What do you look for in a vet?

[.sarah]

I posted this in dog general too, but not all of y'all will see it there so I decided to cross post ;)


I feel like I should know the answer to this after working at a vet for 1 1/2 years, but I don't. I got fired from work today, so I'm having a rollercoaster of emotions. I had a thread about it, but it was too personal so I deleted it before anyone replied :p

Anyway, I can't take my dogs there anymore. There doctors are great, and I love Dr.D dearly and wish my dogs could continue seeing her, but in all honesty, I do not want to see Dr.S again. I will, at dog clubs, but I hope I can avoid her there. In a place as small as the clinic where I worked, avoiding her would be hard.

What should I look for in a new vet? This place is flooded with clinics, on a busy street I will find 8 or 9 usually. I'd say we have dozens here, but I would like to stick to a place close to home in case of an emergency. There are a few up the street, but I do not know what to look for. Cleanliness in the back? I guess so, but, that can be decieving. We kept our place clean, but everything was outdated and old so it did not look clean at all. I guess nice white walls and a few pretty pictures would be ideal, but how can I really tell if it's clean if it's a place like where I worked? Also, what type of questions should I ask? Should I take Mandy to see what she thinks (the Labs like anyone lol, Mandy is more critical)?

[Craftlady]

(1)Age of the vet or vets in a practice. Younger is more progressive and up-to-date on things.
(2) Word of mouth. Ask friends, family who they take their pets. Tag along to one of their visits. Call human society, aniamal rescue group, ask them who they would recommend.
(4) Phone book, that is how I found our present vet, from their ad in the phone book. It was full of lots of information about them and what they offered at the practice.

Once you make appointment...
(1) Appointment/Visit. Are they a vet that tries to see as many in a day as possible or quality is better than quanitity. Can you get in to see them in a reasonable time frame. How do they handle/schedule emergency appointments.
(2) Staff do they seem to care about your animal?
(3) Do they explain procedures and findings to your satifaction?
(4) Cost. Is it reasonable or outragious

This is all I can think of top of my head at 5:30 a.m. LOL
Maybe I will be able to add more later as I wake up :)

[Felix]

Yes I agree with all of the above.I found a great vet,but theres only one Dr.that Felix approves of out of all of them there.So we request him for all visits.Sometimes the cat will tell you :rolleyes:

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

(1)Age of the vet or vets in a practice. Younger is more progressive and up-to-date on things.
(2) Word of mouth. Ask friends, family who they take their pets. Tag along to one of their visits. Call human society, aniamal rescue group, ask them who they would recommend.
(4) Phone book, that is how I found our present vet, from their ad in the phone book. It was full of lots of information about them and what they offered at the practice.

Once you make appointment...
(1) Appointment/Visit. Are they a vet that tries to see as many in a day as possible or quality is better than quanitity. Can you get in to see them in a reasonable time frame. How do they handle/schedule emergency appointments.
(2) Staff do they seem to care about your animal?
(3) Do they explain procedures and findings to your satifaction?
(4) Cost. Is it reasonable or outragious

This is all I can think of top of my head at 5:30 a.m. LOL
Maybe I will be able to add more later as I wake up :)

I must ditto that completely!!

[catnapper]

After being in rescue, my first step would visit local rescues and tell them you're in need of a vet. They will know all the vets in the area and have heard all the good and bad about them. I'd listen to which one they use. Mostly, if a vet is sympathetic enough to work with a rescue, then you know they are in it for the love of animals and not the money their owners spend.

Outside that, I want one who will
A) listen to my thoughts, and trust my instincts. If I say my pet is sick, and they find no reason this pet is sick... LISTEN to me! I KNOW my pet and I KNOW when they aren't feeling well. This is VERY important to me and a lot of vets I've run into DON'T do this
B) Respect me. I am intelligent. Don't talk down to me.
C) Respect my pet. They are people too ;)
D) Be honest with me.
E) Call me personally to give me results of any tests. NOT have the techs call me. I find that insulting and a waste of time because I usually ask more questions where the poor tech has to find out the answers, then call me back. Only for me to ask more questions where I'll need them to call me back again.
F) Have courteous and polite (aren't they one in the same?) vet techs and receptionists.

Thats all above and beyond the basic of having appointments available and such.

[catmandu]

An Older Experiened Vet,who is gentle with The Found Cats,and makes House Calls as I can no longer get the Cats to the Vets.
And Dr Peter Marsales of West Flamborough Ontario, fills that Bill Purrfectly and The Cats actually will go to him.
Michael,JJJ3 and Shemp anyways.

[Laura's Babies]

I want and use a vet that CARES about the pets I have and not in a hurry to get you out of there and addresses my concerns. I find a lot of times, he spends more time calming me down and tending to ME than he does on my babies, so do his techs he has working in there. They know how emotonial I am about my babies and sometimes I feel sorry for them having to deal with such an emotional cat Mommie.

[.sarah]

Thanks everyone! After posting this last night my mom said she'd ask about vets at the next humane society board meeting (she's on the board :)). No one at the humane society has ever really liked where I worked - my bosses were very reluctant to ever donate anything. I hope I can find someone wonderful and close! :D

[Randi]

I think Craftlady's and Catnapper's advice was quite good. :) Also, go and visit some of the vets in your area, you can always ask about certain foods and other things they sell. Then you'll get an idea what they're like. Perhaps some of them have a webpage you could look at too.

[.sarah]

I've found a clinic that looks really nice! It's on my list to visit it. What do y'all think? Los Robles Animal Hospital (http://www.lrah.com)