I ask them about key issues that I feel are important and listen to how they respond. I sometimes pay for an initial appointment slot just to talk to them and get a 'feel' for how they interact with me. I personally like vets who treat issues as a partnership between them and the owner. I like when they explain things, answer questions, make recommendations, and discuss options. I dislike an authoritative "do what I say because I won't tolerate questions" approach. I like when they're open to considering the newest research and/or are up to date on it. For instance, I ask about their spay/neuter recommendations and then ask about their thoughts on the golden retriever studies that have been done. I ask about their typical vaccination recommendations and whether they offer titer testing. Then I find out how emergency after-hours care is handled.

Is there any way to read any online reviews of people near you? Have you called animal control before? My local animal control told me about a shelter near me that does veterinarian work that is affordable. I have gone to them for shots in the past and they were amazing. I never would have know that they existed because they don't really advertise.

In the days before the new year of 2016, Barbie, our 3-year old pekingese, got sick. She had difficulty in movement and it appeared that she couldn't use her hind legs. We have 2 vets, 1 makes a home service and the other has a hospital in the nearby town. Unfortunately, since it was the holiday season, both vets were out of commission. I was frantic in finding a vet but it was so difficult to find a clinic with equipment - possibly x-ray and ultrasound to determine what's ailing my dog.

I brought Barbie to Animal House, the biggest pet hospital in the business district of Metro Manila. The findings was not conclusive and all they prescribed was pain reliever. On the next day, our vet who makes house calls arrived from vacation and contacted me. When he came, he immediately defined the problem as anal sac disease. He said it is not common but natural like a boil. Pain reliever was also the prescription. True enough, Barbie got well after 2 days.

I haven't done a veterinarian shopping before because I was lucky enough to have about 3 or 4 vet doctors in the same state with me. My mom have this influence of getting information for people and that's how we made contacts with almost the vets in the state.