• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

What veterinarians can do when pet owners snarl

July 25, 2019
Caitlin DeWilde, DVM
Vetted, Vetted October 2019, Volume 114, Issue 10

Your veterinary client is baring their teeth on social mediaor even in person. Heres the first thing to do in either case.

As veterinary professionals, you're a little used to danger-after all, your patients come with naturally built-in weapons. But what happens when it's not a pet getting violent in your clinic? What if it's the pet's owner?

“The first thing I would recommend,” Caitlin DeWilde, DVM, says when asked what to do about managing an abusive pet owner, “is to protect your clinic name, your reputation, your staff.”

Managing mad clients

You can't muzzle your veterinary clients, but maybe these helpful articles can provide an even better solution:

  • dvm360 Leadership challenge: Cyberbullying​
  • Commentary: Veterinarians need better boundaries​
  • Letter to dvm360: Should non-DVMs ‘fire' veterinary clients?

The next thing she recommends is to assess the situation and act accordingly.

“If the pet owner is being physically threatening, or threatening monetary or bodily harm, that's a totally different context than just the unhappy pet owner,” she says. “So once you've differentiated those two, I would look at it from that perspective. If they are harmful in any way, absolutely, they need to be blocked, they need to be reported and you need to consider removing them from your client list.”

However, she says, there's a difference between being abusive and being unhappy, and you need to understand that difference as well.

“If they're just unhappy, is that an opportunity that we may have to connect with them?” she wonders. “Sometimes, yes-oftentimes, no-but if you at least make those attempts, you can feel better about moving forward.”

Watch the video below to get the full story.

Advertisement

Related Content:

TechniciansClient Relations & MarketingVetted October 2019
Veterinary tech students awarded national scholarship
Veterinary tech students awarded national scholarship
AAHA seeks applicants for its board, including for a newly created veterinary technician role
AAHA seeks applicants for its board, including for a newly created veterinary technician role
A technician’s true value
A technician’s true value

Advertisement

Latest News

Viticus group seeks applications for veterinary boot camp scholarship

Unusual parasite strain kills 4 California sea otters

Q&A with a keynote: Jan Bellows, DVM, DAVDC, DABVP, FAVD

Evaluating liver enzyme elevation

View More Latest News
Advertisement