Sick Kitty and ER Vet issues (long and kind of rant-ish)

[Mara]

[QUOTE=wendy;5643851]
I’ve never been asked for money at a human hospital? been quietly sent totally unexpected and completly outragous bills months later, yes. Sorry your disgusting meals really shouldn’t cost $200 each. And the room just wasn’t nice enough to cost $5000 a night.[/QUOTE]

Right? :lol:

I recently had hip surgery, planned in advance. I asked them during the pre-op appointment if I’d need to bring my crutches, which I still had from my original operation ten years prior.

“Oh, no, we’ll provide those for you.” I took mine anyway. Why should the hospital get to bill the insurance company $250 for a pair of crutches that sell for $30 at CVS? Exact same manufacturer, by the way.

[threedogpack]

[QUOTE=MeghanDACVA;5641687]
Re: 3dogpack comment about human hospitals requiring money up front. Everytime I have been to a hospital for something I have had to pay some large amount upfront. The FIRST place they send you is to someone who does all your insurance paperwork and verifies what you are covered for and then tells you what you have to pay UPFRONT. Period. So this is not new or different in the medical field.

It is because of people like this that we often appear so money grubbing. Sorry.[/QUOTE]

re: hospitals…I wasn’t talking about hospitals but rather the family group practice. I am not sick often so the last time I was there they didn’t ask for the co-pay up front. They always do verify insurance tho…I was just surprised when they needed to co-pay. Again…I paid happily as this is still a business for them also.

the last bit…I agree. We are ALL paying for those who are irresponsible or do underhanded things like stop checks.

[threedogpack]

[QUOTE=grayarabpony;5641723]
WRONG.

Yes, thank goodness there are lots of ER practices in my area, including one at a local university.[/QUOTE]

then I am sure you will frequent one of the more responsible ones.

[threedogpack]

@grayarabpony;5642136

Wrong again. It was the practice, because it was how the practice was run. Anyway, how would you know, were you there?

if you knew the practice was run that way, why would you go there?

[SquishTheBunny]

[QUOTE=MeghanDACVA;5641700]
Wow, maybe I should move to Toronto!! I make $43/hr as a board certified, 30 yr experinced vet in a 24 hr ER/CC/referral practice who also does my own ultrasounds!
;-)[/QUOTE]

Holy cow! Some of our boaded techs make almost as much as that!!! Are you a boarded radiologist or criticalist, or in emergency/general practice? Scary…and yes, if you are a boarded radiologist, internal medicine, oncologist, surgeon, neurologist or criticalist (not emerg or GP), then come move to toronto!! Our radiologist shoots anyone who is not boarded in radiology who does diagnostic ultrasounds, but still there is always need here for good boaded vets!

[threedogpack]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;5643206]

Sedation…a real rip off…"Oh, but we need to do a chem panel and a full blood testing to make sure Fluffy is in good enough shape to get a shot of acepromazine/ketamine etc. Bull Scata…again, a money maker.[/QUOTE]

In the fall of last year, I had a 10 year old dog who needed some minor surgery, I had the liver panel done and because my vet doesn’t do in house, it got sent out. Elevated liver values that would have put him at risk for anesthesia.

was it expensive? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. He looked and acted like a healthy dog, but what the bloodwork indicated was the beginning of a trip down hill to liver disease. I might not have had my dog or the next 6 months, had I not run that panel.

[SquishTheBunny]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;5643241]
This is so darned cute:

Cost? Well, the radiometer that runs the blood gasses is $80,000 with a $5,000 year service contract. The centrifuge that spins the PCV is $8000, the cost of the radiologist to do the ultrasound is $150 per hour + call in fee for out of hours. The ultrasound machine is $250,000. The ER doctor salary is $80 per hour, the 4 technicians who work ER/ICU overnights are around $25/hour. The Animal care attendants who walk/feed and clean up after your dog are $15/hour. Oh, and the cost of laundry, feeding, cleaning supplies, vetwrap, replacement IV catheters/fluids, ecollars etc…they add up.

