FAQs
Eno Animal Hospital FAQs
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Eno Animal Hospital FAQs
What is my vet visit going to be like?
It really depends on the nature of the visit, for instance, if you have no concerns at all about your pet versus if your pet has been vomiting and may need medication or treatment.
Please call us when you get here. We’ll either invite you inside to be with your pet during the visit, or you can request a valet visit, where we come outside to fetch your pet from the car.
We’re committed to happy visits, plus Fear Free “victory visits” for our nervous pets. Most of our team is certified Fear Free!
What goes into an exam?
During the exam, your vet puts all his or her expertise, knowledge, and skill to work for your unique fur baby by thoroughly assessing your pet’s eyes, ears, teeth, mouth, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, stomach, intestines, joints, spine, skin, paws, and more.
The best medicine is preventative medicine. We want to catch and treat any health issues early to prevent more extensive, expensive treatment in the future. The exam reveals so much vital information we can use to keep your pet healthy and happy through all stages of life.
Healthy pets under seven years of age generally need an exam once a year. Senior pets, those over seven years old, need an exam every six months—since health issues can develop very quickly in older pets.
If you have a specific concern about your fur baby, please call us at (919) 471-0308 or book a visit on our website. We’re here to help your pet live their best life.
How long is my visit going to take?
A vet visit is scheduled for 30 or 40 minutes, depending on your pet’s specific needs and any health concerns. You may be here a bit longer than that since we want to have plenty of time to take a medical history, examine your fur baby, offer comprehensive care, recommend any treatment, and chat with you about everything! We want you to have the best education to help make the best decisions for your unique fur baby.
Appointments with a Vet Assistant may only take 20 minutes: for a nail trim, a quick vaccination, an anal gland expression, and the like.
What is your cancellation policy?
Please give us at least 48-hours notice when you need to reschedule or cancel anything: a vet visit, an assistant visit, a grooming appointment, a boarding reservation, or surgery. Our entire team thanks you for respecting our time and all we do to help pets!
Proper notice allows us to fill your spot and help another pet. We work hard every day to help as many pets as possible.
If you respect our cancellation policy, you will never surrender any deposit. A deposit is not a fee! It applies fully to your invoice when we see you and your pet.
We only require deposits for surgery, grooming, boarding, and new clients (the very first visit). When you give us proper notice, your deposit can be held as a credit for next time or fully refunded.
If you put down a deposit and cancel at the last minute (within 48 hours) or “no-show,” we will keep your deposit.
Current clients in good standing do not need a deposit for vet visits. If you cancel at the last minute or “no-show” for one appointment, a deposit will be required to book again.
We understand unexpected circumstances arise. Acts of God or true emergencies are exempt; we will use generous discretion if missing an appointment cannot be helped.
We believe in full transparency. You’re our partner in your pet’s care! Find all our policies right here.
Do you accept walk-ins?
No. We operate on a very tight schedule, helping so many pets. Please call us to book an appointment! This way, our team can thoroughly prepare for your pet’s visit and specific needs. We also keep a waitlist so we can call you to book a visit if and when a spot unexpectedly opens up.
We understand a pet problem can arise on the spot. For this reason, we keep a small number of “short-notice” visit spots open every day for sick pets, e.g., pets who are vomiting or having diarrhea. Please understand…#1. These spots fill up quickly and early in the day, #2. We cannot work your pet into our schedule if it’s the end of the day, and #3. We never use these spots for urgent or emergency situations.
We will do our best to see your pet on short notice if we possibly can, as long as the situation is not serious. When other pets are already booked in these short-notice spots, please understand those pets need our care too.
Call us if your pet needs anything. We will give you every option to help your pet. If the situation is not serious, we will book a visit and/or put you on our waitlist. Otherwise, the veterinarian will determine the best course of action.
If the situation is serious, we will triage your pet’s care and refer you to an urgent or emergency care hospital. These facilities have specially trained staff and operate after-hours. Please understand: We are not refusing to see your pet—we give you a referral when it’s the best care for your pet.
Do you treat emergencies?
No. We are not an emergency hospital.
We know emergencies are stressful. We will help pet parents in stressful situations in any way we can. If you think your pet is in an emergency situation, you can call us during business hours. We appreciate that you trust us to do the best thing for your pet.
Please know: In the event of an urgent matter or emergency, we can assess the situation, offer comfort and support, and triage your pet. We will not see your pet in an urgent or emergency situation because we are not an urgent care or emergency hospital.
We love your pet and are not refusing to see your pet—a referral is the best option for any pet in a serious situation. We will refer you to:
UrgentVet
Open 3 to 11 p.m.
