We do have exciting news, which some of you know or have guessed. Dr. Loomis is pregnant! We’re so excited! She is due at the end of June and it’s going to be a girl.

This does mean some changes in the scheduling for the summer. We still have Dr. Regner and Dr. Page here to see appointments. Dr. Loomis' last day, as long as the baby allows, will be June 17th. She will be out for 8-10 weeks depending on how everything is going. We will be seeing much fewer exotics and no exotic surgeries. If you need anything during that time related to exotics we do recommend Harwood Veterinary Clinic, Blue Pearl Glendale (exotic department), and Brook-Falls Vet -they are all great clinics.

We also won’t be able to do any dental procedures until Dr. Loomis' return. If your pet needs a dental cleaning appointment please schedule it asap so that we can get this done prior to her maternity leave. The first things Dr. Loomis will be doing once back will mainly be dental cleanings to catch up, but better to plan ahead. Both doctors can still see your pet for any dental-related issues and make plans from there depending on the urgency of the situation. Dr. Page will still be doing surgeries (spays, neuters, mass removals etc).

We will also be pausing Saturday appointments during the summer starting mid-May. We’ve done this in the past, and it is a little for our own sanity and also due to scheduling issues. We hope to restart them after Labor Day.

In other news, our long-term tech Lindsey left us for "Up North". She and her husband got a great opportunity and will be pursuing that. Sam, our long-term CSR is also leaving in April. She’s always been an artist and unfortunately for us her own private business is taking off and she will need to dedicate more time to her true passion. We wish them both the best, they will always remain part of the family and we will continue to see them and their pets.

We have made some new hires and we will look to add even more in the near term - you will see them in training over the next few weeks. So say hello to them as we welcome them to the team!

We thank all of you as always for your understanding - Dr. Shana Loomis-Bulgar and Matei Bulgar

Let us start by celebrating being open 2 years!! We opened our doors on March 27th 2019! (Yes, we are a bit late with this announcement...)

Now back to the reality of the past year. And it has been a year… For so many of you, as well as for ourselves, this past year has brought dramatic change to our lives from small to large. What has been clear is that this is most likely a year that will define our world for this generation and possibly longer. When we look back at this past year, we need to realize that with the bad, there was also plenty we have to be thankful for. Thankful that we have such wonderful clients. Thankful that our clinic has not only survived but that we found ways to thrive under extreme pressure. Thankful that we have been able to stay open throughout all this. But we also have to realize that this is by no means all due to our own efforts and we have to again be thankful for a certain amount of good fortune.

Humbled. We have been humbled by the amount of clients that have appreciated our services and took the time to give us a 5-star review on Google. You have no idea how much that means to us, and much more so in this time when we didn’t get to see you face to face. While good for business, it is really good for our souls to know what we do is appreciated. While we are feeling humbled, we also know we can do better. Know that we will always strive to build on what we have and we will always make sure we do not think too highly of ourselves to accept we always need to learn from our mistakes and improve.

We look forward to providing more services to our clients, as well as introduce a new model to our business. As things begin to open up, we hope that we can provide a variety of options. Right now we will maintain curbside appointments, but we do see this change in the not so distant future. And when that time will come, it will be limited.

Our vision is that clients will have an option. We do see the pandemic will most likely still have a few ups and downs, and that we will probably have some level of preventive measures in place for the long term - years at this point. We will continue to offer curbside to anyone that wishes, but we will also create a small incentive to continue to do curbside. It is by far the safest way to do our job, but it turns out most pets are actually doing unexpectedly well once they walk through our doors leaving you outside wondering what is going on with them. When the time comes, and we are not quite sure when that will be, for those that do wish to come in, we will request that (1) everyone continue to wear a mask. (2) There will also be a minimal cleaning charge added. Rooms will need a different level of cleaning between clients, which will require more time and supplies to be able to maintain a safe environment for all. (3) We will also ask that each pet or pets have only one of their humans come in. Our exam rooms are small and there is no way to keep social distance in there. (The exception, as it has been our policy so far, will be end of life care.) (4) Another change will be that your pet will be brought to our treatment area for any procedures. This will limit the time we spend in the exam room, and the number of people that would need to come in and out of the exam. Again, once we move to this stage, we will only be able to have a limited number of "in-person" appointments.