So, to justify the machine, they have to use it a lot…even when it isn’t needed, they use the machine, gotta show it’s profitable. A microhematocrit PCV centrifuge isn’t $8K, it’s under $1,000 and all it’s spinning is a tiny pipette tube…here’s a brand new one: http://www.mohawkmedicalmall.com/products/Graham_Field_Hematocrit_Centrifuge.php.

What a load of crap. While in college I started a medical lab for racehorses at Laurel Race Track…tests are cheap, coggins are dirt cheap and I know what a profit making item labwork can be for vets if they want it to be.[/QUOTE]

Seriously, you are comparing coggins to a critical profile? Ha, you make me laugh.

Coggins is cheap, heartworm is cheap. A full critical profile is not cheap (its going to run you around $75).

You are not making a sensible comparison. And PS - that centrifuge is for PCV’s only, it has no other capabilities that would be required in an ER hospital such as ours.

And yes, just like anything else in life there is a profit. If there wasnt, you wouldnt have a vet to go to, they dont work for free. If you dont like it, no one is forcing you to ever go!

You can also decline pre-anesthetic bloodwork (at regular clinics, ER’s dont do routine surgeries). Its an OPTION for people, most owners want to know their pet is healthy going into a surgery…obviously you dont! And my god, what the hell would you use ace/ketamine for? I sure hope never to work with anyone who gives that cocktail!

[grayarabpony]

[QUOTE=threedogpack;5644007]
if you knew the practice was run that way, why would you go there?[/QUOTE]

Stupid question. Of course I didn’t know how the practice was run before I went there.

But now I will not go back.

Do you understand now?? Maybe?

[MeghanDACVA]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;5643206]
I hate these bloody crooks. Radiographs aren’t expensive to take, especially with digital x-rays…no film/developing etc. They’re easy and a real money maker for the human doctor wanna-be’s.

Sedation…a real rip off…"Oh, but we need to do a chem panel and a full blood testing to make sure Fluffy is in good enough shape to get a shot of acepromazine/ketamine etc. Bull Scata…again, a money maker.

Fecal float…2 cents of solution, 20 cents for a test tube (if you even get a new one vs. washed out) and a minute to view the slide…another rip off, doesn’t take a lot of talent to spot a roundworm ovum, or to tell a hookworm from a whipworm egg.

I had an old Boxer, a lovely girl, had an “old dog bump” taken off her leg. The vet said, “We don’t like the look of that and would like to send it off to the vet pathologist”. I laughed in her face and told her to ship it off, but I wasn’t paying for it. Later when a lipoma (probably) finally made it time to put her to sleep, the vet afterwards said, “A necropsy is only several hundred dollars, wouldn’t you like to know what happened to her?” Worked in some profanity that time…money grubbing idiots.

Small animal vets, especially emergency vets, are getting a terrible reputation (and it’s deserved). Just because you watched ER and House and see all the neat tests you can do, you can’t justify screwing pet owners over with unneeded tests during a time of high stress and perhaps not them being in a not great state of mind…gee, sounds like a funeral home preying on the family.[/QUOTE]

Have you BOUGHT a digit xray system? We put one in 4 yrs ago and it cost more than my boss’s house!! So don’t tell me that it doesn’t cost anything to take a digital rad.

Sedation/lab work. You can decline the lab work. And I won’t get into that discussion from an anesthesiologist’s point of view. And I sure hope your vet isn’t still using “a shot of ketamine/ace” for sedation in cats. If they are, blood work won’t help with the problems that are seen with this (says a person who used it for years, WAY BACK WHEN)

Fecal float: Buy the microscope. Pay the tech to read it.

Lumps and boxers: I doubt the lipoma caused her death. Never seen a fatal lipoma. Boxers are extremely prone to developing cancers. We jokingly call them “cancer magnets”. Whether or not you choose to send a mass off for histopath is your decision. In a boxer, it definitely the right thing to recommend.

