Frequently Asked Questions

To open an account with us, you must be at least 18 years of age.

CHAI does not accept payment plans. Payment is due at the time of service with no exception. We gladly accept cash, major credit cards, and Care Credit as payment.

If for any reason you cannot make it to any appointment that you schedule with us, please let us know so we can fill the appointment slot with another pet in need of our services. We are happy to reschedule for you as needed! If you do not call and fail to show up for your appointment on your initial visit to CHAI, you will not be allowed to book with us again in the future.

We work really hard to be respectful of your time. We will strive to start your appointment quickly and work efficiently but thoroughly for you and your pet. Please be on time for all appointments to keep our schedule moving as smoothly as possible. Late arrivals will incur a non-refundable fee of $15 at each occurrence. Repeated late arrivals will result in removal from our client list. These restrictions are in an effort to allow your pet the time they deserve while also ensuring every pet receives the same time and attention.

We appreciate and value our clients and understand that caring for a sick pet can be extremely stressful for a pet parent. We will strive to be respectful and professional with you and your pet at all times. We also ask that you are respectful and professional with our doctors and staff. We highly value our doctors and staff as well, and cannot allow them to be demeaned, embarrassed, belittled, or made to feel threatened by our clients. We are here to help you and employ people who want to care for you and your pet to the very best of their ability. Our valued staff includes our retail staff, reception staff, medical department staff, and doctors. Conduct that is rude or offensive will not be permitted at CHAI and we ask that you fully understand that while our clients are extremely important to us and we have every intention of exceeding all expectations in our quality of care and professionalism toward you and your pets, our staff is equally as important to us and it is our duty to ensure they feel cared for as well.

Going to the vet is scary for some pets and we get that! A scared pet is very different from an aggressive pet. Most scared pets can be worked with using many of the Fear Free techniques that we provide and most of the time can learn to trust us over the course of a few visits as they learn that we will do everything we can to make them feel safe. We welcome scared pets who need a little extra time and effort to feel safe! When a pet is so afraid that they cannot learn to trust us and instead will bite as a first response to fear, the pet is unfortunately not a candidate for care at CHAI. We commonly offer training recommendations for those pet parents and have seen amazing outcomes as pets go through a training program to overcome some of those fears. We have seen many pets back at CHAI after training with incredible results. We want to be able to help every pet who comes to us but there are some who need to be worked with at a level that we simply cannot. If you would like recommendations for trainers in our area, please let us know. Aggressive pets who lunge at our doctors and staff, attempt to actively bite, and who create an unsafe working environment for our doctors and staff, are not accepted at CHAI. If our staff cannot safely work with a pet, or if the medical staff cannot safely place a muzzle onto the pet in order to protect themselves, that pet is not a candidate for our services. CHAI is a referral, integrative medical facility that offers alternative care for pets with chronic disease processes. These services require close contact for long periods of time. Pets who are aggressive cannot be worked with on the same level as non-aggressive pets and it is a disservice to both our client and the pet, as well as a danger to our staff and doctors, to allow them as patients.