Share your veterinary nightmares---or why I hate vets! - Page 5

I will not go to a young vet.  Seems like the first thing they teach in vet school now is "if they just got the puppy and seem the least bit gullible, diagnose parvo and keep the pup for a few days to make big bucks!".  My vet is in his early 70ies and I trust him to know what he is doing, help me in any way he can and charge reasonable prices.  I drive over an hour to go see him, but he is quite willing to come all the way to my house in an emergency if needed.

The young vets in town charge for everything they can think of, $80+ for a first puppy shot/exam, $200+ for a spay, $65 for a health certificate, $15 a cc for oxytocin.  For comparision, my vet charges $25 for the first puppy shot/exam, $65 for a spay, $10 for a health certificate and nothing for oxytocin.  I live in dread of the day he fully retires.  :(

This past summer our area was hit hard by Parvo. Unfortunately I was one of those hit. I had four, eight week old puppies who had just received their first set of puppy shots the day before showing symptoms of Parvo. I was pretty sure that what I was seeing (vomiting, diarhea, lethargy, loss of appetite) was Parvo. After having my worst fears confirmed I was told that it would be $700 per puppy to treat it and there was no guarantee they would survive and he wanted it upfront. He wouldn't work out any arrangements for payments. I just didn't have that money right then so I asked if I could treat them with subq fluids at home. I've given subq fluids before and know what I'm doing. My previous vet taught me how to do a lot of treatments at home. He was amazing. His primary concern was always for the animals. He recognized competence in people and gave us credit for that by helping us with treatments we could do ourselves. Sadly, I had to move to another town and it was no longer practical to use that vet. I actually first met him at a gas station when I commented on the extremely nice GSD he had in his truck. After a few minutes of conversation I discovered the dog was an Alk vom Osterburg Quell son and the vet was opening a new practice a mile away from me. But I digress, the new vet said he did not feel comfortable letting me do my own subq fluids and that they really needed to be in his office. I told him again that I did not have that much money at that time; he still refused to give me the subq fluids. I asked him which he cared more for, the animals he swore to care for or his bank account. He didn't answer and I hung up on him. I found a wonderfull website called Ambertech.com. They have a product that helps treat Parvo at home called Parvaid. I drove 50 miles to get it and I really believe that, along with their "instruction manual" for treating Parvo at home, helped me save two of the four puppies. Despite my greedy damn vet. Needless to say I have since found another wonderful practice with two very competent vets. One of the docs was the first vet in Florida to be certified in PennHip and he himself owns GSDs. He also assured me that if I ever had a problem like the one with Parvo that they would work with me however they could to make sure everything was done to treat the animals properly.

 I have a vet in the area who thinks EVERYTHING is worms. I have a normal vet who I take to for most of the important things, but he's terribly hard to get onto the schedule for (he's extremely popular) and so I've seen many of the vets around, plus I hear constant stories from clients, so I generally hear who to stay away from etc. Anyways, I took my then 5 month old pup to the vet for several days of diarrhea. He diagnosed worms and gave a dose of (man I can't think of what it was to save my life, starts with a p, used for worms..yikes I have a bad brain this morning!) and while I had not seen any worms in his stools or anything, I figured it was ok. I then did see a worm at one point so all was good. Went back in for "re-check", gave another set doses, took fecal and said they were still there. Went back for another "re-check" gave MORE meds, took a fecal, still there". I started growing suspicious because the dog was not showing any more problems. But, I was also getting referrals from the vet and didn't want to offend so I took in for a 4th re-check. When he stated the dog still had worms that was all I could take. Needless to say, I was not about to pour more poison into the system of a healthy dog without being shown the test. They wouldn't show it, and while I continued to get referrals from his front staff, I never sent another client there. 

Then about 6 months later I had a client with a show lines GSD that called asking about this vet. I told her that I knew a vet she could go to (rather then put down the vet she was asking about of course). The client went on to tell me she had taken her dog to him, and he kept wanting to worm the dog (the dog had lost lots of weight). They wormed once but the dog seemed pretty sick as he got thinner and thinner so she went for a second opinion. Turned out it was EPI. Nice...talk about worming without checking for worms and pouring stuff into an already taxed system! 

I've had quite a few bad experiences with vets over the years. Even down to BAD bedside manner. I once took a dog that had jumped out a 3rd story window and shattered her hip bones to the vet. I pretty much knew she needed to be put to sleep and NOW....they wasted time trying to convince me to get a very expensive surgery, though the dog was in definite pain and they weren't giving any pain meds while they were trying to convince me. I opted not to do the surgery (there wasn't a guarantee that EVERYTHING could be fixed....it was a long shot type of thing as I remember it) and said through tears I wanted her euthanized (I had only had her for about 2 weeks and wasn't expecting that she would break through a window when the doorbell rang and it startled her!) He put her aside and said he'd do it when he could get to it! Um NO, I want to be here with her, and how on EARTH are you going to leave her alive like this when she's OBVIOUSLY in major pain (she would scream horribly every time somebody moved her, and had gone into shock). 

