Brainstorming

[ladysprite]

When I was growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian for a lot of reasons, but the primary one was that I liked solving puzzles and fixing things. I wanted to make animals better, put things back together, solve problems. Now that I am a vet, though, I realize that a lot of what I enjoy most in the job, and what I wish I had the chance to do more of, is prevent problems in the first place. I get to do some of that with vaccines and preventive medications, and I get to do a lot of preventing repeat problems by educating people after the fact, but none of this changes the fact that half of the preventable problems I see come from people not educating themselves before they buy a pet.

A lot of this isn't the pet owner's fault, to be honest. People are bombarded with images in the media of cheery, well-behaved, pre-trained dogs and cute, tidy, talking birds. They go to pet stores that fail to educate them about the proper care of any animal, they find inaccurate information on the internet, and they're surrounded with pets that are easy to buy and come with little, no, or inaccurate instructions for follow-up health care. And, six months or six years down the road, either I wind up examining an animal with a laundry list of problems that could have been avoided entirely or the animal winds up in a shelter because the owners had no idea that it would be such a challenge and expense to care for.

I have an idea, though. I'm not quite sure how it would work, or whether I'd be able to find a clinic willing to implement it or people willing to make use of it, but I think it might just save a lot of time, money, animal suffering, and human heartache if it works.

I'd love to set up some kind of pre-purchase counseling program, where people looking for the pet would get a 20-minute sit-down visit with the doctor. They'd be able to talk about what kind of pet they think they want, and what qualities they're looking for, and let the vet know all about their lifestyle and space and circumstances. And the vet would be able to put together a list of a few animals or breeds that they think might meet their criteria and suit their living situation. They could also give them an idea of cost of care, and what kind of husbandry and preventive medicine would be necessary to care for the critters in question.

We'd have to charge a nominal fee, of course, to make up for the time spent, but that cost could be refunded at the first office visit. And then they'd start out the pet's life with a relationship with a veterinarian, and reasonable ideas of what to expect from the critter. There are still a few stumbling blocks - it's hard to market veterinary services to people who don't already own pets, for instance, and we'd have to be careful to explain that our suggestions aren't guarantees of a perfect match, and that we can't be held legally responsible if you turn out not to like your new puppy/turtle/guinea pig - but... I think it might work. And the education about caring for the animal would be incredibly valuable.

What do y'all think? I admit I'm probably not the best critic of the plan, being unable to look at it from the outside - does it sound like something you might go for, given the appropriate situation? Or can you think of ways to make it better?

Comments

[kgola.livejournal.com]

I think that's actually a brilliant idea. As someone who wanted a pet desperately as a kid (but then got rabbits and wound up letting my dad take care of 'em), I think knowing what things to expect prior to getting the animals would have helped.

[etherial.livejournal.com]

I concur. Fantastic idea. "Pet-Hunting Services" or "Pre-Pet Counseling" would be a very good service, if marketed well.

[qarylla.livejournal.com]

I think that would be a good thing to do at a place like the BCAE or Cambridge Adult Ed. I think either of these places would be happy to offer this type of class and it could be marketing through both pet stores and vet offices. I think that the BCAE (or similar place) would be a good testing ground and make it easier to convince a vet office to try it for their location.

[sjo.livejournal.com]

When we adopted Melanie, the Humane Society gave us all kinds of pre-adoption information, interviewed us, took references, and even inspected our yard to be sure it was Rottie-friendly. I have a DVD about "Training Your Adopted Dog" that I haven't even opened, because honestly, teaching her not to jump and to sit on command was really all I needed (no, my dogs are not the best disciplined creatures in the world, but they do love everyone, and Cesar Millan can bite me). I used the fact sheets on doggie dominance issues...

Anyway, I think that if you give information to people about pet ownership, some people will use it. Some people will completely disregard it, just as they do the fine manual they get with their electronics. In the long run, you might be able to save trouble for some animals, and that's a good thing. You just have to accept that, as Dorothy Parker said, "You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think."

[divalion.livejournal.com]

I think that would be an awesome program. I was sort of an "accidental pet owner" in that Random and I started out the weekend with no plans for pets and came home with two kittens from an outdoor litter. Even though I wouldn't have been going to something like that before we got cats (since we had no plans), I'd have definitely been able to use something like that in the immediate aftermath so I would've felt that much more confident in my ability to care for them. You might find another whole market in brand-new pet owners looking for professional guidance.

If you're able to implement something like that and it does well, you might even think in terms of packaging the program to offer to other veterinary services, animal rescue operations, and similar places around the country to teach them how to set up an effective preventative program of their own.

[tikva.livejournal.com]

Brilliant idea. Seriously. (You'd tell me if I were doing something dumb with Brodie, though, right? I've never had an animal in my life before her. Half-dead fireflies in a jar don't count).

I'm told there is a veterinary public health field, although I know nothing about it. I'm curious as to that field's approach (as if an entire field would have ONE approach, ha!) to things like wellness and prevention and other issues you touched on in your post.

[siderea]

Brilliant.

