As far as what I would consider to be a good veterinary practice, these are things I am considering as I intend to look for a practice to join next May. 1. Philosophy of the clinic- do they do annual distemper, parvo, FVRCP vaccines? If so, go elsewhere. There is no need for annual vaccines. You also may run away if they recommend giardia vaccines (they don't work). How do they manage pain? Do they ask about pain during every annual PE? Do they give pre and post-op pain control to all surgical patients? How are surgical patients managed? Do they all (except cat neuters) receive an IV catheter, IV fluids, heating blanket during and after surgery, are they monitored by an experienced or licensed technician, do they have surgical monitoring of ECG, BP, temp? Do they require pre-anesthetic bloodwork for dogs and cats over 7 years (they should!)? Do they do tail docks and ear crops (if that is important to you- I personally will not work for a place that does these procedures because they are purely cosmetic). What is their philosophy on cat declaws? Do they provide artifical insemination services for any client who requests it, or do they require specific pre-breeding tests and certifications? 2. Availability: are they open when during times that you are available to bring your pet in? What happens in the event of an after-hours emergency? What about daytime emergencies or urgent needs? 3. Equipment: Their lab should be able to run a chemistry panel, CBC and differential, urinalysis, cytology, and fecal in house if needed. If they use an outside lab as well, is it a veterinary lab or a human lab (veterinary is better)? How long does it take to get results of outside lab work? How long does it take for someone to call you about the results? They should have a tonopen, radiographs (digital preferred but analogue OK), IV fluid pumps. Bonus equipment- ultrasound, endoscope. If these items are not available in-house, how do they handle pets who need these diagnostics? How often and to whom do they refer difficult or complicated cases? 4. Facilities: should be clean! All animals should have water available unless there is a medical reason for them not to (vomiting, recovering from general anesthesia, etc). It should be obvious that every cage has been cleaned every day, and after each patient has left. The patients should look comfortable, not squeezed into a tiny cage without padding. All animals should have a cage card with at least their name on it- prefer also reason for being hospitalized, diet, and special instructions to be there as well. 5. Personality- You should feel comfortable and welcomed, not rushed. You should never feel like an interruption. Your calls should be answered and messages returned the same day unless there is a darn good reason why that is not possible. The entire staff will LISTEN to your concerns and address each one. They will spend time explaining things to you. They will answer your questions in a timely manner. You should be given a written treatment plan with costs prior to most procedures (I like to do it even for annual exams, especially for older patients when I'd recommdend annual bloodwork). When meeting a new patient, I would do the following: 1. Schedule a longer appointment time so I have a chance to take a thorough history. 2. Request any and all previous records be sent PRIOR to the first appointment, and READ THEM prior to meeting you. 3. Address any concerns in the previous records (chronic disease, lack of appropriate PE and monitoring, etc). 4. Ask how YOU think your pet is doing. What are your concerns? 5. During the physical exam, explain what I am doing and what the results of your cat's PE are. I also like to write up the results of the PE for each patient. 6. It should be obvious that a record is being maintained for your pet, either written or computerized. 7. Take you on a tour of the facility, meet the techs, receptionists, and other vets- time allowing. These are just the basics. When I run my own practice, I will most likely do more but that's a couple years away. I hope that you are able to find a vet whose philosophies are in sync with your own. It may take some time, there are a LOT of vets and a LOT of different opinions on everything. I would interview several before making a decision. You are wise to look for a vet before you actually NEED one. Good luck in your search.

