Top Ten Ways to Keep Your Vet Happy!

Have your horse caught up and ready to be examined.
a. If this is a routine exam and your horse is due for Coggins, please have your horse clean and free of mud.
b. If this is an emergency, please do not worry about how your horse looks (but please have your horse caught up and ready for an exam!)
Your family’s safety is our concern.
a. Put your dogs away. We are animal lovers, sure. But one of our many fears is an accident involving your dog and our trucks. “Oh, he’ll move” is one of the most common last things said before the injury or death of a dog.
b. If possible, find someone to mind your small children and infants so that the focus can be on the horse and the exam.
Use your veterinarian as your first source of information.
a. If you have questions about treatments, instructions, diagnoses, prognosis, please make a list and call your veterinarian. Ask if it would be easier for you to email them with your questions so they can address them as time allows.
b. Follow courteous boundaries of time. Please do not text/call with routine questions outside of normal working hours. Often, we are on call 24/7 and respond to our phone texts/calls because they could be an emergency. Let your vet rest.
Preventative care is key – fecal egg counts, teeth examinations, appropriate vaccinations – having these done by your veterinarian establishes the Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR) once yearly which is legally required for your veterinarian to prescribe medications to your horse. Yearly physical exams may also help catch health changes. See the files for information why it’s important to have your vet administer your horse’s vaccines (“Vaccines – Veterinary Administration”)
Limit the “while you’re here, Doc” add-on’s to the appointments. This places the veterinarian behind for the next clients. Let the office know at least the day before so they can schedule and stock their truck appropriately. Understand that they may not be able to make it happen and may need to schedule a separate appointment.
If you are a barn manager, have a consent form available for your boarders.
a. Have all owner and horse information available if the owner is not present for the exam.
b. Have consent to give authorization to treat in case the owner is not available.
c. Know owner’s wishes when it comes to colic or other major emergency – surgery, medical referral, on-farm treatment
d. Know whether the horse is insured and inform the veterinarian
Gates! Text the gate code, leave it open, hold it open, give a heads up if it’s a complicated gate (opens
outwards vs inwards, etc). A significant amount of a horse vet’s time is spent opening and closing gates.
Don’t wait for a “Concern” to become an “Emergency”. Call BEFORE you give Banamine to your colicking horse. Call BEFORE you put anything on a wound.
a. Call early. Don’t wait all day and then decide your colicking horse needs to be seen at 10:30 pm when you’ve been watching it and giving Banamine since 7 am.
b. Neonatal foals are fragile – know the benchmarks they should hit and when to call the vet.
c. When in doubt, call.
Have an emergency plan:
a. Emergency kit (see the files)
b. Phone number of your veterinarian and your closest referral clinic/hospital
c. Ask your veterinarian or veterinary technician how to perform a physical examination. Have a list of
“normals” and “when to call” parameters listed on your emergency kit.
d. Think of what you would like to do with your horse if he/she should pass away or needs to be euthanized
e. Have a trailer (in good working condition) or have consistent access to one and train your horse to load (an emergency or an evacuation is no time to train your horse to load).
Pay your vet. Whether they bill you or expect payment at time of services for their own reasons, pay on time.
See the files for options for paying veterinary bills in times of crisis (personal or horse).

**The Vet Corner groups encourage members to establish a relationship with their local veterinarian, don’t wait until an emergency.**