Babbitt, Kathleen DVM - Lima Animal Hospital

My family and I would like to thank Dr Babbitt and her wonderful staff for the very kind and sensitive care of our cocker spaniel Freckles. We lost her to old age and an infection which she was unable to fight any longer.We truly believe we had her much longer than we would have had we gone to another vet. We have always had the best care for all 4 of our dogs at Lima Animal Hospital. Dr Babbitt always explains everything in detail and offers us other options. I trust her judgement 100%. Will continue to go there as long as Dr Babbitt continues to practice here. And we pray that is a long, long time! Many, many thanks to Dr Babbitt and her wonderful staff The Weihrauchs Pam Kasey and Taylor

I just want to thank Dr. Babbitt and her staff for the wonderful care my weenie dog Scooter received while rehabing from his discitis. She was very knowlegable and supportive in his care. Scooter is now back to his old self thanks to her!

I apologize about adding another review, but yahoo would not let me reply to a previous reviewer's comment:

Dear Displeased Puppy Owner,

Please let me extend my apologies to you regarding Baylee's last lodging stay. I got a chance to look at her daily care card and it shows that Baylee only stayed two nights with us. Unfortunately, our pet lodging policy is all dogs staying for 3 or more nights receive a complimentary bath and nail trim. This policy has been in effect for over 10 years now. Therefore, you are correct, Baylee did not receive a nail trim or a bath while she was here. I apologize for any communication error on our behalf. We have recently hired several new front desk team members to replace heavily experienced team members, that have advanced in their training and education and have been promoted. This policy needs to be understood by all team members, and I can't thank you enough for bringing it to my attention that it needs revisited by our new team members.

As for the soiled blanket, I am sorry it was returned to you in that state. We generally try to have all doggy moms and dad's items cleaned by Monday morning and it looks like this item slipped by us, either it was in the line to be washed when you picked her up or it was accidentally soiled after her morning walk. We don't expect puppies as young as Baylee to hold her excrement for long periods of time. Even our repeated best long term lodging dogs have accidents in their runs due to excitement levels and eating/drinking/playing schedules. Generally speaking, puppies should be taken out to potty 20 minutes after they eat, drink, chew, or play. If a dog does not eat right away, their food is left in their run with them until they need fresh food (due to the exposure time to air) or they eat. Also, 24 hour access to fresh water in every run allows dogs to drink at their leisure. Even chewing on a toy can be enough to release digestive juices into their systems, triggering the need for urination and defecation. Boarding facilities and doggy day cares can also experience a rash of defecation and urination when just one dog goes potty in their run. This is mostly due to a dog’s strong sense of smell and the hormones, pheromones, and scents emitted by the elimination process. It triggers and encourages other dogs to attempt to mask or cover up the scent of others. And even with the door to the outside open at doggy day care, Baylee still on occasion chooses to potty on the blankets/beds at doggy day care when she comes, due to her excitement level. Unfortunately, not every dog can be walked after each and every drink of water or after playing with a toy in their run. I wish we could provide such a service, however, due to staffing costs, we cannot afford to do so without severely raising prices. We do provide all doggy patrons a morning and an evening walk, clean bedding at least twice a day, fresh food at least twice a day, and continuous water. Several times, our veterinary team walks through the kennels during the day and cleans up any soiled runs/blankets. The dogs do receive an evening check before midnight to ensure their comfort. And, although our hospital is only open normal business hours during the day, there is someone at the hospital in the evenings and on week-ends with the patients.

As for her play time, she did play for the entire half an hour on Saturday and Sunday. I took her in our back yard and played with her myself, since I knew her from doggy day care, to allow our kennel attendants more time to care for other dogs. Unfortunately, due to her young age, she has a somewhat shy and timid personality, which she will probably grow out of with time and socialization. I can tell with her second visit to doggy day care that she had mentally grown leaps and bounds, since her first visit.


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