As far as our “deserved” bad reputation: YOU walk a day in my shoes. YOU try to diagnose a sick dog or cat with vague signs that go with most every disease known to man and beast. YEs, somethings are easy. Somethings LOOK easy, but aren’t. I don’t “screw” anybody by doing “uneeded” tests. If I don’t need the info, or it won’t change what I am going to do, I don’t do it.
If you really think it is so easy to do, YOU go to vet school for 4 yrs, do a residency in a specialty, get 30 yrs of experience (and make many many mistakes along the way). THEN you can tell me it is easy and how to do my job to the best of my ablitiies.

As I have said before in this discussion. I make $43/hr, no paid vacation, no paid sick leave, no retirement plan, etc. The last time I did a clinic with a BNT I paid almost $400 for it. And s/he has none of the overhead I have.

And unfortunately I cannot say here what I really want to say to all of you who insist that we do this just to screw you over.

[cowgirljenn]

@MeghanDACVA;5624066

Meghan Richey, DVM, MS, DACVA

I think the thing to remember is that not all vets nor all ER clinics are created equal.

I’ll say I had a bad experience with rude people at an ER vet. And I wish YOUR clinic were closer because you sound very compassionate and very wonderful.

In my case, the clinic staff was rude and also acted appalled that I was concerned about expenses. I’m not made of money, and we’re struggling. I wasn’t given the option to approve parts of the treatment - it was an all or nothing deal, and we did do it. The staff also failed to let me know the pick up time or that there was a late fee if you didn’t pick up by 7:45am. (I was out of town and dealing with them on the phone. I said we would pick up the cat and transport to our own vet in the morning but wasn’t given the info).

The worst part for me was when they called a few days later to see how Emmett was doing. I told the person who called that he had died, that our vet had diagnosed him with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. When she seemed taken aback, I stressed that it wasn’t anything they missed or did wrong - the cat came in with a urinary tract blockage, they treated, we took him to the regular vet in the morning, and then they discovered the heart problem. I DID NOT want them to feel bad or that they had done anything wrong. The girl on the phone said, “Oh, ok. Bye.”

Not I’m so sorry. Nothing. “Ok, bye.” I could barely SPEAK about this case I was so upset. I’ve never taken an animal’s loss this hard (and I’m going to start crying now). So to not even get an 'I’m so sorry" just rubbed me the wrong way.

I realize you all work hard and you work long hours. But some clinics need some compassion training for their employees. I work long hours, too, and I deal with upset and sometimes grieving people, too. And I would never say 'Oh, ok. Bye" and hang up on someone like that.

[MeghanDACVA]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;5643206]
I hate these bloody crooks. Radiographs aren’t expensive to take, especially with digital x-rays…no film/developing etc. They’re easy and a real money maker for the human doctor wanna-be’s.

Sedation…a real rip off…"Oh, but we need to do a chem panel and a full blood testing to make sure Fluffy is in good enough shape to get a shot of acepromazine/ketamine etc. Bull Scata…again, a money maker.

Fecal float…2 cents of solution, 20 cents for a test tube (if you even get a new one vs. washed out) and a minute to view the slide…another rip off, doesn’t take a lot of talent to spot a roundworm ovum, or to tell a hookworm from a whipworm egg.

I had an old Boxer, a lovely girl, had an “old dog bump” taken off her leg. The vet said, “We don’t like the look of that and would like to send it off to the vet pathologist”. I laughed in her face and told her to ship it off, but I wasn’t paying for it. Later when a lipoma (probably) finally made it time to put her to sleep, the vet afterwards said, “A necropsy is only several hundred dollars, wouldn’t you like to know what happened to her?” Worked in some profanity that time…money grubbing idiots.

Small animal vets, especially emergency vets, are getting a terrible reputation (and it’s deserved). Just because you watched ER and House and see all the neat tests you can do, you can’t justify screwing pet owners over with unneeded tests during a time of high stress and perhaps not them being in a not great state of mind…gee, sounds like a funeral home preying on the family.[/QUOTE]

And oh, I am not a “human doctor wanna be”. I am a veterinarian. I know more about more species than a “human doctor”. (BTW, last time I checked I am a human, and a doctor). I know the physiological differences between dogs, cats, horses, cows, etc. I know the diseasese these different species can, and cannot, get. If I had wanted to be a “human doctor” I would have gone to medical school, be making a heck of a lot more money, have benefits, and work fewer hours so I could ride my horses.

[SquishTheBunny]

This comment here:

I had an old Boxer, a lovely girl, had an “old dog bump” taken off her leg. The vet said, “We don’t like the look of that and would like to send it off to the vet pathologist”. I laughed in her face and told her to ship it off, but I wasn’t paying for it. Later when a lipoma (probably) finally made it time to put her to sleep, the vet afterwards said, “A necropsy is only several hundred dollars, wouldn’t you like to know what happened to her?” Worked in some profanity that time…money grubbing idiots.

Wow, laugh in a face of a doctor who says “this mole looks a little funny…shall we send it off?” You would laugh in their face?

I cant believe a lipoma ended your dogs life, are you really that cheap to not have a simple lipoma removed? Lipomas dont kill dogs, stupid owners do.

And guess what, just because you are too cheap to care for your pet, doesnt mean other people dont want to know “what” that lump is. A 7 month olf daxie came in for a lump removal - regular vet send it over as a lipoma removal. Specialist looked at it, and it was an inflammed lymph node - removed and came back as stage 1 lymphoma. Saved dogs life… stupid vet. But then again, owners never laughed in the vets face for suggesting it as an option.

[alabama]

I had a good experience - well, as good as it could have been - when I took my old, favorite cat in to the ER a couple of years ago. My cat had kind of stopped eating and despite my trying every food in the world and force feeding him, I got home one day after work to find him semi-conscious. He would howl and kind of seize every once in a while. I pretty much knew it was his time.

Got him to the ER and the receptionist people were very nice. I think I did have to pay a fee up front but can’t remember how much so it couldn’t have been too much. The vet was completely compassionate. She did a quick blood workup on him. We discussed options for treatment but she said it would be hard on him and with his age, the success percentage wasn’t high. I pretty much knew that already.

We stayed with him when he was PTS. It was peaceful. She let us have some time with him and then came and got him. She took him away to “box him up” in the boot box that I had brought. I thought that was nice because it would have been hard for me to do.

Now a question for the vets… If the owner of the dog with the swollen/cat bitten leg had said, “Hey, before we do a bunch of tests, can we just shave his leg and look for a bite?” would you not find that acceptable? I don’t really think that’s armchair vetting. What would it hurt? It’d be quick, non-invasive and probably pretty conclusive one way or the other - unlike the rose thorn/cancer dog. I think if I SAW the cat bit the dog and I told you that but you still dismissed my request, I would feel like you thought I was stupid, a liar or just not wanting to pay for a test (cheap). (I realize the owner in the case in the post above may not have asked. This is just hypothetical.)

[grayarabpony]

@cowgirljenn;5644183

I think the thing to remember is that not all vets nor all ER clinics are created equal.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. Most of my experiences with ER clinics have been fine ~ and yes, I’ve racked up more than a few, like everyone else who has owned animals for a long time.

[foggybok]

[QUOTE=Marshfield;5621890]
The compensation rate for staff is just so much higher with an erratic case load. That’s a large part of why the fees are so high; you’re paying for “convenience”. I work a few shifts a month at an area ER to add to the household income. One ER shift is half of what I make for a week at my day job as a small animal generalist. I’m not enough of a night person to do ER work full-time. The ER technicians make double per hour what my day practice techs do. I know one human ER doctor and he moonlights in northern Maine because he gets paid so well for giving up a weekend per month.[/QUOTE]

Yup, operating an emergency facility is expensive…They usually have all the latest tools on-site and are staffed hours that require higher pay for people to take them. And a much less reliable case load. I took my pup in the other day and there were no other clients while I was there, but they had a full staff taking care of animals that were there overnight. I know I could have just given my dog fluid and antibiotics myself, I’m certainly qualified to do it. It would have been a much smaller bill, but he needed to be in a facility that could do the radiology, advanced diagnostics and potential emergency surgery and I don’t have that facility. With no options in my location, we headed 1 1/2 hours away to the nearest emergency clinic. In the end I paid $1200, ended up with no diagnosis and a treatment plan I could have done on my own. On the other hand, if he did have a foreign body with a perforation (at the top of the list when he went in), they could have saved his life and waiting until morning would have been really bad… Yeah it hurt to pay, but it would have hurt more to lose him… Having the options for emergency treatment is going to cost money…

Sure would be nice if they all got sick between 9 and 5!

