Years ago, we didn’t know the first thing about how to choose the right vet. But now we do. Today, Tripawds Spokesdog Wyatt Ray only goes to clinics accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association. Today for #AAHADay 2020, we want to share why.
Choose the Right Vet, Choose AAHA Clinics
Some of you may know that we live and work in our RV. Wyatt Ray has been a road dawg almost his entire life! This means we’re often needing vet care on the fly, wherever we travel. When Wyatt needs veterinary care, we choose the right vet by going to the AAHA website’s “AAHA Hospital Locator Tool.”
Why we only choose AAHA-accredited clinics
For starters, when we travel away from Wyatt’s home base clinic, Colorado State University vet teaching hospital, we don’t want to rely on Yelp or Google reviews to choose the best vet. We need to know that a vet practice is following high standards of care. AAHA-accreditation is the best way to find out.
Did you know that any licensed vet can run a practice for decades without meeting any standards set by an overseeing veterinary agency? It’s true! Vet clinics never need to prove to anyone that they are practicing safe, modern care. In our opinion, that’s not right. Human hospitals must meet accreditation standards set by certain agencies in order to practice medicine. So why not vet clinics too?
How AAHA Helps Our Fur Babies Get Great Care
AAHA is the only organization that accredits veterinary hospitals in the United States and Canada. Every AAHA clinic that volunteers to become AAHA-accredited follows the same rigorous standards of modern veterinary medicine.
For example, we are presently sheltering-in-place near Eugene, Oregon. When Wyatt suddenly developed an oral tumor earlier this year, we didn’t know any vets in this area. We had to choose the right vet, on the spot. So we went to the AAHA Hospital Locator and found a Eugene AAHA clinic, Bush Animal Hospital.
From our first pandemic vet care visit to his latest round of acupuncture for pain management, Wyatt has received exceptional vet care at this AAHA clinic.
During our previous acupuncture session in the clinic back yard, we asked Wyatt’s vet, Dr. Dean Beyerinck, DVM, managing vet at Bush Animal Hospital, “What makes AAHA clinics stand out from others?” Here’s what he said:
AAHA Vet Clinics Guarantee Modern Medicine
AAHA-accreditation ensures our fur babies get the same gold standard care, no matter which vet practice we choose. When we see a vet at an AAHA clinic, we know for a fact we are getting a higher level of vet care. All AAHA clinics volunteer to practice the same standards in state-of-the-art medicine and performance. They follow a strict set of guidelines for:
- emergency services
- pain management
- contagious diseases
- surgery and anesthesia
- radiology services
- pathology services
- nursing care
- diagnostic and pharmacy
- dentistry
- examination facilities
- pet medical records
- medical library
- housekeeping and maintenance
Plus, every three years, AAHA clinics must get re-inspected to stay accredited. Yep, these clinics volunteer to go the extra mile for our pets!
You would think that all vet clinics would want to be AAHA-accredited, but the reality is that only about 12% of clinics choose to participate. We would like to see that change.
If you don’t see the AAHA-logo proudly displayed in your vet practice, ask the practice manager why they are not AAHA-accredited. If you feel that AAHA accreditation is important, be sure to tell them.