Pet doctors’ house calls eliminate hassle of office visits for owners

PEABODY – Lisa Pais won’t easily forget the last time she took her dog to the veterinarian, an excursion that included a stressful car ride and coping with two fidgeting kids in the waiting room for more than an hour.”This is much better,” Pais said last week as two veterinarians clad in blue surgical scrubs methodically checked over her Keesh hound, Jake, from jaws to claws in the backyard of her 1 Dow Road home. “Having the vets come here takes the stress out of the whole procedure. Jake gets his annual checkup and whatever else he needs. And the kids get to see what the vets do to the animal they love.”Dr. Maija Mikkola, 35, and her associate, Dr. Emily Neenan, 27, run Harbor Veterinary House Calls, a unique service for dogs and cats that recently expanded from Boston to the North Shore.”By making house calls, we get to see the animals in their own environment, which is important,” said Mikkola, whose regular clients know her as Dr. Mik. “A lot of animals get very jumpy and nervous when you bring them to a clinic.”According to Mikkola, heart rates and blood pressure often increase in cats and dogs at veterinary hospitals, making it difficult for the medical staff to obtain accurate readings.During the house call to the Pais home, the pet owner’s children Alison, 7, and Jack 4, played with two neighborhood friends as the veterinarians – armed with stethoscopes and two oversized medical toolkits – took Jake’s blood pressure, checked his heartbeat, weighed him on a portable scale, drew a blood sample, updated his lime disease vaccine, and discovered an ear infection.”We can do pretty much everything in the field, even blood work and diagnostics. The exceptions are X-rays and surgery, which would require the owner to take the animal to a hospital,” said Mikkola, adding that Harbor Vets is planning to lease surgical space from a Cambridge veterinary clinic to solidify its comprehensive services. “Pet owners can also go to our Web site (www.harborvets.com) and refill prescriptions at our online pharmacy.”Not every house call goes smoothly as the one in Peabody, where the Pais children actually got involved by trying to assist the doctors. If the animal is agitated, the veterinarians try to bribe with treats. Should that fail, a sedative can be injected. Both doctors have bite marks on their arms, explaining the welding gloves and muzzles carried as standard equipment.”Cats are suckers for treats, but sometimes you have to employ the art of distraction, especially with cats,” said Mikkola. “You can gently shake their head to calm them.”House calls – typically between one and five a day – can range from a simple physical with vaccines to treating an animal for heartworm disease or stomach problems. If necessary, the doctors can euthanize a sick pet and arrange for private cremation.”We love making house calls,” said Neenan, a New Jersey native whose academic resume includes attendance at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University, and veterinary studies begun at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and completed at Ohio State University. “It’s more fun that being in an office and this way you get to meet the animals and the owners where they live. The animals are more relaxed.”Mikkola, who grew up in Michigan and graduated with honors from the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2000, echoed that enthusiasm. “Our whole practice is house calls, and that’s unusual,” she said. “We decided that’s what we wanted to do.”Both Chelsea residents and pet owners with a lot in common, Mikkola spends her days off sailing, kayaking, hiking and playing ice hockey, while Neenan goes rock climbing or exploring the region’s beaches to soak up the sun.The doctors met while working for a veterinary hospital in Lawrence. “I actually interviewed Emily for a job,” said Mikkola, explaining that Harbor Vets was founded shortly thereafter a