Читать книгу Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team - Группа авторов - Страница 62

Answer questions, give written materials or refer clients to credible websites. We cannot deliver pet‐specific care until we have delivered client‐specific care. What we are recommending should always be what we believe is in the best interests of the patient. Your body language, eyecontact, and speech patterns need to project a caring message. It may be your 20th appointment today – it may be the client's only visit all year. To you it's another patient – to them it's a family member. These are important conversations!

In general, the vast majority of pet owners consider their pets to be members of the family. They consider their pets' health to be an important issue. They want veterinarians to help them do the right things right. For example, most pet owners actually want and expect nutritional advice from their veterinarian.

More specifically, though, every client has a different learning and communication style, different experiences with pets, and a different level of understanding. We have clients who are physicians and those who are truck drivers or office workers. The way we explain things to a medical professional is not the same as the way we would explain for someone with only a high school diploma. The majority of our clients may want nutritional advice – but the rest don't, and if you insist on talking about it anyway your advice may not be well received. We have to get a feel for who each person is, what level of knowledge they already have about pet health care, and what information and help they want from us.

This means we have to ask questions and listen to the answers. What has been your past experience with dogs? What role does your pet play in your family? How can I help you to feel more comfortable with this decision? Have I explained this well enough or do you still have questions?

What we choose to recommend or educate our clients about at a given visit is a combination of what the pet owner wants from us and what we want to discuss, based on our risk assessment for the pet (see 2.7 Risk Assessment). We often have to prioritize and we also need to be brief. Most people don't have the time or the attention span for a 40‐minute discussion on flea control. However, you must also keep in mind that the vast majority of pet owners want their veterinarian to tell them about all the recommended diagnostic and treatment options for the pet, even if they cannot afford them.