Frequently asked questions
No. In exceptional circumstances we may agree to board a patient with a complex medical problem that is already under our care. This decision is made on a case by case basis. In general, your pet is likely to be more comfortable at home with a pet sitter or in a boarding kennel where (s)he is likely to get more exercise than in the hospital
In principle, yes. PLEASE DO PHONE AHEAD so we can reschedule other appointments to accommodate your emergency. This allows us to focus our full attention on the emergency case. If we have an idea what the problem is, we can also start preparing drips, blood transfusions etc before the patient arrives. If we haven’t seen this particular pet before we will definitely need to speak with your normal vet as well – as soon as possible.
This means that our patients are usually referred to us by other vets.
Dr Böhm is a specialist like your physician in a human hospital. Physicians are the detectives of the veterinary world. They find the underlying problem in complex / rare diseases. Animals are referred for 2 main reasons
- the primary vet has been unable to diagnose the problem
- the patient needs a procedure that your vet can’t offer eg an ECG or a cardiac ultrasound examination.
Referrals are received from 17 practices in PE and also as far as from Mosselbay, Queenstown and East London.
We do prefer referrals, yes. If your pet has a problem that falls within Dr Böhm’s area of expertise you may refer yourself (effectively come to see us for a 2nd opinion), but we will need to contact your GP vet to ask for the pet’s history. This is a legal requirement and cannot be avoided. The law is there to protect your pet – it makes sure that all the vets treating your pet know exactly what the other one is doing / has prescribed so conflicting medication is avoided. It also prevents us repeating tests unnecessarily. We will gladly contact your Vet on your behalf.