When you are in a place where your pet dog needs more intricate care, or when your regular veterinarian is not going to be able to provide the care that your dog needs, you will find that you are going to be sent on to a referral practice. A referral practice fills a different niche than what your regular veterinarian does; while your regular veterinarian will provide your dog with the maintenance care that he needs and while your regular veterinarian can help take care of the basic problems, you will find that the referral practice will instead handle more sophisticated or more specialty problems.
In most cases, you will find that you are only going to be able to go to a referral practice once you have gone through the referral procedure. Your regular veterinarian will likely be the one who gets things started and diagnoses an issue that might be concerning your dog. Your veterinarian is running a general practice and he or she will be making the decision to send your dog on. In many cases, your veterinarian will stay in touch with you through the procedure and help you keep on top of taking care of your pet s condition. They are an important part of the procedure.
When your dog has been accepted for a referral, you may find that there are some different procedures or tests that he will need to go through. Referral practices hold a number of different positions and some of the procedures that they are going to run on your dog might look a little bit out of the ordinary. For instance, you may need to go to a referral service for dermatology issues, for dentistry issues or for oncology or ophthalmology issues related to your dog. They might also be equipped to deal with cardiology matter and they are likely going to be capable of handling critical care and surgery as well.
If you are in a place where you need to rely on a referral practice, speak with your veterinarian. Unless you are dealing with an emergency situation, you are going to find that you are in a place where you need to worry about things like how well the practice is run and what kind of price range you are looking at. Take some time and make sure that you consider how you can communicate your needs with your veterinarian and how you can make the best decision for your dog. Is this a procedure where you are going to need to think about how well you are going to be able to provide for your dog, and what are the consequences of care? Will your dog need to stay overnight for treatment?
When you are in a place where your dog needs access to a referral service, you might be feeling a little stressed and worried. Make sure that you speak with your veterinarian and get all of your needs covered; it really can be a fairly straightforward procedure. The more you know about what is going on, the better you will feel.
Author Resource:
This article was written by Kelly Marshall of http://www.ohmydogsupplies.com - the best place for dog beds, including orthopedic beds for older dogs.