How to Choose a Veterinarian that Meets Your Needs
Choosing your pet’s veterinarian is an important decision; they should be someone you can trust and someone that listens to your concerns. The veterinarian must have the needed educational background to either perform the proper examinations/tests for your pet or solve any emergency at hand.
There may be a billion questions you want answered before you settle on a veterinarian, these questions could be anything from the prices or security for your pet, but the most important questions involve a Who, What, When and Why.
Who
The most import thing you want to find out when choosing a veterinarian is if they carry the right credentials. Don’t be afraid of poking around for the information. You should check if the veterinarian is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association. The AAHA’s standards are met in areas of facility, equipment and quality care. Before you start your search, start with a recommendation from a friend or dog trainer/groomer before you check the Internet. Also, find out if the veterinarian has a specialty for your dog’s needs.
What
Make a visit to the place you are considering and have them answer some questions. Do they only deal with cats or dogs? Can you bring your rabbit?
- Office Hours: Are the hours reasonable and comply with your schedule? How are the wait times for when you have an emergency?
- Staff: Are you comfortable talking to the staff and letting them handle your pet?
- Payments/Fees: Is pet insurance accepted? Can your wallet handle the costs?
- Services: What services are available for your pet? Is there a network of professionals if services are not available?
- Facility: Is the place clean and well-organized?
When
Don’t wait for until you have an emergency to find a veterinarian. Choose ahead to avoid a place you may never go to again! Find a place that fits all your needs.
Where
How far is the location? Is it a reasonable commute for any routine checkups or even emergencies? Finding the right fit is important, but be realistic when it comes to location.
Why
Finding the best veterinarian for your need will result in fewer headaches and will be a better experience with people you will trust with your family. Take care of your pet and have the best medical care at your fingertips!
Before you make a decision on the right veterinarian make sure they fit the bill and don’t be afraid to ask some tough questions!
What steps did you take to find the right veterinarian? Any tips to add? Leave a comment and let us know!
Thanks for the recommendation to ask about wait times for emergencies! I’ve been making a list of questions to ask vets when I visit (I’m trying to find one for my puppy), but I hadn’t thought of that one. I think that that’s one of the most important questions. I also think that asking about the hours for emergencies is a good thing too. (I.e., What do I do if my dog has an emergency when the office is closed?)
I appreciate your tip on checking with the specifics of a vet clinic, especially asking about their office hours. It seems that it would be important to know wait times for an emergency just in case your pet gets in trouble and needs urgent care. My wife and I recently adopted a puppy and are looking for a good veterinary hospital, when we find one we’ll be sure to ask about their schedule and wait times.
These are some great tips, and I appreciate your advice to find a vet before you have an emergency. My husband and I just moved into a new area, and we still haven’t looked for a good veterinarian for our dog. We’ll definitely look into doing that right away so we’re prepared to take care of our dog. Thanks for the great post!
I thought that you made a great point about how I should choose a vet that has a staff I feel comfortable with handling my cat. A good vet is important, but they’re not the only one who will take care of my cat. It seems like the facility staff also plays a big role in the care that goes into the procedures that my cat gets, so I should feel equally comfortable with them as the vet I take her to.
I like the advice to check the hours of operation. hopefully most visits will be checkups that you need to work with your schedule. On the occurrence of an emergency however you want to be sure your vet can be there to help. I will remember this will looking for a vet for my dog. Thank you for the information!
I definitely agree that finding a vet is a serious matter. So, I think it is a really good idea to get recommendations from friends and your pet trainer/groomer. However, I would still check reviews online after getting the recommendation. It pays to be safe. However, I would add another place to get a recommendation for a vet, animal shelters around you. They probably know all of the best vets in the area, and since my dog was a rescue dog I asked about vets before taking him home. I left with a list of all the vets in my area and the guy at the counter circled all of his recommended animal hospitals.
Going to a new vet can be hard. I recently moved and I have yet to find a vet for our pets. I will be sure to see if the vets I do choose are accredited by the AAHA because I want what is best for my pets.
Thanks for the help. I was given a dog recently and am now trying to find the best vet service. I agree that I want to find a vet that has a clean facility. Would you visit a few facilities before deciding on one vet?
I’ve been wanting to make sure that my dog is taken care of if he has any emergency problems. I didn’t even think about making sure that I find a veterinarian with the proper credentials! I’ll make sure I find one now, and not wait for the emergency to happen. Thanks for sharing!
