An opinionated, unconventional, and somewhat cranky guide to finding excellent veterinary care for your dog

by Christine Keith

"Don’t put your dogma before your dog" is Christie Keith’s guiding philosophy. She provides a thoughtful and balanced look at conventional and holistic health practices, so you can make informed choices.

A year or so ago, a leading consumer magazine did for veterinary medicine what it does for new television sets: told you how to find the really cheap ones.

The problem is, my dog is not a television set. My dog is a member of my family. She can’t be exchanged for another one just like her if she gets broken beyond repair. And if that’s true for you, too, then I suggest you throw cost and convenience out the window when trying to decide what "excellent veterinary care" means.

You might think that’s a bit harsh, and it is. But it’s going to get harsher. Because in addition to telling you to forget about how much a vet charges or whether or not you can find parking in front of their clinic, I also want you not to care about their bedside manner, ability to communicate with you, or how hard your dog wags his tail when the vet comes into the room.

Well, that’s just great, you think. I don’t get to care how much the vet charges, where their clinic is located, whether or not I like them, or if they’re good with my pet. What the heck am I supposed to be judging them on?

I’d like to make the radical suggestion that you select your veterinarian on the basis of how well they practice veterinary medicine. Because trust me – if you want easy parking, low cost, and a nice bedside manner, you can get it from just about anyone who likes pets. The thing you can only get from a vet is medical expertise.

Of course we all live in the real world, where things like accessibility and cost have to matter. After all, I might find the best vet in the world, but if she’s three thousand miles away it’s not exactly going to do my pets much good. And speaking as someone who recently sent herself into hellish debt caring for a dog with cancer, I really do understand that financial considerations are going to come into play. And if you and the vet have such a bad rapport that it impedes communication critical to your pet’s medical care, then obviously you have to take that into account as well.

But those factors should be considered only after you’ve asked the really important question, the one about how good this vet is at practicing veterinary medicine. As in any other profession, from cosmetology to human medicine to accounting, the vast majority of the members of the profession will be mediocre. Topnotch veterinary medicine is rare, the same way a great restaurant is rare.

So how do you know? Great veterinarians have experience, although how long a particular individual has been a vet isn’t a good indicator of excellence; many mediocre or even poor vets have been in practice a long time. But experience coupled with skill is a combination that can’t be beat. And although I do realize vets have to gain their experience somehow, it’s not going to be on my dog.

Great veterinarians continue to learn and educate themselves throughout their careers. They belong to professional groups such as regional or national veterinary associations, or the Veterinary Information Network. They take difficult and challenging courses in continuing education, instead of just putting in hours at industry-sponsored product propaganda sessions to keep their licenses current. They subscribe to and yes, somehow find the time to read, new research in the veterinary literature.

Great veterinarians also know what they don’t know, and how to find someone who knows it. One of my biggest pet peeves is the reluctance of some general practice vets to refer to a specialist. Let’s face it, your child’s pediatrician doesn’t do surgery, clean teeth, or treat serious heart disease; why do you expect your pet’s general practice veterinarian to do so? There is just as much to be said against the level of specialization that has evolved in human medicine, with the resulting fragmentation of care, but veterinary medicine is at the opposite end of the spectrum, with just as unhappy results. There has to be a middle ground, where the general practice veterinarian provides primary care, but doesn’t get unhinged when the time comes to get more specialized experts involved in a case.

Great veterinarians do not need to have a "great bedside manner," as long as they can communicate with you enough to get the information they need to treat your pet, and give you the information you need to care for your pet at home. You’re not looking for a new best friend; you’re looking for a professional. Some of the greatest vets I’ve ever known have been arrogant and abrupt and acted as if I was lucky to be in their office. But they had something I wanted, so I smiled and faked it and let them do their job. I’m not there to get my views validated, my ego stroked, or my hand held. I’m there to get medical care for my dog. Period.

Great veterinarians also don’t come cheap. I’ve had the good fortune to find a few veterinarians whose prices were on a par with everyone else locally, which given the quality of care my pets received was a bargain. But unless you have no choice, choosing your vet because he is the cheapest vet around is a pretty good way to eliminate most of the best vets from the running. Great vets don’t need to undercut the competition, because they won’t have any trouble filling their appointment books.

If after finding someone who meets those qualifications you also discover you get along well with them, your dog loves them, they are ten minutes away, and their prices are reasonable, you’ve hit the jackpot. But keep your focus on obtaining the best veterinary medicine you can find and afford; that other stuff is sizzle, not steak.