Selecting a Veterinarian

    You should check for a clean facility, separate examination rooms, and spacious boarding areas. If the veterinarian will not allow a visit to all areas of the clinic, you should find another veterinarian.
    There should be appropriate support-staff. Veterinarians need a whole crew of support people. Some are receptionists who are the people up front that you're dealing with the majority of the time. Others are veterinary technicians who are available to help handle your animal and do some of the routine procedures that a veterinarian is not going to take time to do. Your veterinarian should be willing to talk to you and answer your questions. They're our ultimate resource with regards to pet issues.
    Ask your breeder for a vet recommendation if you are buying from someone in your area. You may want to contact the local kennel club, cat club, bird club, etc. and ask for recommendations. If you get more than one recommendation, select one near your home.
    Always plan a visit to the veterinarian you have selected before you have an emergency. You should always take any new pet to the vet as soon as you can so that if there are any medical problems, you can return the pet to the breeder if you are not willing to pay the veterinary bills.

Pre-office Visit Training
    Train your pet to go into a kennel so the ride in the car will be a safe one. Touch your pet all over – its feet, tail, muzzle, and inside its ears as well as its stomach like your vet might during a physical examination.

At the Vet Office
    If you do not have your pet in a carrier, be prepared to carry your pet into the examination room should your pet not be able to walk comfortably on your vet's slick floors. Be present in the exam room, if possible. Talk calmly to your pet during the medical procedures so that your pet will feel safer. Take treats and have your vet offer a few as a friendly introduction. Follow your vet's instruction should the stress to you or your pet become too great during the exam. Reward your pet with a very special treat after the visit to the vet.
    It is probably a good idea to take extra bedding and a plastic bag should your pet have an “accident” in the car.

Prevention is Key
    Prevention is the key to a healthy pet and to saving money. An investment up front saves a great deal of expense down the road with regards to animal health care. Routine medical examinations, routine vaccinations, testing (like heartworm testing) and then the preventive medication that accompanies that are the key to preventing diseases or problems that could develop at some other point. So it's an initial investment, but over the long term you're going to save a lot of money.
    If a puppy comes down with something like distemper, it can cost a lot of dollars to try to save a puppy from that disease, but one simple vaccination at $10 to $15 a shot would have provided that animal a level of protection. That's not only a financial investment but heartache, as well, because it's often deadly.
    One area that a lot of people tend to not think about is some of the day-to-day, routine stuff that we can do ourselves, but it requires time. For example, trimming nails in cats or dogs. Some people go to the vet to have that done maybe $15, $20 a pop. We can easily learn how to do that ourselves if we have a good relationship with our vet, and they're willing to take time to teach us. Basic grooming with regards to brushing the animal out regularly and providing baths can same money on grooming. Basic exercise in terms of making sure that the animal stays healthy. If you brush the animal's teeth on a weekly basis, you're going to reduce that cost down the road. It can cost $100 to $200 to take your animal in have its teeth cleaned under anesthetic every year or two.

Pet insurance
    This is a newly developing industry. There are a couple of really good products out there. Specifics of what the plans cover really tend to vary from state to state. Certain states have certain requirements with regards to how pet insurance programs are managed. There, again, there's good information that can being found on the Internet. It's like buying insurance for everything. You're investing in some protection. Whether or not that ends up benefiting your family in the long run from a financial perspective really depends on what happens over the lifetime of your pet and, also, what kind of plan you invest in because just like human health care, there's a variety of different plans, different amounts of coverage that you can purchase. Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) has been the most reputable company for the longest period of time, but as of 2004, no pet insurance is available in Louisiana.

Selecting a Veterinarian 2009-11-17T08:27:00-08:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown