New Clients

Before You Come

• Ask your previous veterinarian to send records, or bring them yourself. Vaccination history matters most.
• Write down what your pet eats, including treats, and any medication or supplement.
• Write down anything you’ve noticed at home, even if it seems minor.
• Dogs on a leash, cats in a carrier. Easier on them, and on everyone else.

The First Visit

Allow a little longer than a routine appointment. We want the full history, and a proper first exam is unhurried: nose to tail, weight, teeth, heart, lungs, abdomen, skin, and joints. We’ll build a vaccine and prevention plan around your pet’s day-to-day life, not a default schedule.

If anything needs a follow-up, you’ll get a written estimate before we proceed, and a plain conversation about what the options cost, including the option of waiting.

Nervous Pets

Tell us when you book. Cats who hate the car, dogs who’ve had a bad experience at a vet, pets who are in pain and defensive because of it: all normal, and all things we plan around rather than push through.

Depending on what helps, that can mean a quieter time of day, a room you go straight into instead of sitting in the waiting area, an exam done on the floor instead of a table, or something from us to take the edge off, given at home before you travel. Some pets do best coming in once for nothing but a weigh-in and a handful of treats, so the building stops meaning what it currently means to them.

Where We Are

6005 15th Ave NW, in the heart of Ballard. We also regularly see pets from Crown Hill, Phinney Ridge, Fremont, Magnolia, and Queen Anne.