How To Avoid Bad Vets and Find The Right One
As a relief vet tech I have worked with lots of different vets over the years, some bad, some good and some great. But, there is only one person responsible for your dog’s health: You. And a major part of this responsibility is getting the appropriate veterinary care and attention, which can only be accomplished by forming an honest, open relationship with the vet of your choice. Don’t settle for the first vet you find.
As a client you have to empower yourself. Don’t only look to the vet as a solution to a health problem, but also as a source for prevention. But your responsibility is to take things one step further and understand your vet’s role with your role, and to form a successful relationship.
The Role Of The Good Vet
The role of the good vet is to be your partner, to assist you in keeping your dog as healthy as possible for as long as possible. And your job is to remind the vet of what you need and to be the best partner you can.
Ideally, you and your vet will see to it that you are educated, that you seek assistance when and where needed, that you help your dog be a good patient, and that you are given all the information you need to make wise decisions. In the end, however, the final responsibility rests with you, and you have the more difficult task.
Keep in mind that this is a change from the way doctors, be they physicians or vets, have traditionally viewed their role. The old ways had vets stand on authority, but a pedestal is a very narrow base on which to build a partnership.
What veterinary schools should be most interested in, is teaching their future vets is in actually teaching dog owners, to do the best with what we have in order to achieve the goal of maximum health for our companion animals.
It is only when the vet and client work with each other, and the vet tech, that the actually pet receives the most benefit.
