Preparation for a vet appointment lends to a productive visit and a friendly and professional partnership with the doctor.

Having a check-list of things to cover helps avoid anything being overlooked, and providing an up-to-date history in writing saves the doctor time by providing him answers up front to many of the questions he'd otherwise need to ask during the exam.

Unless it's just a routine visit I always prepare a written document to take along: Click for Example

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First page -- History:    (see Keeping Records)

• Past history including any significant medical issues, for instance condition when adopted if a rescue, past surgeries or signifcant illnesses that required treatment, etc.
• Recent history detailing current symptoms and any sequence of events or anything else relevant to the reason for the current,visit (feeding concerns, behavioral, activity level, etc.)
• If I'm meeting a vet for the first time I'll also include a brief introduction of myself including experience, what I do and don't know about the possible implications of symptoms, etc. This demonstrates the degree of my involvement and gives an idea of what level of communication to expect.

Second page -- Current Concerns, Goals and Objectives

• Reason for the visit. If I have a theory or idea of what the current problem might be I present it here with questions. If I'm right it saves a lot of time, if not it can lead into a productive and educational discussion.
• Specifics on what I'd like to accomplish at the appointment, including questions about what might be advisable ... lab work, other diagnostics such as imaging, changes in treatment plan, etc.
• Long term goals or expectations. If a kitty has a chronic disease this might involve thoughts about changes in treatment as the condition progresses or in some cases might anticipate surgery or other procedures.

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Prior to the appointment I email the entire document in pdf format as an attachment along with any relevant supplemental information such as recent lab work, notes from a referring vet, etc.

The subject line of the email reads "Incoming patient [cat's name] for [Dr's name]. The email itself is just a short note indicating time of arrival and a request to notify the doctor that the records have been sent so he/she might read them ahead of time.

Just before leaving for the appointment I telephone the reception desk to ask them to expect it and alert the doctor

I take two hardcopy printouts to the appointment. Immediately on arrival (when checking in) I hand one to the receptionist and ask that it be passed to the doctor. That way in the exam room we each have a copy to refer to.

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Keeping an editable version makes preparation for future visits easy since the first page will only need to be updated with the last visit and reasons for the new visit filled in on the second page. It's especially important to keep this history handy in case a kitty needs to go to an Emergency Clinic, since these visits are most often with unfamiliar doctors.