Cats In The Reception Area Of The Vets

[corvus]

Our vet usually has kittens or other small animals in a cage in the corner. They rehome them. I've used them as training opportunities if they are all relaxed about dogs. The kitties certainly get well socialised. The kittens stay in the cage, though, and it gets wheeled into another room if there's trouble. For a while they had a resident cat, but I'm not sure if he's still there. He was usually in the cage during the day and came out at night to keep the night staff company. I always wished he'd be allowed out so I could pat him, but now I realise why he wasn't!

[arawnhaus]

Every animal should be on lead or crated included all resident animals during business hours and after hours when clients come in.

[B-Q]

Buster knows Elliot is "his" cat and he's great with him but as far as he's concerned everything else is fair game.

Thankfully our vet doesn't have a resident cat but they do have a resident 3 legged staffy. Buster's DA can make it a pain but it doesn't bother me to much. The dog generally stays behind the desk and it doesn't even give Buster a second glance no matter what Busters behaviour is like.

[perrin]

I tried to talk my vet into a stray kitten that i had taken in to check for a chip last Monday but they wouldn't be in it.

Said they already had two. I was surprised as i had never seen them before but they apparently just stay out the back of the clinic.

[hoffpig]

When I go to the vet there are invariably other dogs, cats, guinea pigs et al in the waiting room. If you want no distractions maybe pay extra to have your vet make house calls. Wow, if this is the sort of stuff that gives people the shits - a cat at the vets - you must be richly blessed and have NoThiNg more serious to bitch about. Astonishing.

Edited January 24, 2010 by hoffpig

[Golden Rules]

With the number of vets that do have resident cats, it obviously can't be too much of an issue to the majority of clients/customers, otherwise everyone would complain and maybe the cats wouldn't still be there.

[wagsalot]

Wow, if this is the sort of stuff that gives people the shits - a cat at the vets - you must be richly blessed and have NoThiNg more serious to bitch about. Astonishing.

;) You could say that about all the threads on here though.

Lucky me for being richly blessed

[Crisovar]

When I go to the vet there are invariably other dogs, cats, guinea pigs et al in the waiting room. If you want no distractions maybe pay extra to have your vet make house calls. Wow, if this is the sort of stuff that gives people the shits - a cat at the vets - you must be richly blessed and have NoThiNg more serious to bitch about. Astonishing.

Any where any time some people will find something to whine about, this morning the award for fist class PITA went to the owner of the dog that came roaring into the clinic without a leash and proceeded to lift it's leg on every vertical surface.

Sign outside clearly states, all dogs on leads all cats in cages, however obviously this doesn't apply to this owner, I handed her a clinic leash, slip type, she says " I can't put that on him it will choke him do you have a proper collar" I say "no, this will have to do to get him into the consult room and back out to the car, it will only be a few minutes" She carried for a good 5 minutes about the suitability of the lead I supplied. Then whilst complaining allows him to continue to lift his leg on everything. Then she states he only does that because we didn't give her the first appointment of the day and he can smell other animals. :p

If she is given the first appointment she invariably turns up late anyway.

[OSoSwift]

When I go to the vet there are invariably other dogs, cats, guinea pigs et al in the waiting room. If you want no distractions maybe pay extra to have your vet make house calls. Wow, if this is the sort of stuff that gives people the shits - a cat at the vets - you must be richly blessed and have NoThiNg more serious to bitch about. Astonishing.

Any where any time some people will find something to whine about, this morning the award for fist class PITA went to the owner of the dog that came roaring into the clinic without a leash and proceeded to lift it's leg on every vertical surface.

Sign outside clearly states, all dogs on leads all cats in cages, however obviously this doesn't apply to this owner, I handed her a clinic leash, slip type, she says " I can't put that on him it will choke him do you have a proper collar" I say "no, this will have to do to get him into the consult room and back out to the car, it will only be a few minutes" She carried for a good 5 minutes about the suitability of the lead I supplied. Then whilst complaining allows him to continue to lift his leg on everything. Then she states he only does that because we didn't give her the first appointment of the day and he can smell other animals.

If she is given the first appointment she invariably turns up late anyway.

Some people are just stupid!!!

I had similar but a small dog, no lead, proceeded to cock it's leg everywhere. I asked him to pick it up as there was a short wait. He took it outside (we were on a reasonably major road) then brings it back in for another round. So i growled at the dog when he did it again. He told me it is not fair you growled at him, he doesn't know he is not supposed to cock his leg inside. I replied no he doesn't, but you do, so wait outside, or pick him up. He elected to wait outside. I would have hated to smell his house since apparently his dog was a fully inside dog.

[megan_]

When I go to the vet there are invariably other dogs, cats, guinea pigs et al in the waiting room. If you want no distractions maybe pay extra to have your vet make house calls. Wow, if this is the sort of stuff that gives people the shits - a cat at the vets - you must be richly blessed and have NoThiNg more serious to bitch about. Astonishing.

other animals are restrained though. You are lucky you don't have an extremely prey driven dog. You are richly blessed ;-)

[spottychick]

When I go to the vet there are invariably other dogs, cats, guinea pigs et al in the waiting room. If you want no distractions maybe pay extra to have your vet make house calls. Wow, if this is the sort of stuff that gives people the shits - a cat at the vets - you must be richly blessed and have NoThiNg more serious to bitch about. Astonishing.

ROFLMAO Have you any idea what a "house call" would cost me living out here in the sticks??? The "extra" works out to around $600 or more for travel expenses depending on where the vet is located. Not everyone in Australia lives within cooee of a vet.

