North County Cat Hospital
North County Cat Hospital
- Caring for Cats -
If you are coming in for the first time...
Information For You:
Information For Us:
Information for You:
Finding Us:
We are on the corner of College Blvd. and Oceanside Blvd. in Oceanside, CA
If you are:
Heading south on College Blvd.:
Turn left onto Oceanside Blvd then take the first right.
Heading north on College Blvd.:
There is an entrance into the center just after the railroad track but it's easier to turn right onto Oceanside Blvd and then take the first right.
Heading east on Oceanside Blvd.:
Drive past College Blvd. and take the first right.
Heading west on Oceanside Blvd.:
Take the first left after Arroyo. There are two left turn lanes; stay in the right most one.
About Our Parking Lot:
You can park just in front of us for more than 30 minutes without being towed, despite what the signage says.
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At night and sometimes at lunch time, the parking can be problematic. If you aren't able to find a convenient spot, just let us know. As long as your cat is in a carrier, we can come out and help you carry them in.
Parking spaces nearest the front of the hospital
Some of Our Preferences:
Our goal is for your cat's visit in to be safe and helpful with as little stress and fear as possible.
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Cat Safety - Carriers:
We ask that all cats arrive in carriers. It's safer for the drive coming in, and usually less stressful for the cat. Even if they hate riding in a carrier to come here, most cats love going back into the carriers for the ride home.
If your cat hates their carrier, it might be worthwhile to get a new one and accustom them to it. You might also consider antianxiety medication to help your cat be less fearful. We can't prescribe anything for a cat we haven't seen but your previous veterinarian might be able to.
There are a lot of choices in cat carriers.
Arrival time:
We ask that you plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early to find us and to fill out / finish up paper work.
Stress Reduction:
There are a number of things that we do to minimize stress and there are a few things that you might do.
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Feliway is a comfort pheromone that, if sprayed in the carrier, can help a cat relax.
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Medications from previous veterinarian can help with fear.
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If you want us to treat with antianxiety medications when you come in, please let us know. We use primarily benzodiazepines (valium-like drugs).
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Appropriate carriers can help a lot.
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Allow us to remove your cat from their carrier. In part we want to observe them at rest, before we handle them, and in part we want to minimize stress when removing them from the carrier. We are very good at taking carriers apart and putting them back together. (Altogether, we have more than fifty years of experience with carriers.)
Your Safety / Our Safety
We don't allow clients to restrain their cats for the exam. This is in part for your and our safety and in part to allow us to be more thorough; the exam and all procedures are a team effort. (This isn't to try to take control of your cat away from you. If at any point you want us to stop, just tell us.) We are very good at holding cats with minimal stress.
We ask that you not try to comfort your cat by reaching out to them. A lot of times it helps to calm them but it can also make them more stressed by making them feel boxed in.
Also, please keep in mind that while humans tend to be proactively aggressive, cats are reactively aggressive. They don't think about their aggression ahead of time at all. If they are afraid, they just react and sometimes they accidentally hurt their friends. Even if it is one in one hundred that your cat will bite or scratch you, that percentage is too high.
Payment
In part to reduce costs and in part for regulatory reasons, we don't have a billing system.
Payment is expected at the time services are rendered.
We accept common credit cards, check, cash and Care Credit.
Hours
We are open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on most weekdays. But a veterinarian is not always here and is often times in a procedure. Please do not just "show up" with a cat. We may not be able to see them and, especially if it is an emergency, it may be harmful to the cat.
Information for Us:
Client and Patient Forms
There are four options for you to give us information about you.
1: You can fill out our online forms: our "Client Information Form" about you and our "Patient Information Form" about your cat(s).
2: You can fill out similar forms on paper ahead of time. These are in the form of downloadable PDF files: "Client Information Sheet" and "Patient Information Sheet".
3. You can fill out these same forms on paper when you get here (no need to download).
4. You can tell us the information when you get here and we will fill out the forms for you. If you decide to use this option, please let us know ahead of time.
About the use of the term "Owner"
There is legitimate controversy about the correct term to use for the person responsible for the pet. The organization IDA is adamant that the word "guardian" should be used. The organizations AVMA and AKC support the word "owner". The ASPCA seems to use both terms randomly. PETA seems to use "owner" when they talk about negative stories and "guardian" with positive stories.
We use the word "owner" on these forms when describing you, the person, because that is the term that everyone understands. Please feel free to cross out that word and replace it with whatever word you feel most comfortable.
Medical Records
If you will be bringing in a cat who has been seen by another veterinarian, especially if you are coming in for a 2nd opinion, we ask that you bring in or have emailed or faxed to us all medical records, including laboratory tests and doctors' notes. We recommend addressing this at least two days before the scheduled examination. We always like to review records before seeing patients and most veterinarians take at least a day to get records transferred.
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Sometimes people bring in previous receipts in lieu of records. These aren't as helpful.
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Our email address is cat@nccat.com and our fax number is 760-631-6716
Stacks of folders.
Your preferences.
If you have any requirements or preferences, please let us know. Anything from time constraints to help carrying a carrier in.
