The Doctor Is In…The Driveway

By Colleen Gundlach

Imagine never again having to force your cat, with claws out and tail flailing, into a carrier for a trip to the vet.  What if you never had to retrieve your dog from behind the couch?  Does this sound like a dream?  Local veterinarian Kim Maynard, of Colebrook Road in Norfolk makes it come true with her Litchfield Hills Mobile Veterinary Clinic (LHMVC), which provides home health care for animals.

Dr. Maynard, a graduate of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, came to Connecticut when she accepted an internship in West Hartford, then joined a practice in Fairfield.  There she met and married Andrew Luciano, a high school history teacher. Dr. Maynard had always wanted her own practice, but was “intimidated by hiring staff and by the business end of things.”  She looked into a traveling vet service, but had never found the right location.  Never that is, until Norfolk, which, she says, just felt right.

Maynard set out to design a vehicle that would serve as her office.  It needed to have space for an operating room, blood lab, anesthesia equipment and ultrasound machine.  Dogs and cats, which had to stay with the vet during the day, would require cages in the van, and cabinets would be necessary to store medications.  She presented her design to the Dodgen Company in Iowa, a recreational vehicle (RV) producer, and was soon on her way to becoming northwest Connecticut’s first visiting vet.

In June 2004, on the day she opened the mobile practice, Maynard received a call from Norfolk resident Alyson Thomson, saying that her dog had just given birth.  The litter of Labrador retriever puppies that Maynard helped usher into the world was the mobile vet’s first job in Norfolk.  “I didn’t want to take the puppies out to the vet’s office,” says Thomson, for fear of making them vulnerable. “Kim is very, very thorough.  She is always cheerful and has a lovely sense of humor.”  Dr. Maynard also cares for Thomson’s 18-year-old “very distinguished lady Shih Tzu.” Says Thomson; “it is incredibly convenient,” having Maynard tend to the elderly dog, as well as the others, at home.

Maynard covers the towns of Colebrook and Winsted as well as Norfolk and performs wellness check-ups, immunizations, blood tests, spay and neutering services, and routine surgeries.  Animals in need of observation are placed in cages in the van, and travel with the vet through the day.  Then once stabilized, are returned to their owners. A house call costs between $30 and $40, depending on the distance involved.

At her own home, Maynard maintains an intensive care unit, with intravenous fluid lines, pumps, as well as an X-ray processor and autoclave, which is used to sterilize instruments.  With all of this, she is able to match just about every service a stationary vet’s office might provide, with one very important advantage.  “The animals are more at ease,” she says.  “They are less aggressive because the whole process is less stressful.  They don’t have to go in the car and wait in a waiting room full of other animals.  They are treated in their own surroundings.”

For some time, Maynard handled all aspects of the business.  “I wear all of the hats,” she says, “I do the billing, inventory, and cleaning.”  Early in her practice, she was on call 24 hours a day for her clients but has since cut back to 9 p.m. on weeknights and noon on Saturdays. She is flexible, adapting her hours to meet her clients’ needs and she has recently hired a full-time assistant. Any after-hours emergency calls and all orthopedic cases are referred by her answering service to an emergency animal hospital.

In addition to caring for healthy animals, Maynard is also concerned about an animal’s final moments and offers to perform euthanasia at home. The animal can be held by its owner either in the home, or in the van during this procedure. “It’s just so right for them,” she feels, “not to have to spend their last hours in a strange, stressful place.”

Dr. Maynard is accepting new patients. She is working on a Web site that will be available soon, which will give clients an opportunity to ask questions and to learn more about animal health and wellness.  “Client education is very important to me,” says Maynard.  For more information the mobile vet can be reached at 860-379-9009.

Photo, top, by Becky Lamson. Kim Maynard treats her own cat, Forest, “a pet-store reject with multiple health problems,” in her state-of-the-art van.