With many new protocols in place to keep you safe from COVID-19, and new guidelines from the state, we have resumed vaccinations and wellness services (except for cat dentals, which we still cannot perform for the foreseeable future). When you arrive at our hospital, please stay in your car and check-in with our app, which you can find at caminorealpet.com/checkin. A technician will bring your pet inside for examination, and all communication will occur  over the phone. Everyone in the clinic is wearing masks and surgical gowns/labcoats at all times, with constant hand-washing and/or glove changing. If you yourself are sick or have been exposed to COVID-19, please talk to our staff about options for your pet, telemedicine appointments are available for milder problems. Medication refills and food orders can be picked up outside on our porch from refill boxes. Thank you for your patience as we navigate these difficult times, and we welcome any feedback on how our new system is working for you. We wish you all good health!

Addendum: With the recent confirmation that cats can become infected (including tigers at the Bronx zoo), clients have questions about the role of pets in the pandemic.  The good news: epidemiological studies have not found cats to be a source for human infections; instead, it appears to be the other way around.  Moreover, dogs appear more resistant, with only a few confirmed weak positives (suspected to be dead-end hosts).  Until more is known, here are some guidelines to keep everyone safe:

• If you are sick, stay away from animals if possible.  Household pets should be quarantined with their owners.
• Keep your animals away from other people or animals.  Social distancing applies to the whole household, not just the human members.
• Your own pet poses virtually no risk to you.  If you cat is infected, he got it from you or your family.  If we keep pets with us but socially distanced from others, we don’t need to worry about them as sources of infection outside of the household.