Firstly, some good news…
There are lots of different coronavirus, including one in dogs and another in cats, but this is NOT Covid-19. At this stage there is still no evidence that dogs and cats can be carriers of this human disease, or that they can become sick with it themselves.
Pet owners should always use good hygiene practices, including hand hygiene before and after handling animals and food. People in self-isolation, or infected with Covid-19, should be particularly careful with what they touch. Otherwise, we do not believe there is any reason for pet owners to be concerned about their pets, or the level of contact with their pets.
And of course our pets still need our care. All Macarthur Vet Group clinics will remain open to care for your pets when you need us.
We are staying abreast of developments, and taking precautions to protect our staff and clients. This includes an upgrade to our normal cleaning, disinfection and hand-washing procedures and reductions in contact between staff from different clinics. Otherwise, it’s business as usual at this stage, and we welcome your pets to visit us. We will practice social distancing where possible, so don’t be offended if we don’t shake your hand!
We’re all being asked to stay at home when we can, so you might want to consider having just the one person accompanying your pet to the vet. We do ask that if you are self-isolating/distancing, have returned from overseas in the last 14 days, OR are showing any symptoms of cold, flu or other respiratory diseases, that you contact us by phone to discuss alternatives/precautions BEFORE visiting the clinic.
This is a constantly changing environment and we will continue to review and update these policies, to ensure the safety of our staff, our clients, and our patients. Please refer to our website and Facebook pages for updates.
If you have any questions or concerns surrounding the safety of yourself and your pet within our clinics, then please don’t hesitate to speak to a member of our staff.
Kind regards,
Peter, Cath, Steve, Natalie & Kirsty.