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Treatment and care

Vets have a responsibility to clearly communicate the treatment options available for your pet - and you can play a vital role in this process. We explain the various types of care you may be offered, and share some useful tips to help ensure you and your vet are on the same page about the best way forward. 

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Professional responsibilities of vets and vet nurses

When vets and vet nurses first register with the RCVS, they make a formal declaration, or promise, that they will always try to ensure the health and welfare of animals under their care.

They agree to follow the 'RCVS Code of Professional Conduct' and to fulfil their professional responsibilities by maintaining the following five principles of practice:

    • Professional competence
    • Honesty and integrity
    • Independence and impartiality
    • Client confidentiality and trust
    • Professional accountability

Vets and vet nurses have professional responsibilities to the animals under their care, their clients, the veterinary professions, their colleagues, the RCVS, and the wider public.

Find out more:

Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons

Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses

Treatment options

Wherever possible, your vet should discuss a range of reasonable treatment options for your pet. 

They should explain any benefits and risks to these options and discuss the costs of each, taking into account your needs and personal circumstances.

After listening to any observations you might have about your pet , your vet should try to find a good balance between their recommended course of treatment and your circumstances, wishes, and any financial considerations. Treatment should only progress with your consent, except in an emergency.

Whatever the circumstances, your vet’s main priority will be the health and welfare of your pet.

Deciding on treatment

Although your vet will be able to offer and explain a range of treatment options, ultimately it is for you to decide which one is right for you and your pet. If your vet doesn’t present different options, you can ask if there are any.

Choosing an option might not be an easy decision, so you should ask your vet for any additional advice they might be able to provide, based on their own experience. You might also find it helpful to ask friends and family their thoughts.

In non-urgent situations, you will generally have time to think about the options before any treatment starts. This will also give you time to check whether the proposed plan will be covered by your pet's insurance. It might help to write down the different treatment options to help you remember them later.

Hospitalisation and in-patient care

Sometimes, your pet might need to be kept at the practice, or hospitalised, for a period of time for ongoing treatment and in-patient care.

Your pet should be kept in a comfortable environment, monitored and treated according to their needs, but the level of supervision may vary depending on the type of practice and your animal’s condition.

Your vet should tell you what level of supervision will be provided for your animal, and by whom, especially outside of normal working hours.

You should also be made aware of the cost of in-patient care, as well as any after-care costs, beforehand. If not, just ask.

Continuity of care

If your pet requires any sort of in-patient care, your practice should be able to tell you approximately how long this might be for, who might be caring for your animal, and whether (and how) your pet might need to be moved to other premises.

Your practice should obtain your informed consent for this, so that you understand the arrangements to be made, the level of supervision and any transport arrangements.

If your vet delegates the care of your animal to a colleague, they must first be satisfied that the person providing care has the appropriate qualifications, skills and experience to do so safely.

Second opinions and referrals

There are important differences between second opinions and referrals.

Second opinions

If your vet is at all uncertain about your pet’s condition, or the appropriate treatment, they may decide to seek a second opinion before proceeding. Typically, this would be the views of another colleague in the same practice.

Equally, you are entitled to ask for a second opinion about your animal’s case. This could also be from another person in the same practice or from a different practice entirely.

If you seek a second opinion from elsewhere, you should tell the second-opinion practice that your animal has already been seen by your original practice, so that they will know to request your animal’s clinical records.

This will help to ensure tests are not repeated unnecessarily and that any medication does not interfere with previous treatment.

You should expect to pay an additional fee at the second-opinion practice.

Referrals

We expect vets to recognise when they do not have enough knowledge or expertise in any  particular case.

They should be prepared to refer such cases to a colleague, organisation or institution that is better able to carry out the investigations or treatment involved.

Before referring a case, your vet should discuss the situation with you carefully. They should explain who the referral vet or practice is, their level of expertise, and whether they have any links to them.

Both your vet and the referral vet should make sure you understand and agree to the likely costs of the referral, before it goes ahead.

Communication

When speaking to your vet or vet nurse, it is important to actively engage in the discussion and ensure you fully understand what your vet or vet nurse is saying. 

It is perfectly acceptable to ask questions about anything relating to your pet’s care or to ask for a simpler explanation. Your vet should use language that is easy to understand and allow you enough time to ask questions and make informed choices. 

It can be good idea to write a list of things you’d like to know before your appointment, so that you don’t forget anything. You could also take someone with you to help remember all the information you receive.

Informed consent 

In most cases, your vet must obtain your informed consent before treating your animal. This means that your vet has first:

    • Explained a range of reasonable treatment options, their purpose and likely outcomes
    • Estimated for you the likely costs of these treatments
    • Warned you about any common and serious risks involved
    • Explained that any diagnosis might change after further investigation
    • Checked whether you have any questions or concerns
    • Informed you, where appropriate, that other (more successful) treatment may be available elsewhere, and
    • Made arrangements to contact you for additional consent if the treatment plan changes.

You should be aware that 'reasonable treatment options' may include euthanasia (putting your pet to sleep) as well as the option to monitor your animal without further tests or treatment.

We do not expect your vet to obtain your informed consent if to do so would risk your pet’s welfare, for example, in an emergency when you are not available to give consent.

Veterinary fees

For further information about veterinary fees, please see Fees and pricing.

Health and care plans

Some vet practices offer health or care plans, which typically include a number and type of appointments and treatments over a fixed period.

These plans can offer value for money, and enable you to budget for the cost of routine veterinary care for your pet.

We recommend discussing any such plan carefully with your vet to ensure you understand what is included, how much it will cost, and whether any associated medicines or treatments are suitable for your pet's particular needs. 

Conscientious (moral) objections

Sometimes, your vet or vet nurse might refuse to carry out a procedure or treatment due to a conscientious objection, that is, they disagree with it on moral grounds.

They must only do this if they are satisfied that the welfare of your animal is not compromised. They should then make alternative arrangements for your animal, or ensure you know how to find veterinary help elsewhere.

Information and advice-only services

Vets often provide advice in different circumstances as part of their work, but the extent of this advice must be based on how much information they have about an animal.

If your pet isn't physically present when you ask a vet for advice, for example, during a phone call on online consultation, they may only be able to give you limited information or a more restricted level of service. This is to ensure that they do not compromise your pet's welfare or any future veterinary care they might receive.

If you don’t already know, check in advance whether your practice makes a charge for providing information or advice-only services.

Legal restrictions

You should not ask your vet to carry out any procedures that are against the law in the UK. This includes purely cosmetic or convenience procedures such as ear-cropping, de-clawing or de-barking, unless there is a medical reason for doing so.

Certain practices known as mutilations, such as tail-docking in specific dog breeds, are exempt from the legal ban. For full details, you should refer to the relevant legislation in each of the UK’s four nations:

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