[MeghanDACVA]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;5643241]
This is so darned cute:

Cost? Well, the radiometer that runs the blood gasses is $80,000 with a $5,000 year service contract. The centrifuge that spins the PCV is $8000, the cost of the radiologist to do the ultrasound is $150 per hour + call in fee for out of hours. The ultrasound machine is $250,000. The ER doctor salary is $80 per hour, the 4 technicians who work ER/ICU overnights are around $25/hour. The Animal care attendants who walk/feed and clean up after your dog are $15/hour. Oh, and the cost of laundry, feeding, cleaning supplies, vetwrap, replacement IV catheters/fluids, ecollars etc…they add up.

So, to justify the machine, they have to use it a lot…even when it isn’t needed, they use the machine, gotta show it’s profitable. A microhematocrit PCV centrifuge isn’t $8K, it’s under $1,000 and all it’s spinning is a tiny pipette tube…here’s a brand new one: http://www.mohawkmedicalmall.com/products/Graham_Field_Hematocrit_Centrifuge.php.

What a load of crap. While in college I started a medical lab for racehorses at Laurel Race Track…tests are cheap, coggins are dirt cheap and I know what a profit making item labwork can be for vets if they want it to be.[/QUOTE]

Maybe back when you were in college, all you needed was a PCV to be able to tell if an animal was sick. Today however we run complete CBC’s. Not to run up the bill or run them ‘just cuz’ but to actually know if the anemia is regenerative or not, if the WBC is normal and what the differential is so we can make an accurate assessment of what the total WBC really means. How many platelets?
Then we need to know renal function which requires, at the simplest, a BUN, creatinine, and phosphorus. Liver “function”: ALKP, ALT, GGT, Total bilirubin and perhaps pre and post bile acids and ammonia. Proteins, ie total and albumin (from that you get globulins with math). What is the glucose? What are the electrolytes? Do you need to know the acid base status and/or lactate level?
Oh, and then there are ionized calcium levels (though usually we don’t that if the total calcium level is ok for the patient’s presentation) and arterial blood gasses. Oh, and cortisol levels and pancreatic lipase level.
And heartworm tests, tickborne disease tests, parvo tests, feline leukemia/FIV.
Oh, and I forgot urinalysis and clotting times.
Oh, and I almost forgot that we have to run quality controls on a regular basis to be sure the numbers we are getting are accurate.

I doubt you can find any of this equipment for $1,000.

Do I run all these tests on all animals that come in? No.
Do we have to eventually pay for the machines? Yes.
Can I instead just send the blood out to commercial lab instead? Yes but I won’t have the results until, at best, later in the day, and more likely the next work day. On a Friday afternoon of a 3 day weekend on an emergency basis, that won’t work.
Oh, the costs to send it out to the lab? About the same. Cuz THEY have to pay for more equipment than a $1,000 centrifuge too.

And once upon a time tests WERE cheap. Not so anymore.

And as for profit centers…lab work can be one, the initial exam fee can be one, radiographs can be one, prescription drugs can be one, anesthesia can be one, surgery can be one, boarding can be one, grooming can be one, etc. Somewhere along the line there HAS to be enough profit made to pay all the bills:
Utilities–electric, water, gas, garbage, sewer, phone
Taxes–property, social security matching, on purchases, state income, federal income
Wages–other vets, techs, kennel help, receptionists
Licenses/dues–state vet license, state drug license, federal (DEA) license, AVMA dues (not required, admittedly), etc
Continuing education expenses–required by law for license renewals for vets and tech. I just sent off $2,000 for hotel and meeting registration for IVECCS in September. That doesn’t include travel and meals, and the pay I won’t get paid for the time I am at the meeting.
Mortagage or rent on the building
All the little stuff like needles, syringes, tape, alcohol, scrub, bandages, catheters, drugs, cleaning supplies, cage bedding (oh yeah, cages cost alot!!). FWIW, I just restocked my drug supply box I keep at home for horse emergencies.
If by chance it is a practice that provides the employes with benefits like health insurance, retirement/401K matching, paid vacation, paid sick days, that money has to come from somewhere.

