Vets' staff could be more sympathic.

[SLW]

[QUOTE=Kwill;8220208]
I want to add here that in the past year I adopted an adult male cat around 10 years old who had serious behavioral issues (including not using the box). The shelter gave him a chance, and so did we – and he’s a fantastic, affectionate cat now. He’s still neurotic at times but he is loving and most importantly, he’s happy. So adult cats do get adopted, even difficult ones.[/QUOTE]

Yup, I have one of these type cats. He was past due to be euthanized due to peeing in the former owners house. Funny how urinary tract infections cause that and that inexpensive meds heal it. We named him “Casper” since he is suppose to be dead. Living on borrowed time!

[Jumper_Bump]

[QUOTE=LauraKY;8219826]
Pasture sound and light riding and unable to afford it is a legitimate reason to PTS in my book. There are very few homes for pasture sound horses and once you move the horse on to another owner you lose all control over its future. Too many pasture sound horses end up in really bad situations. There are worse things than dead.

Go check out the Mill Creek “sanctuary” thread for an example.[/QUOTE]

I guess we are all entitled to our opinion…

However, “unable to afford” is much different then “unwilling to afford.” The overall concept of the post was to say that I would hope someone somewhere is asking questions before ad hock putting animals down. In the case of the original poster I think it needed to be done more delicately.

[shiloh]

If I had acreage I wouldn’t mind having a pasture puff. I’d be perfectly happy to take light riding and pasture sound. And if and when the situation got worse, letting them go peacefully.

And as far as the woman with cancer requesting her horse be euth’ed after her death becuse it might go to a bad situation - what if it went to a good situation? What if there was someone who would take better care of the horse than she did? (Not saying she took bad care of horse - just what if there was something better.) What if that person was me - a person yes, with finite resources but who would treat that horse like it was royalty and it would never lack for anything? Not every situation ends up badly, not everything goes downhill. And this from the Queen of Pessimists :lol:

[Foxtrot_s]

The lady dying of cancer put it in her will, after discussion with her husband.
There would have been people to take care of the horse, and maybe even find it a second home if it was to be that way, but after that, time goes on, horse ages out, needs vet work, and it is all too common for them to go on the downward spiral. We did not like it, but we abided by her wishes.

I’ve done the same myself, PTS a lovely mare, melanomas, arthritis, aged, losing weight, but the time came and it was the right decision, although some might not have known all her issues and become judgey.

Regarding pets, people can often tuck one extra cat or dog into their households, but extra horses are another matter, and there are so many needing homes, hard decisions have to be made.

[andylover]

Thank you all for your kind words and advice. It is sad that this happens at all where clients get such lack of compassion during what is already a tough process.
I have spoken to her a couple times since the incident and both times she was cool, bordering being just plain rude. I didnt mention anything to her nor was I able to say anything to the vet yet. I didnt feel it was appropriate to talk to the vet due to the sensitivity of the appointment, but will discuss with him in the near future.

[Zu_Zu]

I’m sorry you can’t have SLW on the other end of that phone ~ she is ‘superior’ !

OP ~ I’m sorry you can’t have SLW on the other end of the phone ~

SLW is simply ‘superior’ in her job ~ no need to ask me how I know ~
[I]
She held me together in November 2011

[/I]I will always be indebted to her ~

SLW made the day bearable ~

• the vet was rude and insensitive ! this is a different vet NOT WHERE SHE IS WORKING NOW ~

SLW saved our broken heart with her kindness ~

[HungarianHippo]

[QUOTE=shiloh;8220319]
If I had acreage I wouldn’t mind having a pasture puff. I’d be perfectly happy to take light riding and pasture sound. And if and when the situation got worse, letting them go peacefully.

And as far as the woman with cancer requesting her horse be euth’ed after her death becuse it might go to a bad situation - what if it went to a good situation? What if there was someone who would take better care of the horse than she did? (Not saying she took bad care of horse - just what if there was something better.) What if that person was me - a person yes, with finite resources but who would treat that horse like it was royalty and it would never lack for anything? Not every situation ends up badly, not everything goes downhill. And this from the Queen of Pessimists :lol:[/QUOTE]

But also consider that her husband and family (didn’t see the original story, so maybe this is already known to be true or not) are not horse people. That’s definitely my case. So you’d be asking people who don’t have the right skill set (and who are already grieving) to handle finding those hard-to-find good homes while screening out the plentiful “oooh! free horsie!” tire kickers.

