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Our Mistakes and Successes in Choosing Our VeterinarianMay 16 '02 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Make sure your doctor is competent, skilled and makes few mistakes, if any. Your pet's Vet is as important as your doctor is to you.
When we moved to a new town 3 years ago we had to say goodbye to our dogs’ Vet and animal hospital. It was hard to say goodbye since their doctor had known them both their entire lives. (The older one, Buffy, a Cocker Spaniel, died a year ago) and had a heart condition and the younger one, Popcorn a Westie, also has some health problems. We made some mistakes in finding a vet. I will share what we did to find the mistake and what we did to rectify it. Our hometown Vet recommended a heart specialist for Buffy who was 40 minutes from our new home! We were really looking for a Vet closer to home since the Cocker Spaniel was on medication and I was buying it frequently. Being new to the area we didn’t know who to ask so my husband made some calls and we decided on our Vet based on who was closer and who charged the least for Buffy’s 3 prescriptions. This is not a good reason to choose a Vet, especially if your dog has health problems! As it turned out, we did eventually meet people who used our Vet, Dr. N., and his office was always busy. From the beginning, though, we had an uneasy feeling about him. We were sure he was competent, but he was scattered. For example, I had to make sure he was reading the right record for the dog he was seeing. I had to triple check the medications to make sure they were the right ones. We did eventually bring Buffy to the heart specialist first recommended by our previous Vet because Dr. N. said that her condition required more tests than he could give her. Dr. Moses, the heart specialist, had been the one recommended by my former Vet so he clearly was the top choice, 35 minutes away or not. When our new Vet, Dr. N., made a major mistake on Buffy's pills we really considered switching Vets but talked ourselves out of it. One day I happened to look at Dr. N's diploma and he graduated from the University of the Philippines. I have no problems with that country or anyone from there. But he isn’t from the Philippines and I couldn’t help but think that he went there because he couldn’t get into Vet school in the United States. Having a daughter applying to medical school I do realize that people do go out of the country for degrees and in most cases they are well educated. The combination of the degree plus general uneasiness were two of the deciding forces in finding a new Vet. We met a Vet through our religious organization whom we liked very much. My husband had called his office when we first moved here, but because he is at least 25 minutes away and his prescriptions were a lot more than Dr. N’s, we didn’t opt for him at that time. Push came to shove when Popcorn broke her toenail and after one month of it not getting better on an antibiotic and Dr. N. not really being clear about the problem, we decided to get a second opinion. I had a feeling her toe would have to be amputated and there was no way I was leaving her with scatter- brained Dr. N. We met Dr. R and liked him immediately. He exuded confidence, had gone to a reputable Vet school and although he did have to remove her toe he was upbeat about it rather than having an attitude of gloom and doom which the other Vet had. In fact when we first met Dr. N. he told us Buffy had another 6 months to live. She lived 2 1/2 years longer than that! I want doctors to be honest with me, but whenever I brought my dogs to Dr. N. I felt like they were going to die the next day! Popcorn did fine with her toe operation. He operated on her the day we brought her in and she became Dr. R's patient. Dr. Moses, the heart specialist, became Buffy's only doctor. After this long story I can sum it up with some tips of picking a Vet for your dog: 1. Look at the facilities and check out if they are clean. 2. Ask the Vet where he went to school. I don’t believe a good people doctor has to go to Harvard to be a good doctor and I don’t think a good dog doctor has to go to Tufts...but make sure it is reputable. Make sure you feel that you have confidence in your pet's doctor no matter where he or she went to school. 3. Do your personalities match? You don’t have to like the doctor for him to be good, but you also don’t want to be uncomfortable. It should be a good fit for you and your dog. 4. How many people are running the office? I am not joking when I tell you that at times with Dr. N it took the secretary, Dr. N’s wife and himself to figure out what he wrote and what he prescribed. Watch what goes on when you go to visit. The office should run smoothly – just like your own doctor’s office. 5. Does he try to sell you products or services? Dr. N told us Popcorn needed her ears washed and teeth cleaned both of which required anesthesia. It might be true that she did need this but at almost 11 (at that time) how necessary are those procedures? I don’t believe in putting a dog under anesthesia unless necessary when they get old...just like people! Dr. R. never felt it necessary and wouldn't put her under just to clean her teeth. We asked him his thoughts on that subject. 6. And finally how does he relate to your dog? Dr. N called my dog a boy and I heard him on many occasions refer to other dogs in his office by the wrong name. Dr. R knew she was a girl and I’m confident if he doesn’t remember her name, he won’t make a mistake and call her Fifi! Good luck. Your pets’ Vet is as important as your own medical doctor is. You can always switch if you are unhappy with any practices. And if you see any gross mistakes, please report any doctor to the appropriate medical association.  |
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