I have noticed thats vets are doing this more and more. I will NOT allow a vet to treat my animal out of my sight unless they are there for surgery.
I have left vets for doing this and it is something I discuss with my ‘new’ vet. I had one kittie SCREAMING ‘in the back’ when they were going to take blood. The vet comes in and tells me that they didn’t even though her yet. NO THANKS. Shots, bloodwork simple stuff…in my presence.
Anyone else not comfortable with this?
I actually noticed that my new vet does this too. It doesn’t bother me, necessarily, but I didn’t realize it was a widespread thing. Interesting.
I figured that this vet did it because their exam room (there’s only one) is very small, so it’s easier to work in the back. I also think that part of it is that some animal owners are squeamish/emotional about seeing procedures done and the amount of force it might take to draw blood from an animal who’s actively resisting.
The vet/techs take the animals out back because usually they are reading the animal’s behavior as well as the humans, obtaining blood, urine or treating sometimes is too much for the client to watch and sometimes patients do not want to cooperate which can lead to a lot of dramatic screaming. Also, a lot of people don’t understand how to restrain animals and get upset if you “scruff” or otherwise control the animal and makes it dangerous for vet/tech/handler.
Definitely tell your vet that you would rather be present and have them treat your animal in the room. I do completely understand you being uncomfortable with this practice. Communication with your vet is key, good luck to you.
I can’t stand this either, and refuse to use a vet that does that. But it does seem to be very common. Maybe a lot of non-horse people pet owners are total wimps and can’t stand to see Fluffy get a shot or have blood drawn?
[QUOTE=wendy;7167979]
I can’t stand this either, and refuse to use a vet that does that. But it does seem to be very common. Maybe a lot of non-horse people pet owners are total wimps and can’t stand to see Fluffy get a shot or have blood drawn?[/QUOTE]
Precisely.
It’s very common around here, too. My vet started letting me come into the back with my cat once they realized that I was totally okay with my bitchy cat wearing the cat muzzle. Apparently a lot of people get upset about having the soft muzzles put on their pets so they don’t make that information widely available. They let me in on their “secret” after I suggested they wrap my cat’s head in a towel or something so she wouldn’t bite them when they were drawing blood. And I’ve been carrying my cats into the back myself ever since.
[QUOTE=wendy;7167979]
Maybe a lot of non-horse people pet owners are total wimps and can’t stand to see Fluffy get a shot or have blood drawn?[/QUOTE]
Yep, I think horse people who have likely witnessed their share of drained abscesses and sheath cleaning can handle anything. :lol:
I trust my vet. She’s taken care of my cats for many years, and pulled them through a couple of scary situations. She sometimes takes them in back. I don’t have a problem with that, I always figured it was easier for them to do certain things where the proper equipment was present. If I ever have to get a new vet, I probably will not be quite so trusting, at least until I have a chance to evaluate them in a number of situations.
I agree with Louise - I trust my vet. There are some things that my vet will take them back in the back for - blood draw, suture removal, etc. I think that sometimes removing everything familiar temporarily stumps the animals - they can get whatever done much more quickly that way. However, my vet also trusts and knows me. I can usually secure my animals better than the tech or assistant anyway, so they typically do most everything with me helping. I remember the first time I restrained one of my dogs for a rectal temp reading, the vet cracked up at me - offered me a job. lol
[QUOTE=Ticker;7167935]
I have left vets for doing this and it is something I discuss with my ‘new’ vet. I had one kittie SCREAMING ‘in the back’ when they were going to take blood. The vet comes in and tells me that they didn’t even though her yet. NO THANKS. [/QUOTE]
Do you think they were beating your animal?? Cats scream. It’s not a big deal and it certainly does not mean the vet was doing anything wrong. Trying to get enough blood for some tests can be challenging with small rolling cat veins and a screaming thrashing cat.
I’ve had dogs scream and empty their bowels all over me while I am quietly standing there waiting for a tech to come draw blood. I’ve had cats invert themselves trying to rip open my arms trying to get out of a light scruff while we do toenails. We once had a couple literally come sprinting into the back convinced we were torturing their dog screaming bloody murder…the dog was sitting in a cage with a blanket and water waiting for an available tech to draw blood. We hadn’t even put the dog on the table yet.
Animals were almost always worse with the owner and the last thing we needed was the liability of an owner getting bit trying to “comfort pookie” while we are drawing blood on a nervous animal or try to help “restrain” an animal already in a secure hold. Animals go to the back for the safety of the animal and the owner.
We also had dogs who would hold up a leg for a blood draw and fall asleep when getting fluids. Thankfully the majority of our dogs and cats LOVED coming in but the ones who hated us received the same level of care and patience. Some animals get quicked once during a toenail trim and don’t even blink while others become rabid any time from then out when someone goes to touch that foot. Different personalities react differently to stressors.
If I don’t trust my vet enough to take my animal into the back then I don’t trust the vet enough to treat my animals.
If I bring in multiple kitties they’ll usually put me in an exam room and take them back one by one to get weighed, then bring them back into to the room for shots.
If I only bring in one and it’s for something routine they’re likely to just take it from the waiting room to the back and do it quickly.
This is a high volume large and small animal practice, so they do what needs to be done to get everybody seen. It’s also not a place that charges you a $40 ‘exam fee’ to walk in the door. Need a rabies shot? $10 and you’re out.
I trust the vets to decide whether they need to see me in an exam room, and I’ve never been denied a consultation if I ask to talk to the vet.
I prefer my dog being examined and treated with me there, unless it’s surgery or something they really cannot do in a regular exam room. I also don’t leave while my dog is being groomed at the groomers. Too many horror stories of dogs hanging themselves off the grooming tables. I stand just out of sight for the dog so she can’t see me and get worked up, but I can see everything that’s going on.
My vet has done all blood draws and even a needle biopsy right in front of me in the office. My dog did have to have a growth removed last year and we dropped her off on surgery day for that, and picked her up later. Same thing when she was spayed. It’s not that I don’t trust my vet (if I didn’t trust her, she wouldn’t be my vet!), but I am totally involved and informed when it comes to the care of both my animals and I like it that way.
Same thing with my horse - I rough board her and like being involved in her daily care. I check water intake each day and make note of how much manure she produces. The one time she colicked, I knew it was probably coming because I had noticed a change in her stall habits leading up to it. A full board barn may or may not have noticed those changes. The only time I have ever dropped her off and left her somewhere is when she had to have a bone scan at Tuft’s, and I was pretty confident Tuft’s would take excellent care of her (and they did!).
I don’t have ‘blind’ trust in my vet(s). I’m an active advocate for my animals. I can’t judge what is actually happening ‘in the back’ if I can’t monitor it.
My opinion is that people are people and they make mistakes and have occasional bad judgement, vet or not.
My animals do better if I’m present and I have had large animal vets ‘wait’ for me so they could handle ‘baby’.
I’m not above ‘yelling’ at my vet…have done it before, may do it again.
If I don’t trust my vet enough to take my animal into the back then I don’t trust the vet enough to treat my animals.
that’s nonsense. You should never blindly trust anyone- would you let your infant be taken “into the back” to get a shot? doubt it. Who knows what is going on? your pet can’t talk, so it’s up to you to be there to protect if necessary. You might trust your vet, but I bet you haven’t even met most of the vet techs, who seem to come and go and have rather sketchy training.
Of course this is from someone who asks for the muzzle and puts it on the dog, and who once wrestled her dog to the ground and sat on his head so they could take out his stitches.
I’ve never heard of/seen this before. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been present and fine with what needs to be done. I’m not sure.
The only time my vet ever was alone with my previous dog was when she was clipping his toe nails. He was just a lot better without me in the room. She never took him “to the back” though. I always just left the exam room and came back when she was done.
[QUOTE=Ticker;7168099]
I don’t have ‘blind’ trust in my vet(s). I’m an active advocate for my animals. I can’t judge what is actually happening ‘in the back’ if I can’t monitor it.
My opinion is that people are people and they make mistakes and have occasional bad judgement, vet or not.
My animals do better if I’m present and I have had large animal vets ‘wait’ for me so they could handle ‘baby’.
I’m not above ‘yelling’ at my vet…have done it before, may do it again.[/QUOTE]
Now we know why your vets take your animals in the back. :lol:
I’m a vet tech so let me chime on because this really struck a nerve…
First of all, no one is torturing your pet when we take it to the back. There are many reasons why we don’t do things in front of owners but the number one reason is safety.
My job as a tech, whether I am working with horses or small animals, is to make sure your pet is given its care safely. Safety is the biggest concern for your pet, who can’t comprehend what we are doing and why we do it, you, who is worried about your pet, which is picking up on everything you feel, and us, the veterinary team who really enjoys a day where we aren’t getting kicked in the head or having our faces bitten off.
Your pet does not understand that we need it to lie still and not move when it feels a needle prick or feels the clippers vibrate. It comes to the hospital smelling sick animals, perhaps blood and death. It picks up on emotions from you and the other nervous pets that have been there. So while your sweet sunshine of a kitty may be a ball of purring fuzz at home, most times when she gets to the vet she’s already PO’d about having to get in the carrier, go for a ride and now has strange people poking and proding her in places no one but her should touch. So she wants to attack anyone and everyone she can, which could include you.
So we take Fluffy to the back and restrain her in ways that while they might look barbaric to you, are actually making it safer for Fluffy and us. We have a larger area to work in with our supplies around us, extra hands who are trained to help, plus safety equipment like muzzles and cat bags and gloves if we need them.
