Conference misery::feline_v1

    There are a lot of notes on this very topic. Do a SHOW KEY/FULL=VETS at
    the notes prompt.

    As for the "endorsement policy", please see 1.18. The bottom line is
    if you like someone/thing, you can praise to the high heavens, but if
    the opposite it true, please be careful what you say and how you say it.

    Deb

    Some things I look for:
    
    1)  Ask your neighbors about local vets.  I was too far from my
    	original vet to commute, so I had to find another local.  I have
    	tried most of them as I have a crew.
    
    2)  Is the office/pet seeing areas/pet staying areas/ etc. reasonably
        clean?
    
    3)  Are your concerns/problems/questions handled properly?
                                                     
    4)  Are diplomas displayed and do they look "real"?
                                            
    5)  Are the fees such that you have to leave behind an arm & a leg?
    
    6)  Do they have hours to fit your schedule?  Try finding a vet
        at 1:00 am half asleep, in a panic! (I have two numbers of on-call
        vets, just in case!)
        My vet is open til 7:00 three nights a week.  This is VERY helpful
        as I work an hour away from home & vet.
    
    Hope this helps.....
    
    L- & the gang
     

    The most important thing to me is to have good rapport with the
    vet.  Being a breeder, I have to have a vet that is willing to be
    my cattery partner.  They have to be willing to answer questions
    in terms that I can understand, and never be condescending.  Also,
    I look for a vet that is comfortable handling cats.  I used a vet
    for years before I realized that he really wasn't a cat person.
    Because of that, he wasn't comfortable handling them, and that 
    was sensed by the cats.  I ended up having cats act up in situations
    were they shouldn't have.
    
    My current vet is very much a cat person, she even owns a Birman
    (big plus in my book :^D).  She is terrific, and has saved the lives
    of two of my cats.  My previous vet had given up on Livee when the
    going got tough, telling me that she was going to die, and that
    there was nothing we could do about it.  Well, I wasn't ready to
    give up, and neither was the new vet.  Today, Livee is two years
    old, healthy, and gorgeous.  
    
    Being a breeder also makes it important to keep costs down.  My
    current vet takes 10% off of all of my bills, across the board.
    She also doesn't charge me a second, third or more office call if
    I bring in more than one cat at a time.  We only pay one office
    call.
    
    Jo

    
    	I love my vet for reasons that I know I posted in this file
    somewhere.  Drs. Nelson & Schwartz, Marlborough Animal Hospital (Mass.)
    
    	2:00 AM on a Christmas Eve, he (N) got out of bed to try and save
    my little kitten Whitewalls.  Slaved all night, sacrificed Xmas
    morning with his family, for the good of my baby.  Unfortunately,
    to no avail, which made it more tragic.
    
    	After trying everything for several days, Dr. Schwartz finally
    decided to tell me to save my money and put down my beloved Malcolm.
    A strange infection was causing him to suffer, and I was heartbroken,
    but finally agreed to euthanasia.  I cried and cried, and took his
    body home for burial.  Later that month, I received a letter from
    Tufts Veterinary School thanking me for the "generous donation"
    in Malcolm's name.  Evidently, Dr. Schwartz donated her entire fee
    to that institution, knowing how much I loved my Malcolm.
    
    	These are just two instances of superlative effort on the parts
    of these fine human beings.  The hospital is somewhat more expensive
    than others, but well worth the price.  I know this doesn't help
    the author of this topic, but anyone in the greater Marlborough
    area might want to know.
    
    	Bob, Smoke, Sneakers & Nova
    
    
    	

    If you don't get any recommendations of vets close to you, try calling
    local animal societies;  usually a volunteer there will have the low down
    on area vets.  I also look for a vet who obviously loves animals;  you
    can tell.
    

    Mark,

    Greetings from an old EPSer!

    I use Dr. Conti at Hudson Animal Hospital.  He is quite good at 
    giving explanations, loves cat (and especially likes my red 
    Abyssinian, Sheba).  He seems to be on top of the latest 
    information also.  

    I originally used Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston, but that
    is such a long trip now.  Also, I would get an absolutely great
    Vet who would be gone in a year or two. 

    Congratulations on your new little girl!

			    -- Julie

    Hi Mark,
    I just went through an extensive search for a good vet in the Nashua
    area.
    
    I found the Hillsborough County Animal Hospital in Amherst, NH.
    Drs. Schunk and Schunk (husband and wife) are board certified. 
    She is a surgical specialist and he is an internal specialist. 
    Both are from Tufts and have been in Amherst for a year.
    
    I interviewed both of them and was given a tour of the facilities.
    Very modern, state of the art.
    
    My two kitties received the most thorough exam they've ever had.
     
    Both vets were interested in talking with me and working with me.
    
    Past experience that has worked for me, ask a vet to see everything,
    ask about all their policies, your involvements with your cat during
    exams, euthanasia policies, etc.  If a vet balks at any of this,
    forget them!
    
