Your clients may be amazing people, but sometimes, they are unsure of proper veterinary practice etiquette. And although your staff is trained in how to handle agitated animals, doing so wastes their valuable time and may expose them to injury.

Ensure they’re aware of these rules to make their—and their pet’s—appointment a safe and easy one.

5 Ways to Encourage Etiquette in Your Veterinary Practice

1. Develop a Policy For Pet Owners

Most veterinary practices have a list of rules on their website and in their waiting room. Many also ask office staff to inform clients of these rules. Suggested rules include:

• Appointments are required. Please call if you are going to miss or be late for an appointment. If you are more than 10 minutes late for an appointment, your appointment may be given to someone else.
• Control your pet. All dogs must be on leashes. All cats must be in carriers. Do not let your pet interact with another under any circumstances.
• If you bring a child, please do not let the child interact with another client’s pet.
• Please call in advance if you need to add on services. We try to fit everything in, but it’s not fair to the next client if your appointment takes longer because you brought an extra pet.
• Clean up any mess made by your pet, even if it is only marking territory. We have supplies for you. Your pet’s odor may cause stress to other animals. We suggest you give your animal a few minutes to relieve itself outside before your appointment.
• Please don’t use your cell phone while talking with the veterinarian,.vet tech or receptionist. Your full attention is required to ensure your pet stays calm.
• If your pet is extremely stressed by visiting our office, call in advance so we can make sure it gets in an examination room as soon as possible.
• You are responsible for your pet’s behavior outside the office, in the waiting room and in the examination room. Please take all measures necessary to avoid injury to other pets or staff members.
• If you believe your pet may have a contagious condition, please inform us so we may ensure it does not come into contact with other pets.
• If your pet is scheduled for surgery, withhold food and drink for 12 hours before.
• Surgeries are scheduled only for certain days. We appreciate your patience.
• Emergencies happen. On very rare occasions, your appointment may be delayed because of an emergency. We would treat your pet with the same care if it needed emergency treatment. We appreciate your patience.

2. Train Your Staff

Your receptionist sets the pace for your entire practice. Establish training for your receptionist in how to set expectations for clients.

3. Post The Policy

Many offices print out the policy and put it near the front desk, on the front door, on their website and in examination rooms.

4. Develop Consequences

You can tell your clients a million times, but there will always be some clients who refuse to follow the rules, because they do not believe you mean what you say. Develop sanctions.

5. Enforce The Policy

In some cases, a few people continually fail to follow the procedures established for your office. By having a posted policy, you can avoid claims of “I didn’t know” by pointing it out.

Call To Action & Close:

Most clients respect you and your staff. Some may not realize proper etiquette in your practice. By posting your policy, you can help their pets have a safer and drama-free appointment.

Your Covetrus representative has additional information available to pass on to small animal clients, contact us at 855.724.3461.