Locally Owned Or National Vet?

Where do you take your cats when something's the matter or when you need a check-up? Do you run to a local place or a hospital that's inside of a PetSmart or something similar?

 

Our vet is a private DVM and we're very lucky to have her just a few blocks away. The cat has never had a problem with her and she's very good at what she does. Before moving we used a local animal hospital, but it always seemed so cold and impersonal... didn't like it at all. We've never used the services at a place like PetSmart.

 

I think it depends mostly on the quality of your local vet so you have to be willing to dot he leg work in taking the time to do reasonable back ground checks. And, from personal experience, I strongly suggest you do. I've been royally screwed by my local vet. They said my cat had problems he did not. I went to several other unrelated clinics and all of them said that not only did the cat not have the problems I was told it did, but that there's no way a competent vet would draw those conclusions from the standard tests he was given. Several thousand dollars later, I learned a hard lesson.

Local vets can often have more expertise and offer better service than the national chains. However, national chains have less room for false diagnosis and will often offer standardized care. Which option is better for you is dependent on the quality of your local services.

 

That's a terrible thing to have to go through with a wrong diagnosis of something wrong! Makes ya wonder how some vets can even stay in business if they do things like that routinely.

 

Same thing here, a person really needs to do some shopping around for a good vet. Not to any of my animals, but I know of a vet in my town that has misdiagnosed several animals around here, so I won't use him. There are a couple of vets that I take my cats to and I like them both. One is about an hour away from my home and the other is about an hour and a half away, but I don't mind to go the distance since I know my cats will be taken care of.

 

Private vet. I would never taken my cat or dog to one of those hospitals, i have heard they charge too much and for every little thing. Not cool at all.

 

We take our pets to a private vet. She is very good with them and she knows her stuff. My cats are comfortable and don't get stressed out with their visits. She is very well known around town and comes highly recommended. Her prices are also the best in town because she is more concerned with the health of the animal then the money. She is in the field because she loves animals and wants to help them in anyway that she can. We are lucky to have such an amazing vet in our town.