Читать книгу Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team - Группа авторов - Страница 61

Clients won't buy products and services if they don't know they are available or don't fully understand the benefits they provide. It is rare that a Great Dane owner comes into the practice whose previous veterinarian discussed gastric dilation volvulus (GDV) and gastropexy with them, nor bulldog owners who already are aware of brachycephalic syndrome and the availability of surgery for elongated soft palate. Many owners of senior pets still have never heard of senior screening and most have never received a specific nutritional recommendation. Most adult cats are overweight but only a fraction of those cats' owners have been told their cats are overweight.

Whose responsibility is it to teach them about these things if not ours? Every client should be given the opportunity to learn, and every pet should have an owner who knows how to take care of it for a long, healthy lifetime.

This is a different mindset from what we learned in veterinary school. We learned normals and then abnormals, typically from specialists. We learned very little about maintaining normal. Preventive care focused mostly on vaccinations and parasite control, with a bit of dentistry thrown in. We were not told that it was our responsibility to provide in‐depth client education to every client in a pet‐specific fashion.

Yet the general practitioner spends more than half of his or her time on wellness and preventive medicine: puppy and kitten visits, annual examination visits, spay/neuter services, dental prophylaxis, heartworm testing, etc. We pride ourselves on doing a good job working up cases yet often neglect the bread and butter of our profession – keeping pets from getting sick. There is nothing more awesome than a successful surgery. Yet, other than specialty surgical practices, only a small percentage of clients will benefit from our surgical expertise, compared to the number that will benefit from working on weight management, helping clients choose a good pet food, and preventing behavior problems.