I have said it before and I will say it again. In order for me to bring home $1, I have to generate at least $5!! The other $4 is overhead, and most of that has nothing to do with making equipment pay for itself.

So, if you can set up a lab for me that will allow me to charge less, please, by all means, move to OKC and do it. I would save me and my boss one helluva headache and we won’t have to worry about making any equipment pay for itself anymore.

[MeghanDACVA]

[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;5644016]
Holy cow! Some of our boaded techs make almost as much as that!!! Are you a boarded radiologist or criticalist, or in emergency/general practice? Scary…and yes, if you are a boarded radiologist, internal medicine, oncologist, surgeon, neurologist or criticalist (not emerg or GP), then come move to toronto!! Our radiologist shoots anyone who is not boarded in radiology who does diagnostic ultrasounds, but still there is always need here for good boaded vets![/QUOTE]

I am boarded in anesthesia (the DACVA thing) and am residency trained in ECC. Never finished those boards since at my age the extra letters are not going to change anything about my life.

As for moving to Toronto…too dammed cold!!

[Blu]

[QUOTE=cowgirljenn;5644183]
I think the thing to remember is that not all vets nor all ER clinics are created equal.

I’ll say I had a bad experience with rude people at an ER vet. And I wish YOUR clinic were closer because you sound very compassionate and very wonderful.

In my case, the clinic staff was rude and also acted appalled that I was concerned about expenses. I’m not made of money, and we’re struggling. I wasn’t given the option to approve parts of the treatment - it was an all or nothing deal, and we did do it. The staff also failed to let me know the pick up time or that there was a late fee if you didn’t pick up by 7:45am. (I was out of town and dealing with them on the phone. I said we would pick up the cat and transport to our own vet in the morning but wasn’t given the info).

The worst part for me was when they called a few days later to see how Emmett was doing. I told the person who called that he had died, that our vet had diagnosed him with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. When she seemed taken aback, I stressed that it wasn’t anything they missed or did wrong - the cat came in with a urinary tract blockage, they treated, we took him to the regular vet in the morning, and then they discovered the heart problem. I DID NOT want them to feel bad or that they had done anything wrong. The girl on the phone said, “Oh, ok. Bye.”

Not I’m so sorry. Nothing. “Ok, bye.” I could barely SPEAK about this case I was so upset. I’ve never taken an animal’s loss this hard (and I’m going to start crying now). So to not even get an 'I’m so sorry" just rubbed me the wrong way.

I realize you all work hard and you work long hours. But some clinics need some compassion training for their employees. I work long hours, too, and I deal with upset and sometimes grieving people, too. And I would never say 'Oh, ok. Bye" and hang up on someone like that.[/QUOTE]

I am sorry about this experience you had, as well as others (grayarab).

It is truly the attitudes of people like Trakehner who exhaust, burn out and jade veterinarians and veterinary staff. And it is really really sad when it is taken out on well meaning individuals. Really, that’s all I have to say in response to that post.

I truly hope that this never happens to me to the point where I become cold to the owner/client. When the day comes that I stop caring for the pets and the owners is the day I will hang up my stethoscope. I do my best to work with owners and as a pet owner myself spending hundreds of dollars a month on my dog with cushing’s disease, I can completely empathise with wanting to do the right thing while keeping my own life and personal expenses afloat.

On that note, to those of you lurking, reading, etc. I would like to HIGHLY recommend Care Credit. I know most places have stopped taking payments (much to the disgust of most people) due to the fact that accounts receivable goes through the roof when you take payments.

