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veterinarian-client relationship

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  autumn_kisses 
#1 ·
I suspect most of us have a pretty good working relationship with our vets. Sometimes I'm amazed at the patience of my veterinarian when people call to get refills on prescriptions saying, "well it seems like the same thing Rover had a couple of years ago, do I have to bring him in to be seen?"

Here's a couple of articles from the veterinarian's point of view:

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE MOST PET OWNERS MAKE?

Do-it-yourselfer redefines medicine

Do you bring youR two-legged kids along when you bring your pooch to the vet? Want to know what the vet thinks? Dr. Hardway no match for rugrats

[ June 06, 2004, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: Barbara Winters ]
 
G
#2 ·
On the other side of the coin, though, is the vet with whom you think you've built up a relationship with over the years who starts to nickle and dime you for every, single little thing. My vet is building a new clinic right across the street from me. She's changed the design a few times already, the project has been a total eyesore for 3 years (not to mention the fact that one of her construction companies has knocked my phone wires down twice!)and the inconvenience of cleaning up my yard of construction materials every day has strained our relationship to say the least. Last week I brought Franny over to get the pressure in his right eye checked, we were there for three minutes and we were charged $70. I'm just venting, I know, but relationships of all ilk are a two way street.
 
#3 ·
My vet of 17 years just retired after a long illness. I had to bring my old sick cat to a new vet. She ordered 3 tons of tests, which I payed in full for, but I told her I thought the tests alone might kill the cat. She called two days later to tell me the tests results were fine and she had some more tests to do, I told her my cat is dead! Thats my vent. Now I have to find my 3rd vet for the year.

Joan
 
#4 ·
I had a wonderful vet ten minutes up the road for years. My sister and I both were some of his first clients, and we were happy to have him care for our animals. We weren't nuts about his partner, but we usually had no problem getting in to see Mike.

Then he built a new, state-of-the-art clinic :eek: . The fees more than doubled, and nothing was done without an office visit. I remember the shock I had when I went to pick up more Heartguard because I had initially bought a 3-month supply and the 3 months were up. I was told the dog would have to be re-tested :eek: !

That's when I switched vets. We have to drive 1/2 hour now, and I worry about that in an emergency, but I don't feel we're being scalped or taken advantage of. Everyone is nice, and they're always happy to see Charlie and Matilda walk through their door. When Tilly's mystery illness struck in December, there was no hesitation on my new vet's part when she advised me to go to Tufts where they have the equipment she doesn't -- she clearly had Matilda's best interest at heart.

A good vet, one you can trust, is just as important as a good pediatrician -- in a way, they're both doing the same job: caring for our children.....
 
#5 ·
The week that "state of the art clinic" opened we were having a specialty show right down the street. My vet stoped there on the way to the show to introduce herself and asked if they would take an emergency for whom transport would be risky and they refused. I think this would have been a violation of our states " code of professional coduct" for veterinarians.

You don't have to go to a several million dollar state of the art veterinary hospital to get "state of the art" treatment. Glad you've found a new doctor for your younger kids, Aruuuu. ;)
 
#6 ·
We take our pets to the Sakonnet Vetinary Clinic in our town. They've always been copassionate with my kids (after all - except for Moe, the kids are the reason we have so many pets :) ).

My girls recently spent eight days carefully caring for an abandoned newborn kitten (three days old or so, according to the vet), buying all the formula and nursing supplies themselves, waking up diring the night every four hours to feed it, and even learning how to stimulate the elimination of wastes and burping it. Despite all that, on Friday the kitten developed a respiratory infection and stopped nursing, struggling for every breath it took. One of my girls took it to the vet, insisting on paying for the office visit and whatever medicine the kitten might need. The vet told her that, because it was so young and so sick, the kindest thing to do was to put it to 'sleep' (after very kindly explaining that they had done a great job caring for the kitten and the fact that it got sick had nothing to do with the care they gave it). He even hugged her when she cried. Then they only charged her for the euthanasia, though she was prepared to pay for everything.

We love our vet.

Terry
 
#8 ·
Hi Arruu,
I noticed you're from Central Ma, as am I. If you don't mind me asking, who is your vet? We're looking to change vets, preferably a little closer.

THANKS
Jen
 
#9 ·
The articles were interesting, and the one about children DOES make a LOT of sense (I have 3, all grown and have kids of their own). But, the vet we have now, as far as we can see, is awesome. We rescued our houndie, Josie, from the local humane (using term loosely) society and took her a few days later for a full checkup, and we requested tests for everything: heartworm, and intestinal parasites. She got shots as well, and we bought Frontline Plus for her.

She was: heartworm positive, whipworm & hookworm positive, and both ears were infected.

She was slightly HW positive, and they gave her the 6mos preventive shot and scheduled her for first treatment a few days later. All in all the cost of everything comes out to be a little above $600. She gave us some of the worm meds free because she says she tries to help out those who come in with rescues. We fell in love with her at that very moment. And, they're letting us pay in stages as we go.

So far we've been VERY impressed with our vet & the clinic. They spoiled Josie rotten when she was there for her treatment. And you know, this is a walk-in clinic, too. There are a lot of vets on staff. The only appointments they usually require are for the major stuff like HW treatment or surgeries.

I think we got very lucky with the Rehm clinic here. DR. Sheila is an angel.

Sorry so long, but a good vet is very important to us. Oh... and I agree that people should really have a good working relationship with their vet.
 
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