Does your ferret need a physical? There's a doctor in the house.

Veterinarians start up new service to care for exotic pets in their own homes.

Sean Gorman, The Journal News June 16, 2004

YONKERS - Kim Marie Hornbeck's dining room seems like an odd place for a veterinary exam. There's no metal examination table or check-in counter, no waiting room with anxious animals pondering their fate. There's just an array of cloth roses and a couple of candlesticks on the table.

But last week, the room was a makeshift spot for veterinarians Laurie Hess and Katherine Quesenberry to provide a check-up for Hornbeck's 2-year-old ferret, Benji. Hess and Quesenberry, who work at the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan, are starting their own veterinarian house-call service, providing preventive care exclusively to exotic pets, such as guinea pigs, chinchillas, rabbits, birds and reptiles.

"A lot of times, the problem with the bird or snake usually tends to be the environment itself, that's the issue."

Benji was placed in a little saucepan to keep him in one spot as they weighed him on a little scale. The wiry critter wiggled around as the vets pricked him to draw blood for a test. For Hornbeck, the service provides the added convenience of not having to take her pet to the vet's office.

"A lot of animals do get stressed when you bring them to the vet. They get nervous. They just know where they're going and they don't get happy," Hornbeck, 33, said last week. "I think everyone would have their own doctor come to the house."

Quesenberry and Hess, who both specialize in caring for exotic species, last month started the new service called BirdCallVet. It provides preventive care for pets in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties, as well as Fairfield County, Conn. Both vets have done house calls in the past for the hospitals where they work and decided to start their own business, Hess said.

"People are so busy now it's kind of easier to have someone come to your house," said Quesenberry, a 47-year-old Ridgefield, Conn., resident. "They may have three birds, two turtles and backyard guinea fowl. ... I think those are the people where this really will be beneficial."

A home visit also helps the vet see the environment in which the animals live, Hess said.

"You can go and see the cage the reptile or whatever lives in. You can see what kind of bedding they use," said Hess, a 37-year-old Mount Kisco resident. "To look at the cage, the temperature, the environment, the husbandry, the diet, there's so much related to the surroundings of the pet that affect the pet's health."

When the veterinary duo went to Susan Corson's house in Greenwich, Conn., last week, they suggested that there be an ultraviolet light for Annalee, a lizard that belongs to Corson's daughter. The vets also examined Corson's parrot, Taco.

"For the dog, I just tell it to get into the car and go to the vet. It's not the same with the bird," said Corson, who is 43. "It would be almost impossible for me to put my huge parrot cage in the car and take it to them (to see) if I'm setting it up right. Is it getting enough light? Is it getting too much? There's a huge amount of advice they can give."

Jonathan Leshanski, president of the American Association of House Call and Mobile Vets, said although there are plenty of house-call vets who provide treatment for exotic pets, he's heard of only one other service aside from BirdCallVet that caters solely to "exotics."

"I hope they thrive. It's a terrific idea," Leshanski said. "A lot of times, the problem with the bird or snake usually tends to be the environment itself, that's the issue."

Hess said she and Quesenberry plan to continue working at their current jobs, while they pursue their new house-call business.

Hornbeck has long had her ferrets cared for by Hess, from wherever her vet's office was located. In addition to working at the Animal Medical Center, Hess also works at the Katonah-Bedford Veterinary Center in Bedford Hills.

"New York City to Connecticut to Katonah-Bedford, wherever she was, I was," Hornbeck said. "I've traveled everywhere for her, so the fact that she said `I have a home service now, I can come to you' and I'm like, `Fantastic.' "

Reach Sean Gorman at sgorman@thejournalnews.com or 914-666-6481.

Whom to contact

For more information on BirdCallVet:

Phone number: 866-EXO-DOCS

(866-396-3627)
Web site:
www.birdcallvet.com