Share your veterinary nightmares---or why I hate vets! - Page 6

radarsmom,

Don't forget that even the best vets with large practices hire inexperienced, recent graduates. I very definitely have a good (albeit fairly conventional) vet who will listen to me and respects me for my knowledge and experience.

A few months ago, my boy Zeek had a small mass (probably the result of a bitewound last spring) on the outside of his cheek. Suddenly, the mass grew in size. At that time, I was concerned about a possible malignancy and left a message for my vet (the owner of a huge clinic) to call me when he was next in the office.

After another day, Zeek's cheek was swollen 3 times its normal size. When I attempted to express the contents of the mass through a visible opening, out came a bunch black, necrotic,  purulent matter. Upon seeing this, I relaxed and knew that cancer couldn't possibly increase in size this rapidly. I had every reason to expect an infection and placed Zeek on Cephalexin 1000 mg orally twice daily. This was not an emergency--but was on the weekend--and could wait.

On Monday, my vet called me. I described the situation and said that I wished to have the mass removed. However, I stated that, until the infection was cleared, the tissue was too friable for for Zeek to be surgery candidate. The vet agreed and asked me to continue the antibiotics for a full week before coming in for surgery.

At the scheduled appointment, when the vet palpated the mass and attempted a fine needle aspirate, he was concerned about the firmness of the tissue. No matter--I still wanted the mass removed. No, I didn't want it biopsied and sent to path. I also declined blood work--but pretty had to agree to an IV catheter and fluids during the surgery.

When I returned to pick up Zeek later that morning, the vet said the mass appeared to be a probable infected sebaceous gland cyst--rather than anything malignant. He did not dispense more antibiotics but asked me to continue giving Zeek my own Cephalexin for another week.

End of story--no complications--the surgical site healed well.

Well, not quite end of story. When the tech brought Zeek up front, she commented on how good Zeek had been, would let them do anything (including placing the IV catheter) with him, and how "different" he was than many of the GSD's they see. Zeeky boy was smiling his big smile, pulling on a tight lead, and anxious to see me. When I told the tech to just drop the lead, Zeek gave me a leaping body slam/hug and let out his typical "roar" of greeting.

Yeah, this was my nearly 9-year-old, SchH3, IPO3, showline male's experience with a sensible veterinarian.

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.

Oh my, what a loaded question Louise.

I could write volumes but I'll spare everyone the gory details and highlight only the best:

The vet who xrayed my American line male at 4 months and said his hips were so bad that he should be euthanized on the spot.  Ben lived to be 12 1/2 and did everything all my other dogs did until the last year of his life.

Same vet said his ears would never stand.  Went to an ear guy and they  stood till he died.

Another female was diagnosed with spondylosis and the suggested medication was steroids for life and when I asked about side effects was told, "none except possible increased urination".  Vet did only one xray of one view.  This female actually had degenerative myelopathy.

Same female was diagnosed with bilateral  cataracts.  When I questioned that since they  both looked the same which is unusual for cataracts the vet stormed out of the room  Took her to an eye specialist who said no cataracts but that GSD's sometimes create small crystals in their eyes that make the eye look cloudy.  Does not  affect vision. End of that story with much money saved.

And of course the many many times that vets pushed "science death" as the best nutriition for all dogs and cats. 

'And you feed raw"???? Don't  you know that you're killing your dog???????? 

Then another when I moved in a new area who said, "you can't bring in your dog unless he/she is fully vaccinated:"  My question then was, "how do I get a dog vaccinated if I can't bring him in:"????????? Receptionist hung up on me. 

Then recently I took a pup in to an ER (on a Sunday) with a case of worms clearly visible in the stool.  Pup was vomiting and had diarrhea and when the vet finally listened to me that it was the worms causing the pup's distress he reluctantly gave me a wormer to give him when I got home. Wanted to keep him overnight. Asked for double the amount since I have his littermate and the answer was that they don't prescrible for animals they don't see.  My comment was "if I had a litter of 12 would you expect me to bring them all in"?  At which point he walked out of the office.  So, I split the dose between them and called another more sympathetic vet the next day. 

