For Pet Owners

When pet parents already have recently consulted with their primary care veterinarian for their pet’s health concern, a diagnostic test or treatment is sometimes recommended by their veterinarian, but they may not have the facilities to provide this service. In this case, the primary care veterinarian may initiate a partial or full referral to Amber Vet to provide the requested service.

In accordance with AVS’s Code of Ethics of Veterinarians, pet parents should be aware of the differences between a partial and full referral:

Partial Referral

The primary care veterinarian contacts Amber Vet formally to request for a specific diagnostic service. Pet parents may refer their primary care veterinarian to Referral Services For Veterinarians page for more information.

An appointment is made with Amber Vet either by the pet parent or primary care veterinarian, taking note of any preparation requirements if any (e.g. fasting), which our team will advise.

The pet is seen at Amber Vet for the requested diagnostic service. The pet owner will not be consulting with our veterinarians. Instead, a report of the findings will be sent to the primary care veterinarian, who will then follow up with the pet owner on the interpretation of the findings and the ongoing management plan.

For the following partial referral services, a consultation will be carried out with the pet parent for the purposes of pre-sedation/anaesthesia assessment only:

Full Referral

The primary care veterinarian contacts Amber Vet formally to request for a specific diagnostic/treatment service, specifically indicating a full referral intention. Pet parents may refer their primary care veterinarian to Referral Services For Veterinarians page for more information.

An appointment is made with Amber Vet either by the pet parent or primary care veterinarian, taking note of any preparation requirements if any (e.g. fasting) , which our team will advise.

The pet is seen at Amber Vet for the requested diagnostic/treatment service. Our veterinarian will be in consultation with the pet parent prior to carrying out the requested service, discussing diagnostic/treatment expectations as well as performing a sedation/anaesthetic risk assessment.

The requested service is then performed, and the findings will be relayed by our veterinarian to the pet parent directly, as well as discussing the ongoing management plan.

Health concerns not related to the condition that the pet was referred for will be referred back to the primary care veterinarian for further care, unless the primary care veterinarian has given referral permission to us otherwise to manage other non-related conditions.