VetLocator.com Announces Nationwide Pet Owner Survey

VetLocator.com, the #1 online directory for locating pet health professionals, has put out a nationwide invitation to pet owners to participate in its annual “The State of Pet Health Care"

CLEARWATER, FL – October 18, 2007 – VetLocator.com, the #1 online directory for locating veterinarians and pet health professionals, has put out a nationwide invitation to pet owners to participate in its first annual “The State of Pet Health Care” survey.

The goal of this survey is to get an accurate picture of the state of pet health care today from the perspective of the pet owner, and then to get that picture clearly communicated to the pet professionals they entrust with their pet’s health and well-being.

“What we know about pet health and how best to care for our pets and companion animals is continually changing,” said Adam Ferguson, VetLocator.com’s president and editor of the directory’s weekly newsletters. “Because of the services our site delivers, we frequently see frustration happening between pet owners and pet health professionals who are not meeting each other’s expectations. The effects of the pet food recall earlier this year only made matters worse. Many pet owners turned to the internet seeking information on what to do about the tainted pet food danger and through the process became ‘educated on pet health’, sometimes in a somewhat haphazard way. Attempting to “share” this information with their veterinarian was not always welcomed.

“We wanted to get a very clear picture from a wide sampling of pet owners across the nation on how they view pet health care and then share those results with the pet health provider community so they have a better understanding of how to best serve both pets and their owners. We are asking for every pet owner to participate in our survey, so when the message is delivered it reflects as many voices as possible.”

Pet owners can participate in the survey by visiting this link:
http://www.vetlocator.com/survey/owner_pro_survey.php

——-
About VetLocator.com: VetLocator.com is the web’s most popular online directory for locating veterinarians, pet health professionals and pet health resources.

Pet owners have access to a number of directories at VetLocator.com, including: emergency pet hospitals, regular and specialty veterinary clinics and services, holistic and alternative professionals, equine and house call vet directories as well as finding answers to a variety of pet health questions in their “Ask A Pet Pro” blog and “Pet Health Resource Library”.

Have A Question About Your Pet’s Health? Ask A Pet Pro! A free service at VetLocator.com

CLEARWATER, FL – February 23, 2007 – Pet owners are finding VetLocator.com’s ‘Ask A Pet Pro’™ feature an easy way to reach pet professionals near them.

Here is how it works: When a pet owner searches for a pro, either by location or by the type of service they perform (such as an equine vet or a veterinarian that uses holistic treatments), the search results of pros that fit the request may number in the hundreds, closest location being the first result. The pet owner clicks on a listing and if they have more questions, can “Ask this pet pro a question” by clicking on a link next to the listing. The request is sent to VetLocator.com’s Customer Care Department and then forwarded to the Pro via email or fax. Additionally, if the request is something that could be asked of other pros, VetLocator.com will include the owner’s question in it’s weekly “Pet Pro News” newsletter which goes out to over 12,000 pet professionals each week. Many wonderful Pet Pros do take the time to answer the pet owner’s questions so the owner can have, not only second opinions, but often 4 or 5 veterinary professionals responses to help them decide what is best for them and their pets.

“The response to this free service has been overwhelming by both the pet owners and the pet pros.” says VetLocator.com president Adam Ferguson. “Our Customer Care department just loves the feedback we get for this service. It is really gratifying to us to be able to help.”

Questions range from simple to very complex, and because VetLocator.com has so many pet pros who are willing to answer them, pet owners can really benefit from the responses they get.

Adam explains “VetLocator.com was originally created after we moved across country and could find no easy way to locate a veterinarian for our pets. We build our directory to include those things that we wanted to find during our search and it is proving to be a successful formula.”

-----

With offices in Santa Ana, CA and Clearwater Fl, VetLocator.com is the largest directory of pet health providers and pet professionals anywhere, in one place. For more information please contact VetLocator President AB Ferguson at abferguson@vetlocator.com, or visit the website at: www.vetlocator.com.

Is a House Call Vet Right for you and your pet?

