Hospital Boarding

What is hospital boarding?

Hospital boarding refers to a boarding stay at HAH where your pet stays on the hospital side of the building rather than in the conventional boarding facility portion. If your pet is determined to need care above what could be performed by kennel staff in the standard boarding area, the doctors may limit your pet’s boarding eligibility to “hospital side only.”

Although we pride ourselves on working as a team, a different set of staff is employed to work on the hospital side versus the standard boarding facility. In the hospital area, the staff is more knowledgeable about medical conditions and their treatments, including specialized techniques and monitoring parameters to keep your pet safe and comfortable during their stay.

Does it cost more to board on the hospital side?

It follows that if your pet requires more devoted and intensive care than the average boarder, additional costs would apply. This helps us to retain the superbly qualified staff your pet needs.

What types of situations require boarding on the hospital side?

Although this list is by no means exhaustive, some common examples of cases where your pet may be limited to boarding on the “hospital side only” include:

- Heart or respiratory disease
- Liver or kidney failure
- Advanced osteoarthritis (or otherwise significantly limited mobility)
- Recent surgical procedure
- Extensive medication list or intensive treatment regimens
- Seizures or other neurologic issues

Who determines whether my pet requires hospital-side boarding?

Our team of professionals works together to determine your pet’s needs and relative risks during a boarding stay. Your pet’s needs may have simply outgrown the care the kennel staff can provide longer. Ultimately, it is the decision of our veterinarians whether your pet requires hospital-side boarding and, in some cases, whether your pet remains a candidate to board at HAH in any capacity.

I was told that my pet could no longer board at HAH, even on the hospital side. Why is this, and what does that mean?

Though our staff works tirelessly to provide care for all pets present here at HAH, the staff that is assigned to care for your pet during their hospital boarding stay is the very same staff that is managing hospital cases (including those in the ICU), appointments, surgeries, and technician services during open business hours. This means that it is impossible to monitor your specific pet at all times, which may leave him/her in a more vulnerable position for short periods of time.

Our team rounds the hospital wards frequently, checking on all pets therein and providing care as needed. However, if our doctors believe that it is too risky to leave your pet unattended during even these necessary brief intervals, we will restrict your pet from boarding with us altogether.

In these situations, please understand that our goal is the same as yours- to provide the level of care required to help decrease the chance that your pet’s health declines in your absence. You might, instead, consider having a friend, family member, or independent pet sitter come to your home (or take your pet to theirs) to provide more consistent one-on-one care. When this option is utilized, you eliminate the stress of being in a busy foreign environment and decrease the chances of your pet picking up any additional illnesses while here (we are a hospital, after all)! You can, and are encouraged to, give consent for that caregiver to authorize the treatment of your pet at our hospital in your absence, should the need arise. Please call us before your departure so that we can obtain accurate contact information and documentation of details/decisions regarding care and costs authorized during that time.