Sunday, November 24th 2019
Most people choose the veterinarian closest to their house. Although there is convenience with living nearby to your veterinary clinic, there are additional factors that are important to consider. Just as you are picky about your primary physician, you should be picky about your dog’s veterinarian. Putting in the extra effort of making a thoughtful decision about a clinic before you get your dog will benefit you in the long run.
The first step of searching for a veterinarian is to look at your options. Everyone has different circumstances: small town, big city, car, public transport, etc. These are all factors when looking at what clinics are available to you. We suggest using google maps and searching “veterinarian.” This will enable you to see your options quickly. From here, explore each website. The website should tell you the services they offer and have photos/descriptions of the veterinarians. Yet, websites can only show so much because some clinics have not focused on social media/website building. Therefore, once you select a couple clinics as your top options from looking at proximity, services and vets, you should call the clinic and ask for a tour. If they do not offer tours, that is a caution sign. The next option is to ask for a meeting with the manager of the clinic. You will need to be prepared to ask questions. It is your job to critically analyze the clinic to see if the services they offer align with your pet’s needs. Here is a list of things to look for:
- What do they have onsite in terms of testing?
- Can they run their own blood panels?
- Do they have the tools for preliminary fecal tests?
- Is there an x-ray machine?
- Ultrasound available in clinic?
- Do they have a dental cleaning station?
- Do they have a surgery room? And what procedures do they accommodate?
- How many veterinarians work at the clinic?
- Is it a small clinic (2-4 vets) or a large one (10+) with specialists?
- If it is a large clinic, it is likely that they can get you in for appointments faster and have specialists that can help with niche problems. However, you may lose that feeling of a small homey clinic.
- How many vets are working on the usual day?
- A clinic may have 10 vets, but perhaps on an average day only 2 are working.
- What is the ratio of veterinary technicians to vets?
- This is like asking nurse-to-doctor ratios. It is important because if there is less than one vet tech per vet, there is likely a lot of overworking and stress. The ideal is 2 vet techs per vet, but the more realistic answer is 1-to-1.
- How long is the average appointment time slot?
- If the answer is 15 minutes, you are not going to get a lot of attention on your dog. It is better to have clinics that section off ~30 minutes per animal.
- How long does it take to get an appointment?
- If your dog starts showing symptoms, can you get in the same day or will you have to wait a week?
- What if your dog needs to stay overnight?
- Will there be a veterinarian in the office the whole time or just one on call?
- Will a veterinary technician stay there all night or just come in to check up every few hours?
- What situations will you be sent to an emergency vet and not be able to see your regular vets?
- Do they have existing relationships with particular emergency vets?
- How far away is the emergency vet they recommend?
- What are the clinic’s hours?
- Are they open on weekends?
- Will you need to take off work to bring your pet in if they’re not open past 5-6pm?
- What is the payment method?
- Do they have a system where you can pay over time or will you need to front charges the day of?
- Do they keep cats separated? Small dogs? Big dogs? Or is everyone together?
- If the clinic has the ability to separate animals, they are better equipped to keep stress levels down. This is important for your animal’s comfort while they are undergoing or recovering from a procedure.
- Are they AAHA-Accredited?
- AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) is a way of knowing the standard of a clinic without doing extensive research. To be AAHA accredited, a clinic must meet a long list of standards, and they undergo annual inspections to ensure they are meeting the requirements. To learn more, you can visit their website (www.aaha.org). On their website, they have a tool to see what AAHA clinics are in your area.
- General cleanliness, does it look like a hospital?
- General kindness, are the people you saw/spoke with friendly and welcoming?
I recognize that those are a lot of questions, but you should treat this process like an interview. You are interviewing clinics to deduce which is the best one for your pet. It may seem odd to tour veterinary clinics because most people do not, but this is your only chance to know your options. After you pick a clinic, your dog will be taken behind that door during your visits. Wouldn’t you prefer to know what lies on the other side? Moreover, doing this research will give you a better idea of what you can expect from your clinic. Setting expectations and understanding the limitations of your veterinary clinic is important. The tours will likely take less than an hour, probably less than a half hour. It is worth the effort and time. I urge you to take the extra step, and I promise it will pay off in the end.