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HOUSE CALLS
FOR. ADO

Dr. Bill Smaller is serving a growing clintele
of family pets who can't always travel to the
veterinarian.

BY ANNE Y. MEYERS
Special to The Jewish News

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

ill Smaller says that he has
wanted to be a veterinarian
since he was bringing home
sick sparrows in his pockets when he
was 6 years old. Now, a quarter of a
century later, Bill Smaller is a Doctor
of Veterinary Medicine, and he still
can't pass by a sick animal — but now
he can pull over in his mobile hospital
and administer proper treatment.
After four years in a traditional
practice, Smaller realized that there
was a need for a house-call service.
"There are many households that need
this kind of service — those with sev-
eral pets, or very large dogs. There are
also older pet owners and handicapped
pet owners and others with transpor-
tation problems," Smaller said.
So Smaller developed a concept
where he could do all of his work on the
road. His first house calls were made
out of a station wagon, which proved to
be inadequate. But Smaller heard of
an Iowa company that manufactured
specialized mobile units. "After sev-
eral phone calls and mail exchanges,
the design for the unit was approved in
February and it arrived in June,"
Smaller explained, resulting in the
creation of Oakland Veterinary Serv-
ices.
The van, fully equipped, cost ap-
p.roximately $55,000. It is 24- feet long
and has an x-ray unit, anesthesia
machine, a complete pharmacy, fur-
nace, examination table and supplies.
With the van, Dr. Smaller began
an association with Dr. Robert Stone
in Southfield because his practice still
needed a base hospital to work from.
The office is used for surgery, boarding
and grooniing.
The only time Smaller performs
surgery in the mobile unit is in an
emergency because Dr. Stone's office
operating room is a more sterile
environment.
The advantages of the mobile van
are twofold. The client doesn't have to
make a difficult trip with the pet, and

Dr. Bill Smaller examines "Lunchrheat" the cat in Smaller's mobile clinic.

Friday, November 9, 1984

25

the pet doesn't have to face an uncom-
fortable ride in the car to an unfamil-
iar environment.
Smaller says that most of his prac-
tice is based in Southfield, Farm-
ington, West Bloomfield and the
Birmingham area. But he does go to
Westland, Rochester, Detroit and
places in between. "I try to have ap-
pointments scheduled on some rea-
sonable basis according to the area,"
he said.
The fees are comparable to those
ordinarily charged for an office visit.
An office visit at the Stone Veterinary
Hospital would cost $15. Smaller's
house calls cost $20.
His average work day is 9 a.m.-3
p.m. He schedules surgery in the af-
ternoon and treats three or four dogs a
day, three or four cats, sometimes a
bird, a horse or a goat. He often sees
clients at night, and then there are
occasional midnight emergencies.
Dr. Smaller uses the latest diag-
nostics in determining what is wrong
with a sick pet. Even with a parakeet,
this approach 'entails checking the
respiratory system and heart rate, and
taking fecal and blood samples.
"The veterinarian needs to be a
radiologist, cardiologist, op-
thamologist, dentist and allergist to
provide complete pet care," Smaller
pointed out, and he can tell many
stories about his patients.
One of his clients owns four
Macaws: On a recent beak-and-claw
trimming call the pet owner let the
first bird out of its cage. The bird pro-
ceeded to open the three other cages
and the pet owner, the veterinarian
and the birds ran and flew in circles
around the house. It was all very
funny," Smaller said.
Dr. Smaller has some equine
patients in the Franklin area. There
are also a few farms where he attends
to cows. There are even a few exotic
monkeys, cougars and lizards in his
patient menagerie.