Why vet histories are so important

Knowing your pet’s entire medical history can be hard, as many will have multiple visits to the veterinarian’s over their lifetime. Having a copy of your dog or cats vet records is important in determining what type of care and treatment may be needed.

If you do not have your pets medical record, you should ask you vet straight away. This is particularly important if you are moving locations, changing vets or changing owners (either you’re handing your pet over to someone else, or receiving a pet from someone).

What should be included?

If you are getting an older dog from someone it is imperative that you ask them for a complete vet history or at the very least, a record of when they received their essential vaccinations. This will allow you and your vet to know if they are prone to any diseases or whether or not they need vital vaccinations immediately.

The complete medical history should include a record of every veterinary visit from the pet birth onwards. On these records, the vet should have filled out the date of the visit, the basics of the pet (these include the length, weight, vaccination history), surgeries, medications prescribed, and hospital visits.

The vet history will also include blood tests showing both the recording of the blood test being performed and the results of these tests.

How to get a copy

There are a number of ways you can receive your pets vet history. If you have had your dog since birth and are changing vets or moving location, your existing vet will be able to give you a full record. Before changing vets, be sure to grab your old vets contact information just in case your new vet has some questions to clarify your pet’s history.

If you’re adopting a pet from a shelter or a friend, a copy of their history may be tougher to get. A shelter will have as much medical history as possible, however many dogs that come to them will have no documentation and will therefore not have any medical reports. If you’re getting a pet from a friend or someone else, you can ask them directly for the vet history or ask for their vet to send it to your vet.

Having the appropriate vet records on hand not only allow you to know what your pet has been through, it also makes it easier for the vet to assess them. They will be able to see what medication they have been given or operations they have had in the past which will determine how they will go about treating the pet this time around.