Veterinarians are highly trained professionals in all aspects of pet health care. Our ability to help our patients improves every year with new research and new advances thanks to ongoing research into health care that happens all over the world.
Pets, like people, are biological creatures. We are a vast collection of interconnected muscles, nerves and organs, perpetually guided by a seemingly endless array of hormones and chemicals systems that have evolved over millions of years. To say we understand everything about our biology would be a gross lie. In 100 years from now, we may look back and laugh at how incomplete and primitive our thoughts and treatments were.
But for now, our top trained doctors use the very best of their skills, and their technology to try to identify, diagnose, and treat the conditions that our patients suffer.
Sometimes we are lucky, and a problem has an easy solution and the pet is cured. Sometimes, we know that we will never have a cure, but that we can very successfully manage the patient for the rest of his or her life with medication.
Sometimes, we know that we can help someone, but that the pet will eventually succumb to their disease.
It is our job to keep you honestly informed at each step of the process to let you know what the facts are, and what the expected prognosis for your pet may be. Veterinary fees cover the cost of the doctor’s time, experience and expertise, medical testing, diagnosing, and treating your pet. Some treatments can be cheap, and others can be terribly expensive.
The College of Veterinarians of Ontario, our regulating body, says that veterinarians are not allowed to guarantee the outcome of any procedure. If we do, then we may be charged with professional misconduct. The College recognizes that every patient is an individual, and that there are many things that we still do not understand about disease and the body. Things can unexpectedly happen that we could not foresee. A common veterinary saying is that the “cat did not read the textbook”.
As a result, we can make no guarantees about treatments or outcomes, or offer any refunds. We can only act with your trust, in good faith.
