About Us
About Lifelong Pet Health Care
Lifelong Pet Health Care is a full-service veterinary medical facility located in Topeka, KS, and serving the surrounding area.
Our Mission
We will strive to provide the best possible client education to help pet owners make informed decisions for their pet’s health care.
Our goal is to celebrate and strengthen the human-animal bond.
Our Story and Some History
The practice, South City Animal Hospital, was founded over 40 years ago by Dr. Jernigan, who many clients still fondly refer to as Dr. J.
In 1987, Dr. Litfin partnered with Dr. Jernigan and joined the practice.
South City was originally located in the South City Shopping Center, south of the 29th and Kansas intersection. Due to the high volume of clients and patients, the practice needed to expand to a bigger facility to provide more room for growth and services offered.
On December 21st, 1987, South City opened its doors to the public for the first time at 2855 SE Kansas Pl, located just north of the 29th and Kansas intersection. The building was formerly a residence and still maintains the home atmosphere feel with an open lobby and reception area as soon as you walk through the door, complete with a functioning wood-burning fireplace and large windows.
In 2006, Dr. Litfin became the sole owner and veterinarian of the practice and changed the name to Lifelong Pet Health Care. Many updates have been made to the building over the years to maintain the personalized, welcoming, boutique-style, one-on-one atmosphere without our patients feeling like they are at the vet. Along with the relaxing lobby feel, our exam rooms are spacious and have many windows to help with even the most nervous patients.
Our focus is on maintaining compassionate, trusting, and educational relationships not only with our clients but with our patients as well. We use Feliway and Adaptil calming diffusers throughout the building as well as the calming sprays on towels to help ease the stress and anxiety of our more fearful patients. Along with this method, we listen to our clients and spend time interacting with patients on the floor, giving treats and love to build trust and get to know how they respond to us. If we feel a patient needs more time, we will not overload them on the first time visit and believe keeping visits on a positive note is key to future success. We feel this is very important in building a lasting bond and knowing how to help make a visit or procedure easier not only for the patient but less stressful on the owner and safer for our staff as well.
