Different clients have different expectations, I have found. Some are swept off their feet by Dr N who "knew what was wrong with my dog after just two seconds of watching him." I will never be Dr N, nor do I ever wish to be. And nothing in the world will convert such people to an appreciation of enlightened skepticism. I've been very fortunate in that most of my clients truly appreciate the second and third opinions that I seek out for them on VIN and from other sources.

As a senior professional (not in veterinary medicine), I know that it's much more important to know where and how to find an answer as opposed to thinking you already know everything.

While my veterinarian is amazing, I always appreciate the honesty in saying he'll post a question on VIN and/or contact specialists in regard to a diagnosis or treatment plan. He never hesitates to refer us to a specialist.

One situation especially touched me. I had a kitty with multiple unusual problems that he and a couple of specialists had been treating for some time. He wrote up her case, sent it to yet another specialist and asked if there was anything more or different we could/should be doing for her.

He was already doing everything that could be done.

He has made some great calls with my kitty that was diagnosed with HOCM (hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy), hesitating to prescribe amlodipine when kitty's BP was all over the place and had a heart murmur. The cardiologist said that amlodipine could have been detrimental (thank goodness for the hesitation!) and kitty is now doing extremely well on Atenolol and Enalapril. BP is now normal and the heart murmur can't be heard. Thank goodness for honesty and the cardiologist.

Short of being in a crisis situation, I'd much rather have someone say that they're not 100% sure, will research the problem and get back to me. First of all, that's honest and second, for the client, it's like getting help from multiple doctors.

I look at my dogs in very much the same light as I look at my 8 year old non-verbal autistic daughter. The similarities are striking to my daughter, they can't talk to tell me where they hurt when they don't feel bad. All you can really do is observe their behavior, do x-rays, and look at bloodwork. I suppose that is a bit off topic though.

Anyway, my pediatrician often looks things up when he's not sure about my daughter's presenting symptoms. He will call in specialists as needed. Human medicine is very specialized, a general practitioner wouldn't be called to fix a broken bone, deliver babies, or diagnose cancer. However, we expect our vets to do all that and more, yet some people are offended if a vet turns to a book to help rule something out?

The day I learned to trust my vet is when she debunked the myth that heartworm is not a serious problem.

I had read internet comments about how rare it is, and was ready to reduce preventative treatment, and she told me she had treated a dog for it that very day. I replied that seemed unlikely because so few cases are reported. She replied most vets do not report them, anywhere.

What still bugs me is we are a half hour from Ames Iowa which apparently should be tracking vaccine reactions and that does not seem to get reported either.

My son is a specialist. While in the car with him I listened to him discussing a case via cellphone with another veterinarian. The best part for me was hearing him say he wasn't absolutely positive about a particular point and would look it up as soon as he got home and get back to the vet at the referring clinic.

I'm impressed with docs (and others) who don't pretend to know everything, omniscience is obviously impossible and I don't trust anyone who pretends to it.

I am totally impressed if I have a veterinarian who cares enough about my dog to look it up if they are unsure...and who has enough confidence to tell me that they need to do so. Now if he had to look up signs of very common aliments or problems or medications I might be a little more uncomfortable. But there is way to much to know, especially with more uncommon conditions or different illness that present confusing/conflicting or share commonality type symptoms (Addison's, etc) I want my vet to take advantage of the most recent research or findings.

I totally agree with Will. I don't trust anyone who appears to think they know it all. In my opinion, God is the only one who knows it all.

My regular doctors look stuff up all the time. What's the big deal?

When my Jenny (rabbit) injured her back really bad, my vet did have to use a book, but that was okay. I myself wasn't well enough to make the hour drive to the exotics hospital. Unfortunately, nothing could be done for Jenny, but I ended up purchasing a rabbit anatomy poster for my vet as a late Christmas gift to show him there were no hard feelings.

Vets aren't geniuses and they're not God. We should be thankful, if they have to look something up, that they at least know where to look.

I would MUCH rather have my physicians - the ones for the 2 legged family members AND the ones for 4 legged family members - look something up in the reference materials than give me some B.S. to cover a lack of knowledge on a particular subject.

Many text books from vet school or med school are obsolete before the ink is dry on the edition but there is such a wealth of knowledge on the internet and in professional journals - the cutting edge procedures and the answers to client questions are readily available to practitioners. There is no excuse for B.S. answers! Frankly, I would not feel comfortable with a vet OR a physician who did not have a computer on his or her desk!

