5 Key Questions to Ask When Choosing A Vet

When it comes to choosing a vet for your furry friend, the process can seem very overwhelming.  There are so many vets around so how do you know who the best option is for you and your pooch?

Choosing A Vet

It’s important to consider what you are going to need from a vet before starting to look into the different options in your area.  For example, if you have a senior dog, you want to be sure you are able to ask the vet questions about their recommendations for elderly pups.  Similarly, if you have a dog with a specific medical condition or medical needs, your new vet should be able to answer those questions and concerns easily and quickly.

While choosing a vet can be very difficult, there are a few key questions I would urge you to consider when exploring the vet options in your city.

Would Anyone You Know Recommend Them?

When you’re starting out your search, talk to friends, family members and neighbors with dogs.  Find out who they take their own pooch to and why they would recommend them.  You can also speak to those who work in the industry, such as groomers, local shelters or local dog trainers who may be able to point you in the right direction.

Asking people you know and trust about their own recommendations will help you ensure you are getting honest answers to the questions that are most important to you instead of reading general reviews online.  That’s not to say online recommendations don’t come in handy, but hearing something first hand can be extremely valuable in your decision making process.

When I adopted Coco at age 6, the first thing I did was ask my dog owning friends who they take their pooch to see and a large number of them actually went to the same vet! To me, that was a great sign when multiple people in my trusted circle had positive things to say about the same vet clinic.

Does the Vet Align with You?

While vets have been trained to be able to look after many different animals, it’s important to remember that they are still people whose personalities can vary.  Some vets approach their work with a very business minded orientation while others are much more relationship oriented.  It’s important that you feel comfortable when you walk into the clinic with your dog and that you align with the way the vet runs his or her clinic.

Similarly, some vets are more prone to encourage a holistic treatment approach versus a strictly medical approach to treating your pooch.  Again, you want to make sure this aligns with what you believe and care about or you may find yourself constantly butting heads with the vet’s recommendations.

What is the Cost?

This is obviously a big one!  Pets can cost a lot of money so it’s important you know what to expect and plan for with your pooch.  While you don’t necessarily want to go with the cheapest vet (they’re usually the cheapest for a reason), you also want to be sure you can get the care needed for your pup without breaking the bank.

When you’re talking to different vets, I recommend you ask about the variety of situations you may find yourself in and what the costs would be associated with that.  For example, if you need to get routine vaccinations, what are those going to cost and how often?  If you have to get an emergency X-ray, what would the cost of that be?  You can also find out if they provide options such as a credit line or splitting up payments. 

All of this research when choosing a vet will help you better plan out what you can expect financially with your pooch.  I know when I adopted Coco, having a financial plan helped me to anticipate some of the costs (even the unexpected vet visits) so that I could better save my money accordingly.

What Are Their Location and Hours?

Along with cost being an important thing to consider, so is the location of the vet clinic and their hours of operation.  Dogs don’t always hurt themselves during office hours so you want to know when you’ll be able to go to the vet clinic instead of having to find a local animal hospital.  For my vet, I have this information saved on my phone so I know their exact hours of operation and how early or late I can call them in the day. 

Along those same lines, it’s important to know how long it is going to take you to physically get you and your pooch to the vet clinic.  This is particularly important during an emergency situation where you may need to move quickly to get them to the vet.  For example, in our blog post on bloat in dogs, we talked about how vital it is that a dog receives medical treatment when experiencing bloat (particularly with a twisted stomach).  The extra minutes could mean life or death to your pooch.

Another challenge I have recently come across with my vet (and frankly a lot of vets) is that they often may not have an appointment time available for a number of days if I need to get my dog in for something.  This is mostly due to the number of people who adopted animals during the pandemic and the fact that the number of vets did not really increase.  So there are a lot more animals needing care and the same number of vets.

Now, for routine check-ups this is not a problem, but when my dog suffered from chronic ear infections (because of her food allergies – learn more about this in our recent blog post), I would have to call in first thing in the morning to see if they had any cancellations and could squeeze me in.

My vet has routinely been really good about trying to work around this even if it means I drop Coco off at the vet clinic for a few hours and the vet sees her in between other appointments but it can create a challenge for being able to get into see the vet in the case of an emergency. When you’re choosing a vet, ask them what their wait list is like for appointments and what you would need to do in case of an emergency and they did not have an availability for you.  Knowing this in advance can help you to react quickly if that emergency ever did arise.

How Does the Vet/Staff Interact with your Dog?

The final important question you need to answer when choosing a vet is how the vet and the clinic staff interact with your pooch.  You want the vet to be a happy place for your pup and not somewhere they are scared to go.  The people who greet you and your pooch are a big part of that experience!  Do they show genuine excitement when they see you and your furry friend walk through the door or do they ignore your pup?

Coco loves going to the vet because of the people there.  They get so excited when she comes in, which in turn makes her wag her tail (and butt) even harder!  They give her treats (after checking with me) and show her so much love that she sometimes doesn’t want to leave!  Even though she often gets different vaccines or shots, she still loves going to the vet.  That’s the kind of experience you want your pooch to have.

Final Thoughts

Like I said, it’s tough to find a good vet.  But take your time and do the research so you know your furry friend will be taken care of in the long run.  It will ease some of your own anxiety as well as theirs when you know you have a vet you can count on.