Before the recommendations start — can we agree on how to judge one? Because "he is very good" from a stranger has never once helped me, and I have been to a lot of vets.
What I now look for, in order:
Does the animal get examined? Temperature, gums, lymph nodes, a stethoscope, hands on the abdomen. A vet who prescribes from across a desk after looking at your dog is guessing, however confident they sound.
Do they say "I don't know, let's test"? This is the biggest single marker of a good one. The vets who have a confident instant answer for everything are the ones my animals have done worst with.
Do they tell you what the medicine is and why? You should leave knowing the name of the drug, the dose, and how long for. An unlabelled strip of tablets in a paper bag is not a prescription.
Do they weigh the animal before dosing? Almost nobody does this and it matters enormously, especially for cats.
Is the fridge running? Look. If the vaccine fridge is off during load shedding and there is no backup, the vaccine is water — this came up in the parvo thread too and it is the reason a lot of vaccinated animals here still get sick.
Will they refer? A vet who admits something is outside their area is worth ten who will attempt anything.
And species matters more than people think. Someone excellent with buffalo is very often genuinely not the person for a parrot, and they will usually tell you so if you ask directly.
