House Call Veterinary Services

Thank you Dr K for what you do. I had the heartbreaking task of having to put not just one, but two of my cats down, on the same day. My old guy Sabian had been withering away the last few months, but when he stopped eating on Sunday, I knew it was time. If that wasn’t bad enough, 3 days earlier I had to rush my other cat Tama to the ER because of his struggle to breathe. Sadly, he was diagnosed with a terminal condition and was given a few days to couple weeks at best. A few days was all I got. Devastated is an understatement. On Monday I started looking for in home vets. I knew more than anything the last thing I wanted my kitties to experience in their last moments was to be stuffed in a crate, driven in the car and to take their last breath on a cold steel table. I wanted them home. I called Dr K on Monday afternoon, explained my situation. He was willing to come that evening, but I wasn’t ready, I needed one more night. We scheduled an appointment for Tuesday. He showed up promptly, was very kind and compassionate with me and my babies. Of course the end of the visit means the bill, and while I hadn’t asked when I spoke with him to schedule the appt, I really didn’t care, my kitties best interest was my only priority, I found his billing to be very reasonable compared to others I had found online. When/​if I’m ready for a new kitty again, Dr K will be my go-​to vet.

I am so thankful for this kind wonderful veterinarian. Dr. K came right away on a Sunday afternoon to help us put to rest my 11 year beautiful Maine Coon, Chloe. She had been diagnosed with a lung tumor some weeks prior. Her breathing deteriorated so quickly over the weekend that we needed help right away. Her lungs had filled with fluid over the weekend.
He helped us through the process and was kind with Chloe. I am thankful he helped stop Chloe’s suffering.

Dr. Knasiak is more precious than diamonds, gold, and platinum put together. He definitely loves animals and is very caring. We took one of our big dogs, Chompie, with a bad rash on his side and belly. He immediately correctly diagnosed the problem and prescribed the right ointment and medicine, which he fills in his cozy home office. He is a very friendly and interesting person. I wish doctors for humans were more like him! He is inexpensive, doesn’t push unnecessary tests and procedures. He is honest and trustworthy. He is very experienced and knowledgeable. After seeking a good vet for a long time, we finally found a great one. He’s a keeper! This week, we are taking our other dogs to him for wellness check, shots, and chip. I super highly recommend this wonderful vet. :)

Dr K has been nothing short of amazing with all 4 of our dogs. Managing chronic ear issues in our hound, handling routine vaccines, and even being available at odd hours to help our older dog through a painful illness. His prices have always been reasonable at or below most every very I’ve been to. His knowledge is superior to many vets I’ve met. And his care and kindness has always been calming to work with. I’d highly recommend Dr Knasiak as anyone’s vet!

Last week, my husband and I had to make the very difficult decision to put our sweet kitty down. She was very sick from chronic kidney disease, and had been quickly declining in the previous day or two. We knew that we wanted to make the appointment at home, since our kitty really dislikes the vet (although I’ve not ever known a cat to love it really), and we wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. Our normal vet at Rainier Vet Hospital recommended Dr. Knasiak, and it was a great recommendation.
He scheduled a time in the early evening which was nice so we could both spend time with her beforehand. When he arrived, Dr. Knasiak was a calming presence during a very emotional time. He quietly explained the process, and made sure that we were able to be physically close to our sweet pea and say goodbye to her during the process. It was very quick and peaceful, and such a relief to know that she was no longer in any pain.
Afterward, he explained our options as far as cremation, and whether we wanted to receive the ashes back or not, etc. And at the end, he was very gentle with her when placing her into the box we had decided to use for her. All in all, Dr. Knasiak was knowledgeable and respectful of the emotional situation in which we needed him. If we ever have a need for another at-​home vet (hopefully not anytime soon!), then we will definitely be giving him a call. I highly recommend Dr. Knasiak for your at-​home veterinary needs.

After practically everything we could do to «right» our baby kitty Cosmo, it was clear that his not eating, extreme lethargy, wasting away and intermittent blindness was leading toward the end. He had been in and out of the vet hospital for the last few weeks. The last thing we wanted to do was put him in the carrier, take him for another ride to a brightly lit office and say goodbye. Early Sunday morning we had to make the painful decision to say goodbye. I found Dr. K online and called him. He answered and let us know he was available and would be there a couple of hours later. I have to say that making this decision was not easy, but once Dr. K arrived he confirmed our beliefs, let us say goodbye to our sweet 11 week old boy and quietly administered treatment.
It means a lot that we could have someone come to our house and service us in this time of need. He was compassionate, knowledgeable and understanding. He did not do a «hard sell» on services, and lovingly collected our baby for transport to the rainbow bridge.
Thank you, Dr. K.

