Meet the Lakeside Animal Hospital Family
Dr. Christina Martin, BSc.H., DVM, MSc.
Dr. Martin grew up in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood. She attended Villa Maria high-school before her family moved to Ottawa. After finishing high-school in Ottawa, Dr. Martin attended the University of Guelph where she completed a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Animal Biology. She then attended the Ontario Veterinary College, completing her concurrent Doctor of Veterinary Science degree and Masters in Clinical Studies. Dr. Martin has been in Kingsville for over 10 years, having owned the Lakeside Animal Hospital since 2014, and has enjoyed being a part of this blooming community. She is trained as a general practitioner providing expertise in internal medicine, surgery (general and dental), preventative health care, radiology, and nutrition. Her particular interests include hospice and palliative care, feline medicine (she loves grumpy cats! no kidding!) and low-stress handling techniques.
When not at the office Dr. Martin is spending time with her husband, Andrew, and their 2 daughters. She enjoys home décor, watching football (Go Pack!) and exploring Kingsville’s foodie scene.
Vicky, RVT Practitioner
Vicky is a full time Registered Veterinary Technician here at Lakeside Animal Hospital. She joined the Lakeside Team in September 2022. Originally from Brantford, Vicky moved to Windsor to take the Veterinary Technician program back in 2016. Graduating in 2018, Vicky started working in the veterinary field in small animal practices.
Vicky loves furthering her education and knowledge, and has taken many continuing education courses in; surgery, anesthesia, dentistry, fear free techniques, and canine rehabilitation. Most recently, Vicky traveled to Alberta to complete a course to become an RVT Practitioner. She is so excited to be able to provide compassionate care while doing routine annual exams and vaccine visits for our patients!
In her free time, Vicky loves spending time outdoors; hiking, camping, paddleboarding and going on adventures with her dog Tucker.
Grace, RVT
Grace started her education in the veterinary medical field at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus completing the Veterinary Office Administration program in 2014. She loved it so much that she went on to graduate with a Veterinary Technology diploma in 2019. When Grace was in school she ran her own pet sitting business on the side as she has always had an interest in animal care. Her other interests include spending time with family and friends, exploring nature, trying out different hobbies, reading, and food. She lives with her boyfriend, Jean Marc their dogs, Reed and Dave and their cat, Marbles. Grace has done education in fear free handling with an interest in keeping animals comfortable during their vet visits. She also has interest in preventative care and cytology.
Mackenzie, Receptionist
Mackenzie is our full-time receptionist at Lakeside, who joined the office in December 2018. Mackenzie was born and raised in Leamington and graduated St. Clair College in 2010 with a diploma in Executive Office Administration. She currently has two cats named Tony & Moo Moo and still often visits her family cat, Phoebe at her parents’ house. Mackenzie’s hobbies include crafting and baking. In her spare time, she likes to spend time playing cards and board games with her family and boyfriend, going on nature walk and creating custom apparel and mugs.
Code of Conduct
This code of conduct serves as a guideline for how our veterinary hospital practices. It is a mutual agreement we abide by with our clients – our promise to you, and your commitment to us. We are privileged to have entered into a Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship with you, and we expect both parties to treat this relationship with the utmost respect.