The worst I saved for last.  One very good friend never boarded her gentle old Irish Setter but went on a trip too far to take the old girl so she decided that the safest place to board her was with the local vet.  Came home to pick up the girl and was told that the dog died of a stroke.  A few weeks later she got a call from an ex employee of the vet who told her that the vet hung the dog in a fit of rage.  How about that for a horror story????

Moral of all these stories is: you are the guardian of your beloved pets.  Only you can speak for them and guard them against malpractice.  Question, question and continue to question when something doesn't sit well with you.  

Judy

Boy, I thought I was the only one with all the stupid dealings with vets!! 

Before Reno was diagnosed with the "sinus tumor" she had suffered horrible ear infections over the course of 4 years.  She was constantly given different drops and antibiotics.  I even paid over $1,200 for a procedure to fix her ear infections.  Guess what it was - they put her under to flush her ears!!  Here I thought they were operating or something - but no - they just cleaned them.   Best part it did nothing to help.  One weekend her ears flared up and my vet wasn't open.  Her ears were red, swollen and weeping horribly.  She would shake her head so bad that she would hit it against the wall.  I called my vet who told me to take her to the ER vet immediately.  When I got there - the receptionist would not even let me come in - she told me that it was for emergencies only and ear infections were not an emergency.  I called my vet back who met me at the office.  Turns out her ear infections turned out to be a  pseudomonas infection - which is resistant to many antibiotics.  I cannot remember the antiobiotic that they finally gave her - but it was $6.50 per pill 2x per day for a few weeks.  But it finally did the trick.   

A few weeks ago - I called my vet to verify Molly's tatoo number so I could register her.  They charged me an office visit - $40.00 to look at her ear and sign the paper.  I thought afterward I should  have at least had them check her heart and take her temp to get my monies worth!

Then I tried to make an appt for a dog I co-owned to get her hips xrayed.  The co-owner uses a different vet who cannot take xrays for OFA, so I called mine. I told them she does not need an exam because she just had her annual at her own vet, I just want the xrays, etc.  3 phone calls (because they had to check with someone) I finally get an appt.  The day before the appt they call and say - we just noticed that Isabelle has never seen us before so I changed your appt from an xray to an office visit.  I told her that she could just change it to nothing as I am not paying for an office visit on a dog that just has been examined.  I offered to bring in a  note from the other vet - but they would not accept that.  I called a vet from the yellow pages, and they took the xrays - no exam fee.  Turned out to be over $100 cheaper and the positioning was great.

Venzosmom, in the area I live we do not have a heartworm problem so I am not sure if legally they need to do a test every year, but I know that they must at least see the dog and do an exam yearly.

Brittany, what Jake probably had done was a fine needle aspirite, sedation is normally not needed for those unless the dog is very nervous and will not hold still.  If it makes you feel better, I would guess he was causing a ruckus from having all the restraint around his head, not from the pain of the needle.  Biopsies usually require either a punch (which would look like a little hole punch afterwords) or cutting  a sample with a blade

Another terrible story, we had a client bring a cat in for a second opinion, the cat was not using its back legs and was leaking urine, owners normal vet told him the cat had a urinary tract infection and the reason it wasn't using it's back legs is because it was painful from the UTI.  We took an xray and guess what?  Broken back

Ever heard of having to spay a bitch twice?

In 7/03, my Eike had a c-section/spay. At the insistance of a "friend", I took Eike to her vet because this was closer than the vet I usually see--some 45 miles away. Wrong choice.....

About 3 months after the surgery, my boy Zeek and Eike were very frisky--playing and wrestling in the hallway outside my office. Suddenly, I heard a tiny squeak and looked out the door and found the two standing there--tied with smiles on their faces!