I really hate to write a terrible review about this vet, because obviously a lot of other people have had great experiences. This event happened a year ago. And it is still troubling to me what terrible bedside manner this vet had. Our elderly dog woke us up at 4 am with an acute health event. During the 20 minutes we spent watching her deciding if she needed to go to the 24 hour emergency vet in town, her condition severely deteriorated to the point where it was clear we missed the window where we could move her. She was a very large dog, and more than I and my husband could lift while she was writhing in pain. We searched online to try and find a vet that would do middle of the night house calls, and the closest we could find was this company. We called first thing at 8am when they opened.
First mistake: if the person calling is crying too much to talk to you, something serious is happening and you should pay attention to that. I gave the phone to my husband, who was able to explain that our dog was horribly ill and needed help asap. The vet told us he needed to take his child to school and run an errand and he’d be by around 11. That seemed like way, way too long, but was our only option at the time so we went with it. We’d been watching our dog pace, writhe and howl in terrible pain for 4 hours, and neither of us was clear headed enough to make a better plan at that point.
Second mistake: if someone’s pet is obviously dying, you don’t berate them for the medical choices they made with their vet who knows her whole medical and life history. When the vet arrived at 11, our dog was obviously dying. He asked a couple brief questions about her medical history anyways, and then proceeded to tell us what wrong choices we’d made, that our vet was terrible and basically implied it was our fault she was dying this way. She was extremely old and on strong pain medications for arthritis to make her elderly life stage as comfortable as possible. She had had a vet visit 2 months prior, all her labs were within normal limits, and she still had good quality of life up until that morning. Basically, he knew nothing about her health history or the choices we made, and decided that the best way to spend her last 10 minutes of life was to criticize us for how we had cared for her, and say there was no point in putting her down because she was dying right then anyways.
Third mistake: if someone’s pet is dying and you can’t do anything about it, don’t get in the moment and try to make yourself part of it, as if you have some relationship history that deserves to be honored. If there was nothing he could do, he could have offered to get out of the way, so we could spend her last minutes with her. Instead, he crouched up next to her side, wedged between my husband and I, so he could pet her while she died. I really don’t think she would have wanted a stranger with her in that moment. I know I didn’t. If he insisted on staying, couldn’t he have waited on the couch until she was done dying? I wish that my husband and I had had clarity to send him on his way and ask him to bill us for his time when it was clear he had arrived too late.
Fourth mistake: If someone’s pet has just died, and you did nothing but criticize them and get in the way, don’t try to sell them on after life services. Literally, she’d been dead less than 5 minutes, and he started trying to get us to pay him to take her body away.
Fifth mistake: if someone’s pet has just died, wait at least 15 minutes before handing them a bill for your services. If you have an agenda for the day, leave the bill and ask them to mail payment. A home visit vet obviously knows where the client lives, so collecting payment shouldn’t be a problem. If the client is so distraught they can’t find the checkbook, so you’re left sitting on the couch for 15 minutes while they search, don’t look annoyed at how your time is being wasted. DO SOMETHING HELPFUL LIKE OFFER TO LET THEM MAIL YOU A CHECK LATER, when they’ve had time to process their friend’s death.
Sixth mistake: not sending a thank you/​condolence card. I probably would not be this upset a year later, if the vet had had the decency to send a simple note, saying ‘sorry for your loss, I know it was a rough morning, I hope you find peace in happy memories’, or something to that effect. It’s just the compassionate thing to do, especially in a business like his.
Ok, I’ve said my piece. I am in the health care field, and I’ve worked with people and their families around death issues. I know what is and isn’t helpful, and this was appalling. Hopefully my review, while harsh, saves someone else a similar experience, or that the vet himself may even see it, take the time to read it, and perhaps learn something from it about how to handle a situation like this the next time it comes up.

Dr. Kaftanski is very kind and patient and was great with my cat. I needed a last minute surgery and he was able to help me out even though he was very busy and going out of town. My cat was very sick and now is doing much better. I am thankful to have found him and would recommend him to any of my friends and family. Thank you very much!

Found Dr K on Unilocal.Thought it was so great that he offered this service at home. We called him on a Sat morning because our dog turned a corner and it was time. We were so grateful that he was able to come out that afternoon, so we did not have to take him in. Dr K was very professional, friendly and compassionate. Highly recommend!

Dr. Kaftanski is amazing.
All of my cats adore her and to me that’s all that counts. She’s kind, compassionate, has a lot of common sense and knows her stuff.
Thank you House Call Veterinary Service for being there for us!

