New Clients Information   Choosing a Vet   Getting the Best   Use and abuse   Surgery Locations  Choosing your Veterinary Group This challenge is faced by many owners on getting a pet for this first time. If you live somewhere like Wiltshire and Hampshire which is quite literally littered with veterinary clinics the choice can be mind boggling!. The answer is to decide what kind of service you want. Now that's easy!... Caring, friendly, professional vets and staff. Convenient location and parking. Good facilities and up to date equipment. Well trained and experienced employees. Procedures, policies and fees that are clearly explained.  "Care, excellence, availability and....affordable pricing" Unfortunately if you opt for "cheap" as a priority some aspect of the non-critical service will have to be compromised. This may be reflected in increased waiting times, trouble getting through on the phone or restricted availability of service outside of normal hours. High quality veterinary service can only be delivered by above average staffing levels and major investment in equipment and people.  Service and value for money It therefore comes down to what aspect of the service is important to you. Most people look for a practice where they feel comfortable with the vets and staff who are caring towards their pets. Good modern facilities, convenient location and parking are important. You have to think about what is important to you and your pet. The key element is what level of service and pricing represents value for money to you.  What to do You should personally visit all of the veterinary practices that you might be considering using. Do they have a customer care person, practice manager or other member of staff that you can contact to discuss your requirements - ring and ask! Veterinary practices are busy places and outside of special open days it may difficult to organise a tour at short notice. Again ask, most practices are proud of their facilities and will be happy to arrange a tour of the clinic at some quieter time.  What to lookout for When you do visit? is your impression of a professional service? Are the facilities clean? how does it smell? Does the staff seem happy? Enquire as to whether the practice provides its own emergency services? If not, who does and how far away is it? If pets are kept in what are the in-patient facilities like? Who supervises and checks the patients overnight and at the weekend? What hours are vets available for consultation? Finally talk to as many other pet owners in the area as you can about their experiences of the local vets. How long have they gone there? What do they like, dislike?  Getting the best from your vet Suddenly your pet is sick and if the only thing you ever have been to the vets for is an annual vaccination, it can be daunting. The following article is aimed to help you understand how your veterinary surgeon will approach the problem and to give you some insight into the choices and decisions you and your vet will need to consider. If you do some homework prior to your consultation with the veterinary surgeon you will be able to easily disclose all the relevant facts as the vet takes the history about the problem.  The history of a problem What is the main problem concerning you about your pet? What did you first notice and when? Have you noticed any other signs since? How have these signs changed with time? Has the pet had any similar previous problems? What have its appetite, thirst, urination and stools been like recently? How has the pet been in itself temperament wise recently? Are its vaccinations up to date? Have you treated your pet with anything for the problem? Is it on medication for anything else? Has it had any recent flea or worm treatments? There, it's not that difficult - common sense really. Write it down for the vet if you want. The vet may not need all the information but boy it will look impressive!  The clinical exam For us humans who have experienced the more restrained clinical examinations of our medical colleagues, it can be disconcerting to see a vet doing a detailed physical examination of our pets often starting at the nose and not stopping until every part and orifice has been pummelled and poked on the way to the tail. Pets' can't talk and even with the good history you provided often the only way a vet can tell if the pet is distressed, uncomfortable or abnormal is with a thorough hands on examination.  The educated guess and informed choice At this stage a specific diagnosis can be sometimes made and a specific treatment recommended. This is not always the case. Even with a good history and thorough clinical examination all the veterinary surgeon can do is narrow down what's happening to a list of possible problems - a differential diagnosis. In essence the vet is making an educated guess based on a lot of training, expertise and experience.  The options available after this are: To undertake further diagnostic and laboratory tests to achieve a definitive diagnosis. Try a simple empirical treatment based on the most likely diagnosis and reassess the pet after a period of time. Which treatment option and why  Why go for the simple approach. Though unsure of the specific cause of the illness the pet is not too ill or distressed and a simple less expensive treatment to alleviate the signs is justifiable. The owner does not want to subject their pet to a major investigation without first trying a simple treatment. Immediate investigation and tests is obviously the approach of choice if your pet is severely ill or the problem has been ongoing for some time prior to presentation. Costs will obviously dramatically differ between the two options. Palliative, symptom based treatment will be significantly cheaper than an in depth investigation to achieve a definitive diagnosis. Communication: it's a two way thing There are no right answers sometimes. You have to make an informed decision based on your understanding of the problem bearing in mind the age, quality of life and temperament of your pet. Budgetary and family considerations often also need to be considered. The veterinary surgeon is there to give you guidance and to help you make the right decision. Take your time, do you feel that you fully understand what the vet has told you about the problem and the way it is going to be dealt with? If not keep asking questions until you do. The veterinary surgeon won't mind - honest. Ask for clear estimates of costs. Confirm what will and won't be done without getting your consent first. Please tell the vet if you're unsure about anything. Explaining things is part of the job. The Approach to your Emergency Vet Is it really an emergency? Is your pet truly suffering or is its life in danger? If it is or you are genuinely unsure go ahead and call us. If you're getting worried about your pet during the evening ring and have it seen straight away in a normal consultation. No struggling to find a vet, they're waiting to see you. Leaving it until the early morning hours to decide you are really worried means a delay in treatment and a significant extra cost. Call the emergency answering service first. The answering service will give details about how to contact the duty vet. The vet will be able to give you advice on whether or not a visit to the clinic is required and when to come. The emergency answering service will ask you a number of questions such as which practice you normally attend What the problem is and whether you feel it is an emergency. If you do not think it is an emergency they will give you the opening times of your local Foxcotte surgery.  Emergencies to call immediately about are:-  Poisoning - Identify the poison ideally from the container and let the vet know. The vet can be contacting the Veterinary Poisons Unit for advice while you are travelling in. Bring the container to show the vet.  Road traffic accidents - A severely injured animal can usually be moved safely and quickly. Provided it is not having breathing problems, muzzle it in case it is pain. Have as many helpers as possible to pick the pet up at the first attempt. Get it to the hospital as quickly as possible, but contact the duty vet to let them know you are coming.  Bloat or Gastric dilatation - if you suspect this err on the side of caution ring the vet and they will see you as soon as possible to check.  Persistent vomiting or diarrhoea with or without blood.  Any other condition that appears to be making you pet acutely ill. If the vet thinks that your pet's condition is urgent but not life threatening they will often arrange to see your pet if you wish but will advise you of the costs that you can incur. The emergency call out costs can be very expensive (think what it cost the last time you called a plumber in the early hours). This gives you an opportunity to decide if you want to incur these substantial charges or whether you feel your pet can wait until the normal consultation hours to be seen. If your pet has a major problem or injury, be prepared to have to make some urgent decisions. The vet will often discuss a number of treatment options. If the condition is life threatening then you will not be able to spend a long time making up your mind about what needs to be done. You will need to think about expected quality of life, how much you are prepared to let your pet go through and how much you want to spend.  Surgery Locations Charlton Ludgershall Whitchurch Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge  In closing If the prices of a clinic seem to be much lower compared to other practices in the area, ask yourself why and where in the level of service are savings been made. Back to Top

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