People In Vets - Rant

[TsarsMum]

yep i hate this also. i have been lucky i have had big dog where people are more wary so dont let there dogs near them. but my pup is going to be white and fluffy so will be a whole new ball game.

I am one that is not keen of even other people coming up to my dog (as a pup and not fully vaccinated).

after my fully vaccinated rotti got pavo im very worried about dogs catching things off people from patting others dogs then mine.

[RallyValley]

When I rushed Lincoln to Murdoch emergency I forgot a lead. But he was way to sick to do anything naughty anyway.

[ash&elar]

also noticed this but what my last bad experience was last time at the vets, i had my lil daughter there as i couldnt not take her that time, there was a fella in there with a huge dog had the look of a pig dog type kind of pointer/ great dane/ gray hound ish my daughter is just on 100cms tall and this dohs head was way higher than her face, now my daughter isnt scared of dogs and at 3 yrs old can be a bit full on and not listen but i held her hand and said no you cant pat the dog you dont touch other ppls animals, walked her out to the car and as i was unlocking it the guy came out wit the dog towing him on the end of a long leash we were parked closest to the clinic so he had to walk close past us to get to his car, now he clearly could not of stopped this dog if he had of wanted to, i dont know that the dog is good with kids or whatever and it came within inches of my daughters face, now i am pretty laid back bout having my kids round animals but i got shivers as that happened what if she made a high pitch sqeal as yaya is known to do just as it passed n gave it a shock? anyway just wanted to also rant about ppl not having control over their animals!!! i know it happens with all sized dogs but the potential for damage is so much higher the larger the dog.

[nickyp]

One of my dogs wants to greet every dog she sees in the vet's waiting room and doing so calms her somewhat as she hates being there (I'm sure she's asking them what they're in for). I always ask the person on the other lead if it's OK for her to meet their dog and, if not, I take her well away so as not to cause problems. When I choose a seat I try to put myself as far from others as possible so as to give every animal as much space as possible. I hate the people who will then come and park themselves and their critter right beside you without checking if it's safe or advisable. I've even had one guy from a wildlife shelter with a large box that made hissing noises put it down right beside my dog. I was dying to ask what was in it but was too busy wrangling my dog who was alternately terrified and fascinated by it to get a chance. I hope the poor animal inside wasn't too worried by the very strong scent of dog a foot away from it.

[Swizzlestick]

I have had cat holes in me!!!!

I had a cat put a canine right through my fingernail last week. Eek!

OMG That all sounds so painful

I've had to remove two cat claws from a clients eyelid. Stupid owner fumed when I asked her to put her cat in a borrowed cat cage. When she was fixing the account at the end of the consulation the cat took fright, pounced on her face, and claws straight into her eyelid. She kept pulling that cat away from her and her eyelid kept stretching right out.

[Gayle.]

I can't even begin to imagine what havoc my Burmese cats could create outside of a carrier in a vets waiting room. The laps they would find, the mischief they could get up to, the talking to strangers they could do. God knows they create enough mischief here, the little monkeys they are.

My poor husband had a kitten run up his shin once, and scratched him from knee to foot. He didn't think anything of it, but the scratch didn't heal up and about a week later I noticed he was limping really badly. I asked him what was wrong and he carefully pulled up his jeans to show me his shin was swollen, red and purple, and was looking extremely unhealthy. I took him straight to the hospital and they gave him a variety of vaccinations, much to his disgust, and some heavy duty antibiotics. Nasty things, cat claws.

[whiskedaway]

When my cat had to be PTS, she was so sick that we couldn't put her in her carrier because it caused too much undue stress on her. So we put her favourite blanket in a washing basket and tied two washing baskets together and made it into an impromtu cat carrier. The vet probably thought we were bad owners.

Akira gets super excited whenever she goes to the vet and wants to meet all the other dogs, so I spend an awful lot of time holding her back. It makes paying really hard, so often the vet nurse will hold her for me. There are times when she gives me a huge jerk and goes over to meet another dog before I can stop her, though I try as hard as I can. Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you try, you still can't stop your dog (especially a super excitable puppy) from bothering other dogs.

[Swizzlestick]

When my cat had to be PTS, she was so sick that we couldn't put her in her carrier because it caused too much undue stress on her. So we put her favourite blanket in a washing basket and tied two washing baskets together and made it into an impromtu cat carrier. The vet probably thought we were bad owners.

Firstly, sorry to hear about the loss of your cat.

We get quite a few home made cat baskets, some exactly as you described. Nothing wrong with making your own as long as it's secure. I can't imagine any vet would consider you a bad owner for doing this.

[poodlefan]

I took Darcy to Sydney last year for a neurological consult. He has IVDD. He was in some pain and had restricted movement at that time.

Walked in the door of the vets.. woman with a mini schnauzer OFFLEAD allows her dog to wander up to Darcy. I scoop him off the floor and point blank ask her to keep her dog away from mine as Darce can be dog aggressive.