I don't think the majority of people here have a problem with vets having resident cats or any other animals as such. I like seeing animals that live at the vets - it tells me they are animal lovers. But, as has been said a few times, it's about how those resident animals behave and how the staff behave when their resident animals create problems with visiting animals and especially when they cause unnecessary problems or stress to debilitated and/or stressed "patients".

[spikey]

There was a long thread about this some time ago

Woops :p

There was indeed - it may well have been the one I did ages ago! Like Ruthless, I complained about loose cats in vet surgeries and the hassles they cause when you have a large, cat-hating dog who is already ill/in pain/stressed by being at the vet etc, without the additional problems of a cat parading up and down in full view. Over the years, my Shepherds (GSDs and Belgians) have all loathed cats - out on a walk, not a problem, they growl at the cat, I'd growl at them and we'd continue on our way with me keeping a tight grip of woofer who wants to swallow the cat whole LOL - cat has plenty of room to stay from us and we have plenty of room to give the cat a wide berth. Totally different story in a small vet's surgery with a tiny waiting room, no other access in and out apart from the front door, and a smart-ar*e cat that seemed to love stirring the dogs up.

Judging by the replies, people's attitudes seem to have changed a bit since my original thread, as many seem to agree with the OP! When I had my thread going, most of the replies I received pretty much told me it was my problem, I should control my dog, and it wasn't the cat (or the vet's!) fault if the damn thing was roaming loose in the surgery, I just had to deal with it - even though I said that I had no problem with vets HAVING a resident cat, as long as he or she was kept under control and out of the way of four-legged patients who made it quite clear that they didn't appreciate said cat being in their face or provoking them (and yes, I've experienced the staff who seem to think the dog's reaction to be hilarious as well).

We never had any problems in the waiting rooms with people bringing cats in boxes or cages - my dogs would always seem puzzled by the cat smell but didn't really seem to be able to "see" the cat - mind you, I wasn't about to let them go up and shove their head up against the cage I didn't want to give the poor cat (or it's owner) a heart attack! We also never had any problems with other dogs that were suitably restrained - but there's always some idiot who wants to bring his/her dog in without a lead ... since being attacked by a pair of roaming dogs 18 months ago whilst we were out for a walk, my girl does NOT appreciate another dog rushing at her, especially in a confined space where there's no room to avoid it or or put space between her and the other dog.

Thankfully the surgery we go to now doesn't have a resident cat, which is quite a relief!

[SpikesPuppy]

Shoot me for being smug--I'm usually so well behaved on DOL--but aren't we meant to have our dogs under control? A vet's waiting room has the potential for all kinds of novel situtations, distractions, noises etc. What do you all do when you meet a cat when you're walking your dogs? A love the resident cats at the vets.

One of my dogs was attacked by a cat when we were out walking..... Cats should be contained on their own properties anyway

I find it very frustrating when at one of the clinics we use, their cat rubs its body across my arms and under my chin etc when I'm trying to pay for my consult. What if I were allergic to cats??? Their printer is also constantly clogged because he sleeps in the paper tray which means it takes much longer than it should for my receipt to be printed.

A resident cat, dog, rabbit or lizard or whatever is fine, but just ensure that it does not cause a hassle for your clients. Another clinic had a nurse's dog ther each day... all fine and dandy except everytime you opened the door, he would try to bolt so you would have to wrangle the door, yourself and whatever you were carrying plus the animal you had the appointment for. Naturally, none of the staff did anything but a halfhearted chuckle about how cheeky he was.

On the topic of cats though, I used to walk my cat everywhere on a leash, to the park, around the block and to the vets. He wasn't in carrier but he was under control?

As for leaving the dog in the car while asking the vet to contain their cat.... what if it's a hot day, or the only car park is several blocks down the street??

Edited January 25, 2010 by SpikesPuppy

[BittyMooPeeb]

As for leaving the dog in the car while asking the vet to contain their cat.... what if it's a hot day, or the only car park is several blocks down the street??

Don't your vets have their own carpark? That must be hard for people with very sick animals

If it is not suitable to leave your dog in the car, you could do what lots of people here seem to do, and take him to the door, open the door and yell "I am here and waiting outside" or "my dog isnt good with cats, could you put the clinic cat away?" or " .... are there any loose cats in the waiting room" etc.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

iam really allergic to cats and i dont like them at all. why should i be forced to deal with a cat in a waiting room? there was a post here a while ago about a resident dog of a hairdresser who bit a child and nearlyu everyone said the dog shouldnt have been there, well how is this different? if i have an asthma attack because of the cat coming over to me and jumping on me or sitting next to me who will be responsible.

i get really grumpy about this because the resident cats have caused me grief before...and i have left a really good vet because of this and the fact that the staff wouldnt manage the cat whilst i was there

[SpikesPuppy]

As for leaving the dog in the car while asking the vet to contain their cat.... what if it's a hot day, or the only car park is several blocks down the street??

Don't your vets have their own carpark? That must be hard for people with very sick animals

If it is not suitable to leave your dog in the car, you could do what lots of people here seem to do, and take him to the door, open the door and yell "I am here and waiting outside" or "my dog isnt good with cats, could you put the clinic cat away?" or " .... are there any loose cats in the waiting room" etc.

Our old vet only had 2 designated clinic carparks (they had more until the block adjoining was sold for apartments). There was street parking but as it was a block away from the main shopping strip, these were often taken by regular shoppers. This vet did not have a cat or other roaming animals... did have a lizard though and a small dog but he stayed in his basket behind the counter unless you called him over.

FTR, I don't require cats or dogs to be put away , but that is not the point. The point is I should be able to walk into a veterinary clinic without having to worry about the resident animal distressing mine or being responsible for it not escaping. And I certainly should not have to deal with some furball rubbing up and down my face while I'm trying to sign my credit card!!