I don't think it should matter.

The only thing that matters is that the DVM involved has all the information necessary to determine the problem and create an effective solution.

I don't care if they got it from the Merck manual, an old textbook, the google or the receptionist.

What I do care about is that they get it RIGHT. And that's the ONLY thing that should matter to them too. To suggest that the clients perception even matters in this case is irresponsible.

Frankly, I wouldn't see a vet that was more concerned about their image than putting on their reading glasses if necessary in order to do what I paid them to do - correctly and speedily diagnose and treat the issue that I brought through the door.

No-one knows it all, Doctors (for humans or pets) to check their finding, makes me feel, I am in good hands. Keep-up the good work, our lives are in your hands.

I guess, then, I'm glad to know my vets think I'm rational enough to understand when they say they need to look something up and get back to me. I find it rather reassuring that they'd rather check the sources and be sure.

I have a cushings dog and another with collapsing trachea....I'm impressed that my vets looks up information to make sure my babies have every treatment that's available. One vet is nearing retirement, and the other is fresh out of school. I know that they will research and confer....my pets are in good hands.

I have no problem with vets researching things in front of me. In fact, I appreciate it and I wish the human doctors would do this more. My parents (93 and 84) go to a clinic where they see a number of different specialists and on more than one ocassion they've been prescribed medications that don't interact well with one another OR they're given new medications with little information about how these can interact with food or what time of day they should be taken. I want to know as much as possible about whatever condition or medication one of my loved ones (human or animal) has and if the vet or doctor needs to research this - no problem. I think it's naive for anyone to expect a human being to remember EVERYTHING about a medical condition or medications given the constant research that's usually taking place and the new drugs coming out. Being a librarian, I love to do research and have at times come upon things that either my vet or one of my family's doctors didn't know about. I share the information and ask their opinion about it and in the end I think all sides benefit.

I'd most definitely choose the Vet that looked stuff up!! Mine has brought the books into the room for us both to look up stuff or work out dosages. He's even gone so far as to message me with a new, "hot off the presses" way of treating my poor Lab's incredibly aggravating allergies. I'm cool with it! How else do you grow as a practitioner?

I am a lowly desktop technician. Whenever there is a technical problem that can't be resolved by the highly paid professionals in the other areas, it is sent to me. Network, routers, firewall, lotus notes, VPN. Blackberry, bes servers etc... You name it will eventually come my way.

You know how I resolve it? I research the issue and apply a logical systematic approach looking at all areas of the problem.

It is not a great mind or some ability to retain everything. I have learned, I resolve it by looking into other peoples experience with the issue combined with my own experience it gives me a pretty good guess at what the problem is.

While it may not promote you into a higher salary scale (it sure has not with me) I know I could not do my job without help and knowledge from others in my area.

I think you may have gotten some bad info. If you act unsure about something then that may transfer to the client, but I can't imagine anyone questioning a confident doctor that double checks themselves.

The fact that my vet will look things up or consult with another vet within her practice tells me that she cares enough to find out as much as she possibly can before recommending a course of treatment. Contrary to what some people may believe of themselves (some of my co-workers come to mind), it isn't possible to know all about all. The veterinarian who researches and learns is the one I want, not the know-it-all who may endanger the health of my beloved dog because they don't have the latest information. I also believe that any informed pet owner would feel the same. Informed being the operative word.

Definitely prefer a vet who stays current and will do further research as required. No medical professional can know everything about everything. That,however, doesn't negate a client's unreasonable expectation that medical personnel should know everything about everything.

I am thinking the people who don't like doctors who look things up are not the people who would read a vet's blog. :) Looks like 100% of respondents, including me, prefer vet, doctor, etc, who openly admits to doing some research... It is much more comforting to me when they do.

Wasn't it Einstein that said "why memorize what you can look up?"

I have no issues with any professional consulting a reference book over just guessing. No one can possibly know everything!

I had a TA in college that would lie to us instead of look things up. I'd get penalized for having something wrong, so that formed my opinion real quick. I am a teacher and readily admit when I don't know something. I can't imagining not caring or lying to give an answer.

In fact, I love when my doctor consults with other doctors - that's how things are done in science and mecidine (whether human or animal) is a science last I checked. I have switched doctors based on this and stay with my current doctor because he confers with colleagues.