We’re getting ready to prepare a will and I’ve been brainstorming on how to get my horses placed in the right situation with a minimal amount of difficult decisions required by my survivors. But, yes, euthanasia will be one of the options. I keep meaning to search here, I’m sure there have been plenty of “how have you guys done it?” threads, but thinking of the right search terms seems like a chore and I get distracted and do somthine else. The word “will” doesn’t exactly narrow things down to just a few threads. :lol:

[PeanutButterPony]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8220380]
The lady dying of cancer put it in her will, after discussion with her husband.
There would have been people to take care of the horse, and maybe even find it a second home if it was to be that way, but after that, time goes on, horse ages out, needs vet work, and it is all too common for them to go on the downward spiral. We did not like it, but we abided by her wishes.

I’ve done the same myself, PTS a lovely mare, melanomas, arthritis, aged, losing weight, but the time came and it was the right decision, although some might not have known all her issues and become judgey.

Regarding pets, people can often tuck one extra cat or dog into their households, but extra horses are another matter, and there are so many needing homes, hard decisions have to be made.[/QUOTE]

I have a middle aged horse right now that I would/should dictate should be put down if I pass- he’s a maintenance mess any I’d rather not have to worry about his future.

[SLW]

[QUOTE=Zu Zu;8221796]
OP ~ I’m sorry you can’t have SLW on the other end of the phone ~

SLW is simply ‘superior’ in her job ~ no need to ask me how I know ~
[I]
She held me together in November 2011

[/I]I will always be indebted to her ~

SLW made the day bearable ~

• the vet was rude and insensitive ! this is a different vet NOT WHERE SHE IS WORKING NOW ~

SLW saved our broken heart with her kindness ~[/QUOTE]

You are too kind ZuZu, thank you. No debt owed because we all share the sisterhood of loving horses and the sadness when we loose a special one.

[Anne_FS]

[QUOTE=Dispatcher;8219719]
Peon receptionist? Wow.[/QUOTE]

In this context, yeah, I get this. Peon receptionist who is not a doctor grilling me and finding unacceptable in her totally uneducated mind my heart-rending decision to euthanize my beloved horse who is suffering? I’d probably have the same reaction, although I would’ve cut her off immediately and asked that she put me through to the doctor or have the doctor call me back. Miss Nosey Buttinsky is not entitled to my heartache and unless she has VMD or DVM after her name I’m not interested in her opinions of my reasons for such a painful decision and I sure as heck don’t give a flying fig for her armchair diagnosis that my reasons are unacceptable for having to PTS a horse she’s never seen.

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=Jumper_Bump;8220295]
I guess we are all entitled to our opinion…

However, “unable to afford” is much different then “unwilling to afford.” The overall concept of the post was to say that I would hope someone somewhere is asking questions before ad hock putting animals down. In the case of the original poster I think it needed to be done more delicately.[/QUOTE]

It’s really easy to criticize someone for being “unwilling to afford” to keep a not really sound horse when you have no liability in the situation.

Unless you, personally, are willing to buy/take the horse and pay all the bills for the next umpteen years, you really should just STFU.

I hope that isn’t too blunt for some of the more delicate readers.

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=red mares;8222792]
It’s really easy to criticize someone for being “unwilling to afford” to keep a not really sound horse when you have no liability in the situation.

Unless you, personally, are willing to buy/take the horse and pay all the bills for the next umpteen years, you really should just STFU.

I hope that isn’t too blunt for some of the more delicate readers.[/QUOTE]

Well, sometimes one needs to be blunt.

[Dispatcher]

[QUOTE=Anne FS;8222292]
In this context, yeah, I get this. Peon receptionist who is not a doctor grilling me and finding unacceptable in her totally uneducated mind my heart-rending decision to euthanize my beloved horse who is suffering? I’d probably have the same reaction, although I would’ve cut her off immediately and asked that she put me through to the doctor or have the doctor call me back. Miss Nosey Buttinsky is not entitled to my heartache and unless she has VMD or DVM after her name I’m not interested in her opinions of my reasons for such a painful decision and I sure as heck don’t give a flying fig for her armchair diagnosis that my reasons are unacceptable for having to PTS a horse she’s never seen.[/QUOTE]

a nosey person is different than a peon. But, as we know, many COTH posters love name calling. Being the superior people they are…

[Pennywell_Bay]

I don’t think receptionists at vet clinics are peons, nor do the vets I use/have used. (and not that it matters, I have more letters after my name than in it in regards to doctorate and advanced degrees and I would NEVER refer to anyone like that).