I just saw my dogs' vet. Toby has had bouts of urinating on the bathroom rug, but it came and went, so we thought it was more behavioral than medical. Now, for the past week, he has wet on the rug most days. I even picked up the rug after my shower yesterday and hung it on the side of the tub. When I came home, Toby had lifted his leg on it!(he usually squats) Dad is home with the dogs all day and lets them out several times, so there is no reason that Toby would have to urinate if he was healthy. That was it, I figured he had a bladder infection. He's never had one before. So this morning I caught some of his urine and called Dr. Youanes. He said to bring the urine in. He ran a test while I shopped and when I came back he said it was borderline, but there were enough white cells and epitheilal cells to say it probably was a bladder infection. Cost? $30 for the test, $28 for two weeks of amoxicilin. I don't feel that he was neglectful in not doing an office visit. He knows I watch the dogs' health closely. We discussed behavior changes I am seeing (just the urinating, nothing else) and he sees me getting Toby kisses on the nose (so I monitor his body temperature - lol!) and I really don't think doing an office visit was needed. Dr. Youanes said if the antibiotic does not work, we will do testing. If it works and then the urinating returns after a while, we'll do more testing. One of the things I like about Dr. Y is that you rarely see another pet in his waiting room. He is the lone vet, he sees a pet and the pet leaves and his assistant then disinfects the exam room and the lobby with a mop and wipes down the surfaces. It smells kind of like cleanser but I don't worry about communicable diseases. I never even thought about that very much at the old vet, but we sat in a waiting room with multiple animals all interacting. If a truly sick dog was there I would get anxious about it, since there was no place to go to get away. Another thing I like about him is his manner. He is soft-spoken and gentle and my dogs do not fear him at all. Like Kim's vet, he gets down on the floor near them. He gets blood draws and gives shots with the dog on the floor. He does the basic manual exam on the floor. He uses the table when needed, but the dogs don't have to get up there for their routine check-ups or vaccines. We found this vet when Casey lacerated his head. It was the night before Christmas Eve, and a Sunday. Casey had a flap of skin hanging above his forehead, but no blood. I thought of bandaging it, but realized that this would leave a permanent scar. He needed stitches. I knew I could drive an hour to the emergency vet, but wanted a cheaper and closer alternative. We found Dr. Y in the yellow pages. He was open until 5 on Sundays! We called and he said he would meet us at the clinic. He stayed until 8 pm because Casey needed anesthetic for the stitches. Now, you cannot see that he ever was injured. We were charged just normal fees, not the premium we would have paid at the ER vet. These are the things that make Dr. Y a good vet for us. When Megan was dying of sudden internal bleeding from cancer we did not know she had, he was little help, but he didn't charge us and he called the emergency hospital to let them know we were coming. So he may not be the guy we need at times, but for everyday veterinarian care, we like him a lot.

Update: Things apear to be going well. The hole in his chest is beginning to heal from the inside out, I think (hard to tell since I see it 2x a day). Talk about a couple of crazy ol' folks....here's the image of DH and I doing his hydrotherapy. The only place we can do it is in the bathroom due to the cold weather. That bath is galley or hall shape, long and skinny. We put him on a thin piece of foam that's covered with an absorbent bathmat. I sit on the side of the tub and for 10-15 minutes spray tepid water directly into the wound. About every 30 seconds I stop and dump the runoff out of the cake pan we are using as a catch basin. It's a 9x14, glass and VERY heavy as I lift and twist to dump it in the tub. About 50% of the time, he lays down so far from the tub that I do the spraying leaning forward as far as possible. This happens twice a day, with the first treatment at 4:45AM so DH can get to work by 6. While we're stressing, Poco dozes off! By the time we have him dried and re-dressed the whole process takes 30-45 minutes. BUT, we've got the cleanest bathroom floor in town! LOL!! Got to walk him for the first time yesterday...not far, just a couple of blocks, but it's a start. You should've seen the looks we got from passers-by! Don't understand it...haven't they ever seen a big dog in a sleevless t-shirt strolling down the sidewalk before?!?!? Thanx for your continuing prayers! They're certainly helping him and us! Pat

Hi Anglophilia, There are two veterinary schools in Scotland: The University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh. Both are highly respected, very prestigious schools of veterinary medicine. English universities are totally different in their degree programs than American universities. One is not better than another, just different. These schools are probably highly competitive for British students who are right out of high school. For students who already have a college degree from the U.S., I suspect the standards for those students are much lower than for American vet schools. So, I would have no problem going to a British vet who attended such a school, but I think it's best to avoid an American who had to go abroad for such an education. Why not just ask him why he chose to go to veterinary school in Scotland? If he went abroad for reasons that seem obvious, do you actually believe he would tell me the truth? Besides, the fact that he doesn't even list his degree on his vet Web site speaks volumes. And after the terrible (and costly) treatment I received from him, I'm completely done with him, so there won't be any future conversations. ;) I'm sure that admission to these schools is highly competitive. For British students right out of high school, yes. Also, if you haven't done so, please read the article I posted earlier about the U.S. accreditation of foreign vet schools being controversial. Many think it has involved a bending of standards, because U.S. undergrads are required to have a science background that it would be almost impossible for any foreign high-school student to have.