January 2024

Clark's Bark

Hello, Dr. Marcum is passing the baton to Clark (and me) for the Marcum Barkin column. Except my column wouldn’t be Marcum Barkin, would it? So, let's call it Clark’s Bark!

Since Clark is the Chief Happiness Officer and a founder of the practice, he wants me to talk about

We have many things that make our experience for pets and their parents unique and special: Fear Free, VIP memberships, expanded medical team access, urgent and wellness care, advanced treatment modalities, bacon, belly rubs, and so much more. This leads to our great Google reviews, leading to more new clients and business growth.

We also work really hard to make it as easy as possible to provide amazing care. For example, we don’t wait to start offering new treatments to patients (think: Librela, Phovia ,etc.). We also recently added two new tools to make your life easier: Vespecon and Happydocs.

The thing I am most proud of is our ability to continually improve and make those decisions quickly.

We've all worked in other hospitals and businesses where things move at a snail’s pace. It takes months or years to implement change. Sometimes change is scary, but for PetVet365 to lead the profession in innovative pet care, we must be agile and forward-thinking.

It will be our ability to adopt these modalities, implement them into our daily routine, and share the benefits with the clients to make it all come to life.

I am proud of all of us for taking the best care of pets possible - not just doing it the way it's always been done. To keep doing it differently, we always have to ask ourselves “what’s next?”.

Anderson T-Shirts

By Dr. Cathy Lambert

Life is too short for boring T-shirts! At PetVet365 Anderson, we love our custom T-shirts. We have found these custom shirts brighten up both the staff and our clients’ day. Many of our shirts were inspired by holidays or events, and the staff often asks, “Can we have one for the next holiday?” I usually ask the staff’s opinion before finalizing the design, so the final product is a team effort. There are many “twinning” moments when multiple staff members choose to wear the exact same shirt on the same day! I will be bringing my extra shirts to the upcoming doctors' meeting and am happy to sell them to anyone who is interested.

Print Site

Last spring, we launched our very first version of a Print Site. The idea was to provide you all easy access to branded printed materials (think business cards) and swag. This is a tool which will only become more valuable over time. As we continue to grow and increase the amount of orders placed, everything becomes cheaper.

Top five most ordered items…

Here are some ways people use the items…

Hospital Flyers - Hand out at local events or leave with referral partners
Coffee Mugs - Leave for new residents at local apartment complexes
T-shirts - Make great gifts for new team members
Tote Bags - A wonderful ‘thank you’ for a new VIP member

We want to make this tool as valuable as possible. So we’re asking for your feedback (promise it will take less than 5 minutes to complete). We’d love to hear anything you have to say.

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CPS7SVL

Vet School Visits

Many of our partners have been busy visiting different campuses throughout the country to connect with DVM students. Thank you to them and our amazing Student Ambassadors!

University of Georgia

Clark greeted 55 students at the University of Georgia VMBA Fear Free dinner presentation - “Why Fear Free is Good Business”. In addition to some excellent barbecue, there were fantastic questions and some good follow-up emails from students interested in externing with us!

THE Ohio State University

Thanks to assistance from our student ambassador, Kiley Polick, we hosted a lunch presentation about Fear Free Medicine with 60 students attending. The visit went great, with many good questions and an opportunity to talk about Fear Free and managing a practice with the support of very experienced folks.

That night, we treated 8 students to dinner for an opportunity to connect with a smaller group and give info about our organization and about life as a vet in general to tired, worn-down students!

Referral Bonus Program

By Dr. Thom Carlisle

Last year, we launched a Referral Bonus program based on the core belief that you (who knows and cares for our brand) are the most trusted source for finding veterinarians to join our network.

The program is super simple - we’ll pay you $5,000 for any DVM referral that joins PetVet365. We’ve been blown away by the response from you all and wanted to share a recent success story.

Emily Mazellan, Clermont Team Member, recently referred Dr. Dworek, who has become the fourth doctor at Clermont. Here, Emily shares how she will be using the bonus.

“I can not begin to thank you and everyone at PetVet365 enough for this reward. I am so honored and happy that Dr. Dworek is joining our team. I am so proud to work for this company, and I just want to share with you that I had heart surgery 2 years ago. I have had lots of medical bills as a result, and this reward takes such a weight off of my shoulders. My mom has stage 4 cancer, and this reward allows me to book an amazing experience with her.

This company has changed my life; before this I was working somewhere I felt I could not thrive and reach my goals, and I can't express to you how valued I feel here and how much I enjoy coming to work. Thank you so much for this reward.”

If you have any questions or referrals, please email me anytime at tcarlisle@petvet365.com.

