- Do your diagnostics. I cannot begin to tell you how many cases we have seen that were prescribed treatment at a previous veterinary visit without performing the correct diagnostics beforehand. This does not have to be extravagant, fancy, expensive diagnostic testing that many people cannot afford. I am talking about diagnostics such as a skin scraping and ear cytology. Those tests should not be that expensive at a normal clinic. They can be done in the clinic and interpreted immediately. Sure, I can imagine some cases where finances are extremely limited and someone can’t afford a test. It happens. You may have to hedge your bets and prescribe the treatment most likely to work. You might even get lucky and guess correctly. But if you guess wrong, the process of managing a long-term and frustrating skin problem will cost the client more money in the long run than if you had done the correct diagnostic test in the first place. Another problem is prescribing the wrong antibiotic or not giving the antibiotic long enough due to its perceived failure to treat the disease. All that does is create frustrated owners and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This dermatology rotation has definitely taught me to take a step back in every case and do the simple thing: correct, simple, and fast diagnostic testing. In the long run, it is the best option for the pet and the owner’s pocketbook.
- Know your economics. Some of the medications that we prescribe for skin problems in dogs and cats are priced per pill, not necessarily by milligrams of medicine per pill. Confusing, I know. I don’t make this stuff up though. Therefore, it is important to know this in relation to the size of the animal you are treating. It will save the client a lot of money to give them one medication that is priced by the amount of active ingredient instead of a pill that only comes in 10-milligram amounts and is priced per pill. Basically, I have learned to check the prices of medications before I give my final recommendation to a client. Usually, there are a few medications that have similar but not identical mechanisms of action that will get the job done.
