Homevet

The Advantages of a House Call Veterinarian

In recent times it’s become more and more difficult to make an appointment at your local vet. The pandemic might also mean that you have the stress of waiting outside whilst your pet goes in to be treated without you. But there is a solution. Some veterinary practices like us offer primarily home visits to their patients. It’s great news and comes with a whole host of advantages that bring the role of your veterinarian into the modern day.

1. Lack of Transport

With the increase of working from home solutions, more and more people are giving up their cars as they just don’t need them as often. But if you need to take an emergency trip to the vet, this can cause some issues.

The ability to book a house call with your vet means that you can await the treatment in the comfort of your own home without having to battle out in the bad weather or attempt to load your nervous dog onto a public bus or taxi.

2. Mobility Issues

For those people that have mobility issues it can be a struggle to get out of the house without a lot of preparation and added stress. That with an upset or sick animal in tow can make it unbearable.

Equally, your pet might have mobility issues. If you have an elderly pet, it’s possible that the long walk to the vets isn’t feasible and if they’re too heavy to carry the whole way, waiting for the appointment on a sofa in the AC cool indoors just seems like a much better option!

3. Childcare

If you care for a young child or elderly or disabled person during the day, it can be difficult to plan your day so that you have a few hours spare to take a trip to the vet. This is especially difficult if you require an emergency appointment. You can’t just let your 2-year-old fend for themselves for a few hours.

House call appointments remove that problem. You can go about your day as normal until the vet arrives.

So, they’re the advantages for us people– but what advantages do veterinary house call appointments have for your pet?

4. Travel Sickness

Some pets aren’t used to travelling in cars. For larger pets like cats or dogs, they can become travel sick quite easily if they weren’t introduced to cars at a young age. Travelling in the car can cause them more stress and might even make them feel more ill. They’d probably much prefer to sleep at home until the vet arrives.

5. Less Stress for the Pet

Pets hate the vet. It’s rare that your pet will enjoy visiting the vet and there are lots of things about that environment that can cause undue stress.

• Travel – The journey itself can cause them to feel ill and more stressed and if you’re driving, you can’t really turn to comfort them.

• Smell – The vet’s office has a very distinctive smell. Remember that our pet’s noses are much more sensitive than ours. They’ll be able to smell the medication, the cleaning products and they’ll be able to sense the fear of other animals. It’s kind of like the dread we feel walking into the dentist.

• Other animals – Some pets don’t get along with other animals at all and that’s fine when they’re at home. But imagine sitting in a waiting room with 20 other, strange animals who are all making noises that you don’t recognise. The tension can lead to aggression in some animals and cause anxiety in others.

• Leaving you – Okay, so in normal circumstances you’d be with your pet every step of the way while they’re being treated, which is great. You’re their comfort blanket. They know you and the fact that you aren’t panicking reassures them. But with COVID-19, some practices are making it compulsory that you need to wait outside while your vet takes your pet away to be treated (or limit the number of visitors or people in the consult room). Your pet is then escorted by an unknown person into a strange room and prodded and poked causing them to become anxious or scared.

Veterinary house calls remove this stress for your pet and allow them to be treated in a safe and secure environment.

6. Observation

In order to determine what exactly is wrong with your sick pet, your vet needs to know every detail about any changes in their behaviour. You can describe their eating habits, whether they’re lethargic, limping etc. However, there’s no substitute for seeing the behaviour yourself. If you take a trip to the vet, your pet’s behaviour is likely to be different in front of them due to the stressful environment, which may even cause a misdiagnosis – usually meaning even more trips to the vet.

If your vet makes a house call, they’ll be able to see how your pet behaves in their natural environment, with no external factors. This can lead to more precise diagnoses the first time and mean that your pet gets better faster.

Of course, there are a couple of disadvantages too:

• Your vet can only carry a limited amount of medication in their van. If your pet needs something that they don’t have, it might mean writing a prescription that you need to go out to fetch anyway, and this might take a little longer than if you just went to the surgery in the first place. Normally for Homevet this isn’t an issue and we carry enough meds in the car to last a few days whatever the situation might be with your pet- unless they have a very rare condition.

 Surgery obviously can’t be conducted in your home as a sterile environment and professional equipment is required. So, house call appointments might only work for ailments not surgery and life-threatening emergencies.

• Diarizing can be awkward if the vet has to see patients from a wider catchment area. Your vet can’t be in two places at once and if they aren’t in your area it can take a while longer to get an appointment.

If your worried that your pet is acting strangely and might be ill, why not call Homevet on 9860-5522 to book house calls? It’d be easier and more convenient for you and stress free and comfortable for your pet. Or click the link for our registration form!