Why bring your pet to the vet when you can bring the vet to them?
After 13 years of clinical practice, including nine years spent at Bobcaygeon’s Three Islands Veterinary Services, Dr. Jessica Gonzalez has launched MVS Kawartha Lakes to meet a growing demand in the community: at-home pet care that provides a more comfortable and relaxed experience for both owners and their furry companions.
“Out in this area, I think there is a need for a mobile vet,” Dr. Jessica says. “Bobcaygeon itself does have quite a (large) senior population and a lot of people have trouble getting to the clinic, and animals are nervous or don’t do well in the clinic setting. I’ve always thought there was a need for mobile vets, and I’ve been surprised there are so few I’ve come across.”
Offering care to cats and dogs in Kawartha Lakes as well as Peterborough, Ennismore, Lakefield, and areas in between (as well as some euthanasia appointments outside the region), MVS Kawartha Lakes offers a range of services including preventative care and wellness checks, disease management and assessments, behaviour consultations, and end-of-life care.
By treating a pet in the comfort of their own home, Dr. Jessica says, she’s able to build a more “personal relationship” with both people and their furry companions and reduce some of the stress involved with bringing pets to a clinic.
“When you are in a clinic setting and walk into the room, the dog is already anxious, nervous, and barking at you, or they’re cowering behind their owners or trying to get under these small little chairs,” she says.
“To get a physical exam done and build a relationship with them is very difficult, and almost impossible in some scenarios. Some dogs do come around, I find, but the majority of them tend to stay nervous and that can even get worse throughout every visit.”
While she’s only just launched MVS Kawartha Lakes and hasn’t had many repeat clients yet, Dr. Jessica already sees a clear difference in how pets respond when they are being treated in the comfort of their own home.
“Some of them are still nervous but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as they would have in the clinic setting,” she says. “I get a lot further with the exams than I can in the clinic setting and they certainly seem much more comfortable.”
“By the time I’m done the exam, I give them a few more treats and we’re friends again and as soon as I leave, they carry on with their day — they’re not nervous anymore and (the appointment) didn’t traumatize them.”
When it comes to end-of-life care, Dr. Jessica says offering euthanasia services in an owner’s own home makes a “huge” difference, for both the owner and pet, in comparison to having it done in the clinic.
“It’s stressful for the owners, especially if it’s a large breed dog,” she says of a clinic appointment. “I’ve done quite a few where an elderly owner would have struggled to get their dog in the vehicle. That would have been stressful for the owner and pet. It’s also just not a nice moment.”
In contrast, the appointments she has done at a pet’s own home have been “incredibly peaceful” and without stress for both the pet and the owners. While saying goodbye to a beloved pet is still emotionally taxing both for the owner and Dr. Gonzales, at least the procedure is being done in a familiar and comfortable setting.
“You go into these homes and they’re filled with their pet pictures and you see this is a huge member of their family that they’re really going to miss,” Gonzalez says. “This way I get to stay with the owners and chat and most people want to talk about their pet, and they want to talk about how important they are. It gives us the opportunity to sit there while the dog or cat is getting sedated and just talk about them and how this makes them feel. You definitely develop a bit more of a bond with the client that way.”
Clients of Three Islands Veterinary Services can still expect to see Dr. Jessica doing dental surgery out of the clinic once or twice a week.
“I’ve always had a passion for dentistry, so I didn’t want to give it up,” she says. “I love my surgical skills, and I love doing dental work.”
“Unfortunately these days, a lot of our pets do have dental issues like periodontal disease, and a lot of them do need referrals for these services. It makes that process a little bit easier for them, too, that I can provide that service to my clients.”
Doing the mobile clinic reminds Dr. Jessica of her time volunteering in Africa with Veterinarians Without Borders Canada while studying at the Ontario Veterinary College and shortly after graduation.
Over three different trips, she worked in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi, mostly responding to house calls for larger animals used for husbandry. While there, she also spent a month training and spreading knowledge to people in the community.
“We trained them on dosing and assessing weights and things so that, when we were gone, at least there was someone in the community that could continue to advise people on husbandry and basic antiparasitics,” she says. “It was a great experience, and it was the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
While she has worked in clinic settings since then, including at VCA Canada Northumberland Animal Hospital in Colborne before joining Bobcaygeon’s Three Islands Veterinary Services, entrepreneurship was always the goal for Dr. Jessica.
“I’ve always had great bosses and work for people that have let me practise how I want to practise but it’s just that extra feeling that I can do the things I want to do,” she says. “I just always thought graduating from school that I would want to own my own business and have that aspect beyond just the medicine.”
As a young mother, Dr. Jessica also appreciates the flexibility in her schedule she gets from the mobile clinic so she can care for her six-year-old daughter Mackenzie. That includes making time to introduce Mackenzie to her mother’s favourite movie, Free Willy — the movie that inspired her own career with animals.
“She didn’t want to watch it (because) she thought it was going to be sad,” Dr. Jessica recalls. “I said ‘This is the movie that really changed my life.'”
“I remember being young and watching this movie about animals and their well-being and the bond that you have with animals, and feeling like that really steered me in that direction,” she adds, noting she still cried when she rewatched the movie with her daughter. “She got pretty sad too, but she was so happy at the end, and she immediately started talking about how bad it is to cage animals and that animals should be free. I do see some similarity to me.”
Since launching MVS Kawartha Lakes, Dr. Jessica has received hundreds of messages from people saying they are grateful to have a mobile vet service in the community.
“The support from the community has been phenomenal,” she says. “I was really touched by that and was really happy to see. It solidified there’s a huge need for this and it’s a great way to service the community and get to know people. It’s a different part of my career that I’m really going to enjoy.”
For more information about MVS Kawartha Lakes and to request an appointment, visit www.mvskawarthalakes.ca.