LENGTHY, YET PLEASE READ… In late January 2013, my rescued older chihuahua (Thanksgiving 2007) had a very bad seizure. We took our sweet chi to an ER vet, where she was stabilized for two days. We then brought her home overnight, but she just wasn’t the same. We stayed awake all night that night (Friday) as she continued to have seizures, then brought her into Rainier Vet first thing Saturday AM (our family has been going to Rainier for over 60 years!). One of the vets examined her and there wasn’t much hope as she mostly likely had a brain tumor and was really no longer with us. I asked if she was in any pain and the vet assured me she wasn’t, so I asked if we could bring her home to say our «good byes». The vet had no problem with this (We were so grateful). They sent us home with some meds to help with her seizures overnight and Dr. «K» info.
We’ve known Dr. Zenon Knasiak (Dr. «K») for many years thru Rainier Vet. I’ve always trusted Dr. K, and always request him to do any surgeries/​dental that needs to be done on our pets. In fact he had done at least two dentals on her; one less than a year before. So I called Dr. «K» on Saturday night and he said he would be available on Sunday and to give him a call the next morning.
We are SO very grateful that Dr. «K» has «at home» services as we wanted our chi to be comfortable and AT home. I couldn’t bear to bring her to some unknown vet, much less being on a stainless steel table as her last memory. (For some darned reason, urgent stuff somehow happens on weekends most of the time… darn it!).
Dr. «K“is one of the most kindest, knowledgeable, compassionate, caring, gentle, honest vets I know. When Dr. «K» arrived at our home, he took his time and listened to us, he sat and petted our baby. He explained what might have happened to her as everything happened so suddenly. He then helped our chi go to the «Rainbow Bridge». Just watching him gently put her in a towel and wrap her to take her told me a lot about Dr. «K». Within two weeks time as promised (actually it was less than a week), we had our baby’s individual ashes back home with us.
As Cynthia stated, «his approach clearly showed respect for her life and my relationship with her. He genuinely cared about me, my dog, and the process of ending her life» is a very true statement. I couldn’t say it any better.
We will always be grateful to Dr. «K». I know it isn’t easy for him either, but extremely thankful in how he does what he does when it’s needed. We will continue to see Dr. «K» and hope that him and his overall services will be around for a very long time. We definitely need more vets like him.
Know you will NEVER go wrong in calling Dr. «K» for ANY of his services. I can promise you that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart if you are reading this Dr. «K».

First of all, call/​text Dr. Zenon FIRST!
10 days ago, I brought my 2 y/​o adopted ShihTzu to Dr. Zenon Knasiak because she could barely walk and was in severe pain. Dr. Knasiak was the most intuitive and compassionate veterinarian, even sitting on the floor with my Moxie and I. He knew exactly, from looking at her posture (without costly X-​Rays, blood work, etc.), that she had inflammation in a disc in her back (probably due to jumping off the bed/​couch). Dr. Knasiak prescribed meds & a very strict «crate confinement» for TEN DAYS. I repeat, TEN DAYS… and I was not taking this lightly, as my household sweetheart could become paralyzed if I didn’t. Today is day 10, & after seeing marked improvement over the last couple days, at day 10 she seems 100% healed. I am forever grateful to have been referred to Dr. Knasiak by a good friend, and am so happy to do the same for other family members of our furry-​friends. I will NEVER, EVER take my pets to another Vet! Please, see Dr. Knasiak FIRST before you take your pet to a «conventional = expensive» Vet.

Dr. K is awesome. He has been available every single time that we’ve needed him. H’s been so kind and patient, not only with our dog, but with us too. He’s spent so much time with us talking about our dog’s history and what we need to look for as she ages. He’s so gentle with her and you can tell that he really cares. He’s the best vet ever.

8 am Sunday morning I called to see about potential euthanasia for my 15 year old black lab– he was able to make it over and give her a full exam and diagnoses. He is very compassionate, understanding and honest, and knows when the time is right, today was not the time.

My dog is ten years old and unable to get in the car anymore, i was looking for a vet to come to the house for a routine checkup. I was amazed at how reasonable the price was for dr K to come to our house, give routine shots and do am exam ! He was so gentle and SO KIND to our dog, i would 1000% recomend Dr K to everyone, even people with younger dogs who want to have a home visit to make it more comfortable for their dog, i just couldnt be more pleased, thankyou Dr K for everything !

When it was time to put our dear 15 yr old dog down, Dr. Knasiak did a wonderful job helping us through a difficult time. We had not met him before, and were relieved to find him compassionate, kind and caring. He was able to come to our home quickly when our dog was going downhill and was very understanding giving us time to say good-​bye.

Dr. Ksaniak is wonderful. When my dog’s condition abruptly worsened, I called him in the morning and he made time for me for me that night. He is calm, compassionate, kind, and knowledgeable. He cared for my dog as if she had been one of his regular patients. He didn’t rush, allowing me to take my time saying «goodbye». His approach clearly showed respect for her life and for my 14-​year relationship with her. He genuinely cared about me, my dog, and the process of ending her life. I can’t imagine a better way to usher a beloved animal out of this world than to have Dr. K’s help.

Dr. Knasiak was great!
I emailed the photos of our dog Misia neck tumor I took with my phone to dr.Knasiak. He diagnosed the condition a few minutes later and got an appointment for a procedure the following day. Although procedure was quite serious our Misia was up and ‘running’ the same evening. Now the hair grew back and she’s as good as new :)
Thank you!