Making the most of your pet’s appointment
Treating your pet’s heart condition requires teamwork between the cardiologist, your veterinarian, and most importantly, you. Good communication between you and our staff is key to effectively treating your pet. As your pet’s disease progresses, we rely on you to provide accurate information on your pet’s condition. This enables the cardiologist to determine the best course of treatment while minimizing the number of trips into the office.With that in mind, below are tips on how to get the most of your appointment and phone calls.
- Bring either a list of current medications, including dosing information, OR the medications themselves to the visit. Even if we prescribed the medications, reviewing this ensures everyone is on the same page- and is a critical part of the appointment.
- Minimize distractions while you are with the technician and cardiologist.
- Be as descriptive as possible. Our staff often asks a lot of questions to gain a complete picture of how your pet is doing. Some of our clients find it helpful to keep a journal with dates and times that symptoms started and/or occur. You can also take videos of your pet with a smart phone and email it to Floridavetcardiology@gmail.com.
- Respiration Rates, Breathing Effort, Cough, Appetite, and Energy. These are five of the most critical pieces of information you can provide us and the areas which many of our questions will focus. We can teach you how to count the respiration rates and there is a free app available for smart phones (Resting Respiration Rate).
- Ask Questions. We would rather have you call with questions sooner than later. Whether it is to clarify what a medication does or how to give it, further questions about your pet’s diagnosis or whether or not you should be worried about your pet’s symptom, we want to hear from you. Calling sooner than later often enables us to address a change in your pet’s health before it gets into a place where emergency care is needed.
Homestead Office Hours
Monday-Friday 8am-6pm
Sat and Sunday: CLOSED
NEW PATIENT ADMISSION FORM
Please COMPLETE the new patient admission form.
Medical History: Many of the patients visiting FVC have an extensive medical history. We only need the most recent, relevant medical history, recent lab work and any recent chest films. You may either fax or email the medical record.