Angry!! Just left the Vet's office...

[serendipity22]

So, this afternoon at 7pm, my dog gets hit by a car. I scoop him up and take him to the emergency clinic in Wilmington, NC. After waiting for an hour in their waiting room, my dog is finally taken back. They think his front leg is broken and have me sign a 'preliminary bill' for over $200 which includes x-rays and such. I sign it and wait to hear from the vet. Well, several minutes later, one of the vet techs come to me and tell me that after giving my dog a shot of morphine that he threw up... Apparently a bunch of feathers, some pieces of a paper wrapper and some pieces of bone. So the vet tech is telling me that chocolate is bad for dogs and I should be watching what my dog eats. Number one... I do not have chocolate on my property. The dog had gotten ahold of a nestle water bottle and had chewed on the label. Number two... I do not have bird bones lying around on my property. The dog has a chew bone that he's been working on for a while. Number three... I've never heard of a feather killing a dog. From what she's saying, every dog I've ever owned should have been dead after living an hour on my property, or outside for that matter...

So I'm getting more and more angry as this puny little vet tech is telling me that bird poop and bird feathers and bird bones will damage my dog's internal organs and lalalalalala... Now, I have owned dogs ALL of my life. I probably know more about animals that she does at this point. I take extremely good care of my dogs (except for the whole getting hit by a car thing, but that was a mix up between DH and myself). They're not fed junk nor are they allowed to eat my birds! So, after this giving this girl a piece of my mind, she wouldn't deal with me for the rest of the night.

I leave the vet's office $400 poorer, with a dog with a cast all the way up to his shoulder with the chance of needing surgery. And all I can think of is that I want to slap that girl...

Am I wrong? un

 

[nccountrygirl]

No you are not wrong. They think because they have spent the last 4-6 yrs in college that they think they know what they are saying is gospel. All the vets I have ever used treated DH and I like they wanted to call Animal control on us, like I could stop a cottonmouth from biting our Rott in the neck, bunch of educated idiots is what they are.un

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

We once had a Vet accuse us of animal cruality because a moose attached our dog.

mind you the moose climbed up 8 stairs onto our porch to kick the dog. The Vet said it was our falt the dog was outside.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Sounds to me like you just had a real bad day. The vet tech probably
talked down to you and that was it. SNAP!!! The tech should be thankful
he/she doesn't have feathers stuffed down their throat.

You need a big hug and maybe a big drink.

I'm thrilled to hear your dog made it through. Give the pooch a big
kiss from me.

 

[Haviris]

Well I have to say most of my vets (I use several, different types of animals, different vets. Although I think I finally found one that treats everything) are great! Very nice and helpfull. But a couple years ago my cat got sick suddenly on a Saturday, called an emergency clinic and took him in. We have a flea problem, we seem to go back and forth between fleas and ticks, and I use Frontline religously, this happened to be at the end of the month (I always put it on the first of the month), so he was nearly due, the frontline is basically useless after the first three weeks and he had fleas. The vet that saw him told me he had a disease caused by the fleas and treated me like I was the worst pet owner that ever walked through the door. Thankfully it was a different vet I got to talk to the next day and he was much nicer. It turned out to be from a tick bite (he didn't even have any ticks on him at the time), NOT fleas, the disease was almost always fatal and he died later that day. I don't know how he got a tick, he stayed inside other then the occational trip onto the deck with the family, it wasn't a bad tick year and I'd never seen one on him. But even then I don't think it made me a bad pet owner, it happens, the rest of my family have either outside only or in and out cats, they think I'm kind of picky about my pets' care.
So I guess I'm rambling abit, my point is I wouldn't listen to what this know it all says, you know you're a good pet owner, I would think the fact that you just spent $400 on him is a good indication that you are dedicated to his care.

If I remember right my bill came to just under $500, and I only got to leave with a dead cat.

 

[OffSpring]

The problem is that vets have seen and heard of so many cases where animals are genuinely poorly treated and abused by nasty owners.

However the majority of people are super animal friendly and care for and spoil their pets rotten.

The problem is that they try to make this decision within a very short timescale and they very often make the wrong decision because they don't give the benefit of the doubt as they are dealing with potential animal cruelty.

Although the chicken bones, feathers and chocolate wrapper wasn't your fault you are very lucky to get away so lightly in my opinion.

Over here the vet would charge for any "repair" work needed, confiscate your pet, call animal welfare (RSPCA) who would then take you to court and fine you a huge amount of money and then put you on a register banned to keep animals for life.

 

[nccatnip]

Quote:
I doubt this vet tech spent any time in college. Some take a course to be certified as a vet tech, others are just kids that love animals and get a job cleaning kennels and work their way up. Most are well intentioned but some abuse their position of "authority". We have one here we call the "Shot Nazi". I was babysitting a friends dog and it needed vet care to stitch up a puncture wound it got from the other dog. This girl would not let it rest about the shots (3 calls to me at work) even after I explained the owners were in Ca on vacation and I had no way of obtaining the info. I finally had to ask her if they were refusing to do the job if I could not produce the shot record. Nope, dog was already stitched and ready to go home. I did mention this to the vet who admitted the tech was a little over zealous about shots, she now leaves me alone.

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

The last time I called the vet to set up an appointment for my cat, I was so angry and upset when I hung up. The vet we usually go through is a little old man who does it nights and weekends (he was a state vet in his younger days... he's got to be at least 80), and he isn't really set up for much beyond shots and spay/neuters. Anyway, I thought my cat had a urinary blockage, so called him. He suggested I call someone else, since it was a complicated thing. So... I called around. And was SO disappointed. Granted, I only talked to a receptionist, but she kept saying, "It's going to be expensive, you know." "We need the money up front, you know." These people DON'T FREAKIN' KNOW ME. It's not like I had brought a pet to them and didn't PAY! And it wasn't like it mattered what the cost was, if my cat is sick my cat is sick. I was furious the entire day. A previous vet when my dog was a puppy tried to convince me that he'd had his last shots a week ahead of when he should've, and so needed another series. This was a year after the fact.

Thankfully, my story came out better than some, I'm sure. My cat hadn't peed because he didn't have to (if I make a booboo and buy the wrong cat food he pees all over the house. Switch back and he's fine). Gaffer is still here, sweetie that he is. And I'm still looking for a full service vet around here that ACTUALLY cares more about my pet than the ones I've spoken to do.

-Meghan

 

[peepkeeper]

I've been on both sides of this. On the one hand I had the vet (not my regular) who gave me a 20 minute lecture on Why Rabies Is A Bad Thing when I brought in my pets for their regularly scheduled rabies shots.

On the other hand, I used to work for a vet back in my college days, and you wouldn't believe how they get treated. Emergency cases that the client would promise to pay for next week and never did. Pets brought in and dropped off and abandoned there. The client who insisted that her cat lead a vegetarian diet (cats are carnivores and need meat, this cat's teeth were loose from malnutrition) despite everything the vet told her. Clients who blamed the vet when their pet died and refused to pay.

I guess my point is that I've seen both sides and I understand how some vets can be suspicious and sometimes arrogant of new clients. We should take a breath, tell ourselves that either next time will go better or, if our gut is telling us to run, find a new vet. Most are wonderful. And do what the vet tells you to do!

Sorry for the lecture.

 

[bantymum]

I know how you feel, Ive had a couple of nasty encounters too but they were amplified by my stress at the time.
Dont worry, just thank goodness you still have your friend in his cast! He needs your help now!
Perhaps in a few days you will see things in a different light and when you go back to have cast removed you may have another person attending to you or she may even be nice to you !
good luck to you both.