Veterinary Tourism Taking Pet Owners from Ottawa to Cornwall Over to Massena NY by Jamie Gilcig 040219

When you have to face a decision too many pet owners deal with the last thing you want to do is worry about cost or questions about whether you’re a regular customer of a vet clinic.

Yet that was exactly what happened to this writer when my beloved cat Sam was ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge. Sam had been a rescue in the year 2000 at which point they said he was between 8 and 10 years of age.

Last year when it was time to give him some peace I tried calling a local vet whose receptionist interrogated me finally saying that if I was a regular client it would be one price and if not a much higher one.

Instead I made a few phone calls and headed over to Massena where my cat was compassionately cared for. My cost, including bridge toll, was about 1/3 of what the Cornwall Vet was asking including the exchange on the dollar. It didn’t matter if I was a regular client or not and I didn’t have to go through grueling questions before Sam was cared for.

All vet services are not alike but in our research we found that Ottawa had outrageous vet fees for simple things like shots, spay/neutering, and other basic services.

Here in Cornwall vet prices are nearly on par with Ottawa for some reason. A few “country” vets in the counties charge a bit less, and some on the Quebec side of the border charge a bit less than that, but when we asked Dr. Wilfredo Perez of Java’s Veterinary Services in Massena his prices he said that most of his fees were posted to his website. LINK

Sure enough they were listed.

Dr, Perez said that he’d been seeing more patients from the Ottawa and Cornwall areas and that Canadians were a growing share of his practice.

It shows that in 2019 it’s important to shop for vets and build strong relationships with them so that they are there for you when you need them.

Crossing the border with your pet is as easy as showing your medical certificates as well.

To reach Dr. Perez you can visit him at the Vet centre located at 10035 Route 56 in Massena NY and of course telephone @ 315 764 8387

2 Comments

  1. Excellent & informative article Jamie,

    The savings are substantial & very easily attained ! Looking over Dr. Perez’s fee list, by buying a full tank of gas, a couple of jugs of milk & a few other articles, the short trip would almost pay for itself ? If more people do this, prices will go down…..

  2. Author

    Not to mention he’s a very nice vet.

Leave a Reply