Compassionate Care in your home or ours

Dr. Samantha Ottinger graduated veterinary school in 2004. After working for other practices for several years, she became very interested in animal behavior and low-stress handling techniques to ensure a more pleasant visit for her patients. She began operating independently as a house-call veterinarian in 2010, and her practice has grown to include more staff, more happy patients, and a clinic in which to perform surgeries and to see special appointments. Dr. Sam’ s Veterinary House Calls strives to give compassionate, stress-free care to your cats and dogs in the comfort of your home. We love to take our time with your animals, feed them treats, and make them feel wonderful instead of fearful during their time with us. In order to keep our patients happy, we examine them on the floor of a safe, comfortable room in your home - no scary tables - and do everything we can to keep fear out of our visits. On the rare occasion that you may need to bring your cat or dog to our office for a visit (rather than stay in your home), we promise to comply with the same standards of care we hold ourselves to in your home. We are more than happy to sit on the floor with Spike or Fido and let them know we’re here to help, not hurt. Of course, any time we go to see a doctor, we know that there may be some discomfort. Dr. Sam works hard to mitigate those situations with lots of love and gentle attention.

Why House Calls?

Veterinary house calls allow patients to be examined in the comfort of their own home environment. This can alleviate the stress typically associated with taking your pets to the vet. Most animals will become stressed after being taken out of their environment, being transported in a car, and then being subjected to strange sounds, smells and people. An animal under stress may exhibit elevations in heart rate, respiration, and temperature, and can exhibit changes in behavior. These changes can mask the symptoms being presented at home or even create symptoms that were not present previously.

House calls are also a benefit to households with multiple dogs and cats. It is much more convenient for a household with a busy schedule to be able to schedule one appointment for all their animals to be seen at once, as opposed to having to pack up everyone and take them in to a veterinary clinic.

House calls are also beneficial to anyone with limited mobility or someone who does not have easy access to transportation.

House calls allow the doctor to be focused on the patient and the client during a visit because the normal clinic distractions are not present during a house call; the overall experience tends to be less stressful, and can even be pleasant, for both the owner and the pet.

Dr. Sam’s Veterinary House Calls and Dr. Sam’s Home Away from Home Veterinary Care strive to bring low stress, caring medical care to your cats and dogs. Our house call practice serves the Lehigh Valley. Our Home Away from Home clinic serves as an additional benefit to our clients.  We offer surgery and some limited appointment hours in this new office in order to provide even more convenient, stress -free care to your fuzzy family members.