I don't hate ALL vets, I have a really good one like I said, but there are just some that don't love dogs out there. 

My disclaimer: I don't hate the veterinarian community, just ranting :)

My Jake went in to get his enlarged lymph nodes, near the jaw area,  checked, it was extraordinary painful at the time. My vet wanted to perform a biopsy to see if it was cancerous or not. I don't remember if she gave us the appointment or she did it on the same day, but when the biopsy was going to be performed. Not only the vet didn't give Jake any sedations and painkillers but they knew how painful the swollen the lymph nodes were at the time and they still jammed the needle into the lymph nodes to suck out some of the gunk. The yelp and the sound that my poor Jake did was unbearable. I felt that I'd failed into protecting him. I was in the stage of shock and didn't have the energy to raise hell at the staffs. My baby was in so much pain and I have such a hard time to this day getting rid of that horrific sound that Jake made on that day.

I felt that the vet should have put Jake in the twilight zone while the biopsy was being performed. I don't care how much more it would have cost me, I just wanted Jake to be comfortable.

Now when I take Jake in for shots and examination, He becomes overly stressed and starts dropping his fur. He sometimes barks and growls at the staffs. Jake may not have a fancy pedigree but hes very smart and he remembers things.

Speaking of parvo, why don't more vets prescribe Tamiful? If given early on the surival rate of puppies is almost 100%. 

I am so sorry that so many of you have had such bad experiences with vets.  The vets who care for our dog are skilled, compassionate healers; when we lost our much loved 8 year old GSD to colon cancer a year ago, they grieved with us.  When we found our current GSD, they rejoiced. They ARE out there, it's evident that we have been really lucky to find great vets on our first try! 

about 12 years ago i had an 8 yr old mutt who weighed 140 lbs. his legs were like small tree trunks. he was my sweet dumb bubba. he got a rear leg injury and i went to a banfield vet (didn't know any better). at the same time, my father-in-law died (he was 99 1/2, god rest his soul), so lucas (my dog) went to the vet and i went to san antonio, texas w/husband and 3 year old son to the funeral, etc. my son and i left early to get back to the dog. banfield made me take the dog home because they didn't have a cage big enough for him, 2 techs carried him out to my car and walked away. i got home and managed to get him into the house with great difficulty ( a 3 year old can't really help carry a 140 lb dog) and got him into the downstairs bathroom where i set up a bed for him. they gave me aspirin for him. he cried and whined most of the night (me too) and finally slept. days later i took him back in for his "recheck". the vet told me if the surgery wasn't successful on the one back leg (meaning he couldn't walk on it), they'd have to operate on the other one!!!! HUH!!?? i took him and never went back. i found some decent vets who helped me make him as comfortable as possible, but he never really recovered and i had to have him euthanized about 8 months later. still makes me sad. my vets now are pretty good and they both love shepherds, esp german shepherds. in fact, after i got angus, one of my vets ended up getting a little female and is having her trained at my breeders. they all LOVE my dogs, esp angus and treat them really well and i've learned to ask lots of questions and they listen to me. as, for expenses, it isn't cheap, but i live in southern california, and the cost of doing business here is just higher for everyone. the vets have to pay their leases, etc too and it's just very high here. we vacation up in bishop, ca in the eastern sierras and i've had to use 2 diff vets there in years past. both times the cost for emergency treatment and meds came to under $30!!!! this was quite a few years ago, but at the same time, it cost $35 just to walk in the door at my vets, so, as they say, "it's location, location, location!".

I have several more nightmares to share--hopefully sometime later today.

After this thread is done, I hope that some of you will print some these outrageous posts and send them to every vet within 50 miles of you as well as to your friends/clients. Vets (both good and bad) need to know what is going on in their community of veterinary of "professionals".

I think it's asking enough of exceptional vets, like the ones I am blessed to have, to treat their patients and do their jobs.  A good vet's job is hard enough without having to bear the blame for those who are causing the problems. I can't tell you how many times I've seen one of our vets "stressed to the max" after having done everything in their power to save a dog, and then losing the dog.  I agree that the bad vets need to be held accountable, but let's support the good ones!

gsdfan  In most states it is illegal for a vet or a doctor to charge a "prescription" fee. Most states have laws saying that you have the right to purchase your prescription where you choose. Often Walgreens or Costco or a compunding pharmacy can supply the needed meds and you have just as much right to go there or to PetMeds or whereever. i would confront them about this practice.