Fees and recipe

Veterinary Alternatives September 2012 Newsletter

New Fee Schedule: As previously indicated, I am revamping my fees to take into account rising gas prices, my new certification, and some new business practices. Most of you will be affected very little if any. I’ve changed my mileage limits, but will grandfather in those of you who are currently active clients. For example, if I’ve charged you my base house-call fee of $60 for under 35 miles, and you were at 32 miles, which now falls into the second level of mileage, I will still charge you for the base. Here are the new fees and explanations for each. If you have questions, by all means, send me an e-mail or give me a call. Please note that my house-call fee is $50, and mileage is now extra for all levels, which makes the basic fee still $60, which is where most of you fall.

Basic house call: this includes a physical exam/Chinese medical exam/chiropractic exam, either chiropractic or acupuncture, and any post-treatment instructions. $50

Mileage (from my home in Cass County): 0-25 is $10, 25+ to 35 is $20, 35+ is $30. Anything over 75 miles or so will be calculated separately. I’ll go to Hawaii if the client pays travel costs 😉

New patient/>6 months since seen– $25 additional. The reasoning here is that new patients OR those I haven’t seen in 6 months require additional time to take a good history, find out about current and recent health issues, examine the diet, and determine the best course of action. Patients getting more regular treatments stay healthier and more stable in most cases, and therefore need a less extensive work-up. The additional charge here is to account for the extra time needed for the new/less-seen patient.

Second treatment same visit–$25. This is for the patient that gets both chiropractic and acupuncture at the same visit and accounts for the extra time needed since I can’t really do chiropractic while there are needles in my patient. This is one area some of you may pay extra since I’ve been doing complementary chiropractic while I’ve been in training. Those I feel need both treatments will be so informed and my clients will choose whether to do both or switch off on alternating visits.

Second patient same visit–$25 plus other add-ons as indicated above. This is for those of you with multiple pets in one household. You pay only one base house-call and mileage fee, then this additional charge for a second pet. If it is a new patient or getting multiple treatments, those charges would also apply. Basically you are getting half-off the second house-call fee, no additional mileage, and all other charges are the same.

Custom diet–$40. This is going up as I’ve determined that the amount of time it takes to prepare 2-3 recipes for a pet, plus intensive instructions and all necessary follow-up, requires more time than my original fee covered. This fee is in addition to the house-call/mileage since I do have to do a thorough exam before I can decide on appropriate diet ingredients.

Supplements vary according to which ones you get. It does cost $10 additional to have them drop-shipped to your home but I can do that with many of them if it is more convenient (like those who live a long ways out in an area I won’t be back in soon).

On-site chiropractic $50—this is my charge for chiropractic exam/treatment ONLY, at participating businesses. Right now I will be at Best Friends Pet Grooming at 130th and State Line in Leawood, KS on Mondays beginning at 11 a.m. until treatments are done. This will start before the end of September. Other locations will be announced as they are arranged, I am close to finalizing a location in Belton on Wednesdays as well. CALL for an appointment—no drop-ins as I will only be there IF and AS LONG as appointments have been scheduled. No acupuncture or extensive consults will take place at these areas, so a house-call would need to be scheduled for that. No mileage fee for these appointments.

(Note: I would like to find locations at vets, groomers, or pet supply stores in Independence, Mid-town, and Overland Park/Olathe if you know of a good clean, professional location and can talk them into giving me a call to discuss it—I must see the location and discuss with the owner first. Please don’t just give me a name and phone number to call cold, you would need to check with them first to determine interest and get permission for me to call.)

Finally, I have added a $1/minute consultation fee to my fee schedule. This does NOT include routine questions during a house-call, the occasional phone call/email/Facebook question, etc. This charge will rarely be used but may be needed for house-calls where the client has a long list of topics to discuss or those that require additional research to answer. Clients will be informed in advance if this charge will be indicated.

Muffin Recipe: Now, completely on another subject, I mentioned this recipe to a client and they asked me to include it in a newsletter. So here you go. It’s for people, but unless you put chocolate in it the recipe is safe to let your pets have a nibble as well as long as you AVOID giving them raisins which are toxic to some animals.

6-week muffins

15 oz. Raisin Bran or other bran cereal

5 C. flour (may use ½ white and ½ wheat if desired)

3 C. sugar

5 tsp baking soda

3 tsp salt

Optional Add-ins if desired—about 2 cups chocolate chips, chopped nuts, other dried fruits, seeds, etc.

1 quart buttermilk

4 eggs

1 C. oil (I have successfully used only 2/3 C. You could also try applesauce instead, let me know if it works)

Mix wet. Mix dry. Combine thoroughly (in a BIG mixing bowl). Refrigerate in sealed container for up to 6 weeks. To bake muffins, grease muffin tin or use muffin papers and fill 2/3 to ¾ with batter and bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

I have made mini-muffins as well, just bake for a shorter amount of time. I think I used 12-14 minutes. You could probably also make as a quick-bread, your guess is as good as mine for baking time but I’d say about 40-55 minutes, use a tester in the center for doneness.

My kids love these—they eat them for breakfast, and it’s super easy to bake as many or few as you need.