This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (BRIAN C JACOBSEN) Hi Dagmar,
One thing you asked was what to look for in an equine veterinarian. Here are suggestions from someone who is one. To me, the veterinarian's personality is the most important characteristic. No matter how knowledgeable or experienced a veterinarian may be, if you don't like them, you will not respond well to his/her suggestions. We had a perfect example of this up until recently at the clinic I work at. We had a veterinarian here who was very smart and also had good common sense. However he was quiet and a person of few words. Around here, people expect you to be friendly and outgoing, and if you are quiet they usually think you are either upset or you don't like them. So, many people preferred not to have him out to their place. The next thing to me would be availability. You want someone that is going to be available for emergencies as well as regular calls. It would also be nice if they had hours that accomodated a working schedule (i.e. 7:30am to 6 or 7pm). Availability of the veterinarian(s) themselves is also important. We used a Pediatrician's office for a while where you could never speak to the doctors when you called; All the receptionists would want to do is have you make an appointment. Very frustrating. Now we come to knowledge and experience. Why weren't these first? Aside from the reasons given above, even if a vet is still a little wet behind the ears, he/she was taught the basics in school (suturing lacerations, treating colics, some lameness work, etc). The rest will come with time. If need be, a referral to a specialist or the vet school can be given for something the new veterinarian hasn't seen. If you find a veterinarian who is personality plus, available, and experienced, consider yourself extremely lucky. In fact, if you find a vet like that, please give me a call because we're looking for one right now! : ) Then Dagmar, when you find the vet who suits you best (ask a lot of horse people who they use and like), he/she can help you with many of the questions you asked. I believe it would be more helpful for you to get the answers from a local veterinarian rather than one of us on the list because you would be establishing a relationship with them at the same time. And something that would be even more helpful, could you spend some time riding around with that veterinarian on farm visits? Some vets like to do this and some don't, but if you found one that did, and you could, you would pick up a lot about how things are done in the States and in your area. Good luck! Brian Jacobsen, DVM Norwegian Fjordhest Ranch Salisbury, North Carolina ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
