Vet Times

Tag: Clients

  • Tips for improving owner compliance

    Tips for improving owner compliance

    —

    by

    Owners love their animals and want the best for them, but despite seeking and spending money on veterinary care, they frequently fail to follow their vets’ instructions when it comes to medication. One 2003 study1 found owner compliance with vet instructions in 64% of cases, suggesting something is going very wrong. Common reasons given by…

  • Dangers of festive gatherings

    Dangers of festive gatherings

    —

    by

    Christmas is a great time for family gatherings, but this does not necessarily mean it is a great time for pets. In fact, it can often be the opposite, with veterinary clinics seeing a major increase in patient numbers that come through the door. One common emergency we see at the emergency hospital during the…

  • 5 tips to building client rapport

    5 tips to building client rapport

    —

    by

    Establishing client rapport is paramount to any consultation. Without client rapport, trust is difficult to establish and clients are less likely to follow your recommendations. We have seen a good deal of negative publicity regarding veterinary surgeons in the media, so now, more than ever, we need to build that trust from the moment the…

  • Are rabbits really ‘exotic’?

    Are rabbits really ‘exotic’?

    —

    by

    According to PDSA [PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report 2022], rabbits are the third most popular pet in the UK behind dogs and cats. With an estimated 1.1 million pet rabbits in the country, that’s about about a tenth of the population of pet dogs and cats, which hover around the 9 to 10 million mark.…

  • Idiopathic AHDS in dogs: treat with antibiotics or not?

    Idiopathic AHDS in dogs: treat with antibiotics or not?

    —

    by

    Idiopathic acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea syndrome (AHDS) – previously known as haemorrhagic gastroenteritis – remains the one disease where constant debate exists as to whether antibiotics should be used as part of the standard treatment. The logic behind using antibiotics to prevent bacterial translocation is sound, and if AHDS is truly initiated by Clostridium species or…

  • Urinalysis

    Urinalysis

    —

    by

    I’m hoping we all survived the recent heatwave. Sadly, at the height of it, I was confined to my bedroom with a suspected kidney infection and a 38°C temperature. So, no lounging on the beach and swimming for me; more a case of lying in a darkened room and wondering, could you get a positive…

  • DO look a gift horse in the mouth

    DO look a gift horse in the mouth

    —

    by

    If you don’t come from a “horsey background” (like me) then the equine side of the vet course can feel a little overwhelming. From a different number of ribs and guttural pouches to the inability to vomit, horses have an abundance of clinical differences to our smaller patients, and so (quite rightly) often need to…

  • Diagnose or not?

    Diagnose or not?

    —

    by

    The news of Twitter’s sale to Elon Musk has me hoping that all the good stuff on Twitter can remain, and the bad stuff will go… we will see. But recently there was a lovely twitter chat involving @LucyRTyne and @Binky_2301 and more about how to feel if a client uses social media to air…

  • A difference of opinion

    A difference of opinion

    —

    by

    in

    I’m only a few short weeks into my final-year rotations at the University of Bristol’s Veterinary Referral Hospital, but I already feel like I’ve learned a lot: DOPs aren’t as scary as I’d built them up to be in my head. It does get easier to navigate your way around the hospital with time (and…

  • Mental health and self-care in our veterinary nursing community

    Mental health and self-care in our veterinary nursing community

    —

    by

    As Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month nears its end, the appreciation I have as a vet for hard-working nurses worldwide remains endless. You are compassionate and empathetic, counsellors to distressed clients, shoulders to cry on, advocates for pets and a vet’s most reliable comrade. Together, we have the power to save and better the lives of…