Daily-Dog memos 5) Veterinary Clinics

Where can I find the best veterinarian for my dog? What is the best choice for my dog if it needs a special care? You’ll be able to find the answer in this post. When you walk into a vet clinic, you may notice some clinics are different from others. Veterinary clinics in the United States can be classified into two major groups: Specialty Hospital and General Practice Hospital.

General Practice Hospital can be more specified into 5 different types by its internal system.

1. Appointment-based clinic
2. Walk-in clinic
3. Spay & Neuter clinic
4. Corporate clinic
5. Emergency clinic

Most clinics allow both appointment-based & walk-in patients. Whether you make an appointment or walk-in, it is always important to make a follow-up check from your vet.

There are corporate veterinary clinics like Banfield, VCA, and Bluepearl. And Walmart has its own veterinary hospital. Good thing about corporate clinic is that you’ll experience an unified system.

Many vet clinics close at 6-7 p.m. Emergency clinics are therefore open during the night hours. If your dog needs to be hospitalized and be monitered for days, there’s a good possibility that your dog gets overnight care in Emergency clinic.

A board-certified veterinary specialist is a vet who has completed additional training and passed the exam. Currently there are 22 AVMA recognized veterinary specialty. The list is below.

• Anesthesia and analgesia
• Animal welfare
• Behavior
• Dentistry
• Dermatology
• Emergency and critical care
• Internal medicine
  • Cardiology
  • Neurology
  • Oncology
  • Internal medicine
• Laboratory animal medicine
• Microbiology
  • Virology
  • Immunology
  • Bacteriology/Mycology
  • Parasitology
• Veterinary nutrition
• Ophthalmology
• Pathology
• Pharmacology
• Poultry
• Preventive medicine
• Radiology
• Sports medicine and rehabilitation
• Surgery
  • Orthopedics
  • Soft tissue surgery
  • Neurosurgery
• Theriogenology
• Toxicology
• Veterinary practitioners (Avian, Equine, Beef cattle, Feline, Canine & Feline, Exotic, Food animal, Dairy, Reptile & Amphibian, Shelter, Swine)
• Zoological medicine