Wellness exam or sick visit: how to tell which one you need

A wellness exam is for a pet who seems fine — it's the twice-a-year check that catches a heart murmur, a weight change or a lump before it becomes urgent. It's scheduled like a routine appointment, and it's priced flat because we know what we're doing before we start.

A sick visit is for a pet who isn't acting like themselves — vomiting, limping, not eating, straining to urinate. These get worked into the schedule the same day whenever we can, because waiting a week on some of these isn't safe.

If you're not sure which one you need, call and describe what you're seeing. We'd rather spend two minutes on the phone sorting that out than have you wait a week for something that needed to be seen today, or take a same-day slot that could have waited.