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Make an appointment to get timely care for your pet

By Dr. Jim Randolph, McClatchy Newspapers, Source: MCT News Service

A friend of mine introduced me to a Gulf Coast newcomer at lunch the other day. When the inevitable question of "What do you do for a living?" came up, we all exchanged information.

"Oh," she exclaimed, "I've just moved to Long Beach (Miss.) and have three cats, so I need a regular doctor for them. Do I have to make an appointment?"

Well, to paraphrase Ben Franklin, no, all you have to do is die and pay taxes.

For some reason, even in these busy times, folks have been slow to realize that the appointment system is a convenience for clients, not a weeding-out system for doctors.

Picture what happened in several cases in our practice last week.

SOME TRUE STORIES

On Wednesday, a longtime client came in just before I was leaving for a Board meeting. "Doc, are you busy?"

"Yes," I replied, "and as soon as I finish the patient I'm working with, I have to leave to go to an important meeting. What is Fluffy's need today?"

"A skin problem. Been going on about 4 weeks."

"We'll need a good hour and a half for that. Let's check her at 3 p.m. today."

So, Fluffy made two trips that day, when one would have sufficed. All it would have taken was some planning for an appointment for a chronic problem.

One morning, I was doing cancer surgery. A lady rushed in with her cat, which, at first, was reported to be ill from insecticide poisoning, an emergency. Some history was taken by the front-office staff, relayed to me in the operating room, and poisoning was ruled out. She made an appointment for 2 p.m. the same day, we made an appropriate diagnosis, and, with medication, her kitty is fine now. Still, the first of those trips could have been avoided with a simple phone call. Less than 30 minutes later, a real emergency arrived, a dog run over by a car.

"We've been to three clinics. The first doctor was booked up with appointments, the second was on vacation, and yours is in surgery. What should we do?"

Our staff calmed them down, made one phone call, got them an emergency appointment with a doctor who was in his office and not overly busy. Their pup is fine, now, with a splint on the right front leg.

PREVENTIVE CARE AND ILLNESS VISITS

The moral of this story is save yourself some time in this busy world. Plan ahead. If your pet has a chronic problem, it is more likely to take a good bit of time to work up. That reduces the chances of your pet's doctor being able to work you in as a walk-in during a busy time of day. Further, you will likely have a long wait before your pet is seen.

What you want is a time set aside just for you and your pet.

EMERGENCIES

If your pet has an emergency, be sure the doctor is available before you leave home. This means planning ahead now, while there is no emergency. "If JJ were hit by a car right now, what would I do?" Jumping into the car and driving around from clinic to clinic is not the right answer. Your pet may not survive the delay in obtaining treatment. Call your regular doctor. If he or she is off that day, as we all must be sometimes, ask the staff's advice on whom to call next.

Your pet's doctor's appointment system translates to convenience for you, and the best possible care for the furry creatures you love.

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(Dr. Jim Randolph, a veterinarian at Animal General Hospital in Long Beach, Miss., can be reached at South Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association, 20005 Pineville Road, Long Beach, MS 39560. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.)

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(c) 2010, The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.).

Visit The Sun Herald Online at http://www.sunherald.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.