The Notre Dame Vet Clinic is offering an on-farm vaccination clinic for locals this summer, and they hope to attract more interest.
Mylia Richards, the veterinarian at the clinic spearheading the project, has done something similar with a previous job and said it was highly successful.
“We had positive feedback from people, they said they appreciated it,” said Richards. “Some dogs don’t travel well, some are too big to travel safely in a vehicle, and some people have multiple pets to be done. This just allows them to have easier access at a more reasonable cost.”
The plan is to get multiple stops in one area daily, allowing those participating to split the travel cost, making the overall fee lower than a regular vet call.
“It’s important, especially that rural area pets get vaccinated, especially for rabies,” said Richards.
She said the on-farm vaccination clinic will offer shots for whatever pet owners and their pets need, the most common being for rabies, distemper, Lyme disease, Bordetella, and feline leukemia. Richards will also carry tick prevention, heartworm prevention, and deworming pills. Before getting their vaccinations, all pets will get an examination and check-up. If they find any serious health issues that need to be addressed, the owner can bring their pet into the Notre Dame Vet Clinic without being charged an additional exam fee.
Richards isn’t aware of an on-farm vaccination clinic like this happening in the area yet. She’s hoping to get at least five to six people in an area signed up for each day so the travelling clinic can be worth it. If pet owners need an on-farm call but don’t do it with the travelling clinic, the Notre Dame Vet Clinic will still come, but the pet owner won’t get the reduced mileage charge that comes with it.
Richards said they’d also do horses with the on-farm vaccination clinic, vaccinating them for distemper, sleeping sickness, and West Nile Virus.
“Rabies is a zoonotic, so it’s important,” said Richards, which means the disease is transmitted between animals and humans. “Some of these diseases are potentially life-threatening or very costly to treat if the pets do come down with it. Deworming is also important, especially on the farm, because different parasites they carry are potentially zoonotic.”
The on-farm vaccination clinic has had some interest so far, but Richards hopes to get more before they set dates for it. To get your name on the list, call the clinic and give your name, your pet’s name, their vaccination history, and which days wouldn’t work for you. Then, once a group is booked, the clinic will call to schedule the on-farm clinic appointment.
Richards said that if there’s a positive response in the future, they’ll do the clinic earlier. That way, tick and heartworm prevention will be available earlier.
“I just think it’s a really good opportunity,” she said. “We all love animals and we’d love to work with anybody that needs our assistance. That’s our job. We love our job and pets and livestock.”
