Choosing Vet

Choosing And Interacting With Your Cavalier's Veterinarian
by Susan Schlenger at Llawen Farm and Cavaliers

Nothing will make you feel more secure or more bereft: the single
most important decision that you may have as a cavalier owner,
whether you are a breeder or a pet owner is choosing your
veterinarian. I know that I have agonized for days over this
issue. I have learned over years of breeding Welsh ponies and
raising dogs that the best time to find a good veterinarian is NOT
when you NEED one, but when you have the leisure to truly evaluate
your judgments. After many years and many veterinarians, I have
come up with my own criteria for finding the vet of my dreams:

1. Board certifications in areas that are my interests; if I'm
looking for a vet that can handle a Ceasarian, or can handle an
abdominal surgery for a "dietary indiscretion", I want a board
certified surgeon. If I have a breed that is prone to difficult
whelping, I want a specialist in reproduction.

2. He/She MUST be able to listen; a good test is to try to explain
last year's incident of asthmatic bronchitis compared to this
year's. If you get interrupted by an impatient veterinarian, then
the same vet will rarely hear you out when it is really important.
And, I'm paying for his/her time!

3. Affiliation with a major veterinary school or hospital or other
veterinary Clinic. I want to be able to get my animals admitted
swiftly to the hospital and using a referring vet who is on staff
makes this process much smoother. It also helps enormously when
booking appointments with specialists when they are needed. This
is a hard one for people who are not located nearby a Vet school
or big vet hospital. Sometimes, though, a private veterinary
hospital is almost as good.

4. Open minded! All of my vets have this in common. It is not
unusual for my vets and I to discuss treatment for quite a while
before settling on something. Often it isn't the first thing that
the vet has mentioned.

5. Self Esteem. *I* don't want to support my vet's self-esteem by
viewing them as the "Vets-as-GODS". Therefore, I like my vets to
have already accomplished this by themselves. I like a vet who can
change their minds when a particular treatment isn't working and
admit it.

6. WHO covers for the vet when the vet isn't available?. I must
like those folks, too.

7. I want a vet with a good amount of experience, but not one
whose experiences lead to conclusions that are badly drawn. For
instance, I know a whole equine practice that will never use
penicillin on a horse even if it is the indicated drug of
preference as they ONCE lost a horse to anaphylaxis after
administering it. My current small animal vet is a young but
seasoned veteran of the Tuft's Veterinary ER; he's seen almost
everything, and has seen many procedures done in different ways,
and many ailments presented slightly differently.

8. My vet must view our relationship as a partnership to care for
the animals. *I* am equally important in the treating of my
animals. After all, sometimes I am the one administering the
intra-venous drip or dosing the colic, etc. Any treatment must be
prescribed with my feelings in mind.

9. I NEED a vet that doesn't panic in a crisis. For example,
there was the time one of my foals was colicing and a young vet
student broke a thermometer inside the foal's rectum. My large
animal vet reassured the student and the foal and removed the
broken glass with a forceps while giving a calming lecture to all
who could hear about how common this was and how easily fixed.
Meanwhile, the foal's colic was severe; it ended in surgery which
success was partly due to the way my vet handled this situation
quickly and quietly.

10. I like a vet who doesn't easily give up. I want an honest
opinion, and ALL of the options (whether available through my vet
or others), and some degree of optimism. Of course I have had to
euthanize (we don't say "put to sleep" here as I don't like to
confuse death or anesthesia with sleep) animals in the past; but I
want it to be my decision. I want to reach that decision through
logic not emotion. There will be plenty of room for emotion
later. (A lot of vet residents were surprised that the above
foal made it; and was perfect thereafter).

11. My vet must have a well stocked pharmacy. When I want or need
"Otomax" I don't want something different.

12. I must be able to see the vet quickly when there is a problem.
If a pup has a corneal abrasion I don't want an appointment three
days later!

13. I want my vet to like animals AND people!

Although I know I've written what seems to be a formidable list,
one way to figure out some of the above is to ask yourself what
your *vet* wants in a client. When I discovered that my small
animal vet was extremely interested in reproduction, (and had done
a rotation with the best repro specialist in the area), it wasn't
a long leap to figure out that he was pleased to have a client
considering breeding. Asking your vet about his or her interests
gives you a lot of information and shows your interest in the vet
as a person. It works both ways.

Here is a list that might also be helpful when interacting with
your veterinary professional.

DO:

1. Know the baselines on your animals. When all is well, take
their temperature and see what is THEIR normal temperature, look
at their gums and see if they are normally a bit pale or a bit
deeper in color, listen to their heartbeat and respiration and
make notes on all of these norms. Every animal has slightly
different baseline vital signs. You have a better chance of
knowing what is abnormal when you know what is normal.

2. Before you call the vet, take the above vital signs to let the
vet know if any of the vital signs are NOT normal. Your vet will
be very appreciative and much more able to give advice about
whether an animal needs to be seen if the vet has more
information. Make sure to note when you call the vet if there have
been any changes in diet or lifestyle prior to your Cavalier's
illness.

3. Keep records of all immunizations, visits to the vet for
ordinary care and records of all unusual incidents whether or NOT
you brought your dog in for care. The bee sting that caused a
large local edema last year could have been the threshold for the
dog's tolerance to bee sting allergy ; the next one could be the
reason that your dog is having trouble breathing.

4. Read about Cavaliers and their particular problems to help
educate your vet. Cavaliers are still seen rarely in some parts
of this country, and many vets have not had the experience of
treating them. Did you know, for instance, that Cavaliers have
larger platelets than most dogs which requires that platelet
counts be done in such a way that they are hand counted?

5. Keep and refresh a first aid kit. (See Attached List)

6. Keep your vet's phone number on the wall near the phone, in
your wallet and anywhere else that it might be needed immediately.
If you can program it into your phone, so much the better! (But
still keep the hard copy nearby!)

7. Make sure you have a crate ready at all times to leave the
house in an emergency. This is important in case of a fire as
well.

Don't:

1. Don't call your vet at 5:30 in the afternoon on a Friday with
an "emergency" when symptoms began appearing at 9:00 am that
morning. Have a care about your vet's weekends and evenings and
they will return the favor by being there when it is REALLY an
emergency.

2. Don't attempt home remedies, or use homeopathic therapies or
herbal medicines without consulting a specialist. Many of these
are very useful, but many are very potent and one can just as
easily misuse them as one could conventional medicines. If you
want a homeopathic veterinarian there are some very good ones that
will educate you about these therapies.

3. Don't act before you think in an emergency. It may SEEM like a
good idea to induce vomiting for a dietary indiscretion that you
witness, but it also could be a deadly act if the article which
your dog swallowed causes obstruction or puncture on the way back
up. There are very few emergencies that you will face in which you
won't have a minute to draw a breath and consider alternatives.
The best act is to call your vet with as much information about
the incident as you can gather.

4. Don't leave a sick animal alone until diagnosed and treatment
is begun. If you have a portable or cellular phone, use that to
call the vet and give that number for the return phone call. It
is important to observe the early onset of some illnesses.

*A Fully Stocked First Aid Kit*

    -cotton roll
    -unpreserved saline for flushing eyes
    -three way (trioptic) eye ointment
    -Mrs. Betts (Thornitt) powder
    -long and short stick swabs
    -hemostats
    -lubricating jelly
    -Chlorhexidrine ear flush (I like this very much for bad ears)
    -Mita-clear or some mite medicine
    -vet wrap (GOD forbid you must hold a bad wound together
     this is safer than trying to stitch)
    -whatever your vet will give you as a first line of defense
     for anaphylasis
    -good toothpaste (Kathy says with Chlorhexidrine... )
    -antibiotic cream for cuts and scrapes (whatever your vet
     recommends)
    -bottled water
    -stool sample containers
    -"instant ice" (the kind you smack and activate)
    -betadine swabs (or swabs impregnated with betadine)
    -leashes and collars (not show leads)
    -stethescope (this is VITAL)
    -list of your dogs baselines (baseline temp, baseline
     pulse rate, baseline respiration, baseline refill - how it
     looks)
    -thermometers (more than one)
    -vaseline (not redundant with lubricant)
    -nail file and nail clippers
    -GOOD scissors (both straight and "bent)
    -sterile bandage and tape
    -any particular meds that YOUR dog is on...NSAI for instance
    -small warm blanket (for shock)..some use "space blankets"
    -list of YOUR vet phone numbers, cell phone and any vets
     near where you travel and veterinary hospitals
    -Merck manual and other first aid books.
    -Buffered Aspirin for pain or fever
    -Benadryl for allergic reaction
    -Dramamine for motion sickness
    -Hydrogen Peroxide 3% - for cleaning wounds and to induce
     vomiting in case of poison
    -Mineral Oil
    -pepto bismol chewable tablets for diarrhea
    -alcohol. NOT for use ON the dogs, but for sterilizing
     other things. Alcohol is very nasty on tissue.
    -And a tweezers... the best you can find for
     removing splinters and such.

Please note that this article is only the opinion of the author
and is not in any way to be substituted for veterinary advice from
a competent professional.

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