| Our Promise | Your Commitment | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | We will be respectful of your time. We will communicate the expected time allotment for your appointment or pet’s procedure. If we are running behind schedule, we will do our best to update you regularly. If we are running significantly behind schedule, we will offer to reschedule. Should an emergency occur which would prevent us from honoring your scheduled appointment, we will give you as much forward notice as possible. | We expect you to be respectful of our time. Please arrive to your appointment on time (no earlier than 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start). Please give us as much notice as possible should you need to reschedule, and at least 24 hours notice to reschedule surgical procedures. Allow for sufficient time to complete the appointment: you should allow for approximately 15 minutes for Admit and Discharge appointments on the day of surgery. |
| Appointments | Our appointments are scheduled to be anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes in length, depending on the nature of the appointment | It is ideal that the individual involved with decisions related to your pet attend the appointment in person. Time spent with the doctor or technician to discuss a plan, provide opinions and insight is valuable and will incur a fee. |
| Walk-ins | We do not accept walk-in appointments. This means that we will not delay your pre-booked appointments to accommodate non-emergency walk-ins. | Please call in advance to schedule appointments. |
| Emergencies | Emergencies are triaged based on the nature of the emergency and staff availability. Our trained staff will help determine where your pet will receive the best care. As we are a one-vet practice, should our doctor be in surgery or occupied with another urgent case, we would refer you to our local emergency hospital | Please call ahead in the case of an emergency during regular hours, so that we can direct you for the best care possible for your pet. |
| After hours care | We do not provide after-hours care. We do provide an after-hours triaging service and have a very close relationship with our local emergency hospital and ICU. | If you require after hours care please contact SmartVet 24/7 virtual pet care at 1-888-243-1411 or the Walker Road Animal Hospital at 519-972-9000. |
| Style of practice | We are a low stress practice that emphasizes individualized care. | Please ensure that we suit your needs, training principles and general views on healthcare. This is important, in order for us to establish mutual trust. |
| Referrals | We will not hesitate to discuss or recommend referral to a specialist when we deem it appropriate. The entire team works on referrals. We will submit all the information required to the specialist as soon as possible and without delay. | It is important to know that referral to a specialist is always an option. Should you be interested in having a consultation with a board certified specialist, please let us know so that we can arrange for this. If you would like to decline referral, please also let us know this as soon as possible, as most referrals involve a significant amount of time from the team to complete the required documentation. |
| Phones | We strive to provide you with the best customer service possible. Our receptionists will take time to answer your questions, direct your call appropriately and listen to your concerns. | If we do not pick up the phone, it is because we are assisting another client in person or on the other line. Please leave us a detailed voicemail and we will return your call as soon as possible. It is also possible to contact us via email or texting. |
| Texting | We provide a texting service to increase convenience for our clients. | It is important to understand that medical advice cannot be provided by reception via phones or text message. We reserve the right to recommend an appointment with the technician or doctor if appropriate. |
| Payment | We promise to provide estimates prior to surgeries and diagnostic tests; and upon request for annual examinations, rechecks, or booster appointments. We will answer any questions related to this estimate, provide options when possible and discuss potential outcomes. | Payment in full is required at the time of service. For appointments, this is at the time of checkout. For surgeries, this is at the time of discharge. Please let us know as soon as possible if there are financial concerns regarding the estimate provided. While we always strive to provide the best care possible, but understand that the financial commitment to a pet is often stressful. We will work with you to determine a plan of action that is best for everyone. |
| Safety | We take our safety, your safety, the safety of the team and of your pet very seriously. This may mean that trained technicians may restrain your pet for an exam or procedure. This also means that muzzles may be used to avoid bite injuries. We provide a judgment free space! We understand animal behaviour, and an animal’s fear response is never judged. We will use stress free techniques and desensitization whenever possible. | Please let us know as soon as possible if there is something that your pet is afraid of, or dislikes. If your pet is likely to bite during the appointment please also let us know. |
| Respect and Communication | We will respect you. We promise to use language you can understand, minimal medical jargon and provide a judgement-free space where we can discuss your pet’s healthcare together as a team. | We expect that personal insults, swearing, shouting, and bullying will not be used when communicating with our staff. Should this be the case, we reserve the right to discontinue our veterinary-client-patient relationship. |
| Prescriptions | Written prescriptions are available for many pharmacy items. Outside pharmacy prescriptions are prepared by our doctors and incur a fee. | Please request written prescriptions when desired. Please allow at least 48 hours for written prescriptions to be available. |
| Compounded medications | Some prescriptions can be prepared by our compounding pharmacy – this is a service provided by our practice to formulate medications into palatable chews or liquids. | Allow for AT LEAST 1 week for compounded products as they are special-order. |
| Prescription refills | We work as quickly as possible to fill prescription requests. Sometimes we require doctor approval or need to order in a product for dispensing. | Please call at least 48 to 72 hours before you require a refill on your pet’s prescription. |