Fear Free Tip of the Month

Submitted by Dr. Day at PetVet365 Ross Park

Food is a great barometer of a pet’s stress level. If they won’t eat something that they would normally be super excited about at home, then their FAS is elevated! Make sure to check in with mom and dad during the appointment on if a pet’s reaction is normal.

Wishing you Peace & Joy this Holiday Season

Dr. Pranav Chawla at PetVet365 Somerset

Peace and Joy sounds great! Where can I get me some of that? The fact is that if we're waiting for these to fall in our lap, we'll more likely be waiting awhile. Don't get me wrong, they will indeed come naturally at times, but there is a surefire way to expedite the process, and that's through the active cultivation of peace and joy. Luckily for us in the veterinary profession, doing something often comes easier than waiting around!

How do we cultivate peace? This is a big question, but here are some tips to get you started.

Having a routine that includes quiet time just for you. Whether this means slowly making and drinking a cup of tea/coffee, sitting quietly in meditation, a restorative yoga session, or just lying on the floor, carving out time for yourself is truly priceless.

Mindful breathing techniques. Such techniques are so common these days that they are teaching them to children as young as 3 years old. Trace your fingers of one hand using the pointer finger of the other...breathing in over 1 finger, breathing out over the next. Or maybe you just pause and take a deep breath periodically, say at each red light you hit during your commute or each time you go to use a door handle...feel the moment for one breath fully and let it all go.

Just drive. Speaking of driving, even though most of us do this daily, it can be tremendously stimulating. Who would've thought moving 50mph faster than you can run would be stressful? The truth is that we are simply not evolved for this pace. So, can you just drive? No music or podcast..just drive. Feel the wheel, feel the pedal, the curves, the pace. Make this a practice of focused attention, and watch everything else fall to the wayside.

Give yourself time! Lastly, running late for things actually steals your peace. I can personally attest to this one. If you can too, try getting up and leaving for your appointment way too early and just see what happens. You might find yourself having all kinds of relaxing experiences along the way.

Downregulating. If it's possible, work in a downregulating activity after you get home from work or during a break. Something completely different from what your work is like. Draw a picture. Sit at the piano. Dig a hole. Simple activities that work the other side of your brain are incredible grounding and can allow stress to melt away.

So what about joy? Where does it come from? Well actually both peace and joy come from within us. We simply use different techniques to attempt tap into them.

Take breaks, GET OUT OF THE HOSPITAL. If you're still working through your lunch I've got some great news. Taking your break(s) is a total game changer. Not only will you get your much needed chill time, your quality of work upon returning from your break will be higher, you'll be more effective at your job, and you'll be tremendously more efficient. Try it...I double dog dare you.

Meals and snacks! Taking the time to pack yourself a feast for each work day is one of the most enjoyable things out there. Breakfast, Lunch, and snacky snack snacks! Don't tell my wife, but it's so much better when I do it myself.

Music. It's in our DNA. What is it about music that can make a person run that extra mile? Or cure you of your heartache? Now not everyone has the same tastes, but if you can find some common ground here it will create a fun and happy atmosphere. First ask yourself...What mood am I in? What mood is the team in? Or at home, how does the family feel right now? Then think about the kind of music that everyone needs for the given moment, and just push play. Don't be afraid to switch vibes completely either, say when morning becomes afternoon. Turn it down, turn it up, or turn it off.

Close your eyes. Closing your eyes and bringing to mind something that makes you happy is simple, effective, and will put a big stupid smile on that mushy face of yours. It can be a time you remember laughing with friends, a moment with a little kiddo...or kitty, or your favorite comedy scene. You can do this anywhere, anytime, and any place.

Look for moments of joy. It's a well-studied technique that, if you are actively looking for moments of joy throughout your day, you will find them. And over time, you WILL become happier.

Questions? Happy thoughts? Email me anytime!

Service Dog Plans

In November 2023, we launched a pilot program in conjunction with VCP/Covetrus called Service Dog Plans. This program was designed by Michelle St. Mary at Covetrus to give back to some of the important four-legged members of our community who help serve veterans, police forces, and citizens with mental/physical challenges.

We were hoping to enroll up to 10 dogs in this program before the end of the year - a tall challenge coming in so close to the holidays! We successfully enrolled 4 service dogs across 2 of our locations in about 6 weeks' time. Newport kicked us off by enrolling the newest member of the Dayton, KY police force, Cooper - a young labrador pup who has become famous on Facebook for his daily antics/posts. Cooper will train to learn obedience, therapy, and then narcotics in his partnership with his K-9 officer. It's been fun to see him grow up on social media (and in person for the Newport team!), and his officer tags PetVet365 in his posts as he visits them for his puppy preventive care visits.

