Often people have to leave their pets overnight at the vet’s. Most people think that means they will be checked on during the night by professionals, so they’re better off than if they were at home, but at many animal hospitals it is not true that someone will check on them. When the staff leaves at 8pm, the animals are alone until 7 or 8am the next morning. This law (effective September 2015) mandates that clients be informed if this is the case at that location.
I think that’s great! If a pet is sick/injured enough to need to stay the night it’s too sick/injured to be left unsupervised.
[QUOTE=Garythesquirrel;8609693]
I think that’s great! If a pet is sick/injured enough to need to stay the night then it’s too sick/injured to be left unsupervised.[/QUOTE]
I agree and disagree. For a lot of pets, being quiet, calm, and restrained is a necessary part of recovery that they cannot or will not get at home. So even if not monitored say…post routine spay or neuter…I think that having quiet rest time is wise.
That said, I agree with the law and making hospitals disclose. People should know what they’re dealing with. Most clinics are not staffed 24/7 unless they’re an emergency clinic or a teaching hospital. Unfortunately, some clinics seem to be fine with letting IV fluids run out overnight or no pain meds for 12 hours or whatever. I’ve worked at a few clinics–none offered 24/7 monitoring of patients.
The best clinic I worked at was from 94-01 and there were no 24/7 hospitals in the area. Closest vet school was 2 1/2 hours away. So if we had a critical patient, one of us would just stay. That’s how it was. We weren’t 24/7 but we didn’t leave a critical patient alone. We had a cot and we’d set it up right by the kennels in the treatment room. I spent many nights there throughout HS and college and luckily, had few patients degrade. I just had to make sure IV lines were right, meds were administered and vitals were taken. I was lucky.
I guess I just assume people will have enough common sense to follow vet’s orders regarding confinement and activity level.
Of course I also know what happens when one assumes and there are a lot of idiots out there.
Hopefully the law will spread around the country. Better for the animals.
[QUOTE=Garythesquirrel;8609723]
I guess I just assume people will have enough common sense to follow vet’s orders regarding confinement and activity level.
Of course I also know what happens when one assumes and there are a lot of idiots out there.[/QUOTE]
You might be surprised how non compliant people are. Here’s your bitch that was just spayed and she need to not do stairs or strenuous activity for a week.
What do they do? Let her run up and down their stairs, pull out her stitches and we’re dealing with that day 2.
Or here’s your dog that just had this major lump removed. He needs some quiet and calm. Oh yes, having your 3 YO crawl all over his surgical site is perfect. Totally not shocked that he bit your kid.
People are morons mostly. IME anyway.
Now, I’m the gal that has had my dog at home overnight connected to an IV hanging from a cupboard while I slept next to him. And then he’d go back to the clinic for the day because I wanted 24/7 monitoring. But most homes, especially those with kids for some reason, are incapable of offering proper rest to a patient. They just. won’t. do it.
I’m surprised that people assume there is overnight care at general practice clinics! It’s very rare for gp clinics to be staffed 24/7. Pets needing overnight supervision should be transferred to an emergency clinic if they are not well enough to go home.
Yup. Clients can’t always be trusted! Lol. Buddy Roo nailed it. Sad. But true.
I interned at clinics that did not have overnight care…patients would have IVs pulled out, etc. scared the crap out of me.
I work in a specialty hospital with 24 HR care with a tech assigned to each patient. If you’re going to spend a lot of money, I always think spring for the 24 HR care to make sure the pet has the best chance possible. I know it gets expensive, but can impact an outcome. I prefer they stay and we get sleep until it’s time to come home.
I agree it needs to be posted. Some people really don’t know.
I’m surprised people assume at general practice clinics, that there would be staff 24/7. If the pet needs overnight care, they should be transferred to an emergency clinic.
Glad it’s a law to inform clients though!
[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;8609822]
I’m surprised people assume at general practice clinics, that there would be staff 24/7. If the pet needs overnight care, they should be transferred to an emergency clinic.
Glad it’s a law to inform clients though![/QUOTE]
Maybe it’s different in Canada for you, but in the US, very few clinics offer 24/7 care and unless you’re in a larger city, there aren’t very many ER 24/7 clinics either. You pretty much have to go to a university for that kind of care.
I think people should know and understand for sure. But in may cases, just having quiet time is probably fine! A lot of patients don’t actually need 24/7 nursing care, they just need time away from chaos to recover!
Luckily in my area there are two 24/7 vets within 20 minutes of my house…one I just drive by and see from the highway on ocassion one also has a GP side so that is where my lil nugget goes for routine and emergency so the 1 time he had to stay overnight I knew people were there if need be, got into chocolate so needed monitoring rather than rest. Had it been a situation where he needed confinement and rest he would have come home where he was in familiar surroundings wwhile being watched over… I am compliant and observant, which I know is the exception and again blessed to be so close to 24/7 clinic should he have to go back. Once a vet recommended keeping my dog with a broken jaw over night to my mother simply said “you want her quiet, resting and literally not barking or chewing and you see no signs of head trauma…” vet said “thats right” mom said “read her history she has severe seperation anxiety she will bark and try and chew here, at home she will lay down and rest…” so sometimes the clinic may not be the best place to get comfortable rest.
Yep. I live out in the middle of nowhere, but the nearest town has two 24 hr emergency vets. That’s 30 miles outside of Nashville, and 4 hours from the nearest vet school.
StG
[QUOTE=Anne FS;8609690]
http://speakingforspot.com/blog/2016/04/03/betsys-law-new-jersey-veterinarians-must-disclose-absence-of-overnight-supervision-for-hospitalized-patients/
Often people have to leave their pets overnight at the vet’s. Most people think that means they will be checked on during the night by professionals, so they’re better off than if they were at home, but at many animal hospitals it is not true that someone will check on them. When the staff leaves at 8pm, the animals are alone until 7 or 8am the next morning. This law (effective September 2015) mandates that clients be informed if this is the case at that location.[/QUOTE]
This type of disclosure has been standard in most states I have practiced in. And I think it was required by the veterinary practice act when I was in NJ over a decade ago.
[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;8609822]
I’m surprised people assume at general practice clinics, that there would be staff 24/7.[/QUOTE]
I’m not, because the conversation goes like this:
What time can I pick up Fluffy?
- “Not until tomorrow; we need her to stay overnight for monitoring.”
or “She should stay overnight just to make sure everything’s all right.”
Of course people think someone’s going to be checking on Fluffy.
Hopefully it will help vets and their clients have honest conversations about what is needed in any given case. The unfortunate thing is that although some people are well meaning, they aren’t very good about following inconvenient instructions or honest about their inability to do that. A dog that has just been spayed shouldn’t be running up and down stairs for a week, so keeping the dog overnight won’t necessarily prevent issues, either. As an owner, I know that it is my job to follow instructions and be honest about my circumstances at home. Some people are not honest with vets, so sometimes the shortfall is on the client’s side.
It is nice to live near a 24 hour clinic. I’m about 10 minutes from one, so in the event that one of my dogs needed real monitoring overnight with IVs, I’d much prefer to use their services. However, I have crates at home, so if rest is needed I can crate a dog near me and take the dog out on a leash.
[QUOTE=Anne FS;8610277]
I’m not, because the conversation goes like this:
What time can I pick up Fluffy?
- “Not until tomorrow; we need her to stay overnight for monitoring.”
or “She should stay overnight just to make sure everything’s all right.”
Of course people think someone’s going to be checking on Fluffy.[/QUOTE]
Agree with this. This is a great law to ensure people are aware of the situation their animal will be in.
[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;8609735]
Now, I’m the gal that has had my dog at home overnight connected to an IV hanging from a cupboard while I slept next to him. And then he’d go back to the clinic for the day because I wanted 24/7 monitoring. But most homes, especially those with kids for some reason, are incapable of offering proper rest to a patient. They just. won’t. do it.[/QUOTE]
I’m right there with you. My old Chessie thought it’d be fun to eat an entire bottle of Deramaxx when she was about 2. That dog came with me or my husband everywhere we went over the next 2 days with IV fluids being pumped into her until her tests showed she was fine. She’s 13 now, so I guess we did something right. I’d rather have my dog home with me that left alone at the vet office.
I’m amazed vets don’t do this. I have never come across a clinic who would not disclose it. The practices I have dealt with (or know people who work at/own them) always explain if they need to be unsupervised and give people the option of transporting to a 24/7 service.
[QUOTE=toady123;8610565]
I’m amazed vets don’t do this. I have never come across a clinic who would not disclose it. The practices I have dealt with (or know people who work at/own them) always explain if they need to be unsupervised and give people the option of transporting to a 24/7 service.[/QUOTE]
Conversely, I’ve never worked at a practice that didn’t generally give clients the impression that there was overnight care even when there was absolutely no plan in place to provide it as a general rule.
And when it WAS brought up for a more critical patient (not a routine spay/neuter/declaw), most clients have not been interested in paying the additional cost for the care.
Bottom line is that clients should have the information and be allowed to make a choice. Because I’m the type that wants my critters to be getting better care at the clinic than they would at home. If the clinic can’t do it, then let me do it or choose a clinic that can.
[QUOTE=toady123;8610565]
I’m amazed vets don’t do this. I have never come across a clinic who would not disclose it. The practices I have dealt with (or know people who work at/own them) always explain if they need to be unsupervised and give people the option of transporting to a 24/7 service.[/QUOTE]
In some cases - some - I think the vet office is not deliberately misleading (a sin of omission rather than commission), but they’re so used to it, they know it, and they figure the client knows it, too. That Fluffy will stay and be checked on at 8pm or whenever they leave for the night, and again whenever the early staff comes in the morning, so it’s still being checked on by techs more times than it would be if the pet went home. And, as others point out, they know the pet will get cage rest and so maybe it’s the more tactful way of saying “I don’t believe for one minute you’re going to confine this dog and leave the poor thing alone so this is the only way the rest she needs will happen.” 
Of course honesty is always best but there are a lot of Mrs. Pumphrey’s in the world.
