By Laura McAlister
Journal Editor
After running their practice in a small office for more than 20 years, Dr. Hugh Washington and wife Patti decided it was time to hit the road – literally.
About a year ago, the team – Hugh is a veterinarian and Patti a pet groomer – decided to get rid of their Hoover office and trade it in for a van full time. Instead of patients coming to them, the Washingtons now travel to their homes to provide pet care.
While several pet groomers have gotten on board and taken their business mobile, the Washingtons’ practice is the only one they know of in the state that provides grooming as well as basic vet care and services in portable form. Because of that, they named their new practice Get it Together.
The former Met Vet owners said they decided to go mobile for both the pet owners and their furry companions.
“One of the reasons we wanted to do this is I noticed we did have some elderly people who had problems getting to the office,” Patti said. “We also have some dogs that get sick or can’t ride well in the car.”
The Washingtons found a van online that was equipped with a sink with hot water and vacuum cutter for grooming, as well as an examination table and tools and plenty of storage for medications and samples. All the care is done for the animals inside the air-conditioned vehicle.
Although they are limited some with their practice on wheels – Patti said she can’t really handle dogs weighing much more than 100 pounds, and Hugh said pets that need special care would be referred to a specialist – they said the response has been good.
“It works well because we have a window here that you can’t see in, but the pets can see out,” Hugh said. “So they can be looking at their yard and house while we’re seeing them. They’re much more comfortable.”
Pet owners don’t even have to be home when the Washingtons visit, which Patti said has been a big plus for many of her clients.
“Most of mine don’t like to drop their pet off and have to leave them all day if they work,” she said. “You can just leave us a key, and we’ll do the rest. The grooming just takes about an hour, so that’s a big plus – there are no cages.”
There are no waiting rooms either.
The couple takes appointments during regular office hours and arrives at the home at the scheduled time. There is a fee for traveling based on the distance in addition to the pet care.
Though it’s a traveling practice, they said they tend to keep it to the Over the Mountain area.
“The biggest thing is, it meets the needs of the pet better,” Hugh said of the combined mobile service.
“It’s been really fun,” Patti added. “We’ve really enjoyed getting to go to their place and getting to know our clients more one-on-one. We know the people better, and the pets seem more comfortable in their home setting.”
