Zoo, Exotics and Wildlife

Here are some things you should know before arriving for your pet’s appointment with the ZEW Service at the Atlantic Veterinary College.

• The ZEW Service team includes Dr. Lara Cusack (Wildlife/Zoo/Exotics Veterinarian), Fiep de Bie (Certified Wildlife Technician/Certified Wildlife Rehabilitator), a registered veterinary technician and a Zoo, Exotics, and Wildlife Medicine specialty intern.  Behind the scenes, the wider hospital team provides additional veterinary support, including rotating interns, primary care and specialty veterinarians, as well as support from a wildlife health specialist from Parks Canada.  Student volunteers and summer students are an integral part of the animal care team.
• For scheduled appointments (non-emergencies):  We will send you a detailed history form to complete and return to us ahead of your appointment.  We ask that you carefully complete this form and provide us with as much detail as possible to help us to assess your pet/animal.
• As well as a completed history form, supporting documents such as photos of enclosures, videos of the animals, and samples of their diet/food from home can also be very helpful.
• Preparing your pet for their appointment:  Both transporting your pet to the hospital and the new environment where you visit the veterinarian can be stressful for many animals and this is particularly true for zoo, exotics, and wildlife species.  Many of these animals are prey species by nature which means that they mask signs of illness and stress.
• In order to minimize stress on your animal, here are some helpful guidelines:
  • Please make sure to bring your pet in a carrier or box to ensure that they are safe during the car ride and transport into the building.
  • Provide appropriate thermal support for small and juvenile (i.e. babies) animals and for all reptiles.
  • For wildlife species, avoid talking and playing the radio during the ride to the clinic and any time you are in close proximity to the animal.
  • For wildlife and animals that are not used to being handled, cover the carrier or box with a towel or blanket in order to minimize visual stimuli.
  • If you are unsure of the most appropriate method of transport, please feel free to call ahead at 902-566-0950 for advice.
• For emergency appointments:  Where possible, we ask that you call ahead at 902-566-0950 so that our teams can prepare for your pet.  When the Exotics Service is unable to provide emergency services, your animal may be seen by the Small Animal Primary Emergency Service.
• Fasting: For the majority of our appointments, the Zoo, Exotics, and Wildlife Service does not require patients to be fasted prior to their appointment.  If your pet does need to be fasted you will be informed of this ahead of your appointment.  Otherwise, please ensure that your pet has eaten before it’s appointment as many small exotics need to eat almost constantly.
• Food: Please bring several days’ worth of your pet’s regular diet in case they need to stay overnight.
• Medications:  Please continue to give your pet any medications as prescribed by your family veterinarian.  Please bring all current medications in their original bottles with you to your appointment. 
• How to be referred:  Your family veterinarian is well suited to helping arrange a referral to the AVC’s Zoo, Exotics and Wildlife Service since they are familiar with your animal’s history and medical needs and are often making the initial assessment that a heart issue may be present. Your family veterinarian will discuss with you if referral to a veterinary specialist is recommended for your pet.  If you choose to proceed with that option, your family veterinarian will contact us to provide all of the necessary information and to request an appointment.  Our Client Services representatives will then contact you to schedule your appointment date and time.  Breeders seeking heart clearances on their breeding animals may arrange these types of appointments directly with the AVC Cardiology service through the Client Services team.
• Appointments for clients without a family veterinarian:  If you do not have a family veterinarian, you may book an appointment directly with the AVC Zoo, Exotics, and Wildlife Service through the Client Services team at 902-566-0950.  You will be provided with a species-specific History Form to complete in advance of your pet’s appointment.
• Medical Records: We require your pet’s previous medical records in order to fully evaluate their condition. Your family veterinarian will send your pet’s records to us without the need for you to do anything. If your pet has visited more than one veterinary clinic for the current condition please arrange for all records to be sent to us.
• Payments:  At the Atlantic Veterinary College Teaching Hospital we accept debit cards, most major credit cards and cash.  If you have any questions about your payment options please contact our hospital for more information.
• Insurance:  Do you have pet insurance?  If so, please bring your policy details with you for your appointment.  If not, we encourage you to research pet insurance, which can help ease your financial worries for your pet’s unexpected healthcare costs.
• Financing:  The Atlantic Veterinary College Teaching Hospital works with PayBright to offer our clients low-cost financing support.  Please visit the PayBright website to learn more about what financing options may be available to you.

• What is a teaching hospital?

As the teaching hospital for Atlantic Veterinary College veterinary students, our goal at the AVC-VTH is to provide exceptional veterinary care to your pet while also providing clinical teaching and instruction to our senior (final year) veterinary students, interns and residents.  Students participate in many aspects of examining and treating our patients under the immediate supervision of our licensed veterinarians and board-certified veterinary specialists.  Incorporating teaching into your pet’s appointment does take additional time, but our clinical care team do their best to provide prompt, efficient service within the hospital’s teaching environment.  As the only institution in Atlantic Canada educating doctors of veterinary medicine, teaching is essential to our hospital, however the well-being of our patients remains the highest priority for our clinical care team.

In addition to educating our students, our specialty services also provide advanced clinical teaching to interns and residents.  These are licensed veterinarians pursuing additional training to gain advanced competency in a specific area of veterinary medicine.

