How Do You Know if Your Vet is Good?

How Do You Know if Your Vet is Good?
Francisco María García

Written and verified by the lawyer Francisco María García.

Last update: 21 March, 2023

A good professional that looks after our pet’s health should be loving, friendly, and have good communications skills to make sure your pet is healthy; having a degree is not everything.

Your veterinarian is very important in your pet’s life. Having a qualified and responsible health professional for your pet will make you will at ease. But, how do you know you have a good vet?

Tips for making sure you have a good veterinarian

Pets have many abilities and can learn many tricks. However, they can’t choose their own health care because it’s the owner’s responsibility.

Planning and organization

Many owners decide to take their pets to the veterinary clinic closest to their house. Logically, the neighborhood vet can be an excellent professional, but location shouldn’t be the only thing to consider when choosing the best veterinarian for your pet.

Planning is key to making sure that you choose well. Before anything else, it’s a good idea to do some research about the professionals in your city or the surrounding areas. Then, you can look up their qualifications, experience, and their reputation online or with people who are knowledgeable on this topic.

It might also be very useful to ask friends and family about where they take their pets and what they think about their vets. It’s important to talk to the professional. Get to know them and check out their clinic’s facilities. You shouldn’t be embarrassed to ask permission to look at the facilities and ask about their services.

dog and vet

Once you’ve chosen the vet, you will need to organize your schedule to have your dog get some periodic check-ups, grooming sessions, deworming, and vaccinations. 

Presence, participation, and communication

A good vet will be interested and up-to-date on their patients’ routines. A dedicated professional will want to know about your pet’s daily life, how they behave, what food they eat, if they’re properly hydrated, etc. All this information helps them understand your pet’s life so they can create a profile.

It’s important that the professional listens and pays attention to the owner’s comments and questions. Practicing veterinary medicine also includes informing patients on the way they take care of their pets on daily basis. A good vet knows that there is no prevention without any information.

Great veterinarians are good with every animal they see. They are not just trying to make a profit with each consultation. It’s even better if your vet actively participates in conferences, workshops, and events in order to teach and learn constantly. 

Infrastructure and human capital of a veterinary clinic

Good veterinary attention is more than just the vet. Your pet’s health care requires an entire infrastructure for running several tests, treatments, and procedures.

The most complete veterinary clinics do ultrasounds, X-rays, dental treatments, laboratory studies, pressure control and oxygenation, etc. In addition to security and trust, they save owners’ time by offering all the services in the same place.

Just as or even more important than the technology and physical infrastructure is the human capital that makes up the veterinary staff. If a vet is good, they will have trained technicians and assistants that are great at handling animals.

24-hour care

Accidents and diseases suddenly appearing can happen at any moment. So, it’s important to know that you can always count on your veterinary clinic.

A good number of veterinary clinics offer 24-hour care, and it’s a very important service. Some even have an ambulance service that provides first-aid at home and transports the animal safely.

A good veterinarian needs a responsible owner

What is the best guarantee for good medical attention for your pet? The response is not that complicated: your commitment and dedication to your pet’s health and well-being.

A responsible owner is more important than veterinary care. It’s your responsibility to provide the right preventative medicine by going to veterinary appointments, vaccinations, and deworming. Their diet, physical activity, hygiene, and mental health also depends on your daily commitment and attention.

Therefore, besides deciding if a veterinarian is good or not, it’s important to ask yourself if you are being a responsible pet owner because your pet’s life depends on it.


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.