Vets while traveling

[Boomer Express]

How do you full timers handle vet appointments for your pets? Annual shots? Medications?

[stepside454]

That's a great ? Can't wait to see answers

[southwoods46]

We have just recently registered our at-home Vet's prescriptions for specialized food (W/D dry and wet)for our dog with Banning Veterinary which can be found in most Pet Smarts. Our dog has been diagnosed with diabetes and is on specialized food as well as insulin (this I get from a Pharmacy). I am told that once prescriptions are registered, that our dog's records can be accessed in any Banning Clinic in the US. It should also work for shots and any vet visits too. Have not put this to the test yet, but sure hope it works. I do have back-up prescriptions just in case. I have also checked with vets at two of these clinics and both have verified the above. Hope this helps.

[WheelingIt]

We just schedule regular appts on the road using google to locate a nearby vet whenever we nead it. Google will usually have reviews too. I've handled my cats dentals and annual checkups that way as well as our dogs checkup and heartworm medication. I make sure to get a full copy of all records after every visit and file them in a folder so I can bring them along to the next vet. So far this has worked out great for us.

[sky_watcher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WheelingIt We just schedule regular appts on the road using google to locate a nearby vet whenever we nead it. Google will usually have reviews too. I've handled my cats dentals and annual checkups that way as well as our dogs checkup and heartworm medication. I make sure to get a full copy of all records after every visit and file them in a folder so I can bring them along to the next vet. So far this has worked out great for us.

I've found that having the fax# of the most recent vet ready for the new one to work as well. Less paper for me to keep up with

Lorraine

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lintier How do you full timers handle vet appointments for your pets? Annual shots? Medications?

we use banfield vets located in most petco stores. they seem to have longer open hours than most vets and are open more on weekends.

Vancouver - Banfield

ttp://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_storelocator.aspx

[DAN L]

[QUOTE=DAN L;803926]we use banfield vets located in most PETSMART stores. they seem to have longer open hours than most vets and are open more on weekends.

Vancouver - Banfield

i got PETCO AND PETSMART mixed up. i do that a lot. we have both stores close to us.
PETSMART has the BANFIELD vets in many stores.

PetSmart Store Locations for Pet Supplies and Pet Accessories | PetSmart

[Barbaraok]

How do you handle your medical care? Same holds true for the cat. We have our yearly physicals done by the same physician, in the town we use to live, and during that 2 week period Shadow visits her vet. When Kit was alive, we would get her medications sent to us (3 month supply) at our mail forwarding address, just like our medications get sent, and then they would come with our next mail request.

For urgent care, there is usually a vet that will advertise in the campground brochure, our ask at the office for a recommendation. Much the same as when we get sick.

Barb

[Boomer Express]

Thanks to all of you for the great response to my question

[sky_watcher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbaraok How do you handle your medical care? Same holds true for the cat. We have our yearly physicals done by the same physician, in the town we use to live, and during that 2 week period Shadow visits her vet. When Kit was alive, we would get her medications sent to us (3 month supply) at our mail forwarding address, just like our medications get sent, and then they would come with our next mail request. For urgent care, there is usually a vet that will advertise in the campground brochure, our ask at the office for a recommendation. Much the same as when we get sick. Barb

I like this solution better than Petsmart vets. I've never been impressed with them and have always had high maintenance dogs.

Lorraine

[Lorna]

I used to run two "home vets" in two states (NC and TN). It wasn't a problem. I would get a printout form the vet (which ever one I was at) and kept it in a folder. I had a folder for the dog and a folder for the cat. when we started full timing, we had to take the critters to the vet in GA. I drug my info with me and they noted the vet's name/number in case there was a problem. My dog was on a prescription medication as well. Vet had no problem with that. I have always carried my pets vet info with us when camping. You never know when there will be an emergency.

[Frank P. Martin]

For routine veterinary care, most of you seem to have it covered. But for emergency care, it can be a whole different ball game as it was in our case.

At home, about a week before we left for a campout (the first weekend of October) in Bedford, PA, our cat got into a fight with another animal. We don't know where it occurred or what kind of animal it was involved. Purrscilla was all huddled up on the patio that night and when my wife let her in we could immediately tell something had "gone on" while she was outside as she was all disheveled. Kitty laid down for awhile against the wall and began taking a “cat bath” so we thought nothing more of it. After she got up, we noticed a small streak of blood on the floor. Checking the cat, we didn’t find anything and saw no more blood afterwards. The rest of the week Purrscilla seemed fine except for my wife noticing that she didn’t like petted on her left thigh. We figured it was just some soreness from her “adventure” that would go away in time. The cat seemed perfectly normal otherwise.

The following Friday afternoon, we left for Bedford and setup camp at Shawnee State Park. Saturday morning, kitty didn’t seem quite herself. She was eating OK but seemed to be having a bit of difficulty leaping up on things. We attended the Bedford Fall Foliage Festival that day (our main reason for coming to Bedford) and when we got back to the TT, we noticed Purrscilla was no longer able to jump from the bed into our overhead cabinets. At this point, we decided that we should try to find a vet and have her examined.

Bedford is located in a fairly rural area. I drove over to the park office to see if they knew of any vets in the area but it was closed. There was a lady from a house next door that was walking over to the office. I asked her if she knew of any veterinarians nearby that I could contact. She was kind enough to take me over to her house and see if one could be found in her phone book. There were two or three listed. Calling the numbers either returned no answer or a recorded message of their office hours. I even tried using the OnStar in my truck. They located several numbers for vets, but they were all in towns about an hour away from Bedford. There was one number I called that would only take emergency visits if the animal was a regular patient. Obviously, there must not be a Hippocratic Oath for Veterinarians, or at least at that clinic.

Coming up empty, we then decided to see if kitty could hold out until Monday and then take her to our regular vet on the way back home from Shawnee. That never happened. About 5:30 in the morning Sunday, I was awakened by the cat scratching at the rug. When I looked where she was scratching at, I could see some kind of dark spot there. My first thought was that she had an accident during the night. But, when I looked at Purrscilla, she was licking her thigh where it had been sore. What we didn’t know (but quickly learned) was it had abscessed where she was bitten the previous week and it had broken open. There was now a huge open sore about 2-3 inches in diameter on her upper thigh.

By 6:00 AM, my wife, cat, and I were on the PA Turnpike making the two hour drive back to Pittsburgh to a 24/7 vet clinic located a few miles from our home. It cost $110.00 just to put Purrscilla on the examining table, have a vet tech come into the room, look at her and say “Yeah, that’s a cat.”. About three hours and $550.00 later, we took Purrscilla home. The vet said that by the size of the bite marks the other animal involved was not a cat. While my wife stayed at home with the cat, I made the two hour trip back to Bedford to break down camp and bring the TT back home.

Below are two pictures. One of her wound after the vet partially stitched it. The second, Purrscilla in her “E” collar trying to use mental telepathy to get the cellar door to open. The trash can and other items were placed in front of the door to block the pet door that's hidden behind the trash can.