Cooper, along with our other enrolled service dogs - Tinkerbell (Newport), Waffles (Brannon) and Jelly (Brannon) - will receive a complimentary VIP plan for 1 year so they may get their routine preventive care for that year at no charge to their owners/handlers, in reward for the work they do. The PetVet365 Owners that have chosen to participate have agreed to raise additional funds to sponsor more service dogs in their communities - $5 of every enrollment fee will be donated towards another plan for another service dog. It's an exciting way to help give back to the community, and to be able to talk to clients about how their participation in our VIP program helps support these dogs in the local area.

We have several more hospitals that are also working on identifying deserving service dogs in their area to participate, and Covetrus hopes to continue the pilot program and offer more sponsorship plans in 2024!

Head to Tails with Dr. Robyn Mercer

Role: PetVet365 Cool Creek Owner

Tell us about your pets: 2 DSH cats: Larry and Fletcher. 3 doggos: Ruthie, 10 yr Mixed and has always been the “old crotchety lady” and 2 wonderful Golden Doodles: Knox and Grover. Yes I love the doodles and yes, I am well aware I paid a ton for mutts. However, they were much cheaper than a family counselor/psychologist 😀

Best Thing about PetVet365: Hope for the future

What do you do daily that brings you joy: Doodles!!! And I try to be very present with each pet and spend a few extra seconds loving on them just for me. (Fear free of course:)

Favorite indulgence: Food (although also my Achilles heel)

What do you want people to know about you: Favorite surgery: vulvoplasty, Least favorite surgery: large breed, overweight spays

Something you would like to give to others: That’s difficult for me to answer…. Maybe, just enjoyment of forming partnerships with clients.

Most used emojis: My kids say I use way too many emojis… so maybe all of them except eggplants and peaches? 🙂

Favorite Dog Treats: Stewarts Freeze Dried Beef Liver

Favorite Cat Treats: Churus

Years as a doctor: Ugh almost 23yrs

Why did you choose to become a vet: When I was 4 years old, my favorite TV show was Emergency 911 an EMTs/hospital dramas and I wanted to be an EMT. At 5 years old I learned about wonderful people that did medicine on animals and I was hooked ever since.

Head to Tails with Dr. Ashley Tan

Role: Partner Doctor at PetVet365 Westy

Tell us about your pets: I have 2 “Pothounds” (mixed breed street dogs) from the island of Grenada where I went to vet school. Titan is a brave, loyal, and cookie (queue head tilt) fanatic. Given how challenging a majority of his doggy life has been he couldn’t have a more fitting name - he has especially been a true titan since his diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma over 1 year ago! Titan is such a great older brother to Arlo, who is the biggest goof. Arlo is 5 years old and enjoys chasing rabbits and squirrels, cuddling, and taking people’s socks off. Cholula (Lula) is my Chinchilla who I’ve had since May. She is a soft, fluffy ball of sweetness who loves her snacks, running on her wheel, and taking dust baths.

Best Thing about PetVet365: Being surrounded by people and team who share a similar mindset in this field. No doubt this is a tough career, but being around so many people who genuinely care about the pets, the people, and each other, makes PetVet365 a standout group of awesome humans.

What do you do daily that brings you joy: I enjoy taking long walks with my dogs and allowing myself to disconnect from reality for a brief period of time.

Favorite indulgence: Reality tv and long road trips

What do you want people to know about you: I can come off as being more on the quiet side, but do enjoy working in smaller groups. I tend to process ideas/thoughts carefully before acting on them (aka over thinker). I am very laid back, a great listener, and an incredibly compassionate person.

Something you would like to give to others: A feeling of acceptance and recognizing that we are all different, but that everyone deserves kindness and happiness in this world.

Most used emojis: 😂💛

Favorite Dog Treats: Freeze dried beef liver

Favorite Cat Treats: Churu

Years as a doctor: 2.5 years

Why did you choose to become a vet: I wanted to have a fulfilling career where I knew I could make a difference in the lives of people and animals. A lot of us were pet owners before we became vets, so knowing first hand how amazing, powerful, and inspirational the human animal bond is makes this career so special.

Open Forums

Don’t forget about our Monthly Open Forums. These are 30-minute calls scheduled every month for you to ask all of your questions and provide feedback. Upcoming Topics:

January: Marketing
February: Recruiting
March: Training

Celebrations

We've added 2 new hospitals since our last edition - there are now 23 PetVet365s helping pets get the very best care!!!

COOL CREEK

Dr. Jeffrey Mills & Dr. Robyn Mercer