LANGLEY — Cats and dogs that are sick as a dog (or a cat) have a new clinic on the South End.

Animal Hospital by the Sea opened in December and is preparing for a grand opening next week. After eight months of planning and remodeling the building at 114 Second St. — the location of the long-vacated Langley Clinic — two exam rooms, a consultation room, X-ray room, a surgery room, a comfort garden and an isolation ward are ready for South Whidbey’s pet problems.

“I’m trying to do as much as possible to have the pets be comfortable,” said owner and veterinarian Jean Dieden.

Dieden said her aim is to provide pet owners with the most current technology and speedy results. The X-ray machine takes digital images that can be enlarged and adjusted for density and contrast, allowing animal owners and Dieden to better examine the image. It also eliminates the time (they are processed in seconds) and cost of film development, because the X-ray file can be emailed.

That was useful for a recent owner, Dieden said, who brought in her dog with a tumor on its toe. The owner was saddened by the results and wanted her husband to see the photo, too.

“I felt bad for her because she was alone, so I emailed it to her husband,” Dieden said.

Three machines are available for blood analysis. Doing blood tests at the animal hospital allows for same-day results instead of paying a courier to travel off-island and back, which may or may not happen on weekends.

“Nobody gets their blood tests done on the morning or on the weekends, which was not going to be acceptable to me,” Dieden said.

Another 21st century feature of the animal hospital is its digital records access. Pet owners and clients can find their animal’s files through the animal hospital’s website, which will also have a portal for an online pet pharmacy prescription service.

“We’re essentially paperless,” Dieden said.

The kennels are all built with Formica — stainless-steel surfaces can be a bit chilly for some animals —  and cushioned with memory foam pads, which Dieden said will help relax any anxious dogs or uneasy kitties. The building is sound-proofed, with little of the traffic noise of downtown Langley coming through the walls and windows. It also provides pet owners with more privacy. Having a sound-proofed facility isn’t without its drawbacks, however.

“Unfortunately, we can’t hear the whale bell because of all the sound-proofing,” Dieden said.

One of the exam rooms is suited for dogs, the other for cats. The dog ward has an exam table on an electric lift capable of hoisting 300 pounds.

“That way nobody has to wrestle a dog on the ground,” Dieden said.

The exam rooms have Dutch doors and windows, too. Owners can leave their cat or dog in the room without alarming the animal.

“They can let their dog or cat loose, fill out their paperwork and relax,” Dieden said.

Those features are geared toward improving the owner’s and the pet’s experience, which was important to Dieden. A wood floor and dimming LED lights were installed in the lobby to comply with code and comfort the pets, Dieden said. There’s also a recessed scale covered by a rug so pets don’t have to be lifted onto a weight scale, or even step onto one.

Dieden has lived on Whidbey for more than 13 years but has spent most of her career working at emergency veterinary clinics on the mainland.

Having her own clinic marks a departure from the past in other ways.

She walks out to greet her clients, which is a change from her previous veterinarian experience.

“I come out and meet people in the waiting rooms,” she said. “There’s a lot more interaction.”

Dieden spent most of her career as an emergency veterinarian. At most she saw the pet and owner for a few days. With her own practice that has extended hours (open until 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 7 p.m. Monday and Thursday) and is open on Saturdays, Dieden said she can better accommodate commuters.

“I just wanted to have my own clients, do things the way I think they should be done,” Dieden said.

“It’s a huge difference, especially from emergency where you’d work with someone for two days and then never see them again, hopefully.”

A niche Dieden said she wants to serve is genetic testing and reproductive work. She has bred dogs most of her life, including a multitude of her beloved wire-haired dachshunds.

In addition to being a professional veterinarian, Dieden is a volunteer vet, too, with the dog and musher Iditarod Great Sled Race.

The grand opening for Animal Hospital by the Sea is scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18. Dieden said she will lead tours of the facility, and there will be a raffle and door prizes.