Monday, August 25, 2008
Veterinary Clinics - My Experience
The Importance of a Good Veterinarian
Getting a good veterinarian is very important. It is akin to finding a good family doctor for yourself or your family. Your chosen veterinarian must be one whom you trust and one who has expertise in what your pet needs. For instance, a veterinarian who is good in treating dogs may not be as good in treating rabbits.
Before bringing your pet to any other vet, it is good to do some research. Like all occupations, some people are in the line solely for the sake of monetary gains, while others are in the line because of passion. Needless to say, any pet owner would want to find a vet that is genuinely concern about the condition of their pets. It takes a bit of trial and errors to find out which vet suits your pet best.
Veterinary Clinics in Singapore
Unlike the veterinary hospitals that are featured on Animal Planet, most (if not all) clinics and hospitals based in Singapore do not have specialist departments such as Orthopaedic, Obstetrics and Gynaecologist or Pathologist etc. Veterinary clinics and hospitals in Singapore are on a small or medium scale in comparison. Therefore the same veterinary doctor that is treating your pet for flu can also be treating him/her for dental problems, fractured bones, neurological problems while providing ante-natal care.
However, there is little to worry because these doctors are (supposedly) medically trained to handle various species of animals with different ailments/conditions.
Personal Experience
One must be wondering why I kept on emphasising the importance of finding a good veterinary doctor for your pet. That's because I have read several articles or posts on how animals have suffered after their owners/handlers brought them to certain vets.
I personally had a bad experience to share.
Many years ago when I was still in my early teens, I used to rear a tortise (not knowing that it was illegal to do so in Singapore). Realising that there was a decrease in her appetite and that she was less active, I brought her to a hospital to visit a vet.
The first doctor who saw us told me that the tortise seems fine, however they need to keep her hospitalised for a night for observations. Meanwhile, another doctor who specialises in seeing tortises will come in to do a diagnosis the following day to ensure that she is fine.
The next day, when I went to pick up my tortise from the vet. When I entered the ward (where sick animals stay while being hospitalised), I was disappointed to find out that my tortise was kept in the same container which I used as a carrier to bring her to the vet! The container was only two times her size, which means that there was little space for movement! For that, they charged me almost $50 for a night's hospitalisation fees .
I checked with the nurse and she told me that no one stays overnight at the hospital, which means my tortise was barely under observation because I brought her in during the evening consultation and I discharged her from the hospital in the afternoon. Moreover, I felt that since they were charging so much for hospitalisation, they should at least give my tortise a decent amount of space to roam!
Anyway, shortly after I discharged my tortise, I spoke to the veterinarian who specialised in seeing tortises. He told me that my tortises is fine and nothing unusual was observed. (Now that I think back, with such a short span of time spent with my tortise, how much could observations could they have had?) Though I had my doubts and wanted to post questions, I held back as I felt uncomfortable with the vet; he seemed as though he was eager to get over the consultation and hurried through the entire episode.
The total damaged for those two days cost slightly less than $200. Though it's not a huge sum of money to many, but it was a huge portion of my savings since I was only a secondary school student back then. What made me felt worse was the doctor wasn't able to provide a diagnosis!
I thought I was being paranoid and overly concerned about my tortise. However, several months later, the problems still persisted.
This time, I decided to visit a veterinary clinic nearer to my house. Luckily for me, I managed to find a good doctor (and I have brought all my pets to her ever since, regardless of species or breed.)
By then, it was too late. My tortise was severely malnourished and despite attempts to fatten her up with supplements and proper food, she never made it. Though I have to admit it was partially my fault for being ignorant, (it's another story altogether & I'll blog it in a separate post if possible.) I still feel that the first vet that I've seen has to equally responsible, especially since he was medically trained.
My Chosen Vet
My furmily (fur family) doctor is the resident vet at The Joyous Vet, Dr Grace Heng.
In case you are wondering; No, I am not paid by her to post this write up about her or her clinic and I doubt she will ever know that I blog about her.
The main reason why I strongly recommend her is due to the fact that she is skilled (so far, no casualties as a result of her expertise) and she is able to empathise with how I feel. This, I feel is exceptionally important since I often bring in injured strays or sickly animals. The last thing I would want to hear from my vet before any other suggested treatment is "Your best and only option is to euthanised your pet".
In my opinion, she is so good that I am willing to wait in the long queue before my pet/s can see her for a consultation. My longest wait was 2 hours and 45 minutes (without appointment).
Since I have known of Dr Heng, I have brought to her dogs, cats, rabbits, tortise, terrapin, hamsters and even a pigeon!
Dr Grace Heng is also recommended by HRSS (House Rabbit Society Singapore.
On a side note: A boy brought a few baby rats (that was a day old) to one of the nurses in her clinic. Dr Heng has advised the nurse on how to care for the babies and what best to feed. Though 3 out of 4 of them did not make it despite the nurse's efforts, she was still heartened that the last one survived. Now that the nurse has migrated overseas, Dr Heng takes over the role as the main caregiver for the rat. These are the virtues that I look for in the staff when choosing a veterinary clinic; compassionate and selfless (the nurse had to feed the rats every few hours and rub their genitals. Even if it's in the wee hours.) For those who are wondering if what I mentioned is true, you can drop me a message and I'll email you the blog address of the nurse who posted the entire episode of her finding and caring for the rats.
Dr Grace Heng can be found at the following address:
The Joyous Vet
475 Choa Chu Kang Avenue 3
#01-30A Sunshine Place
Singapore 680475
Tel: +65 6769 0304
Fax: +65 6769 7353
Emergency Contact No: 9351 1334
Labels: Personal Experience, Veterinary Clinics
posted by Animal Matter @ 8/25/2008 05:22:00 PM
