Friday, October 16, 2009

How To Choose The Right Animal Hospital For Your Pet

By Diane W. Forester

In this article, we'll look at why it's important to choose the right animal hospital for your pet and what criteria you may want to base this important decision on. When you have an idea of what to look for and what kind of questions to ask, you'll be able to make an informed decision about your pet's health care.

The first thing to do is to ask around to see if any of your family members, co-workers or friends have an animal hospital which they'd recommend to you. Finding the right animal hospital for your pet can be difficult; in a big city, it can be tough because there are so many to choose from and in a rural area, the scarcity of veterinary clinics can make it a challenge to find a place for your pet's health care. Finding out how other pet owners feel is one of the best ways to get the inside scoop on the animal hospitals in your area. Be sure to take both positives and negatives into account as you make your decision.

You should make sure that the veterinarian's license (if there is only one licensed vet at the hospital) is valid and ask if the hospital has a registered veterinary technician on staff. You want to be certain that the staff at the hospital has the right skills and has been certified to provide veterinary care in your state.

Thirdly, ask for a short interview with the Vet. In this meeting beyond asking to see the license of that Veterinarian (do not assume that it is valid, look at the issue date and expiration date to avoid your pet being mishandled and what experience your Vet has) and then discuss what the Vet Tech's specific roles are with your vet. While it is up to you to decide how many years in practice you would like your vet to be, number years of experience does say a lot.

One thing to take note of is if the vet's license is a permanent license; a temporary license indicates that you're talking to an intern rather than a fully licensed vet. You probably don't want to have someone who's not even finished with their education taking care of your pet. Ask the veterinarian what the vet techs on staff at the hospital do in the course of their work, for example what their duties and responsibilities are there.

Other questions to ask while you visit an animal hospital you're considering for your pet center on the services that they provide. You should find out if the hospital provides urgent care services; if they do, ask what hours these services are available. You'll also want to know if surgery and other complex procedures are performed at the hospital, whether they offer nutritional and dietary services, geriatric care and other services including puppy training. Look up the hospital online - if they have a website (and they should), see what it tells you about the hospital and the staff. All of these questions are important; you don't want to have your pet cared for by any animal hospital but the best available to you. You can identify a good animal hospital for your pet by touring the hospitals in your area and asking questions if you don't know any pet owners to get recommendations from.

It's always a good idea to tour the animal hospital after talking to the vet; you should pay attention to the condition of the examination rooms and the surgery area. You should hold the cleanliness of these rooms to the same standard as you would a hospital - they should be very clean. It's OK to take a look around under tables and on the floor (discreetly) to make sure that it is clean and free of debris. Sterile conditions are every bit as important in an animal hospital as they are in a hospital you'd visit for health care. Make sure that the hospital seems well organized and that there are no unusual odors beyond what you'd expect in an animal hospital. Unpleasant odors can be an indication of poor sanitation or a lack of attention to the welfare of animals being treated and should make you think twice about the facility.

The above tips are all good ways to help you get the information you need to make an informed decision about the right animal hospital for your pet. If you can, get a referral from a family member of acquaintance. You need to make sure that the veterinarian and other staff are properly licensed, find out what work is performed by the hospital's staff and of course, you should tour the facility and interview the veterinarian in order to make the right decision and choose the best animal hospital near you to provide your pet with the excellent care they deserve.

About the Author:

0 comments:

Post a Comment