Veterinary Care for Disabled Pets

Getting the proper care for your disabled pet is extremely important. Finding the right veterinarian involved knowing what questions to ask. Below are some general questions you may want to consider asking your vet.

1. How much experience does the veterinarian have in treating your pet's condition?
The actual experience the veterinarian has is not as important as how comfortable you feel with the situation. If you prefer having a veterinarian with more experience, consider asking for a referral.

2. What is their process in case of an emergency?
Make sure your veterinarian has an emergency phone number or staff that can help you during off hours. If there is a special number to call, make sure you get that number before you leave the office. If there is a special clinic that can help them during nights or weekends, make sure you get this information as well.

3. How can you monitor your pet's condition at home?
Ask your veterinarian if there are special measures you can take to help care for your pet. Consider how your veterinarian explains instructions. Often times, if you are not comfortable with your veterinarian's style or tone, this may cause some friction.

4. Get an estimate of cost.
Find out about immediate and long term costs to care for your pet's condition. Consider your options, including medical pet insurance and how often you should bring in your pet for routine visits.

Below are additional resources that you may find useful.

Pet Health Insurance offered by Petco.

The Veterinary Information Network Pet Care Forum has sections for horses, birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish as well as for dogs and cats, and has a comprehensive section on first aid and emergency care for pets.

PetEducation.com is a great source of companion animal health information. Their recently redesigned web site has hundreds of articles on animal health issues.

The American Animal Hospital Association Pet Care Library
articles on pet health, behavior, and related topics.

Vetinfo: A Veterinary Information Service has a cat encyclopedia, a dog encyclopedia, and a searchable database of questions and answers on a wide variety of animal health issues.

If your pet needs the benefit of an expert in a particular field of veterinary care, these specialists can be found by contacting one of the various veterinary Specialty Boards.

Visit our page about pets with cancer. Or, The Veterinary Cancer Society and Veterinary Oncology are sites with information about cancer in animals.

The Veterinary Ophthalmology Information Centre has articles and links dealing with eye diseases and vision problems in companion animals.

The National Animal Poison Control Center is a program run by the ASPCA.