North County Cat Hospital
Patient Check-In
During
COVID-19
This page relates to the check-In procedures that we developed in response to the pandemic.
COVID-19 Protocol Options:
We are relaxing our strict COVID protocols for our clients who want to come inside but we are keeping them in place for those who prefer to continue to maintain social distance.
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Option 1:
If you are not showing signs of COVID and want to come inside, you can.
Option 2:
If you want to stay outside, please call us at 760-758-6228.
Important points.
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All cats must be in a carrier. Cats left on our table without a carrier may leave and harnesses may fail so there are no exceptions.
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We don't carry on conversations with our door open. All conversations should be over the phone.
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If you have something more to tell us, please do it over the phone.
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If you call us and then ring our doorbell, we may ask you to call again.
If you are staying outside, we try to do all of our talking on the phone:​
This is because:
Our door can't stay open.
We have cats in here and CAN'T have an open door.
It is noisy outside.
It is difficult to hear each other while staying six feet apart.
There is risk for you outside.
People walking along the sidewalk will oftentimes disregard the pandemic and walk right next to you.
Our medical records are on our computer network.
It is helpful to us if we can access our computers while speaking to you.
If you want to stay outside but plan to come here without a cell phone, please tell us ahead of time so that we can take the extra steps needed.
A potentially confusing thing that we do:
This may seem weird and may be annoying but:
When you get to our parking lot, if you want to stay outside, please call us.
If we don't answer, please ring our doorbell.
Then look for us through the door and when we wave at you, please call us again.
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We know you just called.
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We'll answer this time.​
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We are sorry for the inconvenience.
To leave your cat with us, this is the sequence that works the best:
1 - Communicate with us:
It works best if we do all of the "check-in" before you leave your cat here.
This is done over the phone.
This can be done when you are still at home or when you are in the parking lot.
The check-in includes:
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You give us the important information regarding your cat.
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We discuss things that we might recommend.
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Together, we come up with an initial plan for your cat.
2 - Leave your cat's carrier on our little table:
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Make sure that we know you are here. When you see use through the door, place your cat's carrier on our little table.
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If you want, we can come to your car to bring the carrier in. We will ask that you walk away from your car when we do this so that we can safely approach.
3 - Step away from the table:
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Please step away so that we can open the door and retrieve the carrier.
At this point, we shouldn't have to communicate further. We'll wave but that's about it.
If you forgot to tell us something, please call again. We really can't start an in-person discussion with our door open.
