How to Advocate for Your Animals

As pet owners it always stressful when out fur babies are sick and unfortunately they cannot tell us why they are not well. As such it is important as owners to be able to communicate to your vets what exactly is going on. So lets go through some tips and tricks to properly advocate for your animals so that they can get the best possible care.

1. Remain Calm and Communicate

The most important part of any consultation is the history taking. As veterinarians the easiest way for us to figure out what is going on is to find out what it is you are concerned about. It is important to remain calm and communicate you concerns clearly so that we can narrow down what the underlying issue is. Your pets can also pick up on your stress and anxiety which will have a negative impact on them as well. If your pet is being brought in by someone else on your behalf its important to make yourself available to chat over the phone in case there is any further questions or even send a written or recorded note of your concerns if you are unavailable.

2. Don’t Forget the Basics

We sometimes get so fixated on what is currently going on that we sometimes forget to mention the unimportant things. When chatting with your vet especially when you are at a new vet it is important to give a brief summary of the dog medical history. Its important to let your vet know how old your dog is an is he has had any previous or ongoing medical issues or tests done as well as if they are on any medication. It important to mention if our preventative care is up to date such as vaccinations, deworming and tick and flea treatment. The environment they live in is also important to mention. If they have travelled recently or if you live on a farm, house or complex can all help narrow down what might be going.

3. Describe Clinical Signs not Diagnosis

As owners we also worry about our animals so the majority of us spend time researching clinical signs before bringing there animals in. Although this is helpful to give you clarity with regards to whether it urgent to bring you animals in it can also cloud your judgement. As veterinarian its our job to use the symptoms to determine where the underlying issue is and then examine the dog in that area to identify what might be going on. It is important to first describe what you have seen and noticed in chronological order and then at the end let the vet know which clinical signs you are most concerned about and what you are worried it might be. This is important that we don’t overlook anything that might provide a hint to what might be going on. For example we regularly get clients rushing in with the concern that their dogs are seizing, but on further investigation we find that they are concerned as the dog would be playing outside and then suddenly is stand stiff with their back legs shaking. This is most likely a pain issue rather than a seizure and could be missed if the owners and not communicated this to us.

4. Acute Verses Chronic

The duration of an illness is important as it can narrow down the list of possible causes. It is important that we reflect on when the issues initially started and if there has been previous episodes in the past. If the issues had started within the last 3 days and the dog was suddenly fine and then not, it is most likely an acute issue. If the dog has been unwell for greater than 3 days and/or has showed similar issues in the past then its is most likely chronic or there is an underlying chronic cause for why your pet keeps getting sick which might need to be investigated further.

5. The Devil is in the Details

When describing clinical signs it is important that you provided as much detail as possible with regards to what you are seeing. The most common example of this is with gastrointestinal issues and animals that have diarrhoea. There are many causes for diarrhoea but by just describing in detail the colour, frequency consistency and smell it can greatly help us narrow down the underlying cause. If describing is not your forte, thankfully we live in the digital era. Just take a quick picture or video of what you are seeing or your animal is doing and show that to your vet.

6. Always be Prepared

It happens very often that while owners are away they animals tend to get sick. If you are planning to spend some time away form your animals and they will be with sitters or at the kennels it is important that you let them know who your primary veterinarian and the closest emergency veterinarian that you prefer is in the area is so that if anything does arise they know where to take you animals too. We always advise clients to contact both there regular and emergency vets before they leave on a trip to let us know how long you will be gone for as well as to confirm and authorize that in the unfortunate situation your animals get sick that you are happy to go ahead with treatment. You can even add their history on to their file so that the veterinary team is fully prepared to treat them in you absence.

At the end of the day the most important thin is that your animals get the best care that they and by working together we can keep them living long and healthy lives.