The current Covid-19 pandemic is still a difficult and worrying situation. There is considerable unknown as to how the pandemic will progress from now on in the country although it is very encouraging that we are able to move to Level 2.

Levin and Horowhenua Veterinary Centre cares about the wellbeing of our patients, clients, staff and the community. We will begin to allow clients limited access in to the clinic from Monday May 18.

What happens when you phone in?
The clinic phones will continue to be manned by team members off-site. They will triage your call, and can book an appointment if your pet needs to come in to the clinic. We ask that one person only comes to the clinic with your pet. Our team member will ask you a series of questions about your own health and risk factors to help us to keep all of our staff and clients safe. If you are unwell or are isolating while waiting for a Covid-19 test result, we would ask you to please stay at home and send someone else to the clinic with your pet. We still have temporary concessions to manage situations in a different and more remote way, so a telemedicine consult may be offered to you if this seems like the most appropriate solution for you and your pet.

Our phone staff can take orders for repeat prescriptions, or for products such as food or flea treatments. These can all be collected from the clinic now, but we still have the option to pay over the phone prior to collection to speed the process for you.

What happens when you come to the clinic?
Whether you are coming in for an appointment or coming to purchase your pet’s food, you will be greeted at the door by a staff member prior to entry. You will be asked to sanitise your hands, and we will take all of the details that we are required to keep for contact tracing in the event of a case of Covid-19 being detected. We will take your temperature with a non-contact infrared thermometer, and will have to refuse you entry if this is elevated. In this case we would recommend that you ring Healthline for advice.

If you are here for an appointment, you will be directed to a chair in the waiting room until the vet is ready. The vet will then come and take a history from you, but will take your pet into a consult room to be examined and treated with the help of a nurse, leaving you in the waiting room; we are not at this stage taking clients into the consult room due to the difficulty of maintaining a safe distance. The vet will return your pet to you and discuss treatment then you will be able to pay at reception and take your medication home. We have set up Paywave for contactless payment where possible. We prefer not to accept cash due to the associated health risks at this time.

If you are here to stock up on supplies for your pet or to collect an order, the team member at the door will be able to help you and to take payment without you having to come further into the clinic.

What about farmers?
Our farm vets and techs are out and about to help you as normal. Just give us a call and we’ll get you sorted. If you need to collect products from the clinic or drop samples in, you can come to the front door as above, or can make a time with the techs so that we can meet you at the garage doors instead. This is particularly good for large dry cow orders!

We appreciate your understanding as we all continue to negotiate the impact of COVID-19 on New Zealand. Help us protect our staff, our clients and the community while looking after your animals.