The Value Of A Second Opinion

[Garden Girl]

Just thought I do a follow up on a question I asked some months ago about my dog getting an intermittent skip in his back leg when he ran.

At the time we went to a vet (not our regular vet, but the owner of the same practice) he suggested x-rays straight away and possible surgery. Not being really keen to have the dog sedated and x-rayed over something that didnt bother him too much we decided to wait. After getting some advice off here and seeing our regular vet a month or so later we decided to wait till he was skeletally mature and we kept him from running too much for a few months. He just went for an annual check up and vacc last week and the vet (once again our regular) said his knees are pretty much perfect. He never skips on his leg anymore and basically I'm really glad we waited and got another opinion.

Obviously some times you have the luxury of time - such as this one - but just a reminder to stick to your guns if you think something is more serious or less serious than the first opinion you get.

[luvsdogs]

I agree whole heartedly. Many years ago April developed a sore on her nose. When it didn't go away I took her to our regular vet practice & saw what I think was a new vet straight out of vet school.

She kept talking about all the things that it could be & all the things that would possibly need doing. She mentioned a biopsy, plastic surgery, skin grafts. And if I didn't do it April may have a deformed nose. All I could see were the $ signs adding up.

I went home & cried for an hour or more, trying to think what else I could do. Then I thought of the vet that's a member of my obedience club who also has a border collie. I rang & got an appointment for that afternoon. She did a skin scraping, something that I thought the other vet should have done. It came back negative to mites, I mentioned that I thought it could be skin cancer. She doubted that as April was only 2 or 3 yrs old at the time.

She sent me home with some ointment to put on it & told me it should clear up in 2-3 weeks. It took about a month, but I avoided all those other proceedures that the young vet wanted to do.

[Stitch]

Totally agree, you have to have confidence in your vet.

I have been given some incredible diagnoses by young vets, in particular one that came into my old vets practice and is still there. I saw him when he was only new and he diagnosed a puppy of mine as being an extreme case of a 'swimmer' saying there was not much hope for it and it would have to be put down. It only took me about a week of putting the pup on its side, not on its belly, and it was as good as the other pups. It went on to be a fantastic dog with no problems at all.

I tried to avoid him after that but had to see him another time and he again diagnosed a problem as being extremely serious. I was terribly worried and I made another appointment and saw my regular vet, the owner of the practice and it turned out to be just an infection that was easily treated with antibiotics.

Needless to say the young vet doesn't like me very much and quite frankly I don't think much of him because I can't rely on his diagnosis.

[Gretel]

I had a Dobe girl years ago who had a bit of a skin problem. I took her to the vet but my usual one wasn't on. She checked her over and told me mange mites and I'd have to treat her with rinses. She then checked her over and told me she was pregnant :rolleyes: and that the treatment would affect the puppies. Threw me into a bit of a tizz since she'd not been mated as far as I knew! I rang her breeder in a right state and she calmed me down and asked me to bring her out to show her. She took a look and a feel and said no way is she pregnant and who told you she was?! When I told her which vet she said 'oh the horse vet - she wouldn't have a clue'