They are the first line of defense for calls, appointments, have the unfortunate duty of telling nonpaying clients the vet won’t go to their farm without payment up front (some receptionists are vet techs, as well) etc.

Some vets, especially if a client has not been working WITH the vet on a sick or declining animal, do request the receptionist to ask for information. yes, the information may be uncomfortable.

Certainly it sounds like perhaps the receptionist could have been more delicate, however, I’m not ready to crucify her for asking questions (that the vet may ask her to).

Fortunately, I have never been grilled when I had to make “the call”. I also assume that is because I’ve had the vet involved in most cases so it wasn’t a surprise when I had to make the appointment.

I’m really sorry for the OPs loss. It sounds like a talk with the vet is a good idea, if only to get clarification on the office policy. I’d keep in mind that it was a very emotional situation to start with, so standard questions (possibly for that clinic) may be more disturbing than intended.

[HorsesinHaiti]

[QUOTE=Ambitious Kate;8218638]
I will never forget putting my cat down, years ago. We had the cat from about age 1 year, her name was Mush, she had been an outdoor cat who was loved and had a happy life, for 19, get that?? 19 years!! The last year she developed cat diabetes, and for some time I had given her a better diet, but it wasn’t working for her any more, was pissing everywhere, had dementia and was probably blind. I took her in to be PTS and the receptionist was INCENSED that I wasn’t going to try giving her insulin (a daily shot). She had ruined my (rental apartment) and I couldn’t handle the ill cat, unfortunately. She was just almost gone. Couldn’t walk. was 19 years old. This woman at first refused to take her. Then said she would call the vet to talk to me (who wasn’t in). Tried to make me feel guilty for not giving a 19 year old cat insulin shots, and I just lost it on her. Basically told her it was none of her business, either she could make the appointment for us or her boss would get an earfull of how inappropriate she was recommending medical treatments or procedures. She shut up but it made me feel that the cat was being handed over to a hostile environment at the time. Very sad experience.[/QUOTE]

I feel for you AK, I lost my cat a few years ago to diabetes at 16 or 17. My vet here (who has no staff!) was very kind about discussing options. I also couldn’t justify insulin shots for reasons that were in the cat’s and my best interest.

Based on my cat’s perkiness level during the exam the vet asked me to try one more change - and when the cat suddenly went downhill within 48 hours, he raced 3 hours back out here in the early morning to put the cat to sleep and apologized that he hadn’t done it the first visit. I told him I was OK with a well thought out roll of the dice, sometimes the roll doesn’t go your way. But there was no chance of him or my current vet being incensed at a well reasoned request for PTS!

[Anne_FS]

[QUOTE=Dispatcher;8222876]
a nosey person is different than a peon. But, as we know, many COTH posters love name calling. Being the superior people they are…[/QUOTE]

A peon by definition is an unskilled farm worker or a person of low rank. In this particular context, it’s more factual than pejorative. A receptionist is unskilled compared to a doctor. The professional rank of a receptionist is lower than that of a doctor. It doesn’t make them evil, it’s just a fact. For a receptionist to play doctor and question a long-term client in the way the OP implies she did is not acceptable. The OP didn’t call her a peon. No one told her she’s a peon. I simply said that in this context of a traumatic situation I can understand the horse owner’s impatience with a non-doctor inserting herself into this sad situation.

Or is your post above a dig at Sansena?

[enjoytheride]

[QUOTE=Jumper_Bump;8220295]
I guess we are all entitled to our opinion…

However, “unable to afford” is much different then “unwilling to afford.” The overall concept of the post was to say that I would hope someone somewhere is asking questions before ad hock putting animals down. In the case of the original poster I think it needed to be done more delicately.[/QUOTE]

Are you freaking serious? Since when did your job give you the right to force people to keep their pets/horses? Did you ask to see her tax returns? Commit to checking up on the horse monthly to make sure she was taking proper care of it?

It’s none of your damn business why someone is putting a pasture sound only horse down. How would you feel if she drove it to the nearest auction, dropped it off, and got her $100 check in the mail because you were too judgemental to put the horse down humanely?