Having a vet come to you to treat your pets at home is becoming ever more popular. As of February 2007, requests for House Call vets at VetLocator.com is up 22% over the same time period last year. Here are some things to conside before deciding whether a house call vet is right for you and your pet. What is a house call veterinarian and how is this different than a traditional vet? A house call veterinarian differs from a traditional veterinarian in that the vet comes to your home to treat your pets instead of you and your pets traveling to see the vet. There are two types of 'traveling vets'. One type is a veterinarian that is part of a clinic or hospital, and that clinic provides in-home treatments such as routine checks, heartworm treatments, flea and tick repellent, vaccinations and some also provide holistic and alternative treatments as well. In this case, you might have different vets come to treat your pets at home, since the in-home service is provided by the clinic or hospital and not by a specific vet. The other type is a mobile veterinarian who has a whole clinic set up in a specialized van. This type of vet can often provide the majority of services delivered by a traditional clinic or hospital including x-rays, etc. and normally has a clinic or hospital he or she works with when there are services required that are best administered in the hospital. You should ask how the house call vet is set up when requesting they come to you. Why do people choose house call vets over taking their pet to a clinic or hospital? Here are some common reasons to choose a house call veterinarian over taking your pets in: You have multiple pets and the hassle of getting them all to the vet is too much. It is easier for the vet to come to you to see everyone at the same time. Your dog or cat gets very stressed riding in the car. Your pet does not do well around other animals, either because of fright or aggression. Your pet does not like traveling to see the veterinarian. Your pet is just too ill or unable to move or travel easily. Having your pet around other sick animals makes you worry your pet can get ill through exposure. Your schedule is too tight to get to your vet's office. House call vets can have a more flexible schedule. You no longer drive and have no way to get your pet to the vet. Convenience. Since the veterinarian comes to you, you don't have to load your dog or cat into your car and drive, you don't have to wait in an uncomfortable waiting room with other pets, you don't have to keep an eye on your kids, your pets and the other pets in the room. The number one reason owners and house call vets give in providing their service is the much lower stress level for both the pets and the owner. Is there a cost difference? Depending on the veterinarian and the service, there may be an additional charge for house calls. However, this is not always true. Despite the very personalized service, housecall veterinarians are not necessarily more expensive than traditional vet. Mobile vets usually have a lower overhead since they don't need to maintain a full clinic. You will need to check prices during your conversation with the house call vet and compare them with a clinic or hospital. Limitations Housecall veterinarians do have limitations relative to traditional veterinary practices, and there are things you should be prepared for should you choose to allow one to care for your pet. The first is if you have a pet emergency, it is better to bring your pet into a clinic or hospital right away. There are too many unknowns in an emergency for a house call vet to be prepared for everything that might come up. VetLocator.com maintains a list of 24 hour emergency pet hospitals searchable by zip code should the need ever arise. If your pet requires major surgery and x-rays, most house call vets will request that you bring your pet into a clinic or hospital for these. Again, because of limited space and staffing house call vets have, these things are best done at the hospital. If your pet requires hospitalization or constant medical attention the vet will make arrangements with the hospital or clinic that they work with for you to bring your animal in so it can have proper after-hours care. Many laboratory tests will take one day to run so the house call vet will normally call you with results (same as a regular visit to a clinic or hospital) once the lab test are done. Scheduling. Since a house call vet provides personalized service by traveling to a pet's home, the number of patients they can see is less than what can be seen in a clinic or hospital. Sometimes this can create a delay in your pet being seen quickly. Conclusion House call vets provide many positives to easing the stress and hassle of a traditional clinic or hospital. The cost for this service might be a bit higher than a regular clinic or hospital, but the convenience may outweigh the costs. If you choose to work with a house call vet, make sure you check on what services he or she can provide as well as check references of other pet owners who use their services. Also make sure you know what hospital they use for emergencies and other lab or hospitalization work. To find a list of House Call vets in your area, simply visit http://www.vetlocator.com/housecallvets.php. --------- Copyright 2007 VetLocator.com Permission to Reprint: Journalists, newsletter publishers, bloggers and others: You may reprint this article as long as you include all information, including links, in this article.

Baby Boomers find House Call Vets A Boon

Requests for House Call Vets at VetLocator.com already up 22% over last year

CLEARWATER, FL – February 12, 2007 – Baby boomers and other pet owners are finding the convenience of having a veterinarian coming to them a real boon. The popularity of this service continues to grow and the online directory VetLocator.com says that House Call veterinarian requests is its third most requested category, already up 22% over the same period last year.

“Our directory is set up so a pet owner can search for a veterinarian or a pet professional by location, name, type of animal treated, type of services provided (including holistic and alternative services like acupuncture and chiropractic), 24 hour emergency services and whether the pet professional makes house calls.” says VetLocator.com president Adam Ferguson. “We also have a Customer Care department that will help a pet owner if he or she cannot find a pet pro that meets their needs, and we provide this service at no cost to the owner.

