Why have you LEFT a vet and went to another?

[bnwalker2]

I've switched vets several times. The ones I switched from:

1. They didn't have a good "bedside manner".
2. One loved cats but was terrified of any dog bigger than a cat (so why be a vet honestly?).
3. One I left because he was constantly mis-diagnosing animals... not just mine, everyone that went to him had problems with that.

 

[shadowfacedanes]

I left the vet that has seen Hannah since puppyhood because of the staff there. It's a shame, but Dr. A knew all of my quirks about overvaccinating and not doing unneccesary treatments, he knew all of Hannah's quirks and how to handle her, HE was outstanding.

But when I took Corvus in the last time their for his rabies shot, and for the millionth time one of the stupid girls up front said "Well he's due for his blah blah blah as well" and I said "We don't do those. We do a limited vaccine schedule" and then got the whole eye roll thing...well, that sent me into angry land.

However, the death blow was when I went to pay my bill and and they charged me for a combo vacc with LEPTO, bordetella and rabies despite the fact I strictly told them nothing but Rabies.

It's a shame. I had to lose a really good vet over his staff. It not the first time this had happened with the staff. It got so that every time I went in, I dealt with someone new. I knew the first time I went in and someone had to ask me Hannah's name, that the place was going down hill. EVERYONE There at one point knew who Hannah was. Hell, she was there every day for 2 weeks after she bloated.

So, that's why I left my great vet.

 

[CharlieDog]

We used to use the bigger vet clinic around here, but we'd had some problems with them before. Unfortunately they are the only e-vet around, so if it's after hours we STILL have no choice but to go to them.

The kicker for the deal was, when Ozzy was a pup, about seven months old, he contracted parvo. We didn't know what was wrong with him for a few days, and finally decided that he was sick enough to take in. We called ahead to let them know that we were coming with a potentially contagious dog, they asked that we carry him into the clinic and they would have a room waiting for us. Well, fifteen minutes later we get there, tell them who we are, when we called, etc. THEY MADE US SIT DOWN IN THE WAITING ROOM. They only had ONE waiting room, so any dogs in there, and any dogs that came after were potentially exposed to parvo!!! After about fifteen minutes sitting there with Ozzy, holding him because he was shivering and crying, they put us in a room, and left us there for another forty five minutes. No doctors came to see him, nothing. We sat there with the door open listening to the doctors and tech's laugh and chatter in the lobby. Ozzy was visibly getting worse, so we picked him up, walked out, gave them an earful (my mom really let all of them, even the head vet there, have it) and left.

We've never been back, and we tell anyone who has a dog or cat (no exotics) not to take their dog there. We took him down the road to a different hospital, which is not an emergency clinic, and they were about to close, but they let us in, and treated Ozzy. They also worked with us on payment, and helped us out. We would have stayed there, but the vet there didn't know what he was doing, and it fell to the techs to tell us what to do, and what needed to be done.

After a long while searching, a new clinic opened up down the road. They were friendly and nice, and the vet actually knows what he is doing. The techs are all super friendly, and Ozzy loves everyone there. They don't mind if your dog isn't speutered, (Ozzy wasn't until 15 months) and don't give me grief about the food I feed. They don't agree with me about food, but they don't argue with me, and don't push their food on me either. The only thing I don't like about them is that the vet didn't really think that Ivermectin would harm Ozzy or Jett, and tried to get me to buy it. He shut up about it when I told him that the bottom line was better safe than sorry, and they sell me Interceptor without bringing it up anymore.

We'll see how they act when I tell them I don't want any more shots for the dogs, and want to titer them.

 

[Lilavati]

I left my cat only vet, not just because I had a dog (if I'd liked them I'd have kept taking the cats there) but because they were

a) VERY expensive
b) had the habit of taking my cat away to do things to him or her. I really didn't like that. I want to see what you are doing to my pet please, especially if its a bloodless thing like a shot. You're making it harder on the animal, AND I want to know why you think I can't see what you are doing. k thx bye.

I didn't go to a lot of vets I talked to on the phone because I didn't like their attitude when I needed a pet rat put down, but that's another story.

