A new mobile veterinary service has launched in Taupō, focusing on making preventative pet healthcare more accessible.
The idea behind veterinarian Dr Abigail Mitchell's mobile veterinary vaccination clinic has a number of influences.
The Californian-born, New Zealand-trained vet was familiar with the concept in her home country, the United States, though the idea really took off in her head after seeing the struggles an elderly client had in getting her oversized cat into the vet clinic.
"She had to organise a friend to come with her and during the consultation I ended up finding out that she lived not too far away so I offered to come to her next time, because it was such an ordeal and a physical and logistical feat," says Mitchell.
"I realised that it takes quite a bit off of people's plates if you can come to them instead of expecting everyone to be able to make their way to a clinic with animals."
Abigail was also keen on having some flexibility in her schedule, which left more time for her to be with her young son.
"It seemed like the perfect time to try it out."
Her Taupaws Veterinary Vaccination Clinic aims to make preventative animal healthcare affordable and accessible.
Those who have mobility difficulties, the elderly or disabled, are one group in particular she wants to help.
She can also offer services like a nail trim, microchipping, and flea and worm treatments.
In three weeks she has treated nervous animals that dislike a trip in the car and been able to help a lot of multi-animal households.
For people who find it difficult to get to the vet during business hours, she is looking to stretch her time to be available after work or on weekends.
Seeing an increase in the number of cases of canine parvovirus was another push.
"It's a really horrible and sometimes fatal disease, and part of that increase was just the affordability aspect of getting preventative vaccination in the first place, so I'm trying to make it easier and more affordable for people to do that.
"Vaccination significantly reduces the numbers of cases and the severity. It's quite contagious, at a clinic we would come out to the car in full PPE, to make sure it doesn't get passed on.
"In a lot of cases, once the dog gets parvovirus, it's thousands of dollars to treat so it becomes even more of a financial burden. And it's heartbreaking for people should they not be able to do that for their animals.
"So, I'm trying to target the people who weren't vaccinating."
Editor's note: You can contact Taupaws on 027 TAUPAWS (027 828 7297) or on Facebook
