What do you look for in a vet?

[bckrazy]

I always look for cleanliness #1, walking into a dirty place will not put your mind at ease, even if being spotlessly clean and new is not the biggest factor. I also switched vets a couple years ago, because our vet for 7 years had become extremely absorbed in fads, betrayed his older customers, and jacked up prices to unbelievable heights (thanks to 847,627,292 $1 million homes and a massive golf course turning the entire city into *mostly* dumb rich people.)... he charged $50 just for the visit, not including check-ups, tests, anything like that, and the last 5 times we went to him he was atleast 1 hour late and unapologetic. He also turned completely away from any holistic methods and went straight to what he could charge more for... I'll stop rambling about that now, but I know how you feel about being uncomfortable with a certain Vet. You really do deserve to be comfortable!!

1) Genuine friendliness and eagerness to listen to you - also, how your dog feels about them is important! Often dogs are better judges of character than we are

2) Legitimacy, good testimonials from friends/family/trainers, credentials, etc.

3) Practices I'm comfortable with, an open mind to holistic medicines, a really solid knowledge of everything out there and a love for animals. I'm also sickened by any Vets office with Eukanuba/Science Diet posters all over the place and shelves full of sponsored foods by these companies. MUST know a repetoire of quality dog foods, what to look for in dog foods, all about RAW and BARF, etc.

4) A fairly nice office is important. Clean supplies/rooms, ample waiting space, and up-to-date facilities.

5) Enough vets to serve the clients!! It really irks me to have to sit in a waiting are for 1+ hour after scheduling an appointment, I'd much rather wait a few days for a non-emergency check-up than sit around for hours making my pup more anxious about the experience.


I'm probably forgetting something. Oh well >:[. So sorry about the job, it sounds like a mess... you can definitely find a better employer/job out there!

[shais_mom]

First off I am so sorry you lost your Job!
It sounds as tho there are a lot of job options for you tho.

What I look for?
I started going to my vet back when I had my greyhound Shaianne, b/c I had to be careful and make sure they knew how to work with greyhounds and surgery etc. When she passed to the Bridge, I called them and tearfully told them what happened and the vet tech on the phone kept expressing her sympathy almost in tears herself. The vet that I dealt with a lot at the time called me herself and I could hear the tears in her voice also. They sent me a sympathy card for her. A lot of people in my area don't care for my vet and their relation (it was a father who started the practice yeeaarrss ago and now the sons are in practice but they had a huge blow up fight a couple years ago and now have clinics right across the road from each other) but they have never treated me with anything but respect, know MY name when I go in along with my pets. The head vet asked about Keegan when I took Kloe in. I decided that when they treat me badly or I feel that my animals aren't getting good care is when I will find another vet.
I had contemplated on changing vets about 3 years ago then I took Keegan to the vet and that was after the practice had split before the one I stayed with hired any new vets, Keegan was having skin and weight issues. He stood and watched her for a bit and then ended up doing a thyroid on her and had me wait on the results and found her to be hypothyroid. We were in there for about an hour. Never once did he act like he was in a hurry- try to rush me out- or anything. And they were busy that day and he was the only vet. I ended up sending them a thank you card with a pic of Keegan and Kylie in it.

Good luck in your job and vet search.....

[binka_nugget]

Sorry you lost your job

I'm really picky about who I take my dogs to..

-I look for someone who doesn't just provide medication when a dog has a problem.. but someone who will look for the source of the problem. For instance, Kai had a skin problem that wouldn't go away. Instead of just giving medications to hopefully make it go away, he asked us to eliminate certain things from his diet to see if it was food allergies. And sure enough, everything cleared up after we stopped feeding certain foods.

-If they try to sell me Hills (or whatever he sells at the clinic), I'm outta there!

-If they know about raw or homecooked diets then AWESOME!! Apparently vets don't learn very much about dog nutrition during their schooling.. and whatever they do learn, most of it is presented by people from Hills (well.. according to various people I've talked to).

-Cleanliness.. obviously

-The attitude of the staff. If they're not happy, then something's wrong..

-And of course, the attitude of the vet. Our vet always baby talks to Kai. Kai's normally terrified of men but he doesn't mind our vet. He even wags his tail when he walks in sometimes.

[pnance]

I'm sorry you lost your job. (Hugs)

As to your question about vets...I look for one that's open, honest and willing to listen to you. They don't just go by the book but treat each dog individually, and don't assume all owners have absolutely no idea what their talking about. Mine treated my RB terrier Sandy for years for asthma. She even contacted a friend of hers in Davis to get suggestions based on new research papers she'd found when the conventional methods didn't work. When Bear had cancer she had absolutely no problem sending and discussing the path report with us. When we questioned the margins she even double checked what the standards were. She was in a extremely busy practice but you never felt rushed and always felt that you could discuss anything with her. I'm trying to find a new one now as well, my old one left the practice and moved back to Colorado when she got married. So far I've seen ok ones, but not one I'd 100% recommend to friends or family.