Lastly… I wanted to say to the poster who couldn’t understand why you can’t leave your pet while you go to the ATM? Because there are people who leave their ailing/critical pets in the walls of vet clinics and state they are “just going to go to the car” to get their wallet, and then peel out of the parking lot. I got all day, and I can spend all day telling story after story of dumps, screaming clients, rude clients, people calling you a money grubber, highway robbery, and on and on. I have been physically threatened and have seen my boss physically mauled (knocked out) over estimates and money. It’s not a joke and we don’t take it lightly.

[MeghanDACVA]

Oh, and to Trakehner, and you few others who seem to hate us…

1. no one forced you to come to us wiht your pet
2. you could have waited until your vet was open
3. you could complain to your vet as why they were not available to you at that hour
4. you could go to vet school and do it yourself

To Alabama about the dog’s leg…
If I had been the owner (and without knowing what I know professionally) I prob would have asked to have it shaved. Even if they rolled their eyes.

As a vet I prob would have shaved it, BASED ON WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD HERE. However, there may have been other “things” going on that prompted them to do otherwise.

As a vet who often sees a lot pateints that have been elsewhere first, it is not uncommon at all for ‘not so happy’ owners that are coming to me for a second opinion to tell me that the other vet didn’t do blood work, xrays, etc. When I call the other vet to get details about the patient, most of the time I find out that they did recommend blood work, etc and the owner declined it. Same thing happens on our end. We recommend diagnostics, owners decline. Their regular vet then calls us when the see the still sick pet and ream us a new one because the owner told them we wouldn’t do blood work, etc!! That is why we put in the record that we recommended something and that the owner declined it.

So, if your ER vet recommends diagnostics and you turn them down, don’t go and complain to your regular vet that we wouldn’t do it (ok, we wouldn’t do it for FREE) or that we missed something because we didn’t have the information.

My most favorite saying: There are no rights or wrongs, only consequences. That floats both ways too.

[cowgirljenn]

@Blu;5644487

I am sorry about this experience you had, as well as others (grayarab).

Thanks.

I DO remember that there are good and bad people in everything. When we were in grad. school in College Station, we had the most fantastic vet. She was the first person to call me Dr. Williams when I got my PhD, would help me get to the barn when we had horses to work on (I can’t drive), and always went above and beyond. When we moved, she remained on our call list. When our cat was diagnosed with kidney failure, we called her for advice and ended up taking the cat up to her (because she gave us a deal to make the needed work managable). When DH found the three legged kitten I posted about in another thread, he went to Dr. L. Fantastic vet. I’ve got a good friend who is an equine vet and am getting to know my local equine vet better.

[quote=Blu;5644487]It is truly the attitudes of people like Trakehner who exhaust, burn out and jade veterinarians and veterinary staff. And it is really really sad when it is taken out on well meaning individuals. Really, that’s all I have to say in response to that post.

I truly hope that this never happens to me to the point where I become cold to the owner/client. When the day comes that I stop caring for the pets and the owners is the day I will hang up my stethoscope.
[/QUOTE]

I imagine it is almost never the work that wears you down - it is the people. It is the same thing in my field (horse rescue). The rescue cases are sad, but I know I’m doing the right thing for them (whether that’s rehab and adoption or euthanasia). But the constant harassment from people who hate rescues, who know how to do it better, etc. etc. etc. is what wears me down. So I can empathize!

[quote=Blu;5644487]Lastly… I wanted to say to the poster who couldn’t understand why you can’t leave your pet while you go to the ATM? Because there are people who leave their ailing/critical pets in the walls of vet clinics and state they are “just going to go to the car” to get their wallet, and then peel out of the parking lot. I got all day, and I can spend all day telling story after story of dumps, screaming clients, rude clients, people calling you a money grubber, highway robbery, and on and on. I have been physically threatened and have seen my boss physically mauled (knocked out) over estimates and money. It’s not a joke and we don’t take it lightly.
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It is always the ‘bad apples’ that ruin it for everyone.