Client Services Specialists

Whether you are calling the Animal Clinic of Sturgeon Bay or walking in the door, you will be greeted by our friendly Client Services Specialists. Each of them have the skill and knowledge to assist you in arranging for the veterinary care your pet needs. Importantly, each of them have gained a high level of compassion for pets and people by personally experiencing what it means to have a pet that is a deeply loved member of the family.  

The Client Services Specialists are the vital link between the clients, veterinarians and veterinary assistants of the Animal Clinic.  They help clients in a wide variety of ways including scheduling appointments, as well as procedures such as laboratory testing, radiographs, surgeries, and, when appropriate, referrals to veterinary specialists. They can also be a great source of information about Animal Clinic services, fees and policies.  If you have a question about your pet's health, they will be very willing to obtain an answer for you from Dr. Kurschner, Dr. Grota, or Dr. Laurent. 

Veterinary Assistants

It would be impossible for the veterinarians of the Animal Clinic of Sturgeon Bay to provide a high level of veterinary care for thousands of pets if it were not for the skills and knowledge of our dedicated team of veterinary assistants. Within the Veterinary Assistant Team, individuals have developed skills in surgical assisting and anesthesia monitoring, laboratory technology, radiograph processing, patient monitoring and care, and examination room assistance.

During surgeries, the veterinary surgeon and a veterinary assistant are with the patient every moment from induction of anesthesia through the surgical procedure and anesthetic recovery. The veterinary assistant is trained to electronically and physically monitor the patient for heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen level, temperature, and overall anesthesia level. Following surgery and anesthetic recovery, the patients are transferred to our recovery area for continued monitoring by veterinarians and veterinary assistants. Similar to nurses in human medicine, Veterinary Assistants under the direction from a veterinarian, provide a valuable service to patients by monitoring vital signs, assessing pain management and administering medication. The post-surgical monitoring is continued until the patient is dismissed to the owner several hours later.

At the Animal Clinic of Sturgeon Bay, a wide range of laboratory testing is performed as part of wellness care and disease diagnosis for our patients. Veterinary Assistants are trained to perform many of these blood, urine and fecal tests. For some tests, Veterinary Assistants prepare specimens for testing at Marshfield Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, and other laboratories.

For many illnesses and injuries, radiographs (x-rays) are the primary diagnostic image. Our Veterinary Assistants are trained to take and process radiographs. Then, one or more of the veterinarians will view and assess the radiographs as part of diagnosing and treating injuries and disease in our patients.

In the examination rooms, Veterinary Assistants are vitally important in managing dogs and cats with care and compassion as an examination is performed by a veterinarian. The Veterinary Assistant helps to calm and comfort the pet so that the veterinarian can make accurate observations and assessments of the patient as well as discuss their examination with the pet's owner. Often, it is obvious that our patients sense the Veterinary Assistant's love and compassion for all dogs and cats. The connection that is made is invaluable in veterinary medicine.