Yes cats will scream and dogs will whine but that’s because we can’t make them understand that if they sit very still while we try to poke that rolly polly vein in their back leg, we can get them back to you quicker. Most times I will refuse to do treatments or take blood in front of an owner. Not because I’m shady and don’t want you to see me torturing Fluffy, its because I know that you will try to help me do my job and might get us all hurt in the process because you aren’t trained to restrain Fluffy in a way where she can’t night you me or anyone else. I won’t allow anyone to hold a pet unless they are trained staff. This goes for when I work with horses too.
Ive told Olympic riders to stand to the side when we work on their horses. Not because I think they are incompetent but because some people just don’t know how to hold an animal for veterinary exams and treatments. Horse people especially can be dangerous because they see a horse react and automatically feel the need to correct the reaction, which makes the horse tense and uncooperative even more. During vet exams, trainers try to train instead of staying out of the way. It’s not easy and sometimes owners riders trainers can make it worse.
So there you go. That’s why we do what we do. It isn’t to hide our scary torture tactics or anything. It’s to protect you and your pet as well as us while trying to make it easier on your pet.
If that’s wrong in your eyes, keep moving around from vet to vet. Your reputation will show up before you do. We all talk, even if we are competition and the one thing we hate is a difficult owner. Difficult pets are ok but when owners create issues without finding out the reasons why we do things, you just make it harder on yourself.
I knew one woman who pissed off all of the equine vets in the tri state area by disputing their diagnosis of ringbone on her horse that when she had an emergency no one would go to her farm. She refused to listen to the vets in this small town, dragged her horse to each and everyone of them without paying her bills from the last one until finally they refused to see her. Not even for emergencies. She argued with all of them, bad mouthed them to the next one and behaved awfully every time she got the same diagnosis as the last vet. So when her horse coliced, no one, not even the cow vet would go see her.
Don’t become that lady for your animals sake. Just because you call a vet, it doesn’t mean they have to see you and if you cause problems at one vet, chances are the new vet will find out too. Talk to your vet about options before you pack up Fluffy and head somewhere else.
[QUOTE=wendy;7167979]
I can’t stand this either, and refuse to use a vet that does that. But it does seem to be very common. Maybe a lot of non-horse people pet owners are total wimps and can’t stand to see Fluffy get a shot or have blood drawn?[/QUOTE]
I’ve seen people faint at blood drawing, and even get queasy looking at stitches. Saw one woman go hysterical at the sight of testicles sitting quietly in a pan. Have even had people ask me how I could eat after assisting with surgery and all I could say is because I was hungry.
That said, I have only been refused entry once and that was for a shaving job on Louie who had become badly matted. The vet wanted to go for breakfast and wanted company so he said no to watching. Oh, and not allowing clients in on x-rays is common practice here - something about Health and Safety regulations.
I don’t buy the ‘we are taking fluffy to the back’ for ease and safety.
My horse vet doesn’t take my horse out of sight to work on him and my small animal vet never did that before…for 20 years . My current small animal vet doesn’t do it, and I won’t let them if they were to try. They have several clients, not just me, who voiced the same concern.
New(er) vets, recently out of school are doing it, and I believe it may be driven by insurance companies. Just a guess since they interfere with everything else.
I don’t like the restraining techniques. My SCREAMING kitty that was taken to the back was 21years old and did not need to be terrified like that. Nor did she need to be restrained…at all. I left that vet when I discovered, by accident, that they had screwed up blood work results and a different kitty,
that needed medication, didn’t get it. He died as a result.
Our vets do pretty much everything in the exam rooms which I appreciate… Though they will take the occasional animal in the back if they know that animal is difficult or the human is starting to stress out the animal… Or if the person is distracting the vet with unnecessary chatter!
Kind of related, I’ve been in the room while the vet sutured and inserted drains, and then later removed a bit of necrotic tissue from my little dog’s injury, as well as watching many sterilizations and other routine surgeries with my fosters. I will happily leave on my own accord if I think it would be appropriate. I appreciate that they let me watch those things and want to stay welcomed to do so 
If I went to a new vet practice I’d request to be present for routine procedures. I think I’d have to see their techs and the vets handle my dog in order for some of that trust to be gained. There’s such a difference between everyone and I want techs who are confident and observant without being too sharp towards the dog, but I do know the difference between what is necessary and what is aggressive. I’ve not returned to a vets office because the techs seemed too tentative in their handling, petting and cooing too much to a wigged out dog… Made me too nervous that they were asking for a bite. Likewise I’ve seen some come in with all guns blazing, which isn’t the right way either. It really is a balance, and takes someone who doesn’t just like animals but who knows how to read them as well.
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