Share your veterinary nightmares---or why I hate vets! - Page 4

I fortunately have a vet that I love but I have story that's worth a laugh.

I have a client who went to vet to have their dog neutered, and they only removed ONE testicle. Yup, I felt it. It was definitely there. When the owner called the vet, the vet SCREAMED at my client in outrage, "How dare you say that I would do that! I went to vet school " blah, blah, blah. They refused to remove the other testicle without an ultrasound done at the OWNER'S expense to prove it was there. They ended up going to my vet intsead to have the other removed. Nice to know when you get your degree from the Cracker Jack school of Veterinary Medicine they teach you to count to 2.

As a dog trainer, you run into a lot headbutting with the client's vets who also consider themselves dog trainers. I had a client who stopped seeing me because her BANFIELD vet told her that training collars cause respiritory infections. Huh?

I am pretty lucky in I have only had one really bad experience.  I took my girl in when I touched her on the lower back during a walk and she turned and snapped at me.  She was obviously in pain in that area!  The vet insisted that I allow the tech, a young girl who probably went 100 lbs, to lift my 65 lb GSD onto the exam table. She fumbled and dropped my dog, with her possible back injury, to the floor.  Thank God is was not a spinal injury, turned out to be a very small but deep cyste just above her tail.  If it had been spinal this fall could have severely injured or even killed her.

SInce then, I handle my dog, period.  If the vet doesn't like it, I, my dog, and my wallet go elsewhere.

PSP,

I always handle my own also.  My vet actually recommends it for both my sense of comfort and the dogs. 

And I hate the vets that immediately muzzle your dog because it's a German Shepherd.

I guess I've pretty much seen and heard all there is in the veterinary world. The 4 vets I worked for were relatively competent albeit only one was a brilliant diagnostician which any excellent vet MUST be. I can't honestly say I saw much that would have met the definition of malpractice other than some were very heavy handed with the animals behind closed doors. My last employer was far more concerned about making money that he ever was with animal welfare. That attitude seems to be common today, more want to become a vet to make money fast than they do because they like animals. The main reason for the high cost of vet fees I think.

Frankly I love having a GSD when it comes to vet visits. My vet is scared to death of Blitz, so she isn't going to try to persuade me to leave him for some stupid test he doesn't need. She wants to muzzle him which is fine with me as he probably would bite her since he knows the hair stands up on the back of her neck every time she looks at him.  If many vets think you have a dog that's easy to handle and apt to put up with being manhandled, they will soak you even more by retaining the dog for the day or overnight to do a simple procedure that could be done in the office. I encourage my vet to beware of Blitz; my vet bills are a lot cheaper that way.

gsdfanatic-legally a vet must do an exam on your pets every year to continue prescribing you meds.

VBK9 & GSDFANATIC-you guys raise a good point that ive wanted to ask for a while, if said dog is heartworn neg-you give heart worm prevetion year round, why do they need another test ??     can they still get heartworm  ? i have a 9 yr old female ,every year we have a heartworm test-evry year its neg & i treat her year round, its seems a waste of money to keep testing.  

Venzosmom, I never test for the presence of heartworm as I keep all mine on a preventative year-round, save for the three (3) months of cold weather here. I have bloodwork analysis every couple of years, especially on the older dogs but that's it.

Also, I do not allow a fecal test if the dog has been healthy. There is so much care an experienced owner can provide by watching the obvious things such as temperament, coat condition, gums, breath, and the type, colour, and quantity of feces they make. I brush and/or rake mine weekly and that gives me a good chance to feel the dog all over for any abnormalities or tender spots.

Oh, to continue in the spirit of this thread. I do have a new veterinarian that I am using, and he is a younger guy. But, I must say that while he makes recommendations he does listen to me-and that is all that I ask. So far no bad stories or even funny stories, and I hope it remains that way.

Regards,

Bob-O

Not sure about other states, but here in PA there is no law preventing vets from prescribing meds without a physical exam.

I am what my vets consider a nightmare. I "know it all" and let them know what I want and what I don't want. Over the years I have developed a very good relationship with my regular vet, however, there are times I have to use another practice all together. That is when the problems arise. In Oct, I brought home a roto virus from work (I run a local shelter). I had a litter of pups at home. Even though I took precautions, one of the pups became ill with the virus. I knew what it was because in a shelter you see this virus a lot when you have over 200 cats in shelter. I took my 6 week old pup to the ER where I explained to the ER vet exactly what was going on. Amazingly enough, the ER vet agreed with me, adminstered Subqs and suggested I still treat the pup for coccidia with Albon. Oh yes that would be a wonderful idea! Give a dehydrated pup a sulfer based drug that will dehydrate him even more! Sure, I will take the albon, ( will use it down the road anyway). Guess what, the 24 hour ER clinic didn't have any albon. Go figure.

Next day, I take the pup to a different clinic that I had used through out the pre and post pregnancy. I explain to the tech why I am there, I bring the records from the night before. I tell the tech what I need is another Subq, and I would like some metronidazole (well known as a treatment for roto virus with vets who know what the hell they are dealing with). The vet comes in, doesn't even look at the puppy, and immediately tells me, I have a parasite infested pup, that is going to die. She wants to run a whole blood panel, IV fluids, and where did I ever get the idea the pup had a roto virus? Now, if the vet (not the one I had used at the practice for the dam) had looked at the records, she would know that the dam had been tested for parasites at week 3 after whelp and NONE were present. At five weeks, the pups were negative for parasites. The vet argues with me about my diagnosis, and the treatment. She then leaves the exam room and comes in with a medical text, where she had to LOOK UP the virus. She refuses to give me a rx for metronidazole, argues that IV fluid is the best treatment and that the pup needs to be hospitalized immediately. I refuse to do that, and she finally gives in to just subqs.  Now, she examines the pup. No fever....go figure. Yes he is lethargic, typical of the virus. She takes the pup out of the room to admin subqs, at which time, I can hear the "dying" pup screaming bloody murder. Often dying pups scream like that LOL. Anyway, she doesn't even come back in the room, has a tech bring me the pup.

I take the pup home, treat with Tylan, pepto, and within 24 hours as is the norm for the virus, pup is back to normal wacky active self. I did leave voice mail for that vet letting her know that in the future, when someone who does know their own dogs comes in, it would be advised to actually listen to what the owner has to say, and maybe possibly examining the animal before they recommend treatment. Oh, and dr so and so, my dying pup, he has recovered from his bout of virus. When the pups were ready to go to their new homes and needed shots, health exams and such, they all came back negative for parasites. I did send a photo copy to the vet letting her know.

I would use this practice again, for pre and post pregnancy, however, I will NEVER allow that vet anywhere near any of my animals.

After 35 years of owing German Shepherds, I have a few horror stories I won't go into.  But I finally found a vet some years ago that I hope continues to practice in this area as long as I own dogs.  For one thing, when I go to the clinic, I know this is the guy I will see because it is a one man practice out of his home.  I know he will see my dogs any time night or holiday if I say it is an emergency.  He also does a lot of work at a local zoo and is used to working with lions, tigers, bears, etc., and is especially fond of the wolves.  A German Shepherd, no problem.  He thinks nothing of leaning down and picking up an 80 lb. intact mature male who is not sedated and placing the dog on the X-Ray table.  He sedates only when he feels it is absolutely necessary.  The dogs do not act badly with him because he is not wierd with them.  His staff are appropriately trained and I've learned to trust his judgement.  His charging is not cheap, but always fair.  Is this rare or what?