Vets

[Annedal]

On thursday night I got a call from the boarding kennel where my 11yo Dalmatian male was staying. He was doing runny poos with blood in it. First thing the next day I went and picked him up and took him to the closest vet. I told the vet what I had been told by the boarding kennel and also my dog left a nice sample of his poo on the surgery floor. From looking at my dog (who had lost a lot of weight) and his runny poo this vet advised me that he most likely had Parvo and was organising for my dog to go to a 24hr vet to be put on a drip, etc and telling me that he could be there for a few weeks and that bedding,etc needed to be disposed of or disinfected with a special solution.

I went back to the boarding kennel and told the owner and she said that that was rubbish. He did not have parvo, more like a pain in the stomach.

Onto our second vet visit and this time to my usual vet. My dog had blood tests,etc and a test for parvo which turn out negative.

My dog ended up being on a drip for 2 days(came home with me at night as vet is not 24hr attended). He has a bowel infection.

I did recieve a call from the first vet to see how my dog was. Also at the time I was at the first vet i was very stressed. As she

thought i was going to another vet who would of done a test for parvo she went and disposed of the sample she had taken. Really, how could she make a diagnoses without proof of the parvo virus showing up in a test?

The first vet has really annoyed me and I certainly will not be going there again.

Thankfully my old boy is well on his way to recovery.

[Cavandra]

The trouble is no one ever seems to make formal complaints, so many of these ones remain incompetant.

We have one up here who I have to wonder how he remains in business, as so many mis diagnoses are done, and just tells people ridiculous things all the time. The last incident was when I started to groom one of my clients, and noticed she was in pain, to the point of biting which wasnt normal behaviour for her, I looked under her tail to find her anal glands were in trouble. Obvious pain, red & sore with an ulcer to the side..........The woman took her straigth to this Vet on a Friday arvo of a long weekend, and was told that "I" was wrong, there was nothing wrong with the anal glands, and to take her home & put aloe vera on it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, I then had a phone call the dog was vomiting etc, I told them to go to my Vet on a SUNDAY, out of hours on a long weekend, and one of my Vets diagnosed what I had! This person has 5 animals, and the imcompetant Vet who obviously had plans for the weekend, has lost those 5 animals, but the owner never confronted this Vet, so of course he will only presume he was right & aloe vera fixed it.............I know many people get bamboozled with jargon, and dont feel they can question a Vet, I think putting it in writing is better than trying to talk to them .........I told this woman not to pay the first bill or demand the money back as due to his misdiagnosis it cost her alot more going to another Vet out of hours!!!! But no she didnt feel confident enough so let it go..............

There are always diarrohea bugs at this time of year!

[Rain]

I went to a new vet and he asked me the breed of the dog and proceeded to tell me i was incorrect, there is no such breed! Hmm ok even though i have pedigree papers for him. idiot!

[Poodle wrangler]

A good vet is as important to most of us as a good doctor for ourselves.

Some vets better than others and none perfect (they're only human).

Glad your boy's on the mend.

[Pom]

Our boy Griffen had a cherry eye not that long ago. The first Vet we took him to just stood across the room, asked us to make him sit, then muttered something, fiddled on the computer and gave us a quote for $800. He didn't explain which operation he was doing, he never touched the dog or even approached him. It was almost as if he didn't even want the dog in the room. I left there wondering what the hell had happened and what the Op would involve.

The second place we went to was recommended by a friend. The vet spent about 15 mins explaining the whole condition, all the various options and what had worked for which breeds in the past. He then gave Griffen a good check up and a nice belly scratch. I left there with a sound idea of what was going to happen. After everything was fixed, the vet called me once a couple of days after and again about 2 weeks after just to make sure all was ok. He even offered to stop by on the way through and check Griff out.

I feel much happier knowing my dogs are now being seen by someone who cares about the dogs not just the money.

[chloebear]

I am very happy with my vet, she takes a lot of time to check my dog, explain things and even if needed correct the way that I am interacting with my dog. I can ring her with any concerns (live out of town) and she will give me guidance. The only problem is that my dog hates her.

