New Client Protocols & Procedures Signoff Form

We typically book 2-4 months out for dental procedures. A consultation will be recommended first so that our doctors can assess your pet and provide you with a treatment plan. A procedure date will be scheduled on a separate date. We do offer same day consults with anesthetic procedure for owners who are traveling far distances. While we can occasionally squeeze in urgent appointments, and we provide a cancellation list, we are not an emergency facility. Please seek guidance from your primary veterinarian for continuation of care until we can see your pet. We are legally unable to prescribe medications or provide recommendations on patients we have not yet seen.

If you wish to join our cancellation list, we will call you if any appointments open up sooner than your currently scheduled one. Openings are first come first serve and we offer them based on length of wait time, severity of patient condition, and availability of preferred doctor if one is noted. If you have specific availability limitations, please let us know so that we do not call you for days/times that you will not be availability. Once you are added to the list, you will remain on it and receive calls until you can be moved up, your appointment occurs, or you ask to be removed.

Please be advised, your appointment check-in time is not indicative of when your pet’s procedure will be started. All patients are checked in at the start of the day so that we have ample time to take care of each pet. All pets are discharged the same day and typical discharge time is after 4pm. While we do discharge pets earlier if their procedures have been completed, we cannot make guarantees that your pet will be awake and recovered enough to go home earlier in the day. It would be best if you plan for your pet to be here for the majority of the day. We will be in touch when your pet’s procedure has been completed and we like to monitor pets for at least an hour to ensure they are recovering appropriately.

An exam (oral consultation) must be performed by one of our doctors before any diagnosis or treatment recommendation is made, regardless of how recently the pet have been seen by a veterinarian at another facility. Photos, emails, calls or other communications with our office to discuss the pet’s condition cannot substitute an examination. No doctor or team member can provide treatment recommendations, accurate cost estimates, or diagnosis without an examination.

A blood screen must be completed and reviewed by our veterinarians within 3 months of anesthesia. Abnormalities on a blood screen may warrant further testing or treatment before the pet can be cleared for anesthesia.

Veterinary dentistry requires anesthesia for most treatments, so we need to ensure pets are healthy enough to safely undergo anesthesia. Pets with underlying health issues may require additional testing, changes to their anesthetic protocols, and/or referral to other specialties prior to anesthesia with us. Pets with known health conditions should confirm with their primary veterinarian that those conditions are well controlled before seeking dental care with us and my benefit from seeking treatment for these other conditions prior to an appointment here.

In accordance with state laws, Village Animal Clinic requires that all pets be up to date on their rabies vaccine before they can be accepted as a patient here. The only exception is if there is a medical reason that prohibits the pet from being vaccinated, and a written statement to that effect must be provided by your primary veterinarian. Other core wellness vaccinations are recommended as they are best practice, and your pet will be hospitalized with other pets in our facility during their anesthetic visit, but only the rabies is required. Most dental care is not an emergency and should not supersede regular wellness recommendations.

In order to safely diagnose and treat your pet, we will request previous veterinary records. This will include doctor’s exam notes, laboratory testing, imaging, and previous dental records if available. We are happy to contact your primary veterinarian(s) to obtain these records, so please provide us with the name(s) of all the veterinary facilities your pet has visited so that we can have a full picture of their health history. Some clinics require owner consent to release records, so be advised that you may receive an additional call from us or your primary veterinarian to obtain that consent. We will return records to the referring facility and any other facility you request.

While we understand the desire to have cost information upfront, it is not something that is easily provided. We customize each treatment plan to the patient in front of us, and there are a variety of factors that can cause changes to the treatment plan and thus the cost. Even after we see the pet for an oral exam, there are many times where more is revealed after the pet is under anesthesia and dental charting and radiographs are performed. We can say with some certainty that we do not see treatment under $1200 for new patients, but the high end can be upwards of $5000 depending on the dental issue and the specifics of the pet with that issue. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of phone estimates and cannot be held to any cost estimates provided by other doctors outside of our facility or prior to an examination.

