What Would Cause You To Change Vets?

[KitKat]

So.....what would cause you to change vets? and have you had reason to change vets?

I ask this because i and thinking of changing vets, but i'm not sure if i'm just seeing more into it then i should. Here goes...I recently took my pup to the vets to be weighed, just for interest's sake more then any other reason. Ran in to the vet and he told me the pup was growing too quickly, that i should put him onto a quality/expensive brand of puppy food and feed the noted amounts because it's a proper balanced diet, give him calcium suppliments, give no treats thru the day and then finished with 'he's going to be a big dog' and then was asked if i was going to breed with him when i said no i got then when i take him there to be desexed they will take his rear dew claws off at the same time. Previously i've had pet insurance pushed at me and was signed up without my permission for a two week trial with one of the companies.

Now...i agree my pup is rather large, but he is growing in line with the rest of his litter, he is kept lean (under all the fur), his lines run to large dogs, all this he knows because i have told him, and i have told him the pup is bascially on a raw/barf diet. I had intended to get the pup desexed anyway....but elsewhere as it's much more reasonably priced. The calcium suppliments thing really thru me. I am realitively happy with the vets otherwise...but...it has me thinking of checking out other vets. If i was my Dr i would leave...which is why i'm seriously thinking of changing.

So...what do you think? and what would make you change vets? and if you have for various reasons throw them in as well

Thanks all

Kit

[fifi]

we have always had a great selection of vets, until we moved here, thankfully after five years of an incompetent, we now have new vets at the new local clinic, who understand giant breeds, and breeders, and who just managed to save our old girl, Molly who suffered Gastric torsion a fortnight ago. (havnt posted about it, as I wanted to make sure of Molly's recovery)

the previous vet here - was the most arrogant man I've ever met, his asumption was that unless you could state the animal was worth lots of dollars, then why where you bothering?! his other mistake was to assume that animal owners are complete f**kwits, he would try and humiliate owners and very experienced dog & horse breeders with his crap! our other nearest vet at the time was nearly 100km's away, and believe me, for anything other than ultra life threatening stuff, we drove the long way! this vet managed to kill or misdiagnose so many animals that he closed his clinic on the pretext that he was moving to a specialty clinic in QLD, last I heard - he is doing fencing out the back of QLD somewhere! and all our animals vet history went with him, he was supposed to sell the entire database with the clinic, but its all gone! luckily I keep good records at home.

When we lived on the central coast of NSW, I did change vets once, but only because the vet had become quickly upmarket, and nearly doubled thier prices!

a good vet relationship is priceless!! I'm so relieved to finally have our new and CARING vets!!

fifi

[Staff'n'Toller]

Don't be afraid to change if you are unhappy...before I was a Vet Nurse it took a while for me to find a good Vet. The clinic I ended up at is about 20 mins away, and I used to pass about 4-5 others on the way!!!

I would try a few others if I were you, you're certainly not obligated to use that one just because you have used them in the past, or because they are the closest.

Cheers,

Mel.

[Dogsfevr]

I think you have 2 choices

*try another vet & hope there good

*tell the vets you go to that your not interested in being pushed with pet insurance or any other product other medication for treatments,tell them you are seriously considering changing vets as you are feed up with walking through the door & being harrasses that you go there for good vet treatment not a sales pitch .

A good vet is always worthy to stick with & being upfront will make your visits more pleasant

[cass]

my old vet told me to put my dog onto antibiotics. that is ok, but she then told me that it wouldnt fix the problem. why would i want my dog on these tablets if they were going to do nothing. After many many painful tests and injections, she told me that she couldnt find anything. she also told me she didnt expect to. then she gave me the bill. I found her to be very interested in money, and not so interested in the dog or our situation. we have since found a LOVELY vet and are very happy...

[Rusky]

leave if you don't there will always be questions in your mind.

I left a vet cos he came into the room shoved a thermometer up my old girls bum without so much as a by your leave, so I told him off.

I said you should say hello to me and to her, not just read the card and shove something up her bum.

I said how would you like it if you came into hospital and we all ignored you and just shoved stuff up your bum

Maybe try a different practice for a health check if only to see how they are with you and your dog. It really is important to be able to trust your vet.

[Echo]

I used the same Vet for many years. During that time, he treated dogs, cats and horses for me, and I was quite happy with his handling of my animals.

Then I had an incident which really shook my faith in him.

My GSD appeared to me to have a full and saggy looking abdomen.

