Errors on Coggins Tests

[Mulligan314]

How often do you have errors on your coggins tests? Like incorrect markings, DOB(like not even close), wrong gender, etc.

After going over all the horses very carefully with my vet’s receptionist prior to our coggins tests being pulled a couple of weeks ago, I just received 3 coggins back all containing errors. All DOBs are wrong. One gelding marked as a mare. Last year, none of them were correct either, with missing or incorrect markings, wrong DOBs, etc. Does anyone else have issues with what seems to be incredibly sloppy documentation?

I have had past problems with my vet’s office staff, but last year’s coggins where from three different offices(two horses coming to the farm), all of which contained errors. So, it wasn’t/isn’t just isolated to our clinic…or wasn’t last year. This year it is all from our office. Again, errors on all documents.

Just curious if I am being annoyed for something that tends to happen a lot and I need to chill out, or if my annoyance would be shared. We never had any issues prior to the last couple of years. I almost posted this last year when we had all of the problems, but I decided we just had bad luck…times three… but here we are again.

[sheltona01]

I have never had it wrong on my one horse that I had. I would get it corrected because what happens if you get pulled over and inspected and the paperwork is wrong? At least around here the fines are like 1000 plus for interstate travel.

[Mulligan314]

I 100% agree and We have gotten them corrected each time. It’s just frustrating because it shouldn’t be happening. It’s sloppy, erroneous work. If I pay for a service I want it done correctly and I don’t want to hope that someone doesn’t happen to check the details.

Lots of frustration over here.

[trubandloki]

It has never happened to me and I feel like I am only slightly younger than the dinosaurs.

Do make sure that more than just the person who answers the phone knows this mistake was made. If the vet or the office manager do not know this is happening they can not address the issues that are causing it to happen.

Edit to add - I just checked and the coggins paperwork do have the first of the year for birth date for both of my horses, not their actual birth dates. I think this is a pretty accepted thing though.

[Foxglove]

I never had errors on my Coggins --but yes, insist the medical records be corrected and accurate --you paid for them!

On the other hand, I always provide my vet’s assistant with a copy of the prior Coggins --although now it seems they have that copy on line (she uses a tablet) --back in the day, everything was hand written --it was just quicker and easier for everyone if I gave them the prior year’s Coggins to transfer the information. We also need health papers and at times Passports for our horses going to Canada --well, not with Covid, but before then. I always have everything printed out for the vet. Still, it’s his/her name on the document --so it needs to be correct.

[Mulligan314]

It’s a small office. 1, sometimes 2 vets. 2 older receptionists with 1 newly hired girl. Totally mobile vet, only the 2-3 receptionist are in the ‘office’.

The vet is amazing, and is the reason we have stuck with his practice, but I’m beginning to wonder if the headache of dealing with the office staff is worth it.

[trubandloki]

@Mulligan314

The vet is amazing, and is the reason we have stuck with his practice, but I’m beginning to wonder if the headache of dealing with the office staff is worth it.

Even more reason to mention to the vet who owns the place that the staff is making these types of mistakes. They likely do not want to be losing clients because of things they do not know about. The vet is most likely busy enough with treating clients that they assume the office is doing a fine job.

[Libby2563]

Yes, I have, many times! I bought a horse last year whose JC name was hilariously wrong on his Coggins. To be fair, it was a weird JC name that neither the seller nor I used anyway so it didn’t really matter. I’ve had my own horses’ names misspelled plenty of times (like phonetic spelling of a German word). DOBs are almost never accurate…I think a lot of vets just pick 1/1/whatever year seems to make them the correct-ish age.

I don’t fuss about DOB as long as the age is close, but I have had my vet correct names (although really, sometimes horses have a registered name, a show name, and a barn name so does it matter that much?). I would definitely ask them to correct color or sex since that’s what would be noted at any inspection point.

ETA: I actually corrected a lot of things myself when my vet shared digital Coggins via Global Vet Link. You can create an owner account and edit the name, DOB, etc of your animals. My current horses’ info is all correct because I did it myself in there. Now that I’m looking again though, I don’t see any way to edit, just to view.

[Mulligan314]

I appreciate all of your feedback. Makes me feel a little less crazy that I’m so annoyed. I feel like all I do is call their office after every document received and have them correct things. And, if it was once, no big deal…but every. single. time. Come on.

@Libby2563

I actually corrected a lot of things myself when my vet shared digital Coggins via Global Vet Link. You can create an owner account and edit the name, DOB, etc of your animals. My current horses’ info is all correct because I did it myself in there. Now that I’m looking again though, I don’t see any way to edit, just to view.