[Lynnwood]

[QUOTE=andylover;8217480]
It has been a long and arduous process to be able to finally make the decision to put down my very old horse. He is truly struggling and feel it is his time as his bad days exceed his good days. Anyone who has had to make the decision knows how difficult it truly is and compassion, understanding and support can truly be helpful.
When calling the vets office to make the appointment I felt like i was immediately put on the defensive by the receptionist. I was asked continually why was I choosing to do this and she kept asking for more and more reasons. She didnt sound like the reasons I gave her were acceptable. Age, arthritis, weight and heat issues were not appeasing her for justifying the euth’ing of my horse.
I have been a client of this vet for almost 20 years so it is not like I am a new client and asking for this. This has been a tough decision and then feeling like I am being unjustly put on the defensive is not right.
As anyone else experienced this apparent lack of sympathy from their vet’s office and could this have been handled better? Or am I being over sensitive?[/QUOTE]

Sadly yes I make the choice to let my eldest mare go a few weeks ago. She was having some Neuro issues that were in the long term not a resolvable case. Her bad days were edging ahead of her good.

The vet was wonderful it went as well as it possibly could.

We let her go on a Wednesday and on that Friday the new receptionist sent me an email with the copy of the bill requesting that it be paid and which credit card on file did I want it charged too. No sympathy , the card the office sent showed up 2 weeks later.

The next time I went into the office I made mention to it to the Office Manager. That perhaps the staff be trained to mail the sympathy card and wait a bit before immediately trying to talk about finances especially those of that nature. Or at the very least include a sympathetic statement into their "Here is your total " email.

The world has grown cold and it seems common sympathy has become a thing of the past.

[maunder]

As I’ve mentioned previously, I was a receptionist in a veterinary practice. It’s a thankless job where you get hammered from all sides.

Emotions are high from all directions. In my case I was responsible for opening and closing the office, cleaning and mopping, filing, animal care and even assisting the doctors at times for very basic procedures. I was the one who took the dogs and cats down the long hall for euthanasia if the client didn’t want to be with them. I held them for their final procedure if the owner didn’t want to. I cleaned the kennels when other staff wasn’t available. I developed xrays at 9:30 at night because the vet wanted them developed.

I dealt with emotional people - either upset because their much-loved pet was in pain or near death; or happy because they had recovered and could go home.

I dealt with the nasty - the people that didn’t care about their pet, complained about the cost, yelled because they wanted an appointment when they wanted it, didn’t want to pay their bill, didn’t want to give meds. You name it - it all came through the front desk.

A receptionist is also receiving conflicting instructions from the doctors and staff. One doctor stood behind me and had me page (time before cell phones) his associate every 30 seconds until she answered the page…for ten minutes. She was furious when she made it to the office and guess who got screamed at…me.

Some doctors will be very understanding of clients emotions and problems with payment or treatment; others will be completely jerks. I’ve seen it all.

You, as receptionist, are given instructions to behave a certain way, to answer phones a certain way, to request payment a certain way…all for minimum wage in most cases. If you don’t like it then you are shown the door. After all, it’s just a peon type of job anyway according to some people. Just leave if you don’t like it, right?

Through it all I tried to remain calm and supportive and firm. I actually liked the job, because I adored the animals.

I definitely advocate talking to the practice manager, and if possible the vets in the practice, along WITH the receptionist so that all can be on the same boat about your concerns.

Honestly, if you have a veterinarian like the one I worked for you would get severely reprimanded if you showed too much sympathy for the animal at the front desk or the initial call. I showed the sympathy and compassion and was called in to the office for it.

There is more - but you get the point. Who knows what the receptionist in all these cases of complaint was directed to do? I would question the vet’s instructions on emotion, bills and handling clients as much as possible but in the end his response was, “You work for me. Do as I say…or leave.”

[Anne_FS]

There’s a huge difference between obeying the vet’s orders on what to ask and inserting your own opinion.

That’s what the receptionists on this thread don’t seem to get. Sure, the vet could have instructed that many questions be asked. That isn’t the issue here. The issue here is the receptionist implying that the information given is not acceptable TO HER. Receptionist asks why euth. OP gives reason. Receptionist wants another reason. And another. And another, and implies none are acceptable. What the fruitbat?

It is not her job to editorialize; it’s her job to get the info and pass it on. Sure, it’s possible the client read into a request for info a reaction that her reasons did not please the receptionist. However, enough of us have had experience otherwise. The receptionist has probably been on the receiving end of too many owners wanting convenience euthanasias; sadly, that’s all too possible as well. Nevertheless, there is a huge difference between getting information and editorializing about same to the client.