/30/20
Effective immediately, we will not be open on Saturdays until further notice. Our weekday hours will remain unchanged. Please note that emails and text messages sent after 5pm on Fridays will not be answered until sometime Monday. We typically have a long list of messages to which we must respond on Monday, so please be patient if you do not hear from us within the first hours after we open. Refill requests received on Monday will be available for pickup on Tuesday unless urgently needed. Please plan ahead - we suggest that during the pandemic, you keep at least 2 weeks' worth of medication on hand at all times.
11/18/20 WE'RE BACK!
Our COVID-19 quarantine is over, and we are back in the office to meet all your needs. We have rescheduled all your appointments (we think!) and are moving on to scheduling additional requests. Thank you all for your patience and understanding during this trying time and for your concern for our health. We are happy to report that no clients were exposed to the virus, and no one else on our team tested positive or got sick! Thanks also to CPVETS, State College Veterinary Hospital, and Straley Veterinary Clinic, all of whom offered assistance and helped with critical care while we were out of the office.
11/9/20 QUARANTINE - Closed until 11/18/20
We are currently closed.
During the week of 11/4/2020 almost our entire staff was (unknowingly) exposed to the novel coronavirus by an employee. On Friday, 11/6/20, we learned the employee was positive, and we took immediate steps, contacting the PA State Department of Health and following recommendations to close and deep clean the hospital and quarantine our team members. Because of our curbside service, the PA State Department of Health has assured us that none of our clients have been exposed.
We are doing our best to respond to urgent questions and medication needs via email remotely; less urgent questions will be answered as soon as we are able. Email us at supportstaff@
If your pet has an emergency or urgent medical concern, please contact CPVETS at 814-237-4670.
We currently plan to reopen 11/18/2020 at 7:30 am. We cannot reschedule appointments at this time. We will contact those clients whose appointments were postponed as soon as possible to reschedule.
11/5/20 Patients Only Policy Is Still in Place
We miss you all, and we wish we could permit you to enter the lobby, but our building is small so we will be continuing our Patients Only Policy at this time. While we can safely treat your pets, we do not have the ability to offer clients a safe social distance inside the hospital. Our exam rooms are small and confined, putting both you and our team members at risk (even with masks) and the waiting rooms are not spacious enough to accommodate six feet of distance between multiple clients or between you and our team. Additionally, with most of our team in the hospital on any given day, we already meet or exceed the governor's recommendations for the maximum numbers of individuals in an indoor business.
All medication and food pick-ups, as well as dropping off fecal and urine samples, also will be conducted via our Curbside Service. You must be wearing a mask in order for us to approach your vehicle.
Please plan to get your pet out of your vehicle for us. Our team members are not permitted to crawl into or lean into your vehicle.
If you need to say goodbye to a pet during this time, please call or email us. We will not deny you the opportunity to be with your pet, and we will figure out a way to assist you while observing safety protocols.
Remember: Regular Hours - Patients Only - Curbside Service
HOW DOES PATIENTS ONLY WORK?
1. When you arrive for an appointment, call us from the parking lot to check-in. We have added numbered parking spaces on both sides of our lot with No Parking signs between them for social distancing purposes. When you call to check in, tell us the number of your parking space and the phone number from which you are calling so that we can contact you once your pet is inside. (There’s a sign on the building with our number.) If you do not have a mobile phone, knock on the window or door and then step back. Someone will respond. Please do not stand on the sidewalk that our team uses to come in and out of the building.
PLEASE KEEP YOUR PHONE ON AND DO NOT MAKE OTHER CALLS SO THAT YOU ARE AVAILABLE WHEN WE CALL.
2. For annual wellness and medical appointments, a technician will call you after check-in to review any pre-visit information and concerns, medications and your observations on your pet’s activity and behavior at home. We encourage you to send along written notes and/or questions that you can send along with your pet.
3. A team member will come out to bring in your pet for the appointment. You must be wearing a mask before we can approach, and you must get your pet out of the car so that we do not have to lean into the interior of your vehicle.
4. After the appointment, the doctor will call to discuss the exam, any needed diagnostics, and a treatment plan. Then you will be transferred to the front desk to complete your invoice before your pet, your notes and any medications are delivered to you.
Can I get COVID-19 from my pet, or can my pet get COVID-19 from me?
The first animal in the U.S. to be diagnosed with COVID-19 was a tiger at the Bronx Zoo on April 5, 2020. Since then, a very few cats and dogs have been diagnosed with the virus that causes COVID-19, most after close contact with an infected human. The risk of the virus spreading from animals to humans is currently considered to be low, although there is limited information available.
In Pennsylvania, there was a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a family cat who was exposed when multiple members of a household were diagnosed. The cat presented in early October 2020 with mild respiratory distress and ultimately was humanely euthanized. That case is still under investigation and no cause of death has been confirmed.
The Pennsylvania cat is one of a handful nationwide that died or were euthanized while infected. All pets infected had known prolonged exposure to humans with COVID-19, and most importantly, NONE OF THE PETS APPEAR TO HAVE DIED FROM COVID-19. Instead, other serious underlying illnesses were the cause of death.
DO NOT ABANDON OR GIVE AWAY YOUR PET! There’s still a lot of research to be done, but so far, we believe that your indoor pet is no threat to you. Both the CDC and the World Health Organization have found no evidence that your domestic pets can give you Covid-19. You, however, could infect your pet if you are carrying the virus, since the infection appears to be transferring FROM humans TO pets, and in rare cases, pet-to-pet.
So what should you do? Here are recommendations from the CDC:
If anyone in your household becomes sick or tests positive, isolate that person from pets and other humans in the household.
If you can keep your outdoor/indoor cat inside, you should. Remember, pet-to-pet transmission may be possible, so if your cat goes outside, it could be at risk.
- If you or someone in your household tests positive or is suspected to have Covid-19, limit contact with your pets to avoid transferring the virus to them. In such a case, everyone in the household, including pets, should be quarantined for a minimum of two weeks, and if anyone has symptoms, quarantine for at least several days after symptoms have abated if that extends past the two week period.
- If a pet is diagnosed with COVID-19, isolate that pet from other pets and humans in the home and quarantine.
- Do not panic and give away your pet. So far, no pet with COVID-19 has gotten severely ill or died. Cases in animals so far have been mild.
- DO NOT wipe or bathe your pet with chemical disinfectants, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, hand sanitizer, counter-cleaning wipes or any other cleaning product.
Here are some links for additional information about COVID-19, as it relates to your pets.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Coronavirus FAQ's about human and pets.
PA Department of Health: FAQ's about COVID-19
The American Veterinary Medical Association: Information for veterinary teams on how to manage the risk of infection.
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