colliehound Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I have a question re keeping dogs/cats in the vets overnight. As you all know, we live very rural. The surgery closes at 5pm and doesn't re open until 8am the next morning. Whilst there is a vet on call overnight - he/she may not drop in more than once (if that) over that period - depending on what else they get called out to during the evening. Now I know that in 95% of cases - due to the home environment - that pets are actually better off at the vets. Particularly while they are on an IV or similar. However can anyone tell me why it is "safer" to leave my dog at the vets - unattended - unmonitored - than being at home - in a specially built isolation unit, with 24/7 care (and I mean watching every second) and I have most of a cert IV vet nursing. Now my local vets are fantastic and almost always let me take the animals home - even immediately post surgery etc. I can do fluids and so on and they are pretty flexible. BUT when I talk to city vets about it - they almost have a total melt down, tell me how irresponsible it is etc etc. Is it about insurance?? Or are they just not listening about how different it is 'out bush'? Or do we pet owners all get lumped into the same basket regardless of training / background / experience? Just curious - not blaming anyone - just interested in opinions and any actual reasons that might exist?? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 If it were me i wouldnt leave my animal there unattended either... Would also it rather be at home where i can keep an eye on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan3 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 City vets, if it is a hospital that has after hours service, are usually quite active at night. I don't mind leaving my dogs in at my local animal hospital overnight because they are checked, on average, hourly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colliehound Posted November 4, 2011 Author Share Posted November 4, 2011 Thank you - agreed. if they are checked hourly or more - I can live with it. But otherwise i am sure I can do a better job - no worse than "no one" anyway - surely? So why the obsession with "they must stay overnight"? Can anyone help me understand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 No, my vets in the city are fine with me taking my dog home for monitoring Do they know you are a vet nurse? We recommend that sometimes animals stay in overnight because they can have a calmer, uninterrupted environment, rather than perhaps a busy family environment where they may want to participate or be disturbed. Most of our clients are happy with this, especially people with young kids, or people who are quite busy. Some people also don't want the dog being sick all over their house. But we would never force someone to keep their dog in overnight if they didn't want to. Anything more serious than a tummy upset usually gets sent to the 24hr vet for monitoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I prefer to take my pets home. I haven't had any problems doing it with the dogs but did have to challenge the bird vet over it. I called them up about it and said something along the lines of "I'm still not clear on why she needs to stay over night - I would have thought that she'd be more comfortable in familiar surroundings and I'd be more comfortable knowing that if something did go wrong then I'd be there to take her to the emergency vet". They let me take her home after that. - she had had a microchip and supralorin implant put in....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 (edited) I would only leave my dog in a vet overnight if she absolutely HAD to stay there. I believe the dog is calmer in their own surroundings, I can't imagine how they feel not only being ill, but being ill in a strange environment in a cage with noone around. No way in hell would I allow that when I can provide nursing care at home in familiar surroundings. I can't see what the problem is, especially seeing as you're practically a vet nurse yourself. When I got my pup spayed recently the recommended vet is 30mins drive away and they said to me to come back in 10 days to get the stitches out, but not to make an appointment just to drop in and one the vet nurses would remove them. I asked if I could just do it myself seeing as i'm a Registered Nurse to humans and they were fine with that. I didn't see the point driving all that way if she wasn't going to see the vet at least, i know what to look for in a suture line and have all the equipment available to me. Shame on your vets for you wanting the best for your dog. Edited November 4, 2011 by donatella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Miss Emma Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I wouldn't leave my dog in an unattended vet clinic. However have been lucky enough that I had a couple of vets who used to take Emma home (both to give me a break from the stress of her treatments and so they could monitor her closely during the evening) during the stressful glaucoma times. And obviously more than happy to leave them in a clinic that was manned 24 hrs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebbles Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I think when you have a regular Vet/s they get to know how capable you are of looking after your dog. The new Vets at the clinic I use, came from City practice and have taken a while to realise I'm not completely dumb and do know a bit about dog treatments :D I'm assuming the City Vet doesn't know you very well, Colliehound? Ummmm RubyBlue - I'm a bit confused (nothing unusual for me lol) "Bird Vet" "microchip and supralorin implant"? For a bird? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 When our older boy was very sick and admitted into the vet hospital (he was in there for around 3 weeks in total). I had to go in every time they wanted to do anything with him because he became more and more agressive with being confined and having "strangers" around him. He broke out of his cage in ICU and staff had to drag a cupboard in front of the door to prevent him from escaping into the main part of the hospital while they waited the 15 minutes it took for me to get back to the hospital. A couple of times they asked me to take him home for the weekend to give staff a break. He had broken out of his pen a couple of times so after the first week they had to reinforce the gate on a pen and rearranged the other patients so he had his own ward and the main door into that ward was kept locked with warning signs posted all over the door. After that experience his dislike for vets had risen so we never leave him unattended ... even at his regular vets. The last time he was very sick with a paralysis tick the local vet (not my regular vet) wanted to keep him in overnight as he was "critical" ... when I asked if someone would be there with him all the time I got told they would have someone come in every 3 hrs. I refused to leave him there ... they kept insisting he needed stay there. We almost had a full blown arguement because I insisting he was coming home with me (even after explaining he was a security dog and needed to have us around otherwise they couldn't touch him) and told them if he needed any further medical treatment then I could take him to emergency. The vet used the arguement of the dog requiring a stress free environment to rest and recover - which was just not going to happen in a vet environment - he needed to be home where he was comfortable. Eventually it was only after my boy bite the vet nurse on the hand (thankfully not a full bite but he did leave a couple of dents in her hand) that they agreed that he could come home with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hafhafa Hounds Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Hmmm, never had any issues with this one - my dog, my choice... :D Having lived "bush" for a few years with the vet an hour away has made me pretty good at removing stitches and administering meds etc... things most people can do themselves with a minimum of "training". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I had a dog that used to freak out completely if put in a vet cage... my vets would let me take him home as soon as he was sternally recumbent. It was the safest thing for the dog in our case... I suppose it comes down to what kind of issue the dog has to be in the clinic for in the first place - and the vet's confidence in the skills of the owner to care for said dog post treatment. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 (edited) I think when you have a regular Vet/s they get to know how capable you are of looking after your dog. The new Vets at the clinic I use, came from City practice and have taken a while to realise I'm not completely dumb and do know a bit about dog treatments :D I'm assuming the City Vet doesn't know you very well, Colliehound? Ummmm RubyBlue - I'm a bit confused (nothing unusual for me lol) "Bird Vet" "microchip and supralorin implant"? For a bird? Supralorin - well its that time of year (this year she is trying a strip dance for me ) Microchip - can't really put a collar and id tag on her (shes a bit more valuable than a budgie). The implants go straight into muscle so they are given an anesthtic first. I have rung up a regular vet about her in the past and got a "...uh...is that a big bird?" Edited November 4, 2011 by RubyBlue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Thank you - agreed. if they are checked hourly or more - I can live with it. But otherwise i am sure I can do a better job - no worse than "no one" anyway - surely? So why the obsession with "they must stay overnight"? Can anyone help me understand? I think alot of people on this forum are different to regular pet owners that vets often see. I imagine some of then are in the practice of keeping the pet so it doesn't get put outside or hassled by the kids. I think in my birds case there was a bit of milking it for the overnight boarding fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I recently had my old girl speyed. I've not had a good couple years and got the state-subsidized rate of $40. In Oz I always picked the dog up right after a spey or Ceasar, or whatever, and had her (or him) recover at home. I was quite shocked that my $40 spey included an overnight stay and this was non-negotiable. I felt terrible leaving the old girl at the vets in a cage overnight. She didn't seem particularly upset about it, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesluvscavs Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 (edited) I had never had any issues with my dogs ever having to stay overnight at the vets if required until our last horrible experience! Renae had been having a bit of a tummy upset and not drinking water as much as she should have been. So I decided after a day and half like this I should get her checked out . They said she was quite dehydrated and had some bug thing and she would have to stay in overnight. I was not really happy about that idea, but they insisted she needed to be closely monitored and be on a drip. I asked if she would be sedated at all as i knew how much she would fret They said no she wouldn't be. I asked if she would be getting checked on throughout the night, and they said probably a couple times someone would check on the animals. Anyway it turns out that she was only checked on once, earlier in the night, and the vet after he had checked on her had forgotten to latch her crate back up properly and she had ripped out her IV tube and escaped out of her crate. Apparently she had fretted so much she had scratched up the walls and doors and had wee's and no'2's all over the place! So she really didn't get the full lots of IV AB's and fluid she was supposed to have! They wanted to keep her in one more night and I said no way especially as it would then be the weekend ! so they gave me AB's and a couple other things to help her recover. Also when they passed her back to me (I realise they were very busy and it was a Sat Morning) but her backside was still covered in runs ! I said to them about it and could they clean her up a bit at least first! I got charged the full amount of her staying over night despite what had happened! I have had Joey there in the past, but after he has had operations and has been sedated. At least he slept through most of it until we have picked him up. I don't know what I will do if the situation should occur again as I am paranoid to leave them overnight ever again there, but unfortunately where we live we don't have too many choices of vet clinics . We have since been back for minor things, but it has left a bitter taste in my mouth since that night Renae had to stay in. Edited November 5, 2011 by Jules♥Cavs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now