    Good Luck!
    
    Nancy

    What's your new babies name?
    
    
    
    
    L- & the gang

    
    i agree with note .6. i take my two furfaces to husdson, n.h. animal
    hospital, and they have seen Dr. Dutton. He is also wonderful with
    them. One of mine, Magen was real sick last year and he really worked
    on trying to figure out what was causing his bladder infection. he
    investigated a human drug that was not out in veterian form yet, 
    that i had to given magen and had cvs make up the prescription.
    Magen eventually had to go to TUFTS and he did all the arrangements
    for that. 
    
    Cindi
    

    
    	Mark,
    
    	congrats on the new fuzzface!
    
    	We use Dr. Eric Clough at the Merrimack Animal Hospital in
    	Merrimack NH.  He is wonderful.  I don't know how many of
    	notes in here you've read but it's pretty much common knowledge
    	that my Duke is a very sick kitty.  He turned a year old in
    	January but only weighs 3 � pounds.  I won't go into detail 
    	about exactly what his symptoms are though.  We used to use
    	a vet in Westford because it was close to work but they gave
    	up on Duke after just one visit.  "Sorry, there's nothing we
    	can do".  So we changed to MAH.  Dr. Clough takes the time
    	to explain all the alternatives we have with Duke.  He's
    	tried many different medications on him, unfortunately to
    	no avail.  He and everyone there are very loving with the
    	animals and especially care about the owner's feelings.  They
    	know it's hard for us to come to terms with the possibility
    	that we may have to put Duke down.  We took in a kitten that
    	was left on my friend's doorstep.  She's allergic and has
    	two big dogs so Cary and I agreed to take the kitty in until
    	a home was found for her.  We brought her in to have the first
    	kitten shots and they didn't charge us for the office visit
    	or one of the shots.  It only cost us $11 for her.  And my
    	kitties love him!  =)
    
    	JJ
    

    Re.10
    We also have Dr Eric and staff they are wonderful. Pookie was also
    "not well" last spring.(Dr Eric  referred to it as "not being
    our Pookieself") and he was just great with her. The " kids like him"
    a lot, even Happy is well behaved with him. When I brought Precious
    in when I  brought her home, he was very helpful, it has
    been  a lonnnnnnnngggggg time since I had a baby to care for,
    and he was quite helpful.. and she liked him a lot, she was 
    very,very friendly towards him.. she had his shirt unbuttoned,
    his tie undone, etc,he called it "flirting".. heh-heh
    Kate

    
    C'mon Mark - introduce her already! :^}
    
    

	Thanks loads for all the recommendations!  Its great to see that so
many people love their vets.  Please keep adding entries to this note.  I'll 
be looking into spaying in the near future and will investigate many of the 
listed vets.  I also added the keyword VETS to this topic.

	For the record, I received a reply by mail that named the 
following vet:

> If you are still looking for a vet, I would like to recommend 
> Drs. Brody and Lung at Countryside in Hudson, NH.  They are both
> great with cats.  Their address is:
> 
> 		Countryside Animal Hospital
> 		327 Derry Road (Rte. 102)
> 		Hudson, NH
> 		Phone:  889-6269  


	Re: .8

	My new fuzzface's name is Annie.  I guess her name is not terribly 
original, but if you knew her, you'd say it fit somehow.  She is tiny (even 
for her tender age), has *loads* of personality and very nice color, though 
a bit pale still.  Her coat and body are very good, and I'm told that she 
would show well (though she's considered pet quality).  Her head is a 
modified wedge and I believe her main departure from the standard is that 
her ears are a tiny bit high.  I do intend to spay her, but perhaps 
Premiership...

	I'm looking for a high quality blue female aby too.  Now that I have 
Annie I can TAKE MY TIME looking. ;-)

	Mark

    
    Another vote for Dr. Conti and Hudson Animal hospital.  I have been
    going for two years now with two boys.  No problems and always seem
    to be willing to discuss the problems with you.  They also have someone
    on call which is a good insurance for us nervous cat parents.
    
    They even call you out of meetings to ask you if you are willing to 
    spend extra money when they run into trouble with spaying!!  Everyone
    thought there was some terrible emergency in my family but it was only
    that one of my guys needed a little extra 'work' shall we say!!  It was
    only $10.00 but at least they asked!  I can just imagine him laid out
    under anesthesia and about 5 people chasing all over Digital to find me
    in a meeting!
    
    I also used Dr. Brody for about 10 years with my old lady.  He was very
    good with cats as well.  I only switched as Dr. Conti is closer which
    is important with two yowling cats and he'd been highly recommended by
    friends.  I would say either one is a BEST BET for Hudson without going
    out of your way.
    
    Rascal and Otis vote Dr. Conti....Rascal even sings during the exam!