 

[Suzzie]

My original vet of 20 years retired. Since then it's been a crapshoot trying to find a replacement.

The woman who bought his practice charges 2x as much.

i've left a few vets because they told me to feed science diet.

vets that take the animal away to examine are a big no no for me. I used to be a vet assistant - you can examine him in front of me. I'll even hold him.

one of my favorite leavings was when I took popper in for explosive diarrhea - they wanted me to bring a stool sample back in two weeks (for another $30) to make sure he was better. Thanks, I can look at his poo myself and tell whether it is solid or not.

my current vet is impossible to get into... you have to wait at least several days. They've told me my Merlin has fleas - right after I told them I was doing holistic flea treatment this year, proceeds to nit pick through his fur to find something, ANYTHING - and btw, I have not found a single flea, flea egg or any thing, even during baths, that is a flea. Vet swears he has fleas though. I have five dogs - I'm pretty sure at some point I'd see a flea.

i absolutely HATE banfield but they have become my "emergency vet" since my current vet doesn't get you in right away. They push that stupid health program on you, lecture about dental cleaning, and they are expensive.

 

[Suzzie]

oh i just thought of one really disgusting thing a vet made me do once to my poor roofus... all i wanted was antibiotics, and she insisted he didn't need them. She made me insert a syringe into his weewee three times a day with warm distilled water to rinse it out. TWO WEEKS later I was completely disgusted, took him to my old vet's replacement, who gave me antibiotics. Infection cleared up in days. Never went to that vet again. I'm still disgusted.

 

[DanL]

We left the vet that was close by us.

Gunnar was 6 months old and in for his rabies shot. He's behaving as well as a 6 month old GSD can, laying down in the waiting room for a half hour.

They take us back, and want to put him up on the steel table. Why they couldn't bend down and give him the shot on the floor where he's comfortable, I have no idea.

They put him on the table, he's scared due to the surface. They insist on restraining him, for MY safety. The tech literally puts him in a headlock. Her face is inches from his- if he wanted to he could have ripped her open, but all he does is back up to get away from her, his feet sliding around on the table. They finally give him the shot. The tech leaves, and the vet tells me "Your dog needs obedience training". WTF? I could have told him "Down, stay!" and they could have given him the shot without putting him in a headlock. We never went back to them.

I'm not trying to start anything, but I've found that women vets seem to have a problem with their bedside manner more than the men vets I've had. My wife even commented on that as well.

We have a good vet now. It's a pretty large practice and it's a 20 minute ride, but it's worth it. They are in tune with our beliefs about over vaccination, support us feeding raw (you can't argue with results), and are not zealots about neutering.

 

[xpaeanx]

I still haven't found "the vet." But here's my story.

When I turned 16, and got my first car I brought Keeda to the shelter to get rabies. I wasn't making a lot of money at the time and I had to pay for car/clothes/phone/food etc. So I was trying to keep her legal, but on a budget. Anyway, although she wasn't getting an annual, she had her NYS license.

When I was 18, I was walking keeda after work(around 11pm). She was right next to me when she was hit by a car. We were both looking the in the opposite direction. I was looking at what looked like an owl in a tree(I was trying to figure it out) and Keeda was sniffing, and although I saw the lights we were on the other side of the street so I didn't think anything of it(afteral there was a whole lane between us right?) Keeda turned around to look at the car, I was still looking in the other direction and we were both on the grass, so I didn't pull her back. When I realized the car sound was too close, it was too late and she was hit and went under the tire. Carried her back home, and had no idea what to do. I brought her home and my grandpa said we'd find a vet first thing in the morning. I slept on the kitchen floor with her that night. We spent the next day driving until we found an open vet. Anyway, she required special surgery and everything. The whole thing totaled around 5k(thank god for credit cards!). The vet was nice and all, but everytime I went there during her after care, I ALWAYS saw a different vet. Which, it’s one thing if it’s an annual, but this wasn’t… I didn’t like the fact that I had to start over with each vet instead of them knowing what was going on. After it was done, and she was back to annuals I started looking for a different vet.