Keep up the great and honest work! You have integrity - nice to see and not always so easy to find :)

I find it VERY reassuring when my Vet (or my Doctor, etc) admits it when he doesn't have an answer to my question but is willing to look for an answer!! I am intelligent and experienced enough to know when a Vet doesn't know something but pretends he does! NO human being can know EVERYTHING there is to know within their profession. New studies, new medicines, new treatments are being found every day, so if you graduated Vet school 15 years ago but never do any reading after that, you've missed 15 years of new info. With changes in vet medicine (as in human medicine), more and more specialties are popping up.
I look for a Vet who can admit it when he doesn't have an immediate answer, but is willing to do some research/reading to find one or who is willing to refer me to a "Specialist" who DOES have an answer! Vets who pretend they already know everything really scare me!!!

My pets have a AWESOME nerdy veterinarian who excitedly urges us to check out the three new studies he just unearthed on his laptop when necessary. I appreciate he not knowing everything or sometimes wanting to see if there is a new protocol. We work together to manage my boys health & sometime I throw the vet for a loop so he has to look it up. Love him to pieces

My Vet takes time to "look things up"; that means she cares. She often does extra research, checks with the VIN, or confers with Vet Specialists on many things she already knows a lot about but cares enough to go the extra mile. My Vet is AWESOME! And she does all this in a timely manner; doesn't leave us hanging but gets right back to us with the additional info. She is rightly confident but doesn't have an ego so large that she pretends to know it all or won't confer with other Vets as I've seen with some Vets in our past. She earned my trust more by admitting that she didn't know all there is to know about this or that but would take the time to find out more. We are so blessed to have found her; she is a rare gem!
I sent your blog to her; and sometimes she reads and comments here. Maybe she will see my comment but it won't come as any surprise. She already knows we hold her in the highest esteem:)

There is not crime in not knowing something. The crime is in not willing to find out.

Nobody knows everything. Those who think they do are the dangerous ones.

I've been there with a vet who didn't know something I thought important. Fine. But he didn't bother looking it up. Not so fine! Not our vet any more either.

Watch out for know-it-all! Because nobody does.

I applaud your capabilities. There are always new remedies, theories, medicines... that could improve life for a patient - human or otherwise. Look it up. I'll gladly wait. I'm happy to know that there is at least one doctor out there that doesn't believe that you have to know everything in your head to be an excellent doctor. Every other profession has to.

I have no problem at all when my medical doctor looks something up- in fact I am reassured by it! Why in the world would I have a problem with a veterinarian doing so? Good grief! An MD only treats one species, and a vet has to deal with everything from hamsters to horses! (and maybe even lions and tigers and bears, oh my!)

Seems to me the person who does this is looking for the very latest information available. How can that ever ever be a bad thing?

And I'm with you, Dog Mama, when you say:
"I've been there with a vet who didn't know something I thought important. Fine. But he didn't bother looking it up. Not so fine! Not our vet any more either."

Darn straight!

Learning how and where to find the information you need is half of our medical training for MDs. Honestly. And patients who don't understand that (and there are those who don't) are doing themselves a disservice by getting upset that their doctor needes to look things up. It's the same for all medical practitioners.

But it does pay to keep patients happy, so if I know they are the sort to object to me looking something up, I just don't tell them that's what I'm going to do.

I say and THINK i would be ok with my vet needing to look something up, but the one time it happened the whole experience rubbed me the wrong way.

I had three guinea pigs who came down with a bout of lice. i knew it was lice because i could see the white little buggers crawling all over my girls' itchy skin.
So off to the vet we go for the first time. The vet i chose advertised their experience with exotics, including large birds and even fish
I told the vet they had lice.
The vet takes the pigs into the back to do a painful skin scraping (i could hear one of my girls shrieking- of course, she's the shrieker anyway, but still). They then had to look up online to make sure it was lice and not mites. Even though they were visible to the naked eye (they counted the legs to make sure, since one's an arachnid and one's an insect)
They then proceeded to tell me how horrible it can be to get rid of lice and they had just checked online with another vet who had been treating it for months!

2 weeks later after a dose of revolution, my pigs have been lice free ever since (6 years).

So it might've been the whole experience, but when they admitted they had to look up the difference between lice and mites online for an appropriate diagnosis, and had to check with another vet for treatment (even though they're self-proclaimed exotic rockstars) well, i've found a better vet since then