The snake bite victim, a cat, had the full attention of Fur Life Vet clinical staff throughout Friday as the sole animal in the $1 million facility made a slow and steady march towards stabilisation.
Fur Life Vet Shepparton opened on Friday, March 12, only hours after construction crews had wrapped up in the bright teal building next to PetStock on Benalla Rd.
The first patient through the door came a day later, a Tibetan spaniel named Sherpa who'd been brought in for a checkup.
NSW and northern Victoria manager Kate Howison said Sherpa was a former patient of local vet Rob Bonanno.
“The owner couldn't wait to see Rob again, he's very well known in the area,” Dr Howison said.
“Rob is our ProDairy vet but he also helps out in the clinic, we also have Katherine Lang from Tatura and Jonathon Hipwell from Kyabram.”
The site has 12 staff on the books across three vet positions, the ever-important nurse, vet-tech roles and reception.
“All of them are super-experienced and live locally,” Dr Howison said.
“We've got great support from our network of clinics in Kyabram, Nathalia, Finley, Echuca and Cohuna.”
The Fur Life Vet brand, which is run by the Bendigo-based APIAM group, is a rural and regional-focused animal health chain.
The original building on Benalla Rd was rebuilt from scratch by APIAM last year.
Dr Bonanno said it was great to have a purpose-built clinic rather than a re-fitted home.
“We got to say, `right, we're building it from scratch, so what do you want?'" Dr Bonanno said.
“We've got a separate dog and cat waiting area now, separate dog and cat consultation rooms and the dog runs and cat hospital are apart. When you're a sick cat you don't want to be sitting there staring at a dog.
“We've also got an isolation ward for any contagious cases like parvo, a pathology ward so we can do blood tests in 14 minutes rather than sending it off and it taking two days.”
The clinic also features its own dental room.
“Dental work is booming,” Dr Bonanno said.
“Animals are living longer and they don't get as many bones to chew.”
The site also features a quiet, darkened room with couches and rugs, for families to use when euthanasing pets.
“We've built it with a separate door so people can walk straight out into the carpark when they're ready, rather than bawling their eyes out through the waiting area,” receptionist Julie Bonanno said.
With the arrival of a Fur Life Vet location in Shepparton, the door is also open for animal owners to jump on a new membership program.
For $550 a year, pet owners can receive unlimited free consultations, a free dental scale and polish (each year), a free complete blood screening (each year) and 10 per cent off all medication, plus more.
“Free consultations and the free blood screening means we're able to catch things early, or on day one, rather than people putting off the vet visit because of the cost and landing themselves in a very serious situation,” Dr Bonanno said.
The bright teal clinic can be found at 190 Benalla Rd, Shepparton, next door to PetStock.
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