First Vet Appointment Today.

[Guest Zizi]

Taking Jerzi into the vet this morning just to have her wellness check and get her established with my current vet as a patient. Current vet does not specialize in hounds. I do like her a lot and have worked very nicely with her with my other two pups. Would like to keep her for Jerzi.

 

Sense this is my first hound are there certain things I should be asking or telling the vet about?

What should I be looking for in my vet?

 

Jerzi seems to be doing great. Like I said this visit is just to get her established there.

[Batmom]

The Greyhound Health Packet available here http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com/library.aspx# is a good primer for vets. It covers greyhound oddities and differences from other dogs. I would print a copy out and take it with you .

[XTRAWLD]

We went through several vets and found that the ones that were best, were actually students at a practicing veterinary university! While we only went there for a specialized reason, it made me realize what to look for in a vet. Aside from their knowledge, there is one key thing we look for. Our very first vet was fabulous for this and I sort of regret leaving, however distance was the issue.

 

The vet greets the dog first. The vet makes friends with the dog first. The vet gets down on the floor and interacts with your dog to gain their trust and friendship first. Then the vet greets the owners. I'm not saying the vet doesn't enter the room and not say hi to you, but doesn't get into crazy specifics and introductions without loving up on your dog first and foremost. IMO this is paramount and you really see what makes a vet shine when they put the dog and their best interest first.

 

Of course you can't find this in everyone, but I ensure that every new vet I meet, I express how important this is to me.

 

Greyhounds are different, and need to be treated differently via injections, anesthetic, etc.....as I'm sure others will add here and you will likely read. I just thought I'd touch on something that is different other than knowledge.

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

Good luck today at the vet Jerzi!

[CherylB]

 

 

The vet greets the dog first. The vet makes friends with the dog first. The vet gets down on the floor and interacts with your dog to gain their trust and friendship first. Then the vet greets the owners. I'm not saying the vet doesn't enter the room and not say hi to you, but doesn't get into crazy specifics and introductions without loving up on your dog first and foremost. IMO this is paramount and you really see what makes a vet shine when they put the dog and their best interest first.

 

Couldn't agree more. Vets who put the dog first not only put the dog and owner more at ease, but also hire staff who take this approach. In my experience, they also seem to be more open to owner input and suggestions. It took me a long time to find a vet like this.

[Guest Zizi]

Good luck today at the vet Jerzi!

Thank you!

The Greyhound Health Packet available here http://www.animalmedicalcentreofmedina.com/library.aspx# is a good primer for vets. It covers greyhound oddities and differences from other dogs. I would print a copy out and take it with you .

Thank you for sharing this.

[Guest Scarter55]

 

The vet greets the dog first. The vet makes friends with the dog first. The vet gets down on the floor and interacts with your dog to gain their trust and friendship first. Then the vet greets the owners. I'm not saying the vet doesn't enter the room and not say hi to you, but doesn't get into crazy specifics and introductions without loving up on your dog first and foremost. IMO this is paramount and you really see what makes a vet shine when they put the dog and their best interest first.

 

 

Absolutely agree with that. We let Lady have some input in the vet, she has to like them. She generally likes most people, so that makes it easy! We've seen a variety of doctors at our vet office (there have been a few times we had to bring her in without an appointment and see whoever was available) and they almost all greet her like that, getting down and letting her lick their face. One of the doctors commented to us that Lady was way underweight and we needed to promise to bring her weight up. She wasn't. We haven't seen him again, clearly didn't know much about Greyhounds.

 

We just talked with a former Greyhound owner (who is adopting Lady's cousin in a few weeks!) who goes to the same vet and got recomendations from her on which doctors to see, so we'll probably do that moving forward. I do feel more comfortable with doctors that have lots of experience since there are some unique qualities to Greyhounds that affect doses of certain medications and other more complex issues that I don't pretend to understand.

[Guest Zizi]

Had excellent visit with our vet! Jerzi seems to be in great shape.

 

We did do a blood panel just to have in her file so we have something to go back and check on if needed. Wanted a base line. We will get the results from that.

 

I was very pleased, our Dr. Wallace came into the room and greeted Jerzi, got right down on the floor with her. It was so sweet, of course I brought Jerzis blanket so she would have something to lay down on well we where waiting (you can call me crazy) but this girl does not like to stand for any length of time and god knows she will not lay on a bare floor. So Jerzi and the doc where laying there very nicely together on the blanket. Vet could not believe how friendly she was!

 

So I feel for now we will stay with DR. W. I did ask her if she was comfortable with taking Jerzi on. She said absolutely, she does have one other hound patient. I had print some important info on there oddities and differences from other dogs, brought those with me for her to keep right in Jerzis file. We reviewed and talked about some of these.

[krissy]

We went through several vets and found that the ones that were best, were actually students at a practicing veterinary university! While we only went there for a specialized reason, it made me realize what to look for in a vet. Aside from their knowledge, there is one key thing we look for. Our very first vet was fabulous for this and I sort of regret leaving, however distance was the issue.

 

The vet greets the dog first. The vet makes friends with the dog first. The vet gets down on the floor and interacts with your dog to gain their trust and friendship first. Then the vet greets the owners. I'm not saying the vet doesn't enter the room and not say hi to you, but doesn't get into crazy specifics and introductions without loving up on your dog first and foremost. IMO this is paramount and you really see what makes a vet shine when they put the dog and their best interest first.

 

Of course you can't find this in everyone, but I ensure that every new vet I meet, I express how important this is to me.

 

Greyhounds are different, and need to be treated differently via injections, anesthetic, etc.....as I'm sure others will add here and you will likely read. I just thought I'd touch on something that is different other than knowledge.

It's very personal and I think depends on how people view their pets. I have had some clients who only want to see me because they perceive that I care "more" since I come in and fuss over their pet. There are other clients where I can start to sense as I'm cooing over the dog that they're getting annoyed so I cut things short and give the owner my attention. Personally when I have to take my own animals to a specialist I'm in between. Say hi to my dog, tell me how adorable she is, tell her she's the sweetest thing, then get on with it. Lol.

 

Reading PEOPLE is the hardest part about being a vet!