Last October our Customer Care department saw a big spike in House Call veterinarian requests and frankly, we were puzzled. It turned out that “Readers Digest” recommended VetLocator.com to readers who were searching for House Call vets as the easiest place to find them. I’m happy to say that our Customer Care department was able to provide help to almost every pet owner that requested it and in the process we updated our pet pro database so that we now have over 700 house call vets listed, the largest directory of house call vets anywhere!”

There are many reasons people turn to a veterinarian that will make house calls. Some of these include:

• Families with stay-at-home moms who find it a challenge to load up the kids and pets.
• Homes with sensitive pets who are overly anxious about being around other animals or visiting the vet.
• Multi-pet households
• Seniors who don’t drive or have health concerns.
• Senior pets or critically ill pets who cannot make the journey easily because of health.
• Pet owners who find it a challenge to schedule a veterinary appointment without taking time off work.
  

Although House Call Vets provide many of the services found in traditional veterinary practices, it is good to know what to expect before calling and scheduling an appointment for your pet. VetLocator.com has written an article to help pet owners decide if a House Call Vet is right for them. Pet owners can find this article in VetLocator.com’s resource library at http://www.vetlocator.com/articles/housecallvets.htm. It contains a checklist of things for a pet owner to consider when choosing a pet professional to bring their pet to.

With offices in Santa Ana, CA and Clearwater Fl, VetLocator.com is the largest directory of pet health providers and pet professionals anywhere, in one place. For more information please contact VetLocator President AB Ferguson at abferguson@vetlocator.com, or visit the website at: www.vetlocator.com.

Finding the right Veterinarian or Pet Health provider just got a whole lot easier!

Pet owners who used to experience frustration trying to find the right veterinarian or other pet professional for their beloved pets are raving about VetLocator.com’s huge, easy to use online directory of over 68,000 pet professionals and the Company's superlative customer care department

Clearwater, FL.(PRWEB) June 12, 2006—Used to be that searching for a veterinarian on the internet was tough. The problem? While most pet owners had no trouble finding vets, there was no easy way to find the ones providing the services they were seeking because most vet listings didn’t have them listed. Typically what pet owners wound up seeing was a long list of names and addresses and little else, or pages and pages of veterinary website links. Their options? Pick the one closest to them, call each listing and ask, or call a friend for a recommendation.

Well, that has now changed with www.VetLocator.com’s huge directory of pet professionals and easy-to-use search features. At VetLocator.com, pet owners can do a quick search for a vet using either a zip code or city-state. If they are looking for something specific, say a veterinarian who provides dental services or one that offers massage or hydrotherapy, they can use VetLocator.com’s Advanced Search to locate a vet that provides them. They can also search for a veterinarian or pet professional by name or distance they are willing to drive. These are just a few of the many advanced search features available to help pet owners find the perfect pet professional or service for their pets.

And because there are many professionals besides Veterinarians that provide pet health services, VetLocator has three other directory categories: (1)The Holistic and Alternative section provides a listing of ALL health professionals including licensed doctors of veterinary medicine, chiropractors, acupuncturists, traditional Chinese medicine and many others that a pet owner can search through. This section also has helpful articles explaining what some of these alternative treatments are. (2) Then there are those other services that pet owners often need help with. VetLocator’s Other Pet Professionals section covers services such as grooming and boarding, pet sitting, trainers, breeders and pet transportation. (3) For pet emergencies there is a detailed listing of Emergency Hospitals, hotlines and articles so a pet owner can quickly get information to save their pet’s life.

And if a pet owner cannot find the service or procedure they are looking for? They simply need to fill out a service request form detailing what they are trying to find, and VetLocator’s Customer Care staff will attempt to track it down for them, all at no cost to the pet owner. Some of VetLocator’s more unusual requests? Rose Varner head of Customer Care replies “Last week we were able to help fulfill the request of someone looking for a veterinarian in her area who specialized in Alpacas and another request to find a vet who would do artificial insemination on her Toy Poodle”.

Pet owners love this extra service. Some typical testimonials:

“I would just like to say thank you for helping me find the right vet for my dog!!

i'm glad you did. and i am also glad you are helping others the way you do. you are a very special person for helping animals and their loved ones.” RH, Camilla, GA

“Found him!... Thank you very much! I appreciate your extra effort, Rose. We need more like you in the world.” B F, Lewiston, ME

With offices in Santa Ana, CA and Clearwater Fl, VetLocator.com is the largest directory of pet health providers and pet professionals anywhere, in one place. For more information please contact VetLocator President AB Ferguson at abferguson@vetlocator.com, or visit the website at: www.vetlocator.com.