Having just moved to a new town, I really appreciate your five points about what to ask about or look for when I go and visit new veterinarian clinics. Finding out about office hours are really important to me, because I work long hours during the week. Because of that, I am definitely going to be looking for a place that is open on both Saturday and Sunday.
I like that you mentioned checking the credentials of a veterinarian before taking your pet there. This is always a good idea when trusting something you love in another’s care. I would also recommend checking the experience of the vet as well!
I just moved into a new area and want to find the best pet clinic for my four legged friend. You make a great point that the right vet for me should have the right credentials. If they have those then you know you are going to get the best service for you and your pet as well.
I love that you include a list of questions for readers to ask the veterinarian that they are considering. In particular, I like that you encourage them to find out the vet’s office hours and whether or not they offer emergency hours as soon as possible. Considering that your pet isn’t always going to get sick during normal working hours, you’ll want to find out where you can take it if it gets hurt in the middle of the night or something like that.
I like how you mention that you shouldn’t wait until you have an emergency before going to an animal hospital and finding a vet. You should be on the look out as soon as you get a new pet. Or if you recently moved, that should be a priority for your pet. Finding an animal hospital that has a good reputation and experience is important, but it is also important to find one where you know your pet will be cared for and treated very well.
That’s a really great point to consider where the location of the vet is. If it’s too far away, it won’t be as useful in the event of an emergency. I’ve heard a good way to gauge it is to not pick a place that is too much farther than your place of work from your home. That way, it won’t be inconvenient when you need to take your pet in for checkups!
I like your recommendation to find a vet before you have an emergency. My wife and I just moved into a new area, and we haven’t thought about finding a vet for our dog yet. Maybe we should prioritize that and get it done now before we really need one.
Thanks for your comment about how you should look for veterinarians who offer the services that your animal needs. I like how you said that they should be located in your area so they’re easy to get to in an emergency. My husband and I have a dog that needs to be spayed and neutered, and we are looking into veterinarians near us who offer this service.
Thanks for the tip to see if pet insurance is accepted at a veterinarian office. I didn’t realize that there are places that don’t accept pet insurance, so I’ll have to double check on the services in my area. My dog has been losing a lot of weight lately, and so I hope to be able to take him to a vet and find out what’s going one.
I like how you say that you need to consider when a vet is open. It would be good to find someone who is qualified and experienced as well. My brother is looking for a vet for his new puppy, so he’ll have to find one that is open when he needs.
My husband and I just got a cat, and now we need to find a vet to take them to. Thank you for the tip about asking about the wait times and what you do in an emergency. That would be very important to know if our cat ever got into trouble. Thank you for all the tips!
My husband and I have just moved, so we are looking for a new veterinarian that we can take our dog to. So I appreciate your tip to find one that is located near your house so that it will be convenient for appointments and emergencies. We will definitely have to find a veterinarian that is near our house since you never know when an emergency with our dog could come up.
I appreciate your advice to make sure that a vet is accredited by the American Animal Hospital association so that you can be sure that the facilities and care are up to standards. My family just moved to a new area and need to find a place to take our dog whenever we need to or for regular checkups. We will have to look into clinics in the area and make sure they are accredited and narrow it down from there.
I really like that you suggesting making sure the vet you choose has reasonable hours and can comply with your schedule. This is something I’m going to have to consider as I try and find the right vet for my new puppy. Hopefully, I can find something in the area that we will love.
I recently got a puppy so I am looking for a vet to start visiting nearby. I like your point about choosing a vet that is located nearby in case of an emergency. I’ll be sure to find somewhere that is close to home so I can get there quickly if needed.
It caught my attention when you stressed the importance of having a clean and well-organized facility for a veterinary hospital to make sure that your pets are safe and well taken care of. My cat recently gave birth to seven kittens, and I think she had some complications after giving birth. She has not been eating well and has not been tending on her babies. That is why I am looking for a reputable veterinary hospital to have her and her babies checked and take care of.
Thank you for explaining how to choose a veterinarian. We recently moved and we need to find a new vet for my dog. We will keep this information in mind as we search for a new vet for my dog.
Thank you for your tip to find a veterinarian that has the right credentials. I like how you said a dog groomer or dog trainer might have good recommendations for vets. My brother got me a dog for my birthday, and now I need to get the little puppy its vaccinations. I’ll be sure to check out each prospective animal clinic’s credentials.