The AVC-VTH is a multi-disciplinary hospital.  Our Zoo, Exotics and Wildlife Service works in conjunction with other specialty services within our hospital including radiology, small animal medicine, anesthesia, surgery, as well as our diagnostic laboratory, to ensure that your pet has access to the best in specialty care, diagnostic testing and treatment.

• • What to expect during your appointment?
    • The ZEW Service clinical care team includes Dr. Lara Cusack (Wildlife/Zoo/Exotics Veterinarian), Fiep de Bie (Certified Wildlife Technician/Certified Wildlife Rehabilitator), a registered veterinary technician and a Zoo, Exotics, and Wildlife Medicine specialty intern.  Behind the scenes, the wider hospital team provides additional veterinary support, including rotating interns, primary care and specialty veterinarians, as well as support from a wildlife health specialist from Parks Canada.  Student volunteers and summer students are an integral part of the animal care team.
    • A senior veterinary student, a veterinary technician and/or ZEW specialty intern, dedicated to your pet during their visit, will greet you and your pet upon your arrival and bring you to an examination room.
    • They will discuss your pet’s condition with you, including asking questions to obtain a full medical history. If you have completed the history form in advance of your appointment (these are emailed out ahead of your appointment), then staff will review the details with you.
    • A full physical examination on your pet will either be performed in the exam room or the ZEW treatment room, dependent on the condition of your pet as well as the equipment needed.
    • Your pet’s assessment may take some time while we perform physical examinations, review medical records, and analyze previously performed diagnostic tests. Students and/or the intern on the case will leave to meet with the rest of the ZEW team to discuss their findings and analysis.
    • Once this is completed, the ZEW team will return to meet with you and discuss and explain our findings and recommendations with you.  Important topics that will be discussed are which tests to perform and why, what our expectations are regarding your pet’s health status given the information known so far and expected costs for the day.
    • To be thorough and to fully understand your pet’s condition so that we can make better recommendations, you may be asked questions that you have already discussed earlier in the appointment or with your family veterinarian.  Please be patient during this process and remember to ask any questions that you may have so that we can understand all of your concerns about your pet or the options discussed.
    • We will then take your pet to the ZEW treatment room to begin the agreed tests or treatments.  The length of time needed for tests varies depending on the nature of the tests. In most cases, there is time for you to leave the hospital to have something to eat or go for a drive, or to return home if you live locally.  Depending on the tests required/recommended, it may be necessary for your pet to stay in hospital overnight in order for tests/procedures to be completed the following day. We will let you know how long the tests are expected to take and at what time we would like you to come back to the hospital to discuss our findings.
    • Later the same day, we will either call you or meet with you to go over what we have found. Our goal is to answer your questions and tell you what we know. We will send you a written report via email a few days later, and a copy of that, and our test results, will go to your family veterinarian (if you have one).
    • Our expectation for every visit is to review the past medical history, review materials sent to us by family veterinarians (X-rays and results from past blood tests, for example), complete an expert examination of your animal, perform diagnostic tests as needed, explain the results to you, discuss and prescribe medications as needed, and follow up with a complete summary of all of this.
    • If your pet needs to stay in the hospital overnight, the discussion will cover immediate needs and goals, and longer-term expectations and options. We plan to be in contact with you regularly (at least once a day) during any hospital stay. We encourage you to tell us what you understand, what your questions are, and what your expectations and concerns are. It is our goal to help as best we can in every situation, realizing that means different things for different animals and different people.
    • We realize that your time is valuable and we make every attempt to schedule diagnostics and treatments in a timely manner.  As a hospital that treats critically ill emergency patients, we do occasionally have to postpone scheduled diagnostics or procedures.  As with human hospitals, we will always work to care for the needs of the most urgent patients first.
    • Our hospital is staffed 24-hours a day by veterinarians and registered veterinary technicians so your pet will never be alone and will be closely monitored and cared for any time of day or night.

• Do I have to leave a deposit and how are payments made?
  • The clinician responsible for your pet will discuss all of the recommended diagnostics and treatments and will review with you an estimate for your pet’s care.  We understand that each pet and client is unique and we will work with you to determine the most appropriate options for your family.
  • This estimate will cover a range because some elements of your pet’s stay may vary, such as the treatment and length of hospitalization, depending on what they find and how your pet responds to treatment.
  • Before we can proceed with your pet’s diagnostic and treatment plans, you will be required to leave a deposit of 50% of the upper range of the estimate.
  • If changes are recommended to your pet’s care plan during their hospitalization, you will be provided with an updated estimate and may be asked to top-up your deposit amount.
  • The remainder of the balance will be due at the time of discharge.
  • Payments:  At the Atlantic Veterinary College Teaching Hospital we accept debit cards, most major credit cards and cash.  If you have any questions about your payment options please contact our hospital for more information.
  • Insurance:  Do you have pet insurance?  If so, please bring your policy details with you for your appointment.  If not, we encourage you to research pet insurance, which can help ease your financial worries for your pet’s unexpected healthcare costs.
  • Financing:  The Atlantic Veterinary College Teaching Hospital works with PayBright to offer our clients low-cost financing support.  Please visit the PayBright website to learn more about what financing options may be available to you.