Working with Veterinarians: A Reflection on a Year of Working with Our New Vet

Every time you make a choice it bears evaluation down the road.

It might have been the best decision at the time but does it still hold up?

It’s been over a year since we moved to Jasmine’s ranch and started working with our new vet. One thing life taught me is that there are awesome vets out there but not all vets out there are awesome. Our past experiences had been mixed, to say the least.

Working with Veterinarians: A Reflection on a Year of Working with Our New Vet

Having to replace an awesome veterinarian

Having finally had a great vet I was quite stressed about having to look for a new one.

I’ve put a lot of time into researching the vets and veterinary hospitals at our new location before I finally made my choice. Of course, things can look great on paper and reality might be different. Once I selected our vet, the first thing we did once we arrived was to make an introductory appointment. Everything went great and our choice was sealed for the time being.

This week I was happy to post a 5-star review on our new vet hospital’s Facebook page. (I don’t write bad reviews but good ones have to be earned.)

Am I still happy with my choice?

After a year working with her, I’m happy she’s the one I chose.

Beside regular wellness exams, we’ve been working on specific issues such as Cookie’s incontinence and elevated ALT. I think I know her well enough now. And I like her very much. She’s competent, dedicated, constantly learning new things, open to alternative options, happy to discuss things with me, and has great bedside manners with our dogs.

We are on the same page about things. She has most of the qualities I loved in our vet down South.

Is it always good to agree on everything?

Reflecting on the two got me thinking. I love that she and I are on the same page. But I do miss the numerous discussions we had with Jasmine’s vet about things we disagreed on. His point of view was often different than mine. We’d argue our point, with mutual respect, until one of us became convinced. Sometimes he’d convince me, sometimes I’d convince him. We both had to put a lot of work into backing up our convictions.

Did our opposing convictions lead to better decisions?

I think most of the time they did. We’d both consider everything whether we agreed with it or not. And the best idea won. Are we missing out on better solutions by thinking the same way? Perhaps not. I always research everything to death and do my best to consider everything that is out there. And I am sure she does too. I ask everybody who’s willing to answer. My goal is to always make the best decision possible. So I think we are okay.

If you and your vet don’t agree on everything don’t take it as a bad thing.

As long as you can have an open dialog, disagreement can foster better ideas. As long as your vet doesn’t dismiss ideas without considering them fairly, having opposing opinions will make you both work harder on your decisions. And the patient wins in the process.

What do you think?

Are you and your vet on the same page? Did you disagree on some of the things? Who wins the argument and why? What do you think is better for your dog?

Related articles:
What Makes a Good Veterinarian: Veterinarians Are People First

Further reading:
Picking The Right Vet: A Cheat Sheet

Categories: Dog care • Dog health advocacy • Working with Veterinarians

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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