Discount Vet Clinic

[Little Gifts]

There is probably a need for such options for people who only take their pets to get these basic things but I don't think money is the be all and end all for everyone. I would go to my vet whatever she charged because she knows all my pets and their histories and she is very thorough and she trusts me to follow treatment plans. Her prices seem reasonable and her trust in me seems to cost me less overall - free phone consult and pick up of medication over a full consult, freebies here and there and I've never had to leave a dog in overnight after surgery, even if they were sedated quite late in the day. That working relationship and trust is really important to me. If I stop going to her for routine stuff then all that could change as she has a practice to maintain and staff to pay.

But I guess I'm loyal to skill and good service like that - followed the same hairdresser and GP around for donkey's years too. Nothing like knowing what kind of service you are paying for!

[Allerzeit]

We thought we'd just give it a try for the very basics (like vaccinations, claw trimming etc.)

Wow - we were planning to do the same - but after reading yours and rajacadoo's experiences, we won't! Thank you both for the heads up!

[Maddy]

I had the misfortune of taking my 2 young ACD's, 2 year old boy, and 5 month old boy, to this clinic for vaccination. Older boy went first, very young Vet, (perhaps just out of Vet school???), needed 3 attempts to insert needle into him . Thankfully he wasnt worried by her constant attempts to get the needle into him .Very basic 'checkup', listened to his heart, checked eyes, ears, mouth etc, no temperature taken ??? Pretty much the same happened with the young boy, but failed to notice he has 2 retained baby teeth next to his canines, despite 'checking' his teeth . She tried twice to get the needle into him ...

No I wasn't at all impressed with her skills, and this is a very basic skill that she should have had.

Also dog before us, a 2 year old very lethargic large crossbreed, she thought he might have a bowel obstruction, but gave anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and was sent home, with the advice that if he was still unwell to bring him back tomorrow WHAT ??????? I hope that poor dog is still alive...

I will not be going back to that clinic, EVER. I will not recommend anyone to take their dogs there either.

That sounds about as I expected. I noticed several friends down in Hobart have liked her page (presumably because the idea does sound good in theory) but if she can't even get a needle in a dog*, she may be doing the community more harm than good. Cheaper care is great and all but it shouldn't come at the cost of quality of care.

*I've had to give subcut analgesics to a foster dog with no more training than the vet saying "You're comfortable doing this? Just pick some skin and go in." and I managed it first go without the dog even noticing so how a vet could stuff it up.. god knows.

[ellz]

I went there the same day as Shekhina (and I was absolutely stunned with what was going on with Shek and her critters - couldn't help but overhear because of the open treatment area). Mine was only a very basic thing, I just needed to get a Stafford cheek swabbed for DNA testing. The girl had no idea what she was doing. I think it was more good luck than good management that saw that the swabs were acceptable for purpose and that was probably only because I wasted a set of swabs demonstrating what she needed to do.

What REALLY turned me off is that she asked what breed of dog I had and when I told her she commented that my puppy was so well behaved and that "she had heard" that Staffords are vicious.

Nope...never again.....!!!

[tdierikx]

Is this place staffed by first year vet science students by any chance?

T.

[Maddy]

Is this place staffed by first year vet science students by any chance?

T.

As far as I'm aware, you can't open up a vet clinic without being a qualified vet and holding a license to practice so I'd assume not. From something said elsewhere, I believe the vet in question is fresh out of uni.

[ellz]

The day that Shek and her critters and I were in there, the young vet was wearing a very new looking Murdoch University polarfleece vest.

Body language and the way she was dealing with people gave me the impression that she had not had a lot of experience dealing with people, let alone her tentative touch with the animals.

[Dame Aussie]

Jesus

[kelpiecuddles]

Maybe she was the work experience kid

Edited September 22, 2014 by kelpiecuddles

[OSoSwift]

Apart from the consult fees they are about the same prices as my normal vets.

Gee I wish my vets were that sort of prices

$55 Consult

c5 Vacc $88

Trienniel C% around $130

M/Chip $60.50 or $44 with a GA procedure ie desexing

And apparently their fees went up recently.

Desexing bitch over 15kgs $350

We only have one vet clinic, its 400kms to another one - whom I wouldn't - visit or further.

[OSoSwift]

I inject my own dogs and those that require it at the kennels frequently, only one go every time - unless they manage to jump and get a very fine Insulin needle to pop out, which is rare as they don't feel it go in anyway. I am no vet, that sounds terrible! Would be interested in a name of the young vet if someone wants to PM me.

[dancinbcs]

Apart from the consult fees they are about the same prices as my normal vets.

Gee I wish my vets were that sort of prices

$55 Consult

c5 Vacc $88

Trienniel C% around $130

M/Chip $60.50 or $44 with a GA procedure ie desexing

And apparently their fees went up recently.

Desexing bitch over 15kgs $350

We only have one vet clinic, its 400kms to another one - whom I wouldn't - visit or further.

One of the busiest and best breeder's vets in Sydney over the past 25+ years. Specialising in canine reproduction, birds and wildlife and employing about 10-12 vets between two practices and being on call 24/7. Sadly they have had to close one of their two clinics due to the building being sold and I have no idea how much longer they will keep the other before finally retiring.

