MAINE, USA — Pets are a big part of American families, a sentiment that continues to grow.
According to a 2024 report by Forbes Advisor, 66% of U.S. households own a pet, which is the highest spike in 35 years. The report also found that 51% of those owners consider their pet as much a part of their family as a human member.
Americans in more rural areas are also more likely to have pets, which in part has sparked a growth in at-home vet care. From wellness visits to euthanasia, concierge veterinarian care is growing here in Maine, and the vets we spoke with say that kind of care is beneficial for all parties.
We followed along on a wellness visit for a new rescue named Yaya. Just three weeks into living at her new Maine home, the greyhound was meeting Dr. Abigail Messina for the first time. Yaya got the full checkup, including a climb onto the scale, coaxed by treats, some poking and squeezing, and a look at her teeth. It's a typical vet wellness visit, but instead of a bright room with an exam table, it all happened in her living room.
"They’re in their own environment," Messina said. "Their parents are there, it's all their own scents, there are no sounds that they’re not used to, so it’s way less stressful for everybody."
Messina works with a Maine company called Vet At Your Door, which is exactly what it sounds like. She and a vet tech travel home to home, offering vet care.
"We can do anything except surgeries and X-rays and really anything that isn’t emergent," Messina explained. "We can draw blood, give vaccines, any kind of injectable medication we carry all the time, and then certainly end-of-life quality of care euthanasia. We do a fair amount of that, too."
"It’s just been nice, it’s been convenient," Yaya's owner, Alex Fram, said about the visits. "They’re not stressed. You’re not sitting in a waiting room waiting to hear something. It’s just all in the house. It’s very comfortable."
Alex and Jess Fram started using the at-home service when their last greyhound, Shadow, needed laser treatment for his joints. They leaned into it more when Shadow needed end-of-life care. Now between their two greyhound rescues and a cat, they can’t imagine care without Messina.
"It’s a whole journey, right? And I get to go through that whole journey with them," Messina said.
"I was experiencing burnout just like a lot of my colleagues and staff, and I thought, 'I wanna make it better for them, too,'" Dr. Dierdre Frey said.
Frey founded Vet At Your Door nine years ago. In that time, the practice has expanded into southern, central, and western Maine with 20 doctors, vet techs, and support staff.
"The first appointment I went to was like, wow. This really is a breath of fresh air being able to talk to people [and] have a cup of tea while I’m looking at their dogs and cats," Dr. Frey said.
With fewer appointments in a day, Dierdre said a typical 15-minute meeting in an office can be anywhere from one to two hours in the home. That’s about five patients a day instead of something closer to 20. Frey said that pace completely changes the face of healthcare not just for their patients, but also for the vet.
"Our goal is to have people be rejuvenated through the day rather than depleted," Frey said. "To really have the emotional bandwidth to have these tough conversations, or just to be able to want to guide people through the right decisions and you know the best thing to do for their animals."
Those tough conversations include knowing when it's time to say goodbye.
We first met Dr. Jason Doll one year ago at an end-of-life care visit through his company, Lap of Love. Word of mouth has traveled enough about the in-home hospice services that they’ve added another doctor in southern Maine, now offering service seven days a week.
Doll told us then, and again one year later, that his move into at-home care saved his career in veterinary medicine.
"Anyone in medicine you go to, there’s so many plates spinning," Doll said. "But to be able to slow down the day to listen and to really highlight the human-animal bond, because I think if you ask any veterinarian that’s why they became a veterinarian, is the human-animal bond."
Both practices admit there are limits to what they can do at home and because of that, they have relationships with brick-and-mortar vets, emergency vets, and with each other. For families like the Frams, that all-around care is so helpful in both sickness and health.
"I can’t recommend it enough," Alex Fram said. "If they service your area, and it’s something that’s comparable with the vet care that you get financially, it’s no question."
To find a veterinarian for end-of-life care near you, click here.
Learn more about Maine Greyhound Placement Services here.