(As opposed to their bottom line)
If you are trying to raise your family naturally, you’ll want to read this post about the four-legged members of your family. Finding the right vet will help you avoid making decisions that don’t support your personal philosophy about health and wellness.
Here are a couple of scenarios of what it should look like when you meet with your vet, IF they are truly holistic and haven’t built a practice that is based primarily on vaccines and commercial solutions.
Puppy/kitten/wellness Checks
Your puppy or a kitten should get a physical exam. Meanwhile, the conversation should be about how you, the pet owner, would like to raise your pet (not the canned program set up by the hospital administration).
Do you want to do it naturally? Do you want to make sure that no way in the world where your pet ever encounter fleas, for example. Or, instead, can you tolerate a few fleas because you’d rather not put the chemicals on your dog?
If your pet isn’t “fully vaccinated“ according to what the so-called experts at the BLANK Animal Hospital Association says, then your veterinarian should talk to you about some science.
- How long maternal antibodies last.
- The right age to administer the vaccines. (And how long they last.)
Based on science. Not what the vaccine label or the hospital administrator says. Because really, the series of four vaccines for puppies and kittens are about finances at the veterinary hospital, not your pet’s health.
And how about nutrition?
Could you imagine if your veterinarian actually talked to you about fresh food and the health benefits it provides, rather than trying to sell you on the chemically-laden waste products that they would never eat themselves?
Because alternatively, could you imagine going to your pediatrician and telling your pediatrician that your family is vegetarian and having the pediatrician guilt trip you into eating fast food? At most, the pediatrician would recommend a nutritionist.
What about whether or not to get your dog or cat fixed?
Because there are actually solid considerations either way. Pros and cons to all of it. A lot of what people say are old wives tales that are not supported by the science and really are meant to drive the veterinary financial institution.
Again, could you imagine going to the pediatrician and having your pediatrician tell you that your daughter should have a total hysterectomy before she’s 14 so that she never has the chance of developing endometriosis? I mean really!
What about in an emergency?
So what if you go to the vet with a problem? Should the very first question be about vaccines? Probably not unless it’s an under age dog with bloody diarrhea. (You know, thinking about parvo)
If it’s an adult, animal vaccines really shouldn’t be a consideration when we have an emergency. Let’s deal with the emergency! A broken leg needs to be fixed; not vaccinated.
And I don’t care what the medication is. They all have side effects. Anything can cause anything! Crazy things sometimes. So rather than deny the possibility of side effects, let’s accept it.
If a pet owner is seeing a correlation, there is one. Period. Nobody knows the pet better than the owner.
Today
Times have gotten tough. The veterinary money-making machine has become strong and powerful. Through emotional manipulation and hard-core selling techniques many veterinary offices have become worse than the stereotypical used car sales pitch (no offense meant to used car salespeople!).
You are the owner. This is your pet. You get to decide (although it may not feel like it).
You can always say “thank you, I’ll consider the information you’ve given me and do a bit of research. May I get back to you soon?” It’s not like someone is going to sell that used car before you get back from your research; I mean, it’s not like the vet’s prices will go up in the next hour. You can usually take your time to decide.