Vets
As any pet owner knows a good Vet is essential to the health and well-being of your companion. From taking care of them when they are sick or injured to giving them regular check-ups in order to make an early diagnosis of illnesses before they become more serious a good vet will help to make sure your pet is with you far longer and has a longer, healthier, happier life.
A vet isn't just for when your pet is sick though. They can provide services such as microchipping, tooth cleaning, claw trimming when they get too long, neutering and so on. Many can also give advice on topics from grooming to nutrition and care for your little companion.
Many vets will have a pet care plan (PCP) or VIP service that you can subscribe to. These offer a range of benefits, Ekanath's gives him free flea and worming treatment each month, a 10% discount on all treatment at his vets, two free health check-ups each year, two free teeth cleans and nail trims each year. These packages can be extremely good value. The prescription flea treatment alone would cost more than the monthly subscription to his PCP costs!
During his extended hospital stay for the Pyothorax, the 10% discount saved us a significant sum. If your vet offers these services I can recommend you take them up on it.
Build a good relationship with your vet. Most good vets see an awful lot of pets and they do their best for every single one of them, but building up a good relationship with your vet still pays dividends in terms of how much more confident both you and your pet will feel during vets visits.
Ekanth is quite the little character and is much beloved by the vets and the veterinary nurses at his practice. His month of hospital stay and our visiting him each day means we are all now on first name terms with each other. This means that we are generally more relaxed when going to the vet and animals pick up on their owner's emotional state. If you are more relaxed, your pet will be. Added to that Ekaanth is now all the more relaxed when going to the vets because he sees them as his friends. People he knows who took care of him and took his pain away for him.
He grows visibly excited when seeing his vets and his favourite nurses, this reduces his stress and anxiety considerably when going to the vets to the extent that he no longer resists going in the cat carrier. Instead, he looks forward to it because he knows he is off to see his friends.
Ekanath's vets are the Prince Bishops Veterinary Hospital in Leadgate, Consett.
If you are in the Derwentside area I heartily recommend this practice. They have been Ekanaths vet since we got him and were Golgotha's vet before that. They are a superb practice with friendly and skilled staff.
You can find them HERE