Round to the cat section (empty) I go to wait with Darcy on his own. Vet nurse asks me to weigh Darcy so we go around to the dog section and I pop him on the scales. Next thing the mini schnauzer comes from behind me right up to Darcy who snaps and lunges.

"Which part of dog aggressive didn't you understand" I said pretty loudly to the idiot owner. Vet nurse rushes out with a lead for the schnauzer.. yes, that's right folks she had neither a collar or lead with her.

I got a big apology from the vet but I'm glad that Darcy didn't hurt himself any further.

Edited August 9, 2010 by poodlefan

[tarope]

Because some people are morons. Why do most vets have cats wandering around the waiting room

I was sitting at the vets with my GSD when this woman came in with a dog she let her dog run straight over to my dog, my boy went it the vet told me to go out side. ;)

Another time at the same vet, I'm setting with my Rottie when some fool with a young GSD comes in and you guessed it let his dog run over and into my Rottie's face. My Rottie growled and you should have seen the look this moron gave me, when I said you let your dog jump on my dog he just gave me this stupid look. I don't go to this vet now, but these morons are at every vets.

Edited August 9, 2010 by tarope

[Simply Grand]

OMG I just don't get how anyone who has had a cat for 5 minutes or more could put it in a strange situation uncontained! Seriously, the strength these creatures have when they want it... I have permanent scars on my hand, knee and boob ( ) from my own, much loved cats in their own home, being put in situations they don't love (ie. a bath and taking tablets...)

I would never attempt to wrangle a cat in an unfamiliar place around unfamiliar animals and people! I'm really not being smart but I would take on a dog over a cat any day (size being considered of course).

Having said that, I always keep my dog on lead, and I think I've let him say hi to other dogs at the vets before, not that he's been contagious, but now that I think about it, I realise I should be more careful!

[sebastion 2]

One of our local vets has a large sign asking saying your animals must be restrained at all times although they have 2 cats that just wander around. I don't know if my rescue dog (mastiff X) is cat friendly or not but I sure as hell don't want to find that out at the vets

[Tilly]

When my older boy was at the emergency hospital / specialist for an extended stay - a couple times he was sent home for weekend visits because he was getting extremely aggressive towards the hospital staff (he was fed up with being confined and medicated).

One afternoon when I was taking him home but had to wait in the sitting area to be given his medication before going home ... there was couple with their little fluffy on a long line and they just let it wander all over the place.

My boy was muzzled and extremely cranky (he was clearly unhappy about having the unknown dog near him) so I got up twice and moved further away before I finally lost it and told them to get their dog away from us ... and then I had to ask them to move their dog away from the entrance so I could actually leave. Their dog was "friendly" so they just couldn't see why it was a problem ...

With our local vets it usually isn't too much of an issue as the staff tend to give us quiet times when there isn't many dogs around.

I had taken our rottie (gone 3 years now ) for an eye injury and it took myself and 2 people to hold him still so the vet could look at his eye (he needed to see if the eye itself was scratched or just the outside of the eye). Even though he was muzzled, one person left a dent in the consult room when the rottie gave them a muzzle hit. This poor old boy hated the vets and hated anyone touching him that wasn't his immediate family. When we came out of the consult room the previously full waiting room was completely empty - everyone had gone outside as they thought he was going to come charging through the door any moment.

[minxy]

One of our local vets has a large sign asking saying your animals must be restrained at all times although they have 2 cats that just wander around. I don't know if my rescue dog (mastiff X) is cat friendly or not but I sure as hell don't want to find that out at the vets

You know, I've never understood that either. We have now changed vets as I couldn't stand the one we went to any longer (for various reasons). One of my poor cats scares easily, and one time when we were there I had her in her cage on the floor waiting. Suddenly I noticed her getting quite distressed as a ginormous cat (Can't remember what they are called, but the breed of cat that is like the size of a medium-ish dog!) started to come over to her. Well of course the two receptionists thought it was hilarious that my cat was cowering in her cage and getting upset.

[Jetty]

Our vet won't allow you inside without having the cats in a crate or the dogs on a lead. I don't understand why other vets would allow pets to wonder around.

[JulesP]

I got a soggy rotti in the lap this morning! Dude you have a correction chain on - use the damn thing. Lucky I didn't have my very protective dog with me or it would have been on.

[jemappelle]

I was at the vet recently with my ACD and an older man put two baby guinea pigs on the floor. I quickly advised him that it wasn't a good idea but he just left them there. Fortunately he was called in for a consult within minutes and the piggies stayed put!

I have also seen a couple with a cockatiel sitting on their shoulder waiting for their consult on the oustide seats. They were given a cage by the vet nurse but declined to use it as the bird had never been confined before. I guess that fact is more important than it might get a fright and fly off.

[sas]

I was at the Vets with a dog just pulled out of the pound and told people that but they still wanted their dogs to say hello!

[KAMS]

I would say your post is common practice in most vets ignorance can be very very hard to educate