Offer it through the local high schools. Or middle schools.

[siderea]

P.S. And get your favorite local pet stores to provide coupons to you to offer in addition to the price off your first pet visit, so you can advertise, "Get pre-pet counseling, get 20% of the price of your pet/your pet food supplies at GoodPetStore."

[asdr83.livejournal.com]

Just a few days ago one of my classmates brought up the idea of having some kind of vet counseling outpost at local pet stores, to advise the impulse pet buyers, who usually so need the advice but would never take time to get it, if it's not in front of them. I believe the idea would be that big chains like Petco would pay the vets, but possibly raise their pet prices and improve their image through the marketing of "healthier" pets (people would just infer that from the vet presence). The company's liability would shield the vets and maybe people would make better decisions.

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

You could further expand upon it to make a pet HMO...

[mindways]

Gut instinct: Cool idea; useful; many people (though by no means all) would like it. The legal responsibility angle sounds like one to be careful of, yes.

I could imagine that one might better overcome inertia if financially it were a minor net positive rather than a breakeven? (eg, costs $50, but get $75 off your first vet visit). It gives those who don't have the knowledge to know that this would be a good idea an incentive to do it anyway. It'd require the practice to absorb the difference, though. For someplace actively seeking new clients, it'd probably be worth it?

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

Heck, it would be a great idea even after acquiring the pet. I have medical nagging doubts about our kittens, that is not knowing enough to be able to ask questions. We talked with the vet tech (is that the right term) when we brought them in for breaking, but didn't talk with the doctor other than to say hi. It is a tough information download though.

As to legal responsibility, if you give advice in the negative, you should avoid most of that. "I wouldn't recommend a greyhound for your efficiency apartment."

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

If you have medical concerns, definitely talk to your vet - even if you're not sure how to phrase the question, at least opening a dialogue might help. And if you're bringing a pet in for surgery, you should be able to talk to a doctor - if not immediately, at least at some point!

If it's something I can help with, let me know. At least, if you can give me an idea of what your concerns are, I might be able to help you come up with the right questions to ask....

[hermitgeecko.livejournal.com]

I think it's an extremely good idea. I would have done pet counseling in a flash before getting my rabbit -- I didn't know any bunny owners who lived anywhere near me, and I really needed some insight. I did a lot of reading, which made me a bit more confident and helped me deal with some of Thula's oddities, but it's not the same as talking with an experienced vet face-to-face who can talk back.

Side question: does your practice do bunnies? Thula has never been to a vet, which means she's far overdue, and she's been acting really squirrely ever since we moved, which is another reason to have her peeked at. I would much rather take her to someone I know than someone I don't, but I understand rabbits have some funny and unusual health issues and it is a good idea to check if the vet is comfy about them first. ::worry::

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

I do see bunnies, and I have one practice that I'm going to be spending a great deal of time at. Right now, I'm there on Mondays - I'll email you the contact info.

[wren13.livejournal.com]

I've been doing this informally with friends for years, but would love to see something more organized set up. Wonderful idea - let me know if you need a hand. First thing I usually recommend is Daniel Tortorra's The Right Dog for You, for folks looking at dogs.

Good point in the comments - these needs to be offered at the pet store level, the shelters already do a pretty good job, as do many of the rescues.

[surakofb5.livejournal.com]

I love it! People getting married often have pre-marriage couselling, and women having a first baby usually do lots of reading. Why not a counselling session before getting a pet? It's a big committment.

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

I think it's a great idea! People with small childen not getting aggressive dogs, young bachelors not getting long-lived exotic birds, people with big back yards being matched with dogs who love to romp, the elderly and weak living with cuddly mature cats.... Now, I'm not sure how the economics of this thing could work, but it's sure a good idea. Maybe calling it a pet-matching service instead of counseling would help.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

It seems like a great idea. Offer it through the animal shelters, and pet stores it they're willing.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

It's a great idea but sadly I don't think people would really do it... after all, most people don't get counseling before having children, either.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

I think it's a brilliant idea. Like sjo, monsteralice and I got that sort of orientation when we adopted our dogs from the shelter, but not all people do that, of course...

[rabbitorf.livejournal.com]

Someone teaching a class at school recommended this recently and I'm trying to remember who it was. Perhaps Dr. Neer (who, btw, was just awarded Vet of the Year by OVMA!) or the guy they brought in to teach the advanced behavior class. I'll see if i can figure out who it was since they might have some ideas as to how to do this legally and logistically. I don't remember them saying anything about marketing the service, just that it would be a useful thing and that we should charge for it.

[jducoeur]

Some of the practical issues would take some pretty serious work -- in particular, the publicity problem is quite serious, and I think you'd need to work with some people with experience in the marketing arena to make it succeed. (I'm thinking small-scale marketing, on the order of mailing flyers to the area houses or stuffing something into those Val-Pak coupon envelopes.)

But the basic idea is an excellent one, that would probably help a lot of people and a lot of pets. (And, quite likely, the vets themselves -- it seems like a win/win for everyone.) And I don't see any problems that couldn't be dealt with...