Dr. Shannon James, DVM, PLLC

Veterinary Relief Services

“A helping paw!”

Fully Licensed and Insured
Licensed in NY,CT,TN, FL

sjames323@hotmail.com

Rates (Effective August 1, 2023)

Rates have been adjusted to accommodate an increase in hospital case loads along with an increase in demand for relief work over the past year.

1. Minimum 8 hours billed per weekday.
2. Minimum 5 hours billed per weekend day.
3. Rate is billed in 15 minute increments
4. After the first 8 hours, time and a half will be charged for each additional hour.
5. A copy of the hours worked will be provided with the invoice.

There is a travel charge if traveling more than 30 miles from my home.

Note Regarding Hours:
Hours begin at the start of my shift and end at the conclusion of my shift.

Holiday Hours:
All Sundays and holidays are charged for at the holiday hourly rate. Christmas holiday rates apply for all dates booked from December 24th - January 1st.  

Breaks or Lunch breaks in the Schedule:
A minimum of a 1-hour break for lunch where I can physically leave the hospital is required for every 8-hour shift (9-5, etc). This break will be charged and is accounted for when calculating my hourly rate.

Out-Of-State jobs:
For any out-of-state jobs I ask that in addition to the hourly rate, the hospital reimburse me for travel and lodging.  This usually includes airfare, rental car and Airbnb rental in the immediate area.  Depending on the amount of travel necessary to get to your state, an extra day on either end of the locum position may be charged if I am physically unable to work for another hospital during those days due to travel logistics.  These expenses will be submitted to you in a separate invoice to be paid separate from the per diem work invoice.

For any job that requires licensure in a state that I do not already have licensure in, I ask that that job reimburse me for licensure expenses in their state.

Cancellation Policy:
I understand that sometimes circumstances denote that scheduled work needs to be cancelled. Any cancellations made outside of 14 days prior to the booked date will not incur a fee. However, any cancellations made within 7-14 days days of the agreed upon schedule will levy a half day minimum charge unless that date is rebooked. A good faith effort will be made on my own part to rebook any cancelled dates. However, it can be difficult to book specific dates on short notice. Therefore, any cancellation made less than 7 days prior to the date of work will levy a full day charged. This policy is discretionary and will be applied on a case-by-case basis.

If an out-of-state job is cancelled and the airfare/rental car/and Airbnb has already been reserved, I ask that the hospital reimburse me for whatever charges I incur with cancelling these reservations.

Note Regarding Euthanasia's:

Please be advised of my policy on euthanasia's.  As a per diem doctor, I will only perform emergency euthanasia's and not scheduled euthanasia's. Emergency euthanasia's are ones that are clearly suffering and/or in extreme discomfort and CANNOT be helped by medicine or further workups.
I respectfully request that euthanasia's are not scheduled with me and are scheduled with their usual veterinarian.

About Me

I was born and raised locally, in Westchester County, NY. I attended veterinary school at the University of Tennessee and enjoyed 5 years of living in beautiful East Tennessee.  From there, I traveled to Austin, Texas and worked at a busy small animal practice alongside three wonderful veterinarians.  Although I loved my job and friends that I had made while living there, I returned to my hometown in order to be closer to family.  There, I worked as a full time associate at a busy practice in lower Westchester. Although I have ventured off onto my own as a full time relief veterinarian, I continue to work there per diem in order to continue caring for patients that I have been seeing throughout the years.

I have years of experience in small animal medicine and four years of experience in full time relief work. My flexibility allows me to adapt to each practice’s needs and medical record systems to help their practice continue normal operation while their full time veterinarian is away.  I have always had excellent feedback from clients and fellow coworkers and work well with others. I pride myself on the quality of medicine I practice as well as my cheerful attitude and my ability to adjust to a variety of different situations relatively quickly.

Aside from being a veterinarian, I am also a wildlife rehabilitator.  I fell in love with this aspect of animal care when I was completing my exotics and wildlife rotation in veterinary school. I knew that helping wildlife was something I really wanted to focus on in my life and I have been fortunate enough to do so.

If you would like to follow some stories about the wild animals I have saved, please visit: gofundme.com/savewildanimals

Booking Surgery

I ask that no surgeries are booked during my first day working at your hospital- this will allow me to familiarize myself with your staff and typical anesthetic protocol.

Starting with the second day worked, I will perform the following anesthetic procedures:

1. Routine spay and neuter
2. Umbilical hernia repair
3. Dentals (I don’t perform extractions other than retained deciduous teeth and incisors)
4. Small/moderate mass removals
5. Cystotomies
6. Cat abscesses
7. Simple laceration repair
8. Anesthetics for orthopedic imaging

Emergency surgeries (pyometras, GDVs, gastrotomies, enterotomies, etc) will be referred to an appropriate facility when stable.

Please Note:  I always follow sterile procedure including cap and mask, sterile surgical gloves and gowns for all sterile procedures.
Please have these available if any surgeries are scheduled.

This policy holds regardless of hospital's standard surgical practice. My goal it is protect the hospital from any preventable complications arising from treatments under my care.

1. New York Veterinary License
2. Connecticut Veterinary Liscense
3. Tennessee Veterinary License
4. Florida Veterinary License

1. Current DEA License

Insurance

1. I carry my own professional liability insurance
2. I carry my own health insurance

Home Visits

After performing home visits for a couple of years I have found that I am unable to provide the level of care that I can while at a hospital. If you would like to continue to see me, please feel free to contact me and I will share when I will be working at a hospital near you.

Contact Information

To schedule relief work:

Contact me at:
sjames323@hotmail.com

Emergency

If it is after normal business hours and you have an emergency with your pet, please contact one of the following emergency veterinary clinics:

Guardian Veterinary Specialists
4 Hardscrabble Heights
Brewster, NY 10509
914-704-3400
guardianveterinaryspecialists.com

The Veterinary Emergency Group
193 Tarrytown Road
White Plains, NY 10607
914-949-8779
veterinaryemergencygroup.com

Katonah-Bedford Veterinary Center
546 Bedford Rd (Route 117)
Bedford Hills, NY 10507
914-241-7700
vcahospitals.com/katonah-bedford

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