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Your First VisitBefore your visit
Please try to arrive at least 15 minutes early for your appointment so that you can complete the registration and health history paperwork prior to meeting with the doctor. Late arrivals and delays due to registration reduce the amount of time available for the doctor to meet with you.
If your animal is in ill health, and you have had diagnostic work done at other veterinary hospitals, please bring us, at your first appointment, copies of all recent test results from blood work, biopsies, imaging (X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, CT scan), etc. Please also let us know your pet’s most recent vaccination history.
If you have a healthy animal and you are switching to our practice for routine care, please bring your animal's health record with you to your first appointment, or ask your pet's former veterinarian to forward the health history to us.
Many clients find it helpful to read Dr. Goldstein’s book, The Nature of Animal Healing, prior to their first appointment with us. If you are new to alternative and complementary medicine, or new to a metabolic approach to treating illness, the book clearly explains many of the concepts and practical applications. This background information may enable you to better understand the recommendations that are made for your animal during your visit. The book is most easily available at www.amazon.com, www.dogwise.com, many larger bookstores, and at Smith Ridge Veterinary Center.
Your first visit
During your first visit, if you are consulting with us for an animal in ill health, you will have a full 60 minutes with your veterinarian. This is one-on-one time, during which your doctor will conduct a physical exam, review prior health records, and discuss the various treatment options and approaches that might be appropriate for your animal. Unlike most veterinary practices, which only allow 15 or 20 minutes per visit, our one-hour visits are designed to insure that we obtain a full picture of your animal’s health. We can then form a comprehensive plan, and fully explain the testing and treatments we are recommending.
As the amount of information exchanged in that hour can often be overwhelming, please consider bringing a small tape recorder to your appointment so that you can tape what the doctor is saying. Additionally, if you have specific questions you want answered, please write them down and refer to that list during your appointment. Due to our very busy appointment schedules, it is rarely possible for our doctors to take follow-up telephone calls immediately. A tape recorder or written list of questions typically lessens the need for clarifying information and reduces frustration for both you and the doctor.
Though all animals are evaluated on an individual basis, for seriously ill animals, it is likely that we will recommend that your pet have a Nutritional Blood Test (NBT) done. This will require that we draw blood for both standard and specialized analyses. The NBT is the foundation of our metabolic/nutritional
approach to treating disease. The NBT is described in more detail.
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