I’ve used the same vet practice for 42 years! It started with the primary vet/practice owner when he was just out of school and starting out under another vet practice. Then he moved to his own place that combined small and large animal. Many years ago he built a state of the art vet center. They can do everything - surgeries, run Coggins tests, collect and store semen, inseminate, collect embryos, have a surgical suite, an isolation stall – they have clients who trailer in from out of town. He is a true guru - particularly on lameness. He has gone through a number of vets and has students come in from large animal colleges to train. I just adore him and he is a great friend as well. He has had several vets for a number of years now and they do a terrific job. I know I can count on him if I need him. I am fine with the other vets as well. Love the staff!
I use an individual vet, and prefer the personal service I get from her. She has been seeing my horses over 10 years now, knows them well and we also have a good relationship. I know I can call her with any concerns, and some issues can be dealt with without a visit, as my vet knows I am capable of monitoring the situation with guidance.
She has arrangements with other local vets when she is away. My one horse seems to know her vacation schedule and times her injury/illness accordingly, which is annoying, but I deal with it. When I have to work with the other local vets in her absence, it only reinforces my decision! Love my vet and consider her an integral part of my horses’ lives.
For the last 10 years, I had the best of both worlds. My vet was in solo practice but shared call with 2-3 other local solo practice vets. The coverage was excellent. They were also very good about communicating back to my primary vet about what they had done over the weekend (or whatever absence) and she would follow up with me when she returned to work. My vet also had relationships at the two nearest equine hospitals and would reach out for consults any time we were into something weird. Pride never got in the way of the horse getting what it needed, and she was great about practicing veterinary medicine as a team sport.
I have now moved and am using a multi-vet practice. So far, so good. I don’t yet know how they manage relationships/consistency, but at this point I am the consistent thread in my mare’s veterinary care anyway. As long as whoever comes is willing to listen to the history and collaborate on a solution, I’m comfortable advocating for her needs and providing context.
Well, one of the new vets came out this morning and she was great! She did the best of any vet I’ve ever had with giving him a shot, showed me his teeth and was nice on top of that.
I hope she stays! I called the office to arrange payment and told them to pass on compliment to the owner but I may write a quick note too and mail it.
Good to hear! 
Great idea to send a note. Something they can pin on the bulletin board. :yes:
Often in multi vet practices, vets come for a reason and leave for a reason. Usually with a practice with older seasoned vets, they will often invite younger vets to get experience in their demographic. There are many reasons to move on, including wanting to learn something else.
I’ve found this is pretty normal for larger practices, both veterinary and in human medicine. But usually there are one or two doctors who own the practice and are there long term. The others are usually younger and there to get experience and work towards moving to a bigger area or opening their own practice. The only time the entire staff changes over is usually when the owners retire and sell the business. If all of the vets are changing every few years, I’d be wondering who owns the place!
With my small animal vet, I ended up following one of the younger vets. I got my first cat from someone at work and just kept taking her to the same vet they used, which had 3-4 doctors with 2 of them always being the same. I really liked one of the other vets who rotated through, and she opened her own practice much closer to me at about the same time that my cat died and I adopted a new cat. So I switched to her for my new cat. If you really like any of the vets who left, you could try finding out where they went. If they move to an entirely different area of course that doesn’t help.
I use one clinic for emergency backup that have multiple vets. For planned visits I use a single vet practice. She has been in practice a few years and works out of her truck. I actually bought my first horse from her mama and taught her in 8th grade. Last year we realized her mama and I are 3rd cousin. Two weeks ago she checked a horse while I was at work and even went in the house to treat my dog for an ear problem. Wonderful service.
She also will do emergency but is not always available.
This is usually because the practice offers a certain type of pay package. It’s common to offer a base pay , say 30K/year, but then after they bring in a certain amount, say 130K, they will give them 10-30% of their receivables. The problem is that in every case the receptionists give the senior vet all the new cases and ones that will earn the main money, and the new vets are never given a chance to reach their percent basis. My dog vet does this and out of 10 vets, has 8 new each year. Then the new ones try to push useless stuff to get the bill up. It stops as soon as I asked their medical rationale and they realize I know way too much to bilk me. LMBO
