Cat calls and doghouses: Harbor Vets make house calls for downtown residents

by Sandra Miller

CAPTION: One of the many pets that is seen by Harbor Veterinarian House Calls. If you’re in the West End, maybe you’ve seen Paula Zingarelli walking her sphynx cat, Kojak, in a kitty carriage, around Charles River Park. Well, Kojak needed a new veterinarian, when their former vet could no longer make home visits. Zingarelli noticed that one vet also had a sphynx, so they chose Harbor Vets House Calls. “Since they are not your usual pet, a lot of vets do not know about them,” she said. “That drew me to them.” Harbor Veterinary House Calls is run by Dr. Maija “Dr. Mik” Mikkola Curtis, 35, and Dr. Emily Neenan, 27, who launched it in April for dogs and cats around Boston and surrounding areas. They had both worked at Johnson Veterinarian Hospital in Lawrence, when Curtis had an idea to do a house call service. Neenan described working in an animal hospital as “very removed and cold and sterile.” They wanted to work together, and since then, they’ve been building their house call service. Zingarelli invited the two vets over for a meet-and-greet. “I thought it would be a good way of meeting them to see how they interacted with him [Kojak],” she said. The two spent a while just getting to know Kojak, then Dr. Mik asked if she could hold him. “His heart was racing and you could tell he was afraid, but within a few minutes he calmed down and she just held him in her arms and he just stayed there,” Zingarelli said. “I was very happy and impressed with them.” Caring for pets in the home is not only a way to avoid overhead costs, but it’s also a more humane way to treat pets that are often confused and stressed at the steel counters and strange, rival animals at the vet’s office or hospital. “It’s incredibly rewarding,” said Dr. Neenan. “We get to spend more time with customers.” Home vet visits offer convenience for families who can keep their kids at home, their pets in a comfortable environment, and even get several pets seen at the same time, for a discounted rate. Plus, you get two doctors for the price of one, they emphasize. “Some pets get motion sickness on the car ride. That’s not the best way to start a visit,” said Neenan. “They aren’t stressed out. If there are behavior issues, like the cats are destroying things or going outside the litter box, it’s easier to decipher what’s wrong.” She added, “We have the kind of services we’d want with our own pets.” "Dr. Mik" has two cats, Bella and Dante, and two dogs, Charlie and Dodger. Neenan has two dogs, Lily and Finch, and a cat named Monk. The two make about one to five visits a day, which means fewer patients but more patience with pets. “We have more time to see them,” she said. “It’s a totally different mentality. It’s incredibly flexible for everyone involved.” Services include nail trims and shots, ear cleanings and de-wormings, and new kitten and new puppy packages. The prices are comparable to vet office visits, because the vets have no overhead or administrative staff, but they do charge a travel fee also. They come by with the car stocked with supplies, a prescription pad, and if the problem is more serious, usually they’ll do triage on the phone before they visit, and send the family to a nearby pet hospital, such as Angel Memorial. In the worst case, they are equipped to put the pet to sleep in the home. “Most people that we see are grateful for the extra time and effort we put toward their pets, the convenience of our service and the time we take with them to be as complete as possible,” said Neenan. “We help them understand what is going on with their pets- from managing chronic diseases to preventing them from occurring in the first place.” Zayna Gold, program director at Newbury Street’s Boston Body Pilates, is a self-described “Brangelina of the animal world,” who recently adopted two cockapoos, Cookie and Brownie, and two Siberian cats, Mischa and Cinda. Soon after, she called up Harbor Vets for some education and “handholding”. “Emily has been so patient with our new animal kingdom,” said Gold. “The first month, I was paranoid about any little thing, and she came over and treated them with so much knowledge, and she did not make me feel ridiculous at all.”