Share your veterinary nightmares---or why I hate vets! - Page 1

Sorry--I hit "enter" accidentally.

We have all experienced numerous veterinary nightmares--unfortunately. Care to share a few along with your pet peeves about vets.

This should be a lively thread!

Okay, I'll start by saying that I do not hate veterinarians in general or in singular, but I have been disappointed more than once!

The first time? Nearly ten (10) years ago I had a new baby that was a Fero grandaughter with many of her grandfather's good qualities. Lively girl, to say the least. The inherited civil drive was already manifesting itself and even I was a prey object.

So, I take her in for her last puppy vaccinations and warn the veterinarian staff about her propensity to bite-especially if she feels threatened. "Oh what a cute puppy! She'll be no trouble at all."  I insisted on holding her head during the examinations and everything was fine until I was asked to release her "We can handle it-she will be no problem." Wrong-O.

Wrong-O again. As the assistant "gently" held her head, the veterinarian began to administer the vaccine. Immediately, the puppy turned and showed more ivory than a baby grande piano. She missed the veterinarian who immediately began to howl "This is a very dangerous dog! Those teeth should never touch human skin! If she ever bites someone I will tell the police how vicious she is! You must never breed her! She is dangerous!"

Wow, what a show the veterinarian put on. Since I knew without doubt this would be my last visit to her clinic, I asked if I could pick up something for her (the veterinarian's) nerves as I was going out. She was suddenly speechless, and I knew it was time to pay the bill and get out.

I could share funny stories as well as one (1) misdiagnosis that I averted, but that episode really took the cake with me. Neither I nor the bitch were scarred for life-I cannot say that much about that veterinarian!

Regards,

Bob-O

LOL Bob O!

You needed me in there holding her, as I would have been like Wow, what a cool dog!

I have to say that she probably would have made my boss jump 6 feet into the air!  She might not have been as dramatic in her comments.  But, she sure is very jumpy!  I've even seen her jump back from a half dead dog or cat. 

Alot of vets just don't seem to understand our breed very much, or just plain old like them very much. 

Meanwhile, my boss's young Rottie has gone after more than one person over something silly.  Now that dogs got a bit of a screw loose!  And she hasn't trained her very much and let's her get away with murder.  My boss is not very savvy when it comes to the training of her own dogs.

I don't exactly hate vets, but I firmly believe that, unless they are a fancier of our breed or own a GSD, they are not fully educated on GSD things. It is our job as owners/trainers/breeders/fanciers/etc to know about our breed and know when to be more persistent with a vet when they suggest something that doesn't sound right.

My worst experience with a vet was when I had a nice pregnant bitch going overdue with her litter back in 1998. I had taken her to a stud dog and was bred twice, so I knew precisely when to expect the pups. I had good fetal movement and milk down, but no labor. The bitch was 5yrs old but in good shape-everything seemed ok. When day 65 post the 2nd breeding came, I called my vet and expressed concern. They assured me all was fine and told me to let her go to 67 days and call them back if she didn't start labor. I questioned this, but I was of the mistaken belief that a vet is supposed to know what is ok and what's not. On the Friday which was the 67th day, we still had nothing, so I called again and expressed my concern. This time, I was told NOT to call and bother them again until the following Monday. If I didn't have anything by then, to call them back.

The bitch went into labor Saturday night/Sunday morning. She dripped black and green goo and it was an absolute mess. We whelped our nice big dead litter with some help of a 2nd local vet who was shocked at what I had been told concerning my girl's overdue situation. It took shots of oxytocin and antibiotics both by injection and by mouth and an x-ray to ensure she was cleaned out of such a mess. She was never used for breeding ever again after that horrible experience.

I contacted the original vet that following Monday, told them what had happened, and told them they had a responsibility to me that they had failed miserably with. I took my business to the vet who came in on the Sunday and helped me whelp my dead litter. The girl at the front desk at the original vet's office who had told me not to call until Monday was fired.

It was an expensive lesson learned on trusting your own judgement & knowledge and not relying on someone else to know what you should already know concerning your particular breed, even if they are a professional.

     I can state quite clearly why I "DISLIKE" veterinarians anymore. Their main concern is $$$$$.

     My usual vet is almost 80 years old. She still does the minor stuff. " Never", in the 40 some years that she has by "my family vet", has the question of,"can I afford the treatment" EVER, come across her lips. 

     2:00 am sunday morn call, no answering machine, no one stating "sorry, not important enough, call someone else. It's, meet me in the office 20 min....... THE END.

     One thing I really can not take from a vet is the question,"can you afford the treatment?"     " I would not be here if I could not!!!",is my thought. And if not for it being a desire emergency, I would not , be there....

     Thank "GOD", I have not have to stray from my vet but once in the past 20 some years. I dread the thought of the time ticking on Jane, who is small animal vet, and her husband "Doc" who has been my horse vet equally as long. Sorry to say, "Doc", has been stricken with Alzheimers. No longer able to practice.

     Another thing to be thankful for is that "Doc and Jane" have taught me so much over the many years, I don't need a vet to often. Prevention is the Best Remedy!!!!!

     No thank you, my dog does not need to be tested for....this that and the other thing, I know that is" NOT "...what I am here for! I prefer to keep my money in my pocket

Thanks, Bob-O

Funny thing is that owners have not been formally trained in the performance of restraint techiques. The vet who allows the client to hold his own pet can be sued if the critter bites the owner during the exam. He can also be sanctioned by his state veterinary association.

~15 years ago, a woman brought in (as an evening emergency at the VMTH )a very fractious black cat that bit the owner during the exam. For reasons that I'm not privy, the cat was euthanized during the visit. Its remains were dispatched to the path cooler and off to the the tallow works.

In the meantime, the woman consulted an attorney and sued the VMTH for damages. Because the cat's head had not been saved to check for rabies, the owner claimed that she had to undergo a "series of painful rabies injections". While I don't believe a word of this, the offshoot of the suit was a handsome out-of-court cash settlement (somehow, the figure 30 grand comes to mind).

While this thread is quiet for now, I'm sure that it will pick up steam. I will post some of my experiences later--as time permits.

You are welcome to share the misdiagnosis scenario.

I've seen this in the office that I work.  Unfortunately most of the younger vets do not know how to make a diagnosis without having to do a full and complete workup.  I'm sorry, but sometimes, vomiting and diarrhea on a young dog doesn't always warrant xrays and bloodwork.  :)  The older doctor, will usually prescribe meds first without having to do a full workup unless it's an older dog kind of thing.  Although, I do see that the younger doctors are learning to read things better and are realizing the same. 

In our area, there's several emergency veterinary services.  So, now there really isn't a need for the doctors to be on call like that anymore.  We do have an answering machine stating that that's where they should go.  And there are cases where the doctors are still on call. 

Louise-good point as usual. I never thought of the clinic's implied responsibility there and that does make sense. Okay, I posted this the other day in the thread "Correct Age Of Puppy?" I shortened it of course to keep it on topic.

One (1) of my males was about two (2) years old at the time and had a large swollen area on his muzzle between his eye and lip. I palpated it and found a small wound towards the lower area of the mass that weeped fluid when it was squeezed lightly and distressed the dog. Ah-an infection. Just take him in and get the proper antibiotics. Just a few days before the dog had an altercation with a smaller dog that strayed onto our property and I suspected a bite wound that scraped the bone, as the tissue is thin in this area.

So I took him to the clinic, explained "what happened" and she examined him. She said "Oh no; he has an abcessed tooth and it must be pulled. You need to leave him overnight and we'll have a dentist drop by and pull the tooth." She immediately picked up a plastic model of a canine mouth to show me the "faulty" tooth. I opened the dog's mouth and said "Look at these teeth; how brilliant-white and clean they are. There is no evidence of gum discolouration. I respect your opinion but think you are wrong."

I showed her the small wound I found at the bottom of the swollen mass and reminded her of his altercation with a roaming dog. She gave me a ten-day supply of antibiotics with the warning that if it reappesred to return to have the "faulty" tooth extracted. The story has a happy ending-he kept his tooth and the swelling was gone in two (2) days or so. On a later visit I spoke with her, but told her that I was glad her initial diagnosis was incorrect. I tried to do so in a nice way.

Best Regards,
Bob-O