As Clinical Animal Behaviourists are specialists in the behaviour field, we require a veterinary referral from your GP vet. This is in the same way that your GP doctor would refer you for specialist care. Your vet will need to complete a form to confirm that as far as they can tell from clinical examination there are no apparent medical factors contributing to the behaviour issue. Or, if there are, that these are in the process of being taken care of. Essentially your vet is saying that seeking behaviour intervention is a reasonable next step for your pet.

If your pet hasn’t been seen recently, or for this behaviour, you may need another check up with your vet. This is to make sure that there doesn’t seem to be any obvious medical changes. Or to treat conditions which might need to be looked at first.

Subtle discomfort, acute pain, sore or upset tummies, itchy skin, phantom pregnancies or a change in sensory abilities, not to mention metabolic conditions and many more things can all affect behaviour in many ways. Some medical issues can be difficult to spot in a short vet consult. Filming unusual behaviour (so long as it is safe and appropriate to do so) to show to your vet, or filming your dog’s gait from the front/side/back at dog level when walking and mooching around can help assessments.

Or one of the admin team will send you a pdf veterinary referral form with your questionnaire file. You can either print this out and take to your vet, or you can email it directly to them. Once they complete the form they can either email it to us, or to you to forward on to us. If you have a paper copy then you can take a good quality photo of the completed form. Make sure the whole form is in the photo, and not obscured in any way, and send that to us.

Some vets will email us your pet’s clinical history containing a written note of referral. Or they will email a referral request directly. We will often ask for a referral form to be completed, unless you request otherwise for ease of record keeping. With many people claiming fees back via their insurance this process is made much easier with referral forms.

Lots of animals don’t like going to visit the vet. There are things to we can do to help them to cope better.

Some pets are going to be overly distressed by visiting the vet to get the referral. In these circumstances talk to your vet in advance and explain the situation. Perhaps they would be happy to see your dog walking around the car park, or may have home visits or other options. They may suggest trialling some anti-anxiety medication to help them through their visit.

If the issues are longstanding and your vet has worked with you and your pet before then your vet may refer without a hands-on assessment on the basis that we work on helping your pet to become more comfortable with going to the vet as part of the training programme.

It is important that we take steps not to unnecessarily traumatise pets in the process of seeking help. Speak to your vet about the best way to gain a referral if you think your pet might struggle. Let us know if you could do with any further help with getting your referral.

I need a veterinary referral in order to go ahead with a behaviour consultation. Make sure you understand your vet’s reasoning for not providing the referral. Do they suspect a medical condition they would rather treat first? Do they have another appropriate practitioner that they normally refer to? Your vet wants the best for your pet, so speak with them if you can.

It is your right to request a referral to a suitably qualified specialist. I, or one of the admin team, are happy to talk to vets who may have questions about the referral process. Or whether I am the right next step for any particular pet. If you are still having problems, get in touch.

Many vets will refer directly to me after a client has come into the clinic with a behaviour problem. We like to have a written referral, preferably a referral form for ease. It can also be a clear note in a veterinary history, or email, with a named referring veterinary surgeon. You can call or email us and we can provide you with a blank copy of the referral to keep on file.

Including an email address so that we can send a summary report following the initial consultation is ideal. This makes sending reports and updates straightforward, though I’m always happy to arrange a call.

It is down to your and your client’s preference as to whether you provide your client’s details with the referral so that I or the admin team can contact them in the first instance, or whether they would rather get in touch themselves when they feel ready. We endeavor to let you know if clients don’t follow through on the referral. If you are ever unsure whether a consultation has gone ahead then please do get in touch. I will always send a report following a consultation, and aim to do so within 2 working days in most cases. However these do sometimes get lost in junk or in the ether so please ask for a copy if you haven’t received one. I am also always happy to provide more information on the case at any time so please don’t hesitate to reach out.

If you’d like me to pop in, or arrange a call or video call with your clinic so we can talk in more detail about my services and get to know each other better to see if I could be a good fit for any of your clients then I’m more than happy to do this. Let us know if you’d like to join the vets newsletter for more behaviour info, case studies and to get updates on webinars, courses and availability.