[Staff'n'Toller]

I am very happy with my vet, she takes a lot of time to check my dog, explain things and even if needed correct the way that I am interacting with my dog. I can ring her with any concerns (live out of town) and she will give me guidance. The only problem is that my dog hates her.

Your dog doesn't 'hate' the Vet, dogs don't hate for a start. Your dog is fearful of the Vet Clinic and the Vet, and probably traffic as well, and it won't improve unless you make it your priority to visit there for hello visits as often as possible and de-sensitise her to it.

[Annedal]

The vet we first went to has rung twice to see how my dog is going. I have been to this vet many years ago when I got my first dog(son of my old boy). I only took him to the first vet as it was close to the boarding kennels, i knew the vet(sort of) and I wanted my dog to be helped as soon as possible.

[Lemonlime]

I know how you feel.

I have been to many vets who dont even pet my dogs, they look like they dont want to be there and have no interest in the animals they tend to. They just want to get you in and out of there.

Its a shame that there are some crappy vets who twidled their thumbs in Uni who gives vets in general a bad name.

[Cavandra]

I know how you feel.

I have been to many vets who dont even pet my dogs, they look like they dont want to be there and have no interest in the animals they tend to. They just want to get you in and out of there.

Its a shame that there are some crappy vets who twidled their thumbs in Uni who gives vets in general a bad name.

I think many dont actually care about animals they just got the marks at school & thought "I may as well" LOL..........You might think that crazy,but I have a friend who never even owned a pet in his life become a Vet, & doesnt have any natural ability with animals at all....

I have a Vet at where I go that isnt a dog lover, but pretends, but good at surgery, crap at consults..........Not all of them became Vets because they love animals, quite sure there are many Doctors that did it because it was expected of them & are no good with people, Lawyers who couldnt care less etc, just because they did the study doesnt mean they are naturals & love their job or have a clue JMO........

Edited November 19, 2007 by Cavandra

[Cody]

I went to a new vet and he asked me the breed of the dog and proceeded to tell me i was incorrect, there is no such breed! Hmm ok even though i have pedigree papers for him. idiot!

What dog do you have, if you don't mind me asking?

[Sheridan]

I am very happy with my vet, she takes a lot of time to check my dog, explain things and even if needed correct the way that I am interacting with my dog. I can ring her with any concerns (live out of town) and she will give me guidance. The only problem is that my dog hates her.

Your dog doesn't 'hate' the Vet, dogs don't hate for a start. Your dog is fearful of the Vet Clinic and the Vet, and probably traffic as well, and it won't improve unless you make it your priority to visit there for hello visits as often as possible and de-sensitise her to it.

Oh, I dunno. If dogs fear why can't they also dislike? My last dog loved going to the vet but he always acted up with one particular vet. The others he was all cute and cuddly with; her, nope.

[Annedal]

My usual vet has changed owners and there are some new faces there. The vet that ended up attending to my boy was really

nice and did not get angry with all my questions.

[perrin]

Do you know what scares me most about vets?

When you have an emergency with your horse that reguires stitiching as the cuts are down to the bone and the vet that turns up is a dog and cat vet.

Moving to a new place is just so scarey.

The good vets are always too busy to take on new clients and you get stuck with the leftovers.

Some vets are fantastic and others make you wonder why they got into an animal related job in the first place.

[Christina]

I tried 3 vets when I moved to a new area. The last one won me over when my puppy stood shaking on the table,just for a new puppy check. He said she is scared I will just give her a cuddle 1st. Very happy & the staff are all fantastic too. Always recommend them to others. Nothing worse than an inefficient or uncaring vet. We place so much trust in them,as well as $ & our animals cant talk. Heard of some shockers,as in all walks of life.

[Mizzi]

When we first moved to this area, we were told the local vet was only interested in treating farm animals. So when we got our first dog, we decided to take her to a clinic in the next town - fifty kilometres away. We have never regretted that decision. They are fantastic.

