WATERLOO - Workers at Pawsitive Pet Care are no strangers to moving boxes. But when the veterinary clinic changed locations for the fourth time in May, it was Luther, the clinic's live-in golden retriever, who took the move hardest of all.

"He's 14 years old, and he's always lived at the other clinic; when we moved down here, he kept trying to get out the door," said Nicole Pullen, office manager/director of marketing at the newest clinic location at 1799 Ansborough Ave.

The dog has since adjusted, and so has the staff - but their biggest adjustment has been having too much space.

"We were so cramped in our other office we were running into each other, literally," Pullen said. Now, the staff uses intercoms to communicate between the facility's many nooks and crannies.

Crandall Construction and Animal Arts, an architectural firm that designs only animal hospitals and shelters, collaborated on the project. Crews gutted the former Veridian call center in February and built the inside of the colorful clinic with an animal-specific theme.

Among the more unique features are a cats-only waiting room and a set of eight pet suites that will include Web cams, so owners can keep tabs on their furry friends.

Workers at the clinic also pride themselves on having an in-house lab and the only laser and laparoscopic surgery capabilities in the area.

"Unless you go to Iowa State, you're not going to get all those services under one roof," Pullen said.

Dr. Bradley Kneeland began "cleaning up messes" at the clinic when he was a sophomore in high school and returned in 1993 when he graduated from the veterinary program at Iowa State University. He said one of the reasons for moving locations was a desire to give back to community members who have been faithful customers during the clinic's nearly 60 years in business.

"I actually talked to a client the other day who remembered going to Dr. Winegarden on Mulberry Street and had been to every one of our offices since then," he said, referring to the five locations the clinic has occupied.

Long before the clinic went by the name Pawsitive Pet Care, the practice was established on Mulberry Street in the late 1950s. From there, workers settled at West 11th Street until the Iowa Department of Transportation bought the building to bring U.S. Highway 218 through the city. So they moved again to Jefferson Street in 1987 and bought a satellite office on Fourth Street, naming it Pawsitive Pet Care. The city bought the Jefferson Street building in 2004, and the two offices were merged into the Fourth Street building. Now, exactly one mile down the road, they have landed at last.

Contact Laura Grevas at (319) 291-1423 or laura.grevas@wcfcourier.com.