By understanding your client’s perspective, you can make collaborative decisions about their pet. You can do this by asking the client questions in an open and non-leading way about their ideas, concerns and expectations. For example, “What are your thoughts on Molly’s weight loss?”, “What worries you about Alfie’s symptoms?”, “What are you hoping we will be able to do for Tiger today?” You could also integrate these kinds of questions into your history. For example, “You mentioned Oscar’s lethargy, have you had any thoughts about what could be going on?”
This gives your client the opportunity to raise their concerns. They may well have done some research online or spoken to a friend. Finding out that they are worried that their dog is in heart failure, for example, allows you to craft the conversation and diagnostic decisions to make sure you can address their concerns.
