Due to the overwhelming number of daily emails that are received, we have implemented the following communications policy.
CURRENT CLIENTS – If your pet is in distress or may be experiencing a medical emergency, please do not email us.
Call 42-531-8899 option 1 for immediate assistance MONDAY-FRIDAY 8am-6pm.
NOT A CURRENT CLIENT OR OUTSIDE BUSINESS HOURS? – Contact your nearest emergency veterinary office.
The medical department email address is chaihealing@gmail.com. Please use this address for communications regarding current patients as all other email addresses are not continuously monitored during business hours. This email address should be used only when necessary to relay important medical information to the medical department or to answer questions that we have asked you via email. This email address should not be considered a means of bypassing proper channels in scheduling appointments or for asking general questions.
CHAI does not schedule office or phone consult appointments via email. Please call the reception department at 423-531-8899 to schedule all appointments.
Technicians will not answer detailed medical questions via email. Medical questions are most appropriately addressed with a doctor. If you feel your pet may need to see a veterinarian, please make an office appointment.
If you are unable to schedule an in-office appointment and are an existing client, CHAI also offers telephone consultations for patients who have been examined by one of our veterinarians within the last 90 days. Telephone consults must be booked in advance and are $60 for each 30 minutes. Telephone consults will end sharply at the scheduled ending time with no exception as each appointment that exceeds its allotted time, imposes on the next scheduled appointment.
Emails and phone messages regarding to non-urgent issues will receive a response in 1-5 business days. Please refrain from using the medical email as a means of constant or ongoing communication. The medical department email address is to be used for sick patients who are in need of care and not for conversational dialogue. If you feel you need to have a conversation about your pet, please make an office appointment so time can be allotted to focus on your needs and keep the lines of communications open for pets in need of immediate assistance. Lengthy emails or phone messages that require veterinary involvement or are found to be excessive will be assessed a fee of $30 to help offset veterinary staff time and appointment disruption, at each occurrence.
All prescription refills should be requested via the website at https://chattanoogaholisticvet.com/ by selecting the refill tab and not via email.
Please know that CHAI’s communications policy is in an effort to provide the highest quality services to patients who are present in-office at any given time and to also improve the quality of communications to our valued clients. We cannot continue to allow scheduled office appointments to fall behind while managing emails and phone messages concerning non-urgent matters. Dividing the doctor and staff attention between in-office patients and client communications imposes an unfair burden on everyone and places patients at risk. Because of these issues, we will organize time for each activity based on urgency.
