Vet Offices

[lfrc322]

Is there a difference between a "Vet Hospital" and a regular "Vet Clinic" here in Korea. Around my neighborhood (in Suwon) there are several "Animal Hospitals" which are within walking distance. Are those the same as a Vet office is in the US? ie. pet hospital used mainly for emergencies. If not how do they differ? Is there a price difference? any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Karen]

Hi there!

Vet Hospital and Vet Clinic are both "동물병원" as far as I know, and are the same thing. They are fairly common, but 24hour ones are hard to find, and I had a difficult time finding one that was open on Sundays when I lived in Daejeon. The smaller clinics sometimes can't do all the various types of surgeries and tests, and may carry fewer kinds of food and toys, etc., but should still be able to do all the basics (vaccines, heartworm preventative, etc. etc, all the common stuff).

There can be quite a price difference between clinics so I would recommend shopping around and asking for recommendations, too. The bigger price differences are more for the surgeries. My vet explained to me why different places charge such varying amounts for spay/neuter and other surgeries and it has to do with the type of anesthesia, the surgical procedure -there's more than one choice even just for spay/neuter- and a bunch of other factors far too technical for me to understand. Anyway, my point is that the more expensive places are not necessarily rip off places, they may be simply doing things differently.

Phewf!

One more thing, most vet clinics I went to in Daejeon were all drop-in. I was quite a regular at my vet's and hardly ever had to wait my turn (only surgeries were by appointment). Then we moved back to Canada and I just dropped in to get some heartworm preventative for Sage. I was so shocked that I had to 1) get her a full on health exam @ 45$ AND 2) come back at a scheduled appointment time AND 3) pay a prescription fee. Wow. Clinics are much much simpler in Korea, and for most things, far cheaper.

Thanks for posting this really good question! I'm afraid I could go on for hours about vets!

[lfrc322]

Karen, thanks so much for the information. Back in the US I had a relationship with my vet's office so it was somewhat similar to your experiences here in Korea. Anything that you can share about vets here and questions to ask etc is always welcome.

[luvadog]

I was in Walmart 3 years ago (now E-Mart Wolpeong-dong) with Toby right after I adopted him and asked the girl at CoolPet if she knew where there was a good vet in Daejeon. She said "Me!" So since that day she has given all his vaccines(30,000), neutered him(50,000+30,000 for liver function), cleaned his teeth-scaling twice(50,000+30,000 for liver) and their groomer is the best. She clipped Toby the way I wanted him-like a poodle because I love his long fur but I shave his body for the summer. When I took him home to America everyone had a fit over him. And last year when I took him camping at the beach in South Carolina, I was told to watch him closely because people sometimes steal the little dogs. You can see a video of him fetching on the beach...facebook and other pics.

Miss Dr. Kim has since moved back to Daegu and Mr. Dr. Kim, her senior has his hands full. I never used to wait but he's busy all the time these days.