I thought "oh, shit!" But, then, I knew that Zeek had always been somewhat of a sexual athlete. However, after they tied a couple of more times, I knew that Zeek was more than a horny male. Hmm....I examined Eike's vulva and found it to be swollen and soft--just as if she were in heat--but no blood.

I called the vet who did the surgery--she thought that maybe I had been hallucinating--until I explained that I had witnessed multiple ties. Then, she immediately suggested that Eike had cystitis (a bladder infection). "BS", I thought--the bitch had no symptoms of cystitis and had all the characteristics of a bitch during estrus (standing heat).

I described the appearance of the vulva, etc. Finally, the vet suggested that I bring Eike in for vaginal cytology. Again, thinking "BS", I told the vet that I could do vaginal cytology with my own dang microscope.

"Nope", said the vet--"bring her in--there will be no charge for the vaginal cytology." OK--whatever you say. Yep, you guessed it: the cytology revealed about 90% cornified epithelial cells!!

The vet was dumbfounded, needless to say. I suggested that, when she had performed the spay, she had perhaps failed to remove a remnant of ovarian tissue.        Nonsense--she dould not imagine this.

The offshoot was that the friend's vet consulted with my own canine repro specialist--who confirmed my suspicions. So, poor little Eike had to have a second spay surgery--at no cost to me!!

First, let me preface this by saying I try to stay as natural as possible with my feeding and vet treatments however, I do use conventional medicine.

I have a small pet dogtraining business in which I go to the clients home. One client had a very very back yard bred German shepherd with severe nerve issues. The slightest noise would have this dog turn, jump and bite the nearest person. These people were in a semi rural area (as much as possible in NJ). They allowed this dog to run loose and "be free". This very spoiled and nervy dog was an intact male.

When I approached the vet and sujjested he neuter this male , he was very very ignorant towards me. (I had a very good relationahip with this vet) His reason for not neutering...: noy necessary, dog needs to grow up. Females need to be spayed not males neurtered. I am sure the neighborhood now has a few more ill bred nervy shepherds running the neighborhood.

I hate the scenario that takes place when a person takes their dog to the vet they've been dealing with for 5 years, in an emergency unexpected situation and the vet tells them the dog needs a procedure that will cost a grand or more and if not done the dog will die-the vet then puts it in a way that they give you 3 options 1. pay in advance and dog lives or 2. put the dog down for a lesser fee if you can not afford the treatment on the spot or 3. take your dog home and let it die-being free to you in both cases.

I understand it's a business and should be treated as such but jiminey cricket what ever happend to the whole point one became a vet in the first place-to help and save suffering sick animals???  If you have patients that have been coming to you for years and 1 time they find themselves in an unexpected situation why on earth would you not try to work something out with them payment wise??  What's the worst that will happen, you get screwed out of  a few hundred dollars that you will write off as a loss on your taxes anyways???

I hate money hungry commercialized vet clinics!

Ever heard of having to spay a bitch twice?

Actually, yes I have! 

I had taken my cat in to be spayed.  When I went the next day to pick her up, the vet told me, funny thing this cat...I couldn't find her ovaries.  Are you certain she's never been spayed before?  (Well, no, I wasn't as I rescued her from a shelter just a month previously but, they were pretty certain she had not been fixed.)

Fast forward a couple of months.  My female is acting very much like a cat in heat.

I call my vet.  You know what the idiot told me?  Some bs about stimulating her vulva with a pencil!!  Now, I cannot recall (this has been a few years) what exactly that was supposed to tell me but, suffice it to say, that we ended up with a small litter of kittens some weeks down the road!!

My vet just looked at me all stupid when I brought her back for her second and FINAL spay.  This time, miraculously, he found the missing ovaries and finished the spay.  He did not charge me...thank God.  However, I asked what happened and he just shrugged and said, "I must have been too high" the first time".  Give me a break!

Needless to say, I never went back after that.

I had forgotten this story until this thread.