A few months ago, I had a first hand experience of why we did the right thing. My neighbour contacted me, very distressed - her cat was having some sort of fit - and asked if I would accompany her to the vet. This was half an hour after closing time.

The cat was definitely in pain and quite obviously in shock. So carefully, in case it had been hit by a car and had any internal or spinal injuries, I lifted into a basket and covered it to keep it warm, while my neighbour drove us into the vet.

Well this vet was obviously p***ed off that he had been called back in. He picked the poor cat out of the basket and dropped it on the examination table so roughly, as if it was nothing more than a piece of garbage.

He checked its eyes, which were very dilated, commented that it had some broken teeth, and went on to state that it had been poisoned. He didn't even take its temperature!

He then gave it two injections, without any indication of what they were for. When I asked him, he said one was a pain killer, one was an antibiotic.

His whole attitude just smacked of "I don't give a damn."

The next bit just pushed me over the edge. He picked the poor cat up, roughly again, and put it in a cage that had nothing more than a sheet of newspaper on the floor. I said very bluntly, "Don't you think he would be more comfortable on a towel?" His next comment blew me away! "If you like, but he'll only wee on it."

He did however oblige. This was in winter, an animal in shock, and no effort was made to keep him warm and comfortable.

If it had been my animal, I would not not have left it there, and this vet would have copped a real mouthful.

When I told my neighbour how disgusted I was with his treatment, she said that she doesn't handle situations like that very well.

It makes me wonder how many other people put up with kind of sh*t because they are too timid to make a stand.

The next morning, the cat was still lingering in pain, so on the vet's advice my neighbour had him put to sleep.

Since then, we have had two other people ask for our vet's details because they are not happy with the local vet's diagnosis/attitude.

One had an eight year old dog that had lost the use of its back legs. The local vet said nothing could be done and the dog would have to be put down.

Our vet did some x-rays, found a spur on its spine, and proceeded to treat it accordingly. The dog now has full use of its legs again.

'Word of mouth' can be a wonderful thing.

[StaceyB]

Oh, some vets can be horrible. One vet didn't want to give Gypsy her seccond vaccination because she was 10 weeks old (she'd had her first at 6 weeks), I argued with her and after about 15 mins she comes out with "well we've just gotten a new one that we can give pups from 10 weeks on and lasts until they are 15 months" - why didn't you bloody well say that in the first place! I only take her there because it's a University Vets and I work at the Uni and can salary package vet fees.

Our other vets are brilliant though, all the staff are really helpful and the nurses fuss over Gyps and she has a great time. The vets also take the time to explain proceedures in laymens terms and draw diagrams of what is going on so that we understand it all.

[PAX]

StaceyB, 2nd puppy vaccs are usually given at 12 weeks or later. By 12 weeks there are no maternal antibodies left to interfere with how well the vaccine works.

[Collie_lover]

I hate vets.....i USED to be a vet nurse and all vets care about IS HOW MUCH MONEY THEY CAN GET FROM EACH CASE! THEY DONT CARE ABOUT OUR PETS AT ALL, THE MORE TESTS THEY CAN DO THE MORE MONEY THEY CAN MAKE! THEY MAKE ME SICK!

Edited December 7, 2007 by Collie_lover

[Kobayashi]

I am very happy with my vet, she takes a lot of time to check my dog, explain things and even if needed correct the way that I am interacting with my dog. I can ring her with any concerns (live out of town) and she will give me guidance. The only problem is that my dog hates her.

Your dog doesn't 'hate' the Vet, dogs don't hate for a start. Your dog is fearful of the Vet Clinic and the Vet, and probably traffic as well, and it won't improve unless you make it your priority to visit there for hello visits as often as possible and de-sensitise her to it.

I agree with you 100% on this one. Take her to the vet as often as you can for *fun* stuff, that will outweigh the negative times shes had there.

Willow went to our vets for puppy preschool, and we take her there every now and then to get weighed/food/to say hello every time we are even driving close to there. The vets and vet nurses are in love with her, and even the surgery cat seems not to mind her attempts at playing now.

Hopefully we have done enough so that she doesnt get grumpy when its desexing time soon