Consult & Procedure Booked Separately:


A deposit will be taken at the time of the consultation to hold the scheduled procedure date. This deposit will go toward your procedure cost and will be listed as a line item on your treatment plan and final invoice. If you need to cancel or rescheduled your procedure date, we require at least a 48hr notice. We are closed on the weekend, so please call by Friday for Monday or Tuesday appointments. Deposits will be refunded for cancelled or rescheduled appointments that provide the required notice. If we do not receive that 48hr notice, we will retain the deposit. If we receive no communication from you, there is an additional no show fee that will be applied to your account for failure to appear to the scheduled procedure. We work hard to see patients as soon as possible and last minute cancellations and no shows make it difficult to shorten the waiting period. We only ask that you give us notice.

Same Day Consult & Procedure:


A deposit is required to hold procedure appointment slots. If you are not able to pay the deposit at the time of scheduling, please call back within 48 hours to provide payment. There is also the option to pay online through an online link that will be provided in an automated email after scheduling. We will remind you if we have not received payment. If we do not receive the deposit payment within 48 hours, we will cancel your appointment and you can feel free to call back to reschedule. We are doing everything we can to reduce our wait times, so we want to ensure we don’t have holes in the schedule that could be filled by pets in need.

The deposit will go toward your procedure cost and will be listed as a line item on your treatment plan and final invoice. If you need to cancel or rescheduled your appointment, we require at least a 48 hour notice. We are closed on the weekend, so please call by Friday for Monday or Tuesday appointments. Deposits will be refunded for cancelled or rescheduled appointments that provide the required notice. If we do not receive that 48 hour notice, we will retain the deposit. If we receive no communication from you, there is an additional no show fee that will be applied to your account for failure to appear to the scheduled procedure.

We understand that unforeseen events may arise that require you to cancel your appointment with us. We respectfully ask that you call to notify us no less than 48 hours prior to your scheduled procedure appointment so that we can fill your appointment slot with another patient in need of our services. Monday and Tuesday appointments must call by the end of business day on Friday. If you do not provide this notice, we will retain your deposit. If you give no notice and fail to appear for the appointment will be billed a cancellation fee. We understand that unforeseen events may arise that require you to cancel your appointment with us. We respectfully ask that you call to notify us no less than 48 hours prior to your scheduled procedure appointment so that we can fill your appointment slot with another patient in need of our services. Monday and Tuesday appointments must call by the end of business day on Friday. If you do not provide this notice, we will retain your deposit. If you fail to give appropriate notice and fail to appear for the appointment will be billed a cancellation fee.

We do our best to remind you of your appointment by offering email, text, and phone call reminders a few days prior. Please respond using any of these methods to let us know if you will not make your appointment. Absence of confirmation does not equate cancellation.

Full payment is due when services are rendered. We accept all major credit cards, cash, Care Credit, and Scratch Pay. We do NOT accept checks under any circumstances. Please be sure that you understand all terms and conditions, and verify the availability of funds on alternate forms of payment prior to authorizing treatment.

Failure to pay full balance for treatments and fees in 90 days will result in your account being turned over to collections.

Automated email and text reminders are set up for all active clients with a working email address and cell phone on file. These are sent to help you remember and plan for scheduled appointments. Email communications provide vital information to prepare you for your pet’s appointment and answer most commonly asked questions. We ask that you read all email communications and respond accordingly to all requests for information, confirmation of appointments, and payment requests so that all protocols and processes are well understood before you arrive. We understand that a lot of information is being given to you verbally when you make an appointment and you may not be in a place to receive it all, so we detail it for you in email so that you can reference it later. We also send out clinic wide announcements and notices through email.

Our clinic health and safety protocols are determined by CDC guidelines, the status of current local and worldwide health concerns, and the specific safety concerns of the team. We will alert you when protocols change, but we ask that follow the current health and safety guidelines relayed to you verbally, as communicated through our email reminders, and as posted outside of the clinic. We respectfully ask you to be mindful that our staff is mentally and emotionally exhausted from the last few years and we would prefer to spend our energy positively on how happy we are to be seeing each of you, as opposed to debating these policies.

I have read and understand the detailed client protocols and procedures for Village Animal Clinic. I consent to adhering to these policies in order for my pet to be evaluated and treated at this facility and accept the noted fees and penalties associated with failure to adhere to the listed policies.