Choosing a vet...

[Casey]

My boys will be home soon. So I have been trying to decide on a vet.

I found two right near me.

One is an exotic pets specialist, they do not even see cats and dogs and I am sure have extensive experience with rats.
But they are so expensive...$350 for a neuter and the office exam is $50 (per boy) :shock:
I would not be able to even neuter the boys at that price.

The other one is a regular dog and cat vet, that has two doctors that specializes in exotics.
The neuter is $125 per boy and the office exam is $35 for first baby and $25 for second. :nod:
This is much more affordable and actually possible.

The receptionist at the "cheaper" place said the doctors have done quite a few neuters on rats, rabbits and guinea pigs.

But how do I know if they really are experienced enough?
I do not want to put the boys in any danger and am already nervous about putting them through surgery.
But I would really like to have them neutered...

 

[rat.charmer]

More expensive doesn't necessarily mean better - and the more expensive vet actually might have less experience because less people would go to them. Can you go and check out each clinic? Say hi to the staff etc?

 

[jorats]

On the other hand, more expensive might mean better equipment specialized for small animals. It's really a tough call. My vet is specialized in exotics, she is expensive but I wouldn't go to anyone else.

But since the other clinic do have two that specialize in small animals, that might be a good choice as well.
Once you have your babies, make an appointment with both and you can get a feel of which one you like and feels better for you.

 

[CardboardCastles]

I went with the vet the rescue I got Poe and Mishka from recommended, and was less than impressed. The office visit was $60 off the bat, and they wanted me to do a $500 x-ray because, they assured me, Mishka's foot was broken and if we didn't do an x-ray, it would go septic and either need to be amputated or would kill her from the infection. I walked out with Metacam, Baytril, a hope and a prayer, and it was what I thought it was to begin with.....she tore off the tip of a toe and it was just infected, 3 days of baytril, all the swelling redness and heat were gone, and her toe grew back in about a month.

When I had to take my kitten to the vet for his first round of shots I threw out to my vet that I had that experience, he's a dog/cat/livestock vet, but typically will not take exotics...turns out, one of his techs who is going on to be an actual vet has extensive experience with small animals, and is making it a main focus in school currently, so, since I've been going to this guy (well, our family has) since I was 11 or 12, he offered to take on my girls as patients so long as I understand that I'll be heavily relying on the advice of the tech and whatever other vet contacts he has that care for rats and other small animals (and he was also very interested about the shack after I mentioned what wonderful advice people here tend to give, given their wealth of experience).

I definately second going in to do a meet and greet. If you're not comfortable with the staff and the vet, you won't be happy with their care.

 

[Alicemcmallis]

Keep in mind that just because a clinic has experience with small animals, doesn't mean it's good quality experience.

Ask what kind of success rate they have with their spays and neuters of rats and guinea pigs - what percentage of death have they experienced? What type of anaesthetic do they use? I would say anything more than 1 in 100 death rate with neuters, without a good explanation, would put me off.

Also ask some questions about medications - what kinds of antibiotics would they give or not give under what circumstances? For guinea pigs that's a great question as they should never be given any penicillin type drug under any circumstances, but with rats they can get things like amoxicillan.

The cost of the clinic can go both ways - I know of really expensive vet clinics in Toronto that say they're exotics vets and amazing, and they bite and are ripoff artists. But then there's a really expensive vet clinic in Guelph who are absolutely amazing and really know their stuff. Really cheap vets I've found are usually cheap for a reason. Something mid-range is good.