You posted while I was writing the above response. This is very good information because he does use digital coggins. The two we got last year came with carbon copies which are much more difficult to get corrected, as we found out, but I did not know we could adjust incorrect information on our own with the digital ones. I will definitely be looking into this. Thank you. And, I don’t tend to care as much about names. Ours all have barn names on them but our barn names are directly from the registered names, so it isn’t a big deal. I guess I’m just more on the side of I shouldn’t have to be doing this when I spent how long on the phone giving all of this information just to receive the papers with it all wrong…but having the ability will alleviate some of the unneeded stress of dealing with the office staff.

[joiedevie99]

Nope. Mine are usually correct. I had one vet who would put 1/1/birth year instead of actual birth date on occasion, even when he had the information.

[PNWjumper]

I would be upset about a sex difference - mare versus gelding is certainly enough to prompt a major issue if you are inspected (although that would only really worry me at the Canadian border…not as much interstate). I wouldn’t care much about the markings as long as they were generally correct (ish), though major errors there would upset me too. As for birthdate…that I wouldn’t care about at all. My primary concern would be an incorrect note that could easily lead an inspector to think that you had the wrong horse on board. Or one that if you sold the horse and handed the coggins over with the horse would prompt a buyer to think that you were giving them the wrong horse’s paperwork.

With that being said, I used to cross the Canadian border once or twice a month with a trailer full of horses, and never had anyone give more than a cursory glance at both the paperwork and the horses, and that was by far the most intense process I’ve had to deal with regularly. But the vet I used for those years was also insanely thorough and I can’t imagine her getting anything significant wrong. Given the expense, I would be annoyed as well!

[lenapesadie]

I have had year of birth wrong before. I’ll be interested to try my Global Vet Link to see if I can edit there.

[Mulligan314]

@PNWjumper

With that being said, I used to cross the Canadian border once or twice a month with a trailer full of horses, and never had anyone give more than a cursory glance at both the paperwork and the horses, and that was by far the most intense process I’ve had to deal with regularly.

I guess that is where I was wondering if I was over-reacting. Have I ever been pulled over and had my stock checked by Agriculture people in the 30ish years of being around/traveling with the horses? No. Have I had friends get checked randomly multiple times - like in a gas station parking lot? Yes.

Our breed it also pretty strict about paperwork. The shows keep a copy of HC, Coggins and papers on file, which is why we get so antsy when things don’t match(even DOB). I understand the birthdate being 1/1/birthyear - if all were consistent, that would make sense, but they aren’t. The 20+ year old mare was recorded as an 11 month old because her birthdate was marked as the day she had first been seen(when we got her teeth done right after she got on the property). My guy has a birthday of before he was born…

I know I keep saying it’s sloppy work, and the more I type this stuff the more I think ‘shame on me for sticking around this long’. But, I also do not want to get the one person who does check papers one day and says ‘why is the bay with markings in the trailer and the coggins says a bay with no markings?’ (that was last year’s error - and a big one)

@lenapesadie

I have had year of birth wrong before. I’ll be interested to try my Global Vet Link to see if I can edit there

I made an account just now but the system has no information for me to see or upload. It also won’t link any vets in my area, which makes me wonder if its a system used more up north? It was defaulted to the ND area, I think. But, I may need to put numbers from the papers into the program and I don’t have those right now. I’ll have to do a little more fiddling to see how it works.

[lenapesadie]

I’m in FL so it’s definitely not an up North thing. When I first used it, I think vet took my email and submitted it with the test and then I got an email from Global asking me to create acct or view my documents or some such.

My horse’s dentistry records are in it too

[Mulligan314]

Oh, sweet. I read your original post as you had not used it and were going to make an account. My bad. Thank you for the clarification. I think trying to get that information through the office staff would make their heads explode…

[lenapesadie]

I hear you. My vet’s office staff isn’t always the most meticulous either. At times it has been almost maddening, but the actual vet services are tops so I just try to keep cool when the office looses* my prescription or appointment ugh.

I can totally see how my first comment wasn’t clear.

• loses or looses? Brain dead moment lol

[Mulligan314]

Loses. I have to spell the word loser in my head every time I write the word loses.

[lenapesadie]

Aha! I’ll be using that!

[joiedevie99]

@Mulligan314

Have I ever been pulled over and had my stock checked by Agriculture people in the 30ish years of being around/traveling with the horses? No. Have I had friends get checked randomly multiple times - like in a gas station parking lot? Yes.

We’ve had the Coggins checked against the horses (colors/markings at least) at the Florida border shipping down to Wellington, and at the gate at the Kentucky Horse Park. I’m not sure any of the shows check, and I’ve never had a cop ask to check - but I’d still feel uncomfortable with inaccurate documents.

[Ghazzu]

USDA takes that rather seriously if they become aware of it.
I used to occasionally mess up a Coggins, and SOP was to go back, draw blood, and resubmit at my expense. (You could not change info w/o resubmitting the test.)