Montage Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Yet when our beloved Border Collie took a massive seizure and ended up in the emergency clinic it was different. We were all very emotional and upset yet were treated coldly and unsympathetically. It was like a business transaction. Our boy was put to sleep the following day due to massive internal organ failure. He cooked himself. At least they were kind enough to cover his back end with a towel as he had pushed his bowels out during the seizure. We were allowed to spend a few minutes with him and were quickly ushered out to "finalize the bill". I never heard back from them afterwards, not that I was expecting it but it just goes to show the wide differences between vet surgeries. It's amazing how one vet clinic can have a vastly different attitude to another. The vet staff where I take my dogs are absolutely fantastic and honestly seem to care about the animals they look after. 11 years ago when Isa was a young dog she was attacked by another dog. I still to this day have no idea how it happened or who the dog involved was. She had some deep lacerations to her leg and I rushed her into the nearest emergency vet. The vet staff quickly came to the conclusion that because I was young, wore adidas trackies and had a SBT I must have been involved in the dog fighting industry. I was accused of fighting my dog and in the end I just let them have it. I told them that a dog fighter wouldn't pay the ridiculous costs of saving my dogs leg on a Sunday night that they were charging me and that they'd just put their dog to sleep rather than bother with all the vet bills. The nurses and vets at this particularly place were cold and nasty to me and I had a hard time even taking my dog to other vets after this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 My mother once met her General Practitioner getting into his car with an empty bird cage...outside his surgery. She asked what was he doing with that! He told her that an older lady (a patient of his), had come in with her loved pet budgie flat on the cage floor. She'd owned him for ages. No wonder, she was weeping & distressed. She had no way to get to the vet in the next suburb, but lived near his surgery. So she'd brought the budgie to him to see if he could help. Sadly, he found the bird was dead. And he had to tell her so. He got his receptionist to take care of her & give her cups of tea. While he went off to buy her another budgie. oh :D That's a sad tale. Good on the doctor Oursurgery was TINY ... and often I would have a distraught client on my 'office' chair sipping water (with rescue remedy added) until I thought it safe to let them into their car . I would not let people drive in that state ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussienot Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 My vet earned my loyalty when I overhead him telling someone else that my dog Finn's death was the worst thing that had happened in the surgery all year. He was gutted that he couldn't save him and the practice staff cried about it for weeks. It's very tough to remain compassionate yet be professionally detatched enough to do your job. And then get up the next day and do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 We've had the same sort of thing albeit the owner returning some time later. I'm sure at RSPCA they see it all the time. What do you do in that situation, staff? In my example the vet refused and they went on to have a long happy life together. We've only had it once since I've been in this position (7yrs) where we amputated the dogs leg and placed it in a new home. The guy had willingly surrendered the dog though on the understanding that we had ownership. He called back about an hour later and tried to sell us the dog's kennel for 50 bucks. - I kid you not!! On the odd occasion people have chosen to PTS rather than do a big surgery and sometimes that's hard but their dog, their decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) I think one of the most 'soul destroying' procedures for a vet and staff to perform must be desexing a late term pregnancy, dog or cat.You know, "oh, we were going to get her desexed but the dog/cat next door got to her before we got around to it" Often it's very early pregnancy and nothing much is visible. It's a bit hard but I wouldn't call that part of it the most difficult, if the puppies or kittens aren't wanted and if they are not going to well-vetted homes then it's often better that way- definitely for kittens!! I can't stand people who think it's ok to let their cat have more female kittens outdoors that eventually go semi feral and continue to breed. :D Edited January 28, 2011 by Staff'n'Toller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 My vet did up a consent form.If a dog was to be PTS the owner/ownerS had to sign the form. This was done after a nasty relationship break up ..and one party had the other's dog PTS for non existent reasons We did on more than one occasion talk folks out of PTS an unwanted pet ... and rehomed them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) I think one of the most 'soul destroying' procedures for a vet and staff to perform must be desexing a late term pregnancy, dog or cat.You know, "oh, we were going to get her desexed but the dog/cat next door got to her before we got around to it" Often it's very early pregnancy and nothing much is visible. It's a bit hard but I wouldn't call that part of it the most difficult, if the puppies or kittens aren't wanted and if they are not going to well-vetted homes then it's often better that way- definitely for kittens!! I can't stand people who think it's ok to let their cat have more female kittens outdoors that eventually go semi feral and continue to breed. I too am more upset being involved in PTS adult animals than with desexing pregnant animals. Desexing pregnant animals is a bit sad I guess, but it's nothing like as bad as looking in the eyes of a healthy, friendly dog that you're about to kill. Edited January 28, 2011 by Staranais Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle Mum Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Working in a veterinary hospital - you see the best AND utterly horrible in humans....... And everything in between! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazReiAndKuma Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I loved working as a vet nurse too. I couldn't handle the pyscho cats though This was the main reason I gave up vet nursing when my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby. I generally managed to avoid bites and scratches, but there were times no matter how careful I was I'd end up with a good swipe or deep claw wound. It certainly was a very emotional job, having to put much loved animals to sleep, having to put completely UNLOVED animals to sleep. sadness, anger, every emotion under the sun really. But the good outweighed the bad. I never cried whilst working as a nurse, but OMG did I cry the day I told my boss I was leaving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Q Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 This thread has made me think of the time we had to use the emergency vet here, they were fantastic. Our old bitch was fine one day, restless that night and really ill the next morning. We wern't sure what it was or how serious, it was a Sunday and we had to take her to the emergency vet that we'd never used before. Turns out it was a massive tumour they thought was attached her kidney, they kept us informed the entire time on what was happening, that they could try to remove one kidney with the tumour. Soon they relised it was actually all around the split in her aorta artery and they couldn't remove it, they had to put her down while she was still under. When we went down to pick her up they let us in to where they had her and gave us a few minutes with her alone, they offered to take her out to the car for us but we did it ourselves and they were very compassionate and didn't rush us to pay or anything. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again in an emergency, they were kind, compassionate, kept us informed the entire time and treated us fantastically eventhough they didn't know us, it meant the world to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Oursurgery was TINY ... and often I would have a distraught client on my 'office' chair sipping water (with rescue remedy added) until I thought it safe to let them into their car . I would not let people drive in that state ! I'm so glad to hear you say that. A few times I've been waiting at a vet surgery & out comes someone obviously blinded by tears, with their car keys in their hand. Like, once we sat near a 30'ish woman who had the dearest little very elderly, very frail poodle on her lap. I had no idea she was there for the kind PTS. We came out of the exam room with one vet, just as she came out of another room. We walked thro' the front doors together. She was absolutely blinded by tears & her hands were shaking. And no elderly poodle, of course. Yes, car keys in her hand. I asked her, 'I understand, been there myself. Is there anything we can do?' 'No,' she said, 'I just want to get home! I had that little dog since I was a teenager. She was mine & shared every bit of my life with me.' Maybe the vet staff did try to sit her down somewhere & she said the same thing to them. Just wanted to get home. But I worried so much about her getting there safely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSD FAN Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I find euthanasia in cases of seriously ill animals easier to deal with. In these cases euthasasia can be seen as a gift to end their pain and suffering. It's those that are unecessary, such as greyhound euths the hardest to accept, especially when done on a daily basis. I don't cry at work but have cried later that night at home. It helps to release the emotions every once in a while. It is an emotional job and will get you down sometimes but when you get to see a seriously-ill pet that wasnt thought to have made it, go home it makes it worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Oursurgery was TINY ... and often I would have a distraught client on my 'office' chair sipping water (with rescue remedy added) until I thought it safe to let them into their car . I would not let people drive in that state ! I'm so glad to hear you say that. A few times I've been waiting at a vet surgery & out comes someone obviously blinded by tears, with their car keys in their hand. Like, once we sat near a 30'ish woman who had the dearest little very elderly, very frail poodle on her lap. I had no idea she was there for the kind PTS. We came out of the exam room with one vet, just as she came out of another room. We walked thro' the front doors together. She was absolutely blinded by tears & her hands were shaking. And no elderly poodle, of course. Yes, car keys in her hand. I asked her, 'I understand, been there myself. Is there anything we can do?' 'No,' she said, 'I just want to get home! I had that little dog since I was a teenager. She was mine & shared every bit of my life with me.' Maybe the vet staff did try to sit her down somewhere & she said the same thing to them. Just wanted to get home. But I worried so much about her getting there safely. That's a really good point. I am glad I had a friend to drive me home (and put me to bed!) when I had to say goodbye to Angs as I was in no state to drive. I would put having to walk out of my vets clinic that night knowing that was the last time I would see him as one of the hardest (and heart breaking) things I have ever done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Genki Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) I have nothing but admiration and respect for compassionate and kind-hearted vets and vet nurses. It would have made all the difference to my family when dealing with the passing of my first dog. At least I know who to call now when it's time to say goodbye to the next one. Last year my lab had a minor rumble with a car. Of the people who stopped for her, one was a young vet nurse who popped her in the car with a towel and took her to work. All the staff at the emergency clinic were excellent, they kept us informed at all times. We ended up leaving a batch of brownies for her/them when we picked her up. Edited January 28, 2011 by Ms Genki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harley Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Reading the replies to this post has put me in two minds. I still have a lot of respect for the kind/compassionate vet nurses and vets in this world. However, all of the lovely stories have made me even more sad and angry at the treatment we recieved when our girl was pts almost 2 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redangel Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Worked in Vet nursing for 5 yrs. I found I had an ability to connect with owners who were facing the decision to put their terminally ill pet to sleep, I managed to hold back my tears by consoling the owners...off course Id have my howl laters. There were alot of joyful stories amongst the sad ones...its the motivation that often drove me even when I was having a 'dark' day at the surgery. I must say though it was the growing resentment of bad owners and their careless attitudes (and the fact that they often repeated their behaviour) that lead me to leave nursing : I nearly developed a permanent wound from biting my tongue. I left with good memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonJosie Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 This thread made me sob, so it is perhaps not surprising that I would probably make the worst vet nurse in the entire world! The idea of having to put all those pound dogs to sleep. Oh my god. It takes a really special person to care enough to be able to go into the profession, yet stoic enough to be able to handle the heartbreak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) I still have a lot of respect for the kind/compassionate vet nurses and vets in this world. Heard of one incident yesterday from a person associated. BC x girl was found after the flood, in the Lockyer Valley. She was still guarding a herd of cows. But had a badly broken leg. Can't be returned to an owner. Looked about 7 yrs + old, otherwise in good condition. She was taken in by a good rescue, who found she was a loving, gentle nanny dog, who happily cared for kittens! The vet tried setting the leg....& he remarked she was probably 10 yrs old. Break proved too bad, & wouldn't set. OK, so you have a 10 yr old dog, no owner, with a leg so broken that it could only be amputated. End of the story? PTS? No, the vet amputated her leg & she did fine. No problems with going 3-legged. AND he adopted her. She'll go to 'work' in the surgery, mothering any frightened littles & telling other pets at least they have 4 legs. Edited January 29, 2011 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 mita- now THAT is a great story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baifra Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 mita- now THAT is a great story I agree. Beautiful story. I love reading stories like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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