So at 19, I tried one of the “affordable†vet care places (I was still not making a lot of money AND I had a crapload of debt). The receptionist was EXTREMELY rude, I don’t think I heard one nice thing out of her mouth. I went in for an annual and had requested, rabies, hw and distemper. That was it. In the exam the vet said that he was going to “vaccinate her now.†So I thought, ok. When I paid the bill, I found out they gave her lymes and lepto, and they required boosters in 2 weeks. I was very angry!

At this point I had started bartending(which was decent money, and it was only a few days), I adopted Bailey, and decided to get a job at a vet, so the vet care would be cheaper. That’s when I met the vet I use now. Although I got a much better job, and no longer work there, I still go to him. BUT, even though I worked there, and he knows me, he still forgets my dog’s names or how old they are… and it’s ON THEIR CHARTS!

A friend of mine got a puppy, but she was moving so I was taking care of it for a few months, and she was recommended a holistic vet. I ended up taking the dog, because I had it during the time it needed shots(7-10m). I thought if I liked him I would start bringing mine there. She asked me about giving shots, and I recommended to her to get rabies(bc it’s required by law), distemper and bord(bc if a place is going to require vaccines it’s going to be these). When I brought the dog to the HOLISTIC vet, he gave them anyway(all at the same time), and didn’t even ASK me! And when I had asked for bord, he wa like “Why, that doesn’t even work?â€

 

[Laurelin]

We left one vet we'd been at a long time because with Rosie they messed up saving her remains and then sent them to the WRONG lab which the end result was rabies shots for the whole family... then the hospital used the wrong needles to inject us with (much bigger) so yeah.... that wasn't fun.

Then we left another vet because Nik had been sick for a long time with this upper respiratory thing. Months later and still nothing had changed and we got sick of it so we went to Scout's vet (the only exotics vet in town). Within a couple days, Nik was fine. That vet also suggested more about her arthritis and told us the meds the other vet had her on was preventing weight loss and aggravating her heart condition. So we just switched everyone over to them.

 

[Megansmom]

We left one vet we'd been at a long time because with Rosie they messed up saving her remains and then sent them to the WRONG lab which the end result was rabies shots for the whole family... then the hospital used the wrong needles to inject us with (much bigger) so yeah.... that wasn't fun.

Then we left another vet because Nik had been sick for a long time with this upper respiratory thing. Months later and still nothing had changed and we got sick of it so we went to Scout's vet (the only exotics vet in town). Within a couple days, Nik was fine. That vet also suggested more about her arthritis and told us the meds the other vet had her on was preventing weight loss and aggravating her heart condition. So we just switched everyone over to them.

Can I ask what happened that you needed to get rabies shots? Sounds awful!

I certainly feel blessed that we have such a wonderful clinic/group of vets after reading some of these stories.

 

[Love4Pits]

I left my first vet when he punched one of my dogs in the face....RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! It was actually when Hitch was a puppy and he was mouthing the vets hand. I apologized and corrected him once but the second time the vet clocked him right on the head and sent Hitch into a yelping crying fit. I walked out of that office right at that moment and refused to pay.

My next vet wasent much better. She was rough of my dogs and was constantly saying what a shame it was that they weren't "real" pets. She did have knowledge or racing Huskies and the kind of care they needed but she also had a chip on her shoulder. I wasent with her long because of this. She also charged and arm and a leg.

My current vet is AMAZING. The only downside would be his age. He is well into his late 60s and isn't of the best health. But he is an ex musher and understands where im coming from when I bring in my dogs. He is great with them all and they all love him. He is gentle and understands every one is different. He also loves my two Pitbulls Tundra and Babe. He is one of Babes very favorite people actually . He also doesent charge insane amounts for care either which is nice.

 

[sparks19]

ugh. that is SO the kind of stories that come out of our local e-clinic. our evening receptionist used to work weekends at the e-clinic. she was just saying yesterday about a dog whose owner cut a nail really really short and they couldn't get it to stop bleeding. she said she begged these people to not bring the dog in, suggested flour, corn starch, a sock over the foot, etc. they brought the dog in