Upon taking him to this Vet, I was told that he could find nothing wrong, and that the dog was just overwieght.

I explained to the Vet that I was sure this was not the case, as I am very particular about keeping my dogs at correct weight.

Still he insisted there was nothing wrong with the dog, so nothing was done.

One week later, the dog's abdomen still appeared the same, so I took him back to the Vet and insisted he take a closer look.

After examination, and drawing fluid (blood) from the abdomen, I was told that my dog was bleeding internally, and his abdomen was full of blood.

The most likely cause of this, I was told, was a tumour that had ruptured, probably in the spleen.

Surgery to remove the spleen was recommended.

After discussion with the Vet on the likely outcome, we both agreed that if the cancer had spread beyond the spleen, then it would be kinder to put my beautiful boy down, than to prolong the inevitable outcome.

I waited anxiously for the phone call, and finally it came.

Whoopie !! My boy had made it. Vet assured me that cancer was localised to the spleen, which he had removed. Prognosis for a long and happy life was good.

The operation cost a lot more than I could really afford, but what the heck, my boy was worth every cent.

Barely one month later, I had to have my boy put down, because he was riddled with cancer, and nothing else could be done for him.

I found it hard to believe that the Vet could have missed this while he had the opportunity to make a thorough inspection while he performed surgery.

The last weeks of my dog's life after the surgery were not what you would call good quality.

It took me a long time to get over his loss (and to pay the bill), to say the least, I was devastated.

Despite this incident, I continued to have my animals treated by this Vet.

Until not too long after this, I was faced with an emergency situation with another one of my GSD's.

The dog had cut its foot very badly on a piece of corrugated iron.

Bleeding was profuse and nothing I did even slowed it down.

I applied pressure bandages, but they were quickly soaked through with blood, which was literally pouring out of her.

I rang the above Vet clinic and explained the situation, but was told by the receptionist that no appointment was available until early evening, ( it was mid-afternoon at this time).

After stressing to her the urgency of the situation, I begged to be able to see the Vet. Her reply was " you can come up now if you want, but there's no guarantee that you will be able to see a Vet."

I knew this was not good enough, so rang another local Vet, who I had not been to before. As soon as I told them my story, they said "bring her straight up".

When I arrived, they were ready and waiting, and took my girl straight in, ahead of others that were already in the waiting room.

I was told that without prompt attention, my girl would have bled out.

The cut was severe and required immediate surgery, which they performed.

The dog recovered very well.

It was after this second incident that I decided not to return to my Vet of many years. I wrote a letter of complaint to this particular Vet, telling him of the way I had been dealt with by his receptionist, but never recieved a reply.

So I continued to take my animals to the Vet that had helped when I really needed it, and was very happy with him for a long time, until I moved from the area.

My advice is: if you are not happy with your Vet, don't hsitate to go somewhere else.

[pebbles]

I've got a bit of a quandary re Vets. at the moment. The clinic I go to is owned by 2 guys whom I've always dealt with. They are both getting on and I can see them retiring soon. Anyway Sam had a slight problem and I thought I'd get to know one of the new younger guys. Sam had to have a tooth out, simple enough, but then he developed slight swelling in his neck glands. So 2 more trips back to see this new Vet. I was getting the impression that this person just wasn't listening so made another trip (300ks round trip) and saw one of the originals. Two lots of medication and Sam improved with 2 days. At least I had the satisfaction of hearing the new guy get told to "listen to the clients"! Now all I have to do is persuade the older ones the retirement isn't for them!

[angelsun]

Sounds like that vet really doesn't know much...it's well documented that a raw diet grows dogs slower...any puppy kibble is usually chock full of fat etc and sure to pack on the pounds...ask giant breed dog breeders who NEVER use puppy formula on their pups!

As well,,,anyone that pushes anything on me, I"m gone..pet insurance or anything...you are a consumer, and entitled to find the best one to offer services to you for your pet and your satisfaction. Remember...all vets are not created equal, and all vets do not necessarily know it all! (just because they have dvm behind their name!)

Bottom line, you have to go where you are comfortable, where you dog is comfortable and deal with someone you can trust.

[Staffwild]

This is probaly pedantic but I have used the same vet for over 12 years but he is nearly a hour away from us, so we decided to give the local vet another go (long story as to why I didn't like them and they are good vets).

Well, Peppa hurt her eye, they wanted to check on it a week later, so back we went, expecting to pay for any creams etc but not a revisit fee of $27.50. I was pretty disappointed especially when they said we would like to check her eye again in a week.

