Please arrive ten (10) minutes prior to your scheduled appointment.

If you plan to be later than fifteen (15) minutes, please call and reschedule.

For more information, please see our Appointment Cancellation Policy.

Emergency cases receive top priority followed by clients with previously scheduled appointments. PATIENT ARRIVAL POLICY

For your protection, and that of others, all dogs must be on a leash and properly controlled while in the waiting area or exam rooms. We recommend walking your dog before taking him/her in your car.

All cats must be presented in an appropriate cat carrier. Make sure the door is latched properly to prevent escape during transport.

A few days before your scheduled visit (preferably 1 week), take your carrier out of storage and place it near your cat’s feeding area. Next, leave the carrier door open and put your cat’s favorite blanket and some toys in the carrier so it becomes a familiar part of your cat’s environment. After some time, place some of its favorite foods inside or on top of the carrier. Because the next stressful event for many cats is simply traveling in your car, which always means a visit to the vet clinic, minimize your cat’s fear by taking it for a couple of short rides before the day of your visit. Always make sure they are secured in a cat carrier.

A helpful alternative is applying products such as Feliway Spray to the carrier 30 minutes to an hour prior to placing your cat in the carrier. Feliway pheromones help reduce the stress your cat feels while traveling in the carrier and at the vet clinic. Feliway Spray is available through our VetSource Pharmacy link, which can be found on our clinic website at www.FoothillsAnimalClinicNC.com.

Unfortunately, like other medical practices, we have the occasional late arrival or no-show appointment. When this happens, it can affect every other appointment scheduled for that day, as well as clinic patients requiring medical attention and treatment. To avoid negative impacts to our patients, clients, and staff, we have rules and guidelines to manage late arrivals, cancellations, and no-shows.

Please be aware that our clinic has a late arrival policy. If you are more than 15 minutes late for your scheduled appointment time, your appointment will be removed from the regular schedule. When you arrive, you will have the choice of being added to the walk-in/urgent care service or rescheduling the appointment. While we certainly understand that delays may happen, we have an obligation and responsibility to do our very best to service clients and patients who are here for their appointments on time. We strongly encourage all our clients to arrive at least 10 minutes early for scheduled appointments, if possible, as we have administrative paperwork that needs to be completed. NEW clients should arrive 15 - 20 minutes early to complete new client documents. Please remember to bring a picture ID.

Clients that are consistently late will fall under the No-Show Policy.

When you schedule an appointment and fail to show up or notify us of your inability to keep the appointment time, it impacts our ability to service clients who are already scheduled or waiting to see a doctor. If you fail to show up or notify us about your inability to keep your appointment time on more than three (3) occasions, you will be prohibited from scheduling an appointment unless you prepay a $35 no-show fee to hold the appointment for you. The no-show fee is non-refundable. However, if you arrive on time to the next scheduled appointment, it will be applied to the visit. If you do not arrive on time, or you fail to show up, or you reschedule the appointment, you will forfeit the fee. We recognize that your pet may need medical attention and we do not wish to turn your pet away, but you will be subject to any wait times associated with the walk-in/urgent care service.

If you must cancel an appointment, we ask for 24 hours notice, or you will be financially responsible for the time. If the appointment is scheduled for Monday, cancellation must be done the previous Friday, during business hours. For dental or surgical appointments, we ask for 48 hours notice. If the appointment is on Tuesday, the cancellation must be done the previous Friday, during business hours.

1st Missed Appointment – Our staff will call to ensure the wellbeing of you and your pet, in addition to rescheduling your exam.

2nd Missed Appointment – A $35.00 fee will be applied to your account for missing the appointment or cancelling the appointment with LESS than 24 hours notice.

3rd & Subsequent Missed Appointments – A $70.00 fee will be applied to your account for missing the appointment or cancelling the appointment with less than 24 hours notice.

For a Dental or Surgical procedure – A $140.00 fee will be applied to your account for missing the appointment or cancelling the appointment with less than 48 hours notice. The fee is non-refundable and will not apply to other services.

All fees will need to be paid prior to receiving any new services, prescriptions, or food.

Missing three (3) consecutive appointments or frequent cancellations/schedule changes will result in a prepayment of your appointment(s) going into the future.

We thank you in advance for abiding by these policies and helping us keep our clients, staff, and patients on schedule and safe.