As for more services – we are reaching a good level of demand for the services provided by Dr Jennifer Lorenz and we look forward to continuing to have her at our clinic on a regular basis. Dr Lorenz is our acupuncture, laser therapy, and spinal manipulation specialist. We have also been working with Dr. Bates for Internal Medicine consults. We also started the process of being able to do some orthopedic surgeries in September of last year. It was disheartening to find out that parts we needed to be able to perform such surgeries were not available for more than 6 months. We are happy to announce that we have finally solved those issues and we have an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bergh, that would be able to come to our clinic to perform these procedures at a substantial savings compared to the specialty hospitals.

As we move into the second half of 2021, we will start searching for a second doctor so that we can expand our hours a little, and at the same time continue to be able to provide a good level of service to all our clients. For now we are still able to announce that Dr Maggie Hodge will be working here one day a week starting next week. Thursdays will be her day here! Dr Maggie has owned her very successful practice until recently, and is now looking to get away from the business of it and just do what she loves - provide top quality care for all your pets.

There is a good chance we will no longer accept new clients as we are reaching capacity. We have to be mindful of our existing clients and we need to make sure we can provide good and timely services for all of you. This is a good time to remind everyone that we have a referral program. We will always accept new clients that are referred to us by an existing client. And there is a bonus – a $10 account credit to the person doing the referring! (Note that a new client appointment would still be about 1-2 weeks out, so be mindful if you are referring us to someone who may need more immediate attention.)

We do also kindly request that you make appointments as far out in advance as possible. Appointments get booked up a week or two in advance so we do ask for your understanding, especially if your request is for a routine annual exam or vaccinations.

We will make further announcements on social media as to when we expect to accept a limited number of clients in the clinic shortly. And of course, in any decision we make we will have to also look at the guidance provided by the Milwaukee and Wisconsin Health Departments as well as the CDC. We are also holding our fingers crossed that we might actually have an event or two later this summer or fall because we would just love to see all of you and your fur babies outside of our clinic!

Effective Monday, March 16th at 8 am, only hospital personnel will be allowed inside Milwaukee Vet Clinic. We will be moving to a curbside drop off service. We have made this decision due to an abundance of caution for the COVID-19 disease. We are a small business and we need to keep the staff (only 4 of us) healthy. Lindsey, Sam, Matei and myself, Dr. Loomis are the only staff we have working here. If we get sick we will need to close down our small business for 2 weeks and that could be devastating for us. Understand we would rather sit with you and your pet in a room but at this time we must be smart and proactive. We love our clients, we love our clinic, and want to be here to serve your needs through these tough times.

-How will this work?

You can either drive up next to our door, park in one of our dedicated spots, or if there’s a space in the front park there. If you are walking to our clinic, walk up but don’t come in. Give us a call and one of us will go over any history, concerns, symptoms, or questions you have regarding your dog/cat (just as if you were in the clinic). We will then come out to your car (or persons) and bring your dog/cat into the building to have their exam, vaccinations treatments/diagnostics done. We will call you right back and go over findings and recommendations. This should be all done within the time frame of your normally scheduled appointment. Don’t want to wait in your car or outside our clinic? Then drop off and we can arrange a pickup time later- you will still need to be available to talk to the doctor shortly after drop off, but we will chill with your pet for the day.

Payment can all be made over the phone with Sam or Matei. We are doing our absolute best to continue providing service but in order to do this we need to keep our team healthy and we ALL need to limit close contact with others.

-What if I need a refill or food or supplies?

Give us a call and prepay for your medication or whatever you need! Let us know when you are there to pick up and we will run it out to you or your car. Even better, use our online pharmacy - link below.

-I hear telemedicine is a thing?

It is and we’re ready for that option as well. Established clients can use telemedicine (over the phone, Facebook messenger, Skype, WhatsApp). For a 35 dollar charge (over the phone) we can discuss what’s going on with your pet, and medications can be prescribed for the issue and can be pre-paid over the phone and then picked up. If a video conference is needed, we would provide the details over the phone. If an exam is determined to be needed then the 55 dollar exam charge will be discounted by the 35 dollar telemedicine charge. This will allow individuals at high risk to be able to remain in their home as much as possible.

Again stay safe, healthy, and smart. We will keep you updated as protocols change and hopefully we will be back to normalcy soon!

Milwaukee Vet Clinic
414-310-8997