So back to my old vet who has been doing weekly checkups on Psycho's shoulders at no cost!

[bommy]

We had goodvets a partnership of 3 guys & had used then for 5years, and were very happy, then one day the partnership split up, to cover the gap they bought in a locum. Well to cut a long story short, one sunday Chief had woken with a blocked anal gland & it burst I rang the AH to get in to get medicines etc to treat the locums reply "he's not going to die from it bathe it & come in tomorrow". I was furious, we changed vets then & have been so happy ever since, my new vet charges me cost for all tests etc I have done & I pay cost plu 5% for vaccinations & other treatments, I also consider them good friends now as they are constantly checking up on our babies via phone.

The locum consequently left my other partnership after I & a few others had complained & I will use them as a backup if I ever needed to but my current vets will come & see me at the clinic at anytime day or night.

Jacqui

[FHRP]

Are you happy with the actual vetinary attention your pets are getting at your current vet?? If I thought I was getting the best care for my pets from that vet, then I would probably smile and nod when given 'dietary advice' and then ignore it. If I didn't think their vet attention was anything special, then I would definitely look elsewhere. I consider myself very lucky, my local vets are great for everyday stuff, and I have a couple of other vets within 20-40 minutes who I go to for specific stuff. I get on great with all the local vets and they don't try and shove their commercial feed at me, only commenting that my dogs look superb and to keep doing what I'm doing! They know all my dogs names and often ask me questinos about agility and obedience when I'm there (I'll give them the bill one day )

I had a real time finding a vet I liked when I was younger. All of them seemed to talk down to me and couldn't comprehend that I actually knew my dogs better than they did! After shopping around at vets that various people recommened, I gave up and just went to my local vet in the area I had just moved to. They were by far the best vets I had been to. It's a personal decision IMO and although I'll recommend my vets to other people, I will also say it's a personal decision and you have to be comfortable with them.

[Stitch]

I was taking my dogs to a local vet - we had a break in and my dog got beaten by the thief, he was several days at the vet, was told he had recovered and was OK to take home and when we went to collect him we were told they had just found him dead. Gave the vet the benefit of the doubt and continued on with him though.

Next an immunised (by him) 7mth old pup got parvo - several days at the vet, recovering for several days but died overnight???? Well we thought, the vet is a nice guy so maybe it wasn't his fault.

Next took a young pup who was not eating properly. He did various tests on the pup but when I rang for the results he couldn't remember taking the tests and didn't have any results. That was it - rang back several days later, the test results were in, got the results printout and found a new vet.

Looking back on it I realise there were other warning signs of this vets incompetence which I should have noticed at the time but I had obviously misplaced confidence in him as I had known him for a long time.

Have been going to the new vet now for over 10 years and he is fine. For anything really complex I take the dogs to the specialists.

[Staffyluv]

When we had to take our first staffy for his needles we went to a vet here in town and I was not happy with the way he handled him... The vet was rough and basically pushed and shoved the puppy around...

So we found the vet we go to now and have done for 10 years. The practice has been sold once since we started taking the Ollie there, but Scott (old vet) assured me that Hamish (new vet) was nearly as good as him and not to worry... I must say that we are very happy with the service that Hamish and his team provide...

Jodie

[Poppy's mum]

Go with someone you have complete confidence in - ask around, check them out if possible. I have been to one at Bondi Junction (even though not near to me) and am 100% happy. He has done slipping patellas, eye operations, desexing etc and I am impressed with the care and the prices are always reasonable. He even gives my elderly mum a seniors discount.

I guess he just sighs when we take our next hopeless case/adoptee in and feels sorry for us! We have been going to the same practice for 20 years.

I sometimes have gone to the closer vet and had very mixed experiences - certainly the vaccinations are $15 dearer (bizarre); once they overclipped my old dogs toes (charged a consult fee) and they bled - she was a bit shocked and we could never clip them again without a muzzle. He seemed to think he'd done me a favour clipping extra short.

In an emergency or for anything major, I'd always go the my usual vet. Don't trust the others and I know they are competent at surgery.

[MolassesLass]

Was gonna stay out since you already know what I think of the vet in question, but, well, work is boring and this will occupy me for a few mins!

It isn't like there has been one minor word said wrong and you are now storming off elsewhere. This last incident has been the last in a long line of dodgy acts or conversations that have unsettled you quite a lot. We know this isn't a specialist vet, he's pet only. He doens't really remember his clients and so you have to remind him everytime of previous visits. He has old fashioned ideas that go against modern day thinking and he is obviously corporately motivated (selling pet insurance) - oh and lastly, remember all the puppy and stud wanted ads they allow in there, that makes me fume!

The only thing he seems to have going for him is proximity to you and he's not an overly expensive practice.

Time to shop around for a new one me thinks - asked Bronx's breeder for a recommendation yet?

[aatainc]

I use different vets for different things. After our regular vet's practice owner stuffed up a TPLO (IMO) I won't let him touch my dogs. But I would trust him with dentistry in a heartbeat as he's great at that. The vet I usually see at that surgery is a bit laid back (which is good!) but for some medical stuff that really concerns me I will go to my local vet if she can't find what's wrong- but for surgery (minor) ie. desexing - I wouldn't go past her as her stitching is beautiful and my dogs recover so much faster when she has done it as opposed to anyone else. She is also wonderful with the dogs and is always my first choice vet.

There are also 2 local vets I use. I will only use the practice owner and none of the locums or junior vets at either surgery. The closest surgery I will use for anything that I think natural remedies might help with - and for my cat as she is a bit cheaper and the cat rarely has anythign seriously wrong with him - the other local vet I will use for my newfy (As he's known her since birth) and for cat absesses.

I think sometimes you have to pick and choose based on what's wrong. If it was life threatening I'd go to the latter local vet - but usually I do drive 20 mins to our regular vet.

I would be very concerned about a vet recommending calcium supplements for pups. I mean, surely they know that calcium will make him grow faster!!

Maybe you shoudl see him for routine stuff but go elsewhere for nutritional advice or anything to do with your pup's growth.

[MolassesLass]

Maybe you shoudl see him for routine stuff but go elsewhere for nutritional advice or anything to do with your pup's growth.

But the problem is, how do you know if the other advice you get is just as dodgy? If KitKat didn't know better she would've followed the calcium advice no questions asked. It worries me that things I can't know (no training) I have to have blind faith and when I know that they are wrong on some things I just can't trust them on anything.

But I'm naturally suspicous, I don't trust my doctor, dentist or mechanic completly either. :p

[madikeira]

I had been very happy with my vet until she employed another part time vet.....I found him extremely rude and condescending and void of emotion towards my animals............I changed vets when I wanted my dog's teeth checked - this new vet vaccinated my dog without asking !!!!! ........she had already been vaccinated a month before!!!!!!!.....he then told me her teeth were fine and then charged me for a vaccination we didn't need or want !!!!!!! I have since returned to my old vet (the part time vet is no longer there) and the teeth that I was concerned about are have now been removed and I have a much happier doggy!!!!

Edited January 27, 2005 by madikeira

[FHRP]

It isn't like there has been one minor word said wrong and you are now storming off elsewhere. This last incident has been the last in a long line of dodgy acts or conversations that have unsettled you quite a lot. We know this isn't a specialist vet, he's pet only. He doens't really remember his clients and so you have to remind him everytime of previous visits. He has old fashioned ideas that go against modern day thinking and he is obviously corporately motivated (selling pet insurance) - oh and lastly, remember all the puppy and stud wanted ads they allow in there, that makes me fume!

That would be enough for me to change vets. A vet who's primary interest doesn't appear to be the animals, is not one I'm interested in. I have to say it goes a long way when my vet remembers me and my animals, although I would never expect them to remember every detail without looking at their records.

I don't think there is anything wrong with being a 'pet only' vet, as long as the vet recognises it and is happy to listen to the owner and refer when necessary. My local vets often say when I'm discussing something in regards to some form of competition that most of their clients are pet animals, but they can still offer adivce or refer. Each vet in the practice also has their own area of specialisation. They also make a point of discussing their clients amongst each other (the vets, not other clients of course) which can lead to some ideas.

When my older Vizsla had an injury that didn't heal as fast as I liked, my local vet (different vet at the time to current owners) took a conservative approach initially. When I decided that I wanted it investigated further I did go to another vet who eventually referred x-rays to a specialist in Sydney. I was happy with each vet involved. I much prefer a conservative approach if possible and when I want some specific approach, I will go to specific vets. I am also not afraid to get second opinions. Needing a second or third opinion does not mean the first was incorrect or that the vet was doing a bad job. My vets know I do this, and are OK with it. If they weren't I would probably be hesitant in seeing them.

Edited January 27, 2005 by FHR