Collaboration between board-certified internists and surgeons has produced a website that aims to educate pet owners about veterinary specialists and strengthen the relationship with general practitioners. VetSpecialists.com also allows owners of small and large animals to locate a specialist out of a database of more than 4,000 worldwide—from Andrew Abbo, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM of Deerfield, Mass., to Laurie Zacher, DVM, Dipl. ACVS of Austin, Texas. Several dozen articles focus on topics such “What is a Board-Certified Veterinary Neurologist?” to “Congestive Heart Failure in the Dog and Cat.” True stories of pets that survived life-threatening conditions because of the intervention of their primary veterinarian and a specialist are presented in videos. Not overlooked is what the website sponsors—the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons—called the “triad of veterinary care,” or the relationship between the animal owner, primary care veterinarian and specialist. “Every day, across the country, primary care veterinarians work closely with board-certified veterinary specialists to care for large and small animals,” said William D. Tyrrell Jr., DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (Cardiology) of Cardiac Care for Pets in Leesburg, Va. “VetSpecialists.com connects the lines from the animal owner to the primary care veterinarian to the board-certified veterinary specialist, which we refer to as the triad of veterinary care, so that animal owners can give their animals the best opportunity for healthy lives.” Providing detailed information about a wide variety of animal injuries and diseases is a primary goal of the website. “VetSpecialists.com provides the tools to help animal owners understand health issues if they arise and communicate them to their primary care veterinarians, who together can consider whether a specialist should be consulted,” said William D. Liska, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, of Global Veterinary Specialists in Dallas and San Antonio.