Breeders rates approx as I never bother with detailed accounts and just pay the total:

Consult about $60 but they don't charge it for just a vaccination, M/C or ultrasound for breeders.

C3 $28

Microchip about $35 from memory

Ultrasound for pregnancy $50

Desex 20kg mature bitch $175

Pet owners are always charged the consult as they take more time and higher rates for some services.

[Roova]

Her lack of skills and confidence sound worrying to me, I'd be asking some questions about exactly what experience she has? Should she even be working alone?

In GP land doctors straight out of uni aren't allowed to work alone for a number of years. They just don't have the experience yet to handle all problems. Even if they come from the hospital system we liken them to deer in headlights when they start as a GP lol.

Are there any rules in the vet world about new vets working with older vets at least for a a few years?

[tdierikx]

Is this place staffed by first year vet science students by any chance?

T.

As far as I'm aware, you can't open up a vet clinic without being a qualified vet and holding a license to practice so I'd assume not. From something said elsewhere, I believe the vet in question is fresh out of uni.

Doesn't mean that the principal isn't a qualified vet - but I'd hazard a guess that at those prices they are using it as practical experience for students rather than having all staff as actually fully qualified vets.

It should be made clear to customers the level of actual vet experience on offer as far as I'm concerned - and they certainly shouldn't be doing any diagnostics and prescription of drugs if they are not fully qualified to do so.

T.

[rajacadoo]

Sorry I forgot to add that when she checked over the ?Bowel obstruction dog?, (this is just my diagnosis), before my '5 attempts to get a needle into 2 dogs' consult she did go out the back to make a phone call, I'm presuming to run her diagnosis by a more qualified Vet... What worries me is anti-inflammitories, antibiotics and just wait and see attitude to an obviously unwell dog, may be even more frightening... How you can make any sort of diagnosis without even looking at the patient is beyond me... Perhaps the Vet on the phone was the owner of the Practice ???

Im really not sure if this clinic is a benefit to the public, if the Vets, (im presuming they have more than the unfortunate one we saw), they are using, are incapable of administering the very basic of care ??? The very same care that they are offering/promoting???

[Jumabaar]

Is this place staffed by first year vet science students by any chance?

T.

As far as I'm aware, you can't open up a vet clinic without being a qualified vet and holding a license to practice so I'd assume not. From something said elsewhere, I believe the vet in question is fresh out of uni.

Doesn't mean that the principal isn't a qualified vet - but I'd hazard a guess that at those prices they are using it as practical experience for students rather than having all staff as actually fully qualified vets.

It should be made clear to customers the level of actual vet experience on offer as far as I'm concerned - and they certainly shouldn't be doing any diagnostics and prescription of drugs if they are not fully qualified to do so.

T.

Students can only do these procedures if there is a qualified vet observing/supervising them. So I would expect that this is a qualified vet.

I do feel sorry for the vet in question- if she is a new grad and took this job as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I can imagine it would be unnerving to do all this solo without anyone more experienced on hand and limited support. Not nice position to be in but in the current climate of fear about not getting a job I couldn't completely blame her.

Re giving injections it is not something that we do from first year as part of our studies- we do it on our own time as vet nurses. Also I would be quicker to judge on the advice being given than injection skills! Without knowing more I would hate to pass any form of judgement.

[tdierikx]

I still think that if the vets on duty aren't capable of giving a simple sub-cut injection by the time they have their degree, then I wouldn't be too happy about them dispensing advice on anything more than flea control...

I also still reckon that it should be made clear to customers the level of actual vet experience on offer as far as I'm concerned. Fair enough the cheap rates are not exactly going to cover an experienced vet's salary - but still...

No-frills vet fees should NEVER be to the detriment of the animals they are practicing on...

T.

[brightstar123]

The clinic recently advertised for a new graduate vet so that's obviously what they have got. Apparently they provide support (access to an experienced vet) by phone. As Jumabaar said, vet students are largely expected to acquire practical skills themselves, so it is possible for a student to reach final year and have basically no hands-on experience. However even if that's the case, there's a whole year of placements with compulsory general practice, referral practice, anaesthesia, surgery etc.

By graduation a student should have done many many subcut injections on different species, IM injections and IV catheters too, as well as a whole range of other procedures (should be comfortable with a basic blood draw on a dog too). From the sound of it, a competent new graduate should be able to do this job, given it involves no surgery/anaesthesia and is largely preventative care.

I would expect to see a student that is not confident, tentative handling animals and struggling with very basic skills to have failed one or more final year placements and I can't imagine Murdoch would be too happy to read this thread. Consequently, I do feel sorry for the vet in question that with a lack of confidence and competence, she felt she had to take such an unsupported role. There is no requirement for new grads to work with experienced vets initially but most do. I don't like to pass judgement without knowing the full story either but this sounds pretty concerning. I hope that it doesn't end in tears - for her, the patients or the owners.

[Dame Aussie]

Sorry, but a qualified vet should be able to give a vaccination. No excuses.

[ellz]

Interestingly, today they're posting on FB that they have private consult and treatment rooms now. And a few people have made comment about the lack of confidence shown by the treating vet which they claim to have addressed. Somebody also posted enquiring about de sexing and they said that this would be coming soon.