Thursday, June 8, 2017

Become a Champion for Excellent Care for Your Pet

I am a BlogPaws Conference Sponsored Blogger on behalf of the American Animal Hospital Association. I am being compensated to help share information about the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) with my readers and fellow Influencers, Neither AAHA nor BlogPaws are responsible for the content of this article.

Do you believe that your pet deserves the absolute best veterinary care possible? Most of you will likely answer yes to this question, and with good reason. Pets are often regarded as furry children whose parents will go to great lengths to provide them with only the best.

Veterinary care is probably one of the most important aspects of keeping a pet happy and healthy. Choosing a good veterinary hospital is extremely important, and it doesn't have to be difficult.


AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals are Champions for Excellent Care. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) is the only organization to accredit companion animal veterinary hospitals in the US and Canada. Nearly 60% of pet owners believe their veterinary hospital is accredited when it is not. Only 15% of veterinary hospitals in the United States and Canada are accredited by AAHA. You can read more about AAHA in our previous post HERE.

Last month, I attended the BlogPaws Pet Blogging Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC. I attended the conference as a BlogPaws Sponsored Blogger, thanks to AAHA. While I was there, I spent one afternoon listening to Dr. Heather Loenser discuss some of the AAHA Standards of Accreditation.


What are AAHA Mandatory Standards of Accreditation? 


When you take your pet to an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital, that means your pet is receiving treatment according to the highest standards in veterinary care. Every three years, AAHA consultants evaluate the hospitals. There are approximately 900 mandatory standards that each AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital must follow. 

I learned a lot during Dr. Loenser's presentation on the mandatory standards that AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals must follow. Many of them were already to familiar to me because I have worked as a veterinary technician in an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital in the past.


Here are just a few of the mandatory standards followed by AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals that we discussed during BlogPaws:

  • Anesthesia - A qualified team member must be present to monitor a pet's care while under anesthesia. Monitoring equipment is also required. 
  • Dentistry - Dental procedures are performed under anesthesia. Veterinarians perform dental extractions. All instruments that are used for dental procedures are sterilized. 
  • Pain Management - Pain management and assessment is part of all exams and surgical procedures and every pet's evaluation. 
  • Patient Care - The veterinary hospital has the means to deliver oxygen to compromised pets in many different ways. The condition of every hospitalized pet is assessed at least twice daily by a veterinarian. 
  • Surgery - Surgical suites are separate, closed rooms dedicated only to aseptic surgical procedures. 
  • Contagious Disease - To prevent the spread of disease, veterinary hospital policies include frequent hand washing, use of antibacterial agents, and disinfection of all patient areas. A single-purpose isolation room is restricted to providing treatment to contagious patients. 
  • Emergency and Critical Care - To help save time in a critical situation, emergency services or referral to an appropriate hospital are always available. 

While these certainly are not the only mandatory standards that AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals must follow, they are most definitely important. By choosing an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital for your pet, you are a Champion for Excellent Care. For more information about AAHA, just click HERE

Find an AAHA-Accredited Veterinary Hospital



To find an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital near you, use the AAHA Hospital Locator Tool. This is also useful for finding a hospital in unfamiliar areas you may be traveling to with your pet. 

Already have a veterinary hospital, but they aren't AAHA-accredited yet? If your pet's hospital is not accredited, have a discussion with your vet. Be a Champion for Excellent Care!

Follow AAHA on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with them. 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of BlogPaws 2017 Conference Sponsored Bloggers.

5 comments:

  1. Great information. If you haven't been to an AAHA certified facility you can't appreciate the difference in quality.

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  2. While our veterinarian isn't AAHA certified, the mom found one not too far from us that she was going to take Zoey to because they do some things our regular vet doesn't do.

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  3. That's such important stuff. We're glad to say our vet (who we love) is AAHA certified!

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  4. Being AAHA certified does bring about a lot of credibility when the vets mention that they are indeed an expert! Too many frauds out there!

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