Similarities To Your Physician

The behavior of some clients is typically our biggest frustration in my profession. I don't know what it about a pet that makes the average person lose all common sense. I just want to ask some of these people if they would ever treat their own personal doctor the way they treat the veterinary professionals because I'm pretty sure the answer would be no. Here is a list of the 5 biggest client-related issues we deal with:

1) Information over the phone
We are not a hotline; a vet or  vet tech cannot give you information over the phone. Our definition of something may be different than yours. You don't call up your physician and ask you what is wrong with you over the phone without setting up an appointment, do you? We need to use all of our senses in order to diagnose your pet. If we give you advice that ends up hurting your pet because it had a condition that you didn't tell us about, I doubt you're going to be happy.

2) Diagnosing you
I did not go to medical school - I cannot diagnose the lesion on you. If it's similar to a lesion on your pet, then guess what I'm going to tell you - That's what your physician is for.  I can tell you if what your pet has can be transferred to you and that you may have it, but that doesn't exempt you from going to your doctor. You don't ask your physician to diagnose your pet, do you?

3) Paying your bill
Clients are usually surprised that they have to pay their bill up front and that we don't bill them. Clients have abused the billing privilege in the past, so you will rarely find a vet that won't ask for payment up front.  When you go to your personal doctor's office, you usually still have to pay some sort of co-pay up front. That being said, there is insurance!

4) There is insurance
There is pet insurance out there! It isn't for everyone though. If you have a breed that is prone to a certain disease, then hopefully you can find an insurance company that will help you pay for any expenses as your pet gets older. You have to look into the different plans and decide what works best for you. VIP, Trucompanion, ASPCA, Nationwide, are just a few big name companies out there. Just do your research. Here's a link for a few others: Pet Insurance

5) Respect
I can guarantee that the way some clients talk to us, is not the way they would talk to their own doctor.  Yelling, complaining, demanding, or neediness. We understand you're upset, but you don't need to be rude in order to get what you want.

We are here for you, we are in the business of customer service, so we want to help you decide what is best for your pet. We will give you all of your options, we aren't going to decide for you. We can steer you in the best direction for your pet, but ultimately you have the ability to make the decision, please take your vets advice. They don't have the same relationship that you have with your pet, yet they still want to do everything they can to help your pet. If that isn't compassion, then I don't know what is.