Most new cases are seen by referral. Referral information should be called in or sent to the office by fax by your veterinarian so that our staff will know how to schedule the appointment. For the convenience of veterinarians, referral forms can be downloaded from this website.

Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm.

The owners of new patients will need to fill out an extensive history of the skin condition in order to assist the doctor in making a diagnosis. Please fill out the form regarding your pet's current skin problems to the best of your ability and bring it with you to the initial visit. This information will aid us in focusing on the progression of the disease process over time. If any of the questions are unclear, our nursing staff will assist you in completing the form at the time of the appointment. The history form will be mailed to you prior to the first appointment and can also be downloaded from this website.

Other preparations for your appointment:

1. Bring all medications with you that your pet is currently on or has been on for this condition.

2. DO NOT bathe your pet for at least 7 days before their appointment.

3. DO NOT clean ears or apply medications to the ears for at least 2 days prior to the appointment.

4. Please follow your primary care veterinarian's recommendations regarding other medications your pet is receiving. If you are unsure whether or not to stop a medication, please discuss this with your veterinarian. It is not always in your pet's best interest to discontinue medications prior to your first visit. In some cases, allergy testing may not be done at the initial visit.

5. In order for allergy testing to be done: Oral and injectable steroids need to be avoided for at least 4-6 weeks and topical steroids (ear drops) for at least 3 weeks in cases where allergy testing is being considered. Antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), hydroxyzine (Atarax), clemastine (Tavist) and chlorpheniramine (ClorTrimeton) cannot be used for a period of 14 days prior to allergy testing. Again, it is not always in your pet's best interest to discontinue medications prior to your first visit, please follow your primay care veterinarian's recommendations.

6. Withhold food for at least 8 hours prior to the appointment. You do not need to withhold water. This is so that sedation or blood-testing is possible if needed.

7. Please click here to download, print and complete the patient's dermatology history form.

Patient Dermatology History form (.doc format)
Patient Dermatology History form (.pdf format)

8. If you have any other questions about preparations for the appointment, please call us.

Your initial appointment will be for approximately 45 minutes to one hour. However, you should plan on spending about 2 hours at the clinic with your pet for your first appointment. Dr. Sargent will review the clinical history and any pertinent reports and labwork and perform a complete dematologic examination of your pet. This visit is usually the longest and subsequent visits are usually no longer than 30 minutes unless special testing is being done. Drop off appointments may be possible for recheck visits only.

Diagnostics and treatment options will be discussed and a written estimate will be given for additional testing, if needed. If skin biopsies, intradermal skin testing or other long procedures are deemed necessary, they may be scheduled for another day.

After the completion of the examination and additional testing, we will send a complete report to the referring veterinarian so that your pet's records will be up to date. Of course, while we will follow your pet through the diagnosis and treatment of the dermatologic condition, the continued general care of your pet will remain in the hands of your regular veterinarian.

Fees :

Fees for services are usual and customary charges for the kinds of specialized services offered. In addition to the office visit, there will most likely be other diagnostic tests (cytology, skin scrapings) that will need to be done at the time of the visit. Please ask our receptionist for an estimate of charges for a typical visit. All fees must be paid at the time your pet is seen. Payment may be made with cash, check, Visa, Mastercard, and Discover card.