About Our Animal Hospital
At Blue Cross Animal Hospital in Kitchener, we make every effort to accommodate our clients’ requests. However, there may be circumstances that prevent a certain veterinary team member from being available during your pet’s visit. Scheduling conflicts, emergency situations, and vacation schedules all play a role in our staff availability. Please feel free to ask for a specific veterinarian or veterinary technician when you schedule your appointment, and we will do what we can facilitate your request. However, please be understanding if we can’t. We do keep detailed medical records so that all of our team members can be check into your pet’s history and past treatments at our hospital. This teamwork on our part helps us provide coordinated health care for your furry family member.
We want our patients to have the best possible outcome. This is why we sometimes make the decision to refer patients to veterinary specialists or specialty clinics when advanced training or equipment will be beneficial.
Our veterinarians make every effort to stay current and skilled in many aspects of animal health. However, board-certified specialists have extensive experience and training in a particular area of veterinary medicine or surgery. And specialty clinics and university-affiliated referral centres have specialized equipment to perform procedures that are not routinely undertaken by general practitioners. We are fortunate that there are a number of specialty practices located within a short drive from the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
Be assured that when we refer a patient to another hospital, we continue to stay involved with his or her care, consulting with the treating specialist and often providing any needed follow-up care and rehabilitation.
Absolutely! We are happy to send proof of vaccination to the kennel of your choice. All you need to do is call us with your permission, and provide us with an email address or fax number for the kennel.
Yes, the veterinarians of Blue Cross Animal Hospital do perform at home euthanasia for our clients in Kitchener-Waterloo. If you would prefer to have a veterinarian come to your home, please call to schedule an appointment. We also offer counselling if you want to discuss your decision or have any questions about the euthanasia process, or talk about when and how to best make this painful decision.
If you are a regular client of Blue Cross Animal Hospital, we will certainly do our best to accommodate your request to have one of our veterinarians come to your home for euthanasia of your pet. Please call us to schedule an appointment. We also offer counselling if you want to discuss your decision or have any questions about the process.
Unfortunately, we can’t offer refunds for veterinary care. Our fees cover the cost of examining, testing, diagnosing, and treating your pet.
Not all health problems have a straightforward solution. Some may be chronic, requiring a long-term management plan; others may be more difficult to diagnose or may involve several different diseases or a combination of problems. A cure is not always be possible, and many medical conditions require ongoing treatmnet and management. Our veterinary team at Blue Cross Animal Hospital in Kitchener strive to find solutions to our patients’ problems so that we can help maintain their quality of life.
At Blue Cross Animal Hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo, your pet’s comfort is a priority for us. Using our knowledge of pain medication and pain relief strategies, we do our best to prevent or manage your pet’s pain under all circumstances.
We tailor all of our pain management plans to the individual pet’s medical condition and needs.
Before every surgical intervention, we perform a routine physical examination to assess your pet’s condition prior to proceeding. In order to minimize the risks associated with anesthesia and surgery, we strongly recommend pre-anesthetic blood tests, and in some cases may recommend x-rays or urinalysis.
During the procedure, one of our veterinary technicians will be continually monitoring your pet’s heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and other vital signs so that we can be sure your pet is stable. We provide pre-emptive pain control before and during the surgical procedure so that your pet wakes up with as little discomfort as possible. We send your pet home with the appropriate anti-inflammatory or pain medication for the post-operative recovery period.
During normal business hours, bring your pet into Blue Cross Animal Hospital immediately. To help us be prepared for the emergency, call us at 519-742-2821 before you leave your home or while you are in transit. That way, our veterinary team can prepare any emergency drugs that may be needed to cope with the situation.
If your pet gets sick outside our normal hours, take your pet immediately to the Emergency Clinic of Waterloo Region, located at 405 Maple Grove Road in Cambridge. Their telephone number is 519-650-1617.
Don’t panic, but DO call us RIGHT AWAY! Have as much information available as possible, including what the pet ate, how much of the substance was eaten, how long ago it happened, and if your pet is showing any symptoms. We will tell you whether you should come in ASAP or should just monitor your pet. If it’s outside our normal business hours, call the Emergency Clinic of Waterloo Region at 519 650-1617. If you wish, you can also call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Centre at 888-426-4435. The Poison Control Centre is open 24/7, and charges a consultation fee.
Much like family physicians, veterinarians can’t diagnose over the phone. Besides being unethical and illegal, diagnosing by telephone doesn’t allow the doctor to use their senses of sight, smell and touch to fully assess the situation. In order to properly reach a diagnosis and provide a treatment plan, a physical exam is needed. Without complete information, your veterinarian runs the risk of reaching the wrong conclusions and making incorrect recommendations. The only thing we are able to do by telephone is to advise you whether the pet needs to be brought in immediately as an emergency or whether you can schedule an appointment at a more convenient time.
We keep track of your pet’s weight for several reason. Having an accurate and current measurement of your pet’s weight will help us ensure that your pet receives the correct dosage of preventative health products recommended for your pet’s condition. Regular weigh-ins of your pet help us keep track of any changes, changes which can be early indications of developing health problems.
Absolutely. When you call to schedule your appointment, please let us know that you would prefer to wait in an exam room. When you arrive at the Blue Cross Animal Hospital parking lot, come into the reception area (or call us on your cell) and let us know you are here, and we can usher you and your pet directly into an examination room.
Yes. When you call to schedule your appointment, you can pay by telephone if you are using a credit card. We can give you a receipt when you arrive, or can email or send it to you. Depending on what your pet’s problem is, or if other services or procedures are provided, there may be additional fees. Since our medical records at Blue Cross Animal Hospital are completely computerized, we can generate an invoice while you and your pet are in the examination room and then process the majority of the transaction from the examination room. If you are paying by credit card or debit, you will need to come to the reception area to input your password. However, we can have a staff member stay with your pet in the examination room while you do this.
For the safety and protection of all of our clients, patients, and veterinary team members, we require all pets to be on a leash or in a carrier when they enter Blue Cross Animal Hospital. They must continue to be restrained while they are in the reception area and while traveling to and from the exam rooms. Your veterinarian or veterinary technician will let you know when it’s OK to let your pet off leash or out of his or her carrier.
Since we are located at the busy intersection of Frederick Street and River Road in Kitchener, we strongly recommend that your dog is on a secure leash or safely within a carrier, and that your cat is securely housed in a cat carrier.
There is often a lot going on at our hospital. Combine that with the unfamiliar surroundings and new animals, and any pet—even one that is well trained—might become uneasy or excited. We want you and your pet to have as pleasant an experience as possible every time you visit our hospital, so we ask all our clients to respect our policy.
Call us. In some cases, veterinarians, like family physicians, will recommend a treatment based on an analysis of the obvious symptoms that the patient is showing. When this treatment does not work, it may be necessary to either try another treatment or perform some diagnostics such as bloodwork, urinalysis, x-rays, or other tests to determine the best way to manage your pet’s condition. Please let us know if something we’ve recommended isn’t helping. We want to work with you to find the right answers for your pet.
Although we can’t provide lengthy consultations or a diagnosis over the phone, we welcome questions from our clients. Please feel free to call us by telephone at 519 742-2821, or stop by at our office at 734 Frederick Street, Kitchener (at the corner of Frederick Street and River Road) during our business hours.
At Blue Cross Animal Hospital, we do offer drop-off appointments. Please call to arrange this service. We usually ask that you drop off your pet first thing in the morning. If you can’t stay, we also ask that you bring in a list of any questions or concerns you may have. We will need a contact number where you can be reached in case we need further information, and so that we can talk to you about any treatments before proceeding. We will arrange a pickup time, either when you drop off your pet or once we have discussed any findings and recommended treatments.
f your pet is coming in for a routine wellness examination, the information that we will need from you includes:
What food is your pet currently eating, how much, and how often do you feed him? How often does your pet go to the bathroom? How much does your pet drink? Does your pet ever vomit or cough up hairballs (if a cat)? Does your pet scratch or itch? How often? Do you give your pet any supplements or vitamins? Have there been any changes in behaviour? Does your pet show any stiffness, difficulty walking or stumbling? Do you take your pet to parks, lakes, rivers, the cottage, dog shows, dog parks, etc.?
If your pet has a minor problem that you are concerned about, please make sure you describe the problem clearly, tell us how long it has been going on, and whether you have noticed any specific triggers for the problem.
Unfortunately, we do not offer any in-clinic payment plans at this time. We request that you pay for services provided at the time of your pet’s visit. If you have any questions about our payment policy, please feel free to ask.
We do have the contact information for a lending agency that is willing to provide funds to qualified applicants for their pet’s veterinary care, and can help you with the application process.
Since 2013, we have offered Wellness Plans that can help you budget for your pet’s routine care. Our Wellness Plans are tailored to your pet’s age and lifestyle, and includes unlimited examinations, any required vaccinations, routine preventive medication such as heartworm or flea control, wellness bloodwork, and optional procedures such as a dental cleaning under general anesthesia. We package the Wellness Plan services together and divide the cost over 12 months, charging your credit card with the monthly payment. We do not automatically assume that you will want a renewal at the end of the one year contract.
We recommend that you include the cost of veterinary care in your annual expenses. However, we understand that this sometimes isn’t possible. If you contact us ahead of time, we may be able to make other suggestions that could help you stay within your budget. For instance, some preventive veterinary care can be spread out over several visits. The veterinary team at Blue Cross Animal Hospital do our best to offer cost-effective treatments at reasonable prices so that you can maintain your pet’s health and well-being.
We accept any of the following payment methods:
- Cash
- Visa
- MasterCard
- Debit
To make an appointment with the veterinarians at Blue Cross Animal Hospital, please call (519) 742-2821 during our regular business hours, send us an email at [email protected], or click here to use our online appointment scheduler to request a date and time. Should you use our online appointment scheduler, please be aware that the time you request may have already been filled. We will contact you by email or telephone to confirm your appointment.
734 Frederick Street, Kitchener, Ontario N2B 2B2 (corner of Frederick Street and River Road.
Call the Emergency Veterinary Clinic of Kitchener-Waterloo at 519-650-1617.
Our regular business hours are:
Monday-Friday: 8:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday: 9:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday: Closed on Sunday and on Statutory Holidays.
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