1728 Fordham Blvd. #161
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
984-261-2323
Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital (TVRH)
Open 24/7/365
608 Morreene Road
Durham, NC 27705
919-489-0615
Blue Pearl
Open 24/7/365
7015 NC Highway 751
Durham, NC 27707
919-600-6600
Do you accept new pet parents and pets?
When we book your first visit, we’ll create a profile of you and your pet in our system. Please provide your pet’s medical records or a previous vet for us to contact if applicable.
For your very first visit, we require a $50 deposit, which will be applied fully to your invoice when we see you. (Failure to follow our cancellation policy will mean surrendering your deposit.)
All new pets get a full nose-to-tail physical exam to establish care with one of our veterinarians. As vet pros, we’re legally and ethically bound to keep a current veterinarian/patient relationship.
Thank you for joining the Eno family! We look forward to a life-long friendship with your fur baby.
Why do you always ask all these questions about my pet?
Because it’s best care! We really want to get to know your unique fur baby. We’re Fear Free pros who work hard to alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress at vet visits. Be sure to fill out our Fear Free Questionnaire for each pet.
If your pet is new to Eno, we must first establish the essential veterinarian/patient relationship and start care off on the right paw. The more we know about your pet—medical history, diet, behavior, lifestyle, favorite activities, likes and dislikes—the better.
Asking lots of questions helps us make the best recommendations to keep your pet healthy and happy for a good, long life.
When we ask the same questions at each vet visit, our team is investigating. We want to detect any changes, even small ones. Not all changes are bad. We simply want to identify and treat any potential issues as early as possible.
Feel free to tell us anything and everything about your pet! We’re listening.
What if my pet is extremely nervous?
New places and faces are often scary for fur babies. If your pet is nervous, please let us know when you book your visit.
Our team will prepare to be extra calm, quiet, and gentle. We have lots of experience with nervous pets and many hours of Fear Free training to create happy visits. Our team uses proven methods of going slow and gaining trust, often over time, with anxious dogs and cats.
We encourage pet parents of nervous pets to schedule a time simply to come to the vet without any exam, treatment, or procedure. That way, we can give treats and praise in the parking lot or lobby while nothing happens to your pet. We’ve seen this technique work wonders as pets learn the vet can be a safe—even happy—place to go.
If your pet struggles with high anxiety or fear, your vet will prescribe our “chill protocol,” calming medications to give at home before each visit. Pre-visit medication makes visits so much easier for both you and your pet, plus it is safer for our team.
We’re always careful to stay aware of each pet’s mood during the visit.
What does "Fear Free" mean?
Fear Free is an official designation and special certification that denotes extensive training in preventing and alleviating fear, anxiety, and stress in pets. The Fear Free philosophy and its methods were developed by hundreds of experts in behavior, medicine, and handling.
Fear Free prioritizes both physical and emotional well-being. We reward, celebrate, and maximize positive experiences with high-value treats and praise. We go slowly and touch gently. We understand when less is best. We take “no” for an answer. We will not rush or force a pet to do something that escalates fear.
Fear Free involves compassion, collaboration, and nurturing; recognizing signs of fear and taking steps to stop its escalation; keeping an emotional health record; and determining needs versus wants. It often involves calming medication, a wonderful tool to support anxious pets in getting the care they need.
If your pet is fearful, we have ways to help. Ask our team for tips and advice.
When do I bring my pet in for surgery, dentistry, day admission, grooming, or boarding?
Great question! We schedule admission times for these services carefully in hopes we can avoid you having to wait while we manage a busy day helping so many pets. We appreciate your cooperation following our admission times.
The time window of day admissions not involving anesthesia is 8 to 8:30 a.m.
Grooming pets are scheduled specifically for morning or afternoon spa days. Morning grooms should arrive at 8 a.m., and afternoon grooms at noon. Accommodations to arrive at other times can sometimes be arranged with the groomer; please tell us your needs!
Boarding pets who do not need updated vaccines may arrive at your convenience on the reservation day, any time before 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or before 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Boarding pets who need an exam or any vaccine updates must be here by 4 p.m. on their weekday reservation day—we want to have plenty of time to make sure your pet has no vaccine reaction and is perfectly safe well before we close.
Why does my pet have to stay all day?
We offer an option called day admission for a number of reasons. First, so we can see and help more pets! We balance an extremely busy schedule and must serve diverse needs: healthy pets, sick pets, and pets who need specific tests and treatments.
Once our visit calendar is totally booked, day admissions give us time—and allow us the flexibility—to work pets into our day.
Day admissions are also best for certain care, such as collecting sterile urine samples, taking radiographs, running in-house lab tests, and administering heartworm treatments.
Admitting a pet in the morning—and picking them up before we close at 6 p.m.—can be the most convenient option for a pet parent’s tight schedule. We do all we can to find room to see the most pets in a day.
Pets scheduled for surgery or dentistry, which require full anesthesia, must also stay all day: most importantly, so your pet can wake up and recover while being closely monitored by a skilled Vet Assistant. We’ll call you with an update, plus a time for when your pet is ready to go home.
Does my pet really need a teeth cleaning?
Absolutely! Dental care is key to your pet’s health and happiness. Just like you, your pet needs regular dental care to prevent damaging dental disease.
Dental disease is extremely common in pets. It’s painful and can even lead to organ damage, as oral bacteria from plaque and tartar travel through your pet’s bloodstream to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and other vital systems.
We love to enroll healthy pets in our Cleaning Club for an easy annual cleaning at a flat discounted rate, plus at-home dental care products.
Regular teeth cleaning is the best protection against dental disease, and dentistry is one of our core services.
Why does my pet need parasite prevention?
Parasites are gross. Even easily treated parasitic infections are uncomfortable for your pet and costly for you.
Parasites can also be a serious health problem, even life-threatening. It only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to transfer heartworms to your fur baby.
The bottom line is that parasite prevention saves lives. We cannot stress enough the importance of year-round parasite prevention, especially in our neck of the woods, where exposure is high.
Prevention is much easier, healthier, and actually less expensive than treatment. For example, heartworm treatment in dogs is tough, often risky, and very costly. Sadly, there is no treatment for cats infected with heartworms.
We offer a variety of safe, effective products to protect your pet from heartworms, fleas, ticks, and intestinal parasites.
Do you have grooming?
Yes! Our pet parents told us they wanted a one-stop shop, so we have it. Our team is thrilled to offer professional grooming. We adore pampering pets, and Eno pets adore their spa days.
Your fur baby can have a customized grooming package: special shampoo or de-shedding treatment, a classic haircut or full shave, or add-on services like teeth brushing. Ear cleaning, anal gland expression, and nail trimming are always included. Check out our full spa menu for dogs and cats, including prices, right here.
Did you know? We’re one of the only spots in town that accepts cats for grooming! We welcome kitties, especially the very fluffy ones; they need spa days, too.
Grooming can be transformational. Learn all about Eno grooming, including our policies, and see beautiful before-and-after photos.
Do you have grooming requirements?
New pets who have never been here need a full physical exam:
#1. To establish a veterinarian/patient relationship, and
#2: We believe any pet in our care deserves to have been seen by a veterinarian for an annual exam, just in case any health issue arises. We want to be familiar with each and every fur baby we see, regardless of what we’re seeing them for.
Your new pet’s exam can be booked in advance or completed the same day as grooming (schedule permitting). Moving forward from there, your pet will need an annual exam to keep the veterinarian/patient relationship current.
Grooming dogs must be up to date on canine core vaccines: rabies, distemper/parvo, and Bordetella. Grooming cats need to be current on feline core vaccines: rabies and FVRCP.
We want pets to have fun, safe spa days! Our grooming policies help protect pets.
Do you offer nail dremeling?
Some pets do much better with nail dremeling (or sanding down the nails) than standard nail clipping. Your pet can have a nail dremeling as a stand-alone visit with a Vet Assistant or as an add-on service to a vet visit, a groom, or even boarding.
Do you have boarding?
Yes! Dr. Grinstead designed our new hospital with special boarding amenities for dogs and cats.
For dogs, we have rooms of various sizes and 16 spacious runs, plus a fenced-in backyard. Our Cat Suite is private and full of natural light; cat rooms have ledges for sunning or watching birdies, plus cubbies for hiding and quiet time.
Boarding pets stay in these special areas to keep them safe and comfy. Pets have their own rooms and do not actively interact. Since we are not a doggy daycare center or doggy camp, pups do not play or socialize together.
We know it takes trust to board your fur baby. Our team works hard to be your pet’s home away from home! Each Kennel Assistant is highly trained to practice the highest standards of care.
We’re happy to give your pet plenty of love and spoiling, play, and attention. If your pet needs peace and quiet, that’s OK, too. We can usually make special accommodations and will go above and beyond to do what is best for each unique fur baby.
Learn all about Eno boarding, including pricing, and see photo galleries of happy boarding pets.
Do you have boarding requirements?
A new boarding pet needs a vet visit to establish a veterinarian/patient relationship. We believe any pet in our care deserves to have been seen by a vet just in case any health issue arises.
Boarding means pets are near each other in the same environment. For boarding dogs, we require these core vaccines: rabies, distemper/parvo, Bordetella, and influenza. We also require an intestinal parasite screen, or fecal test, to make sure your pup is free from contagious intestinal parasites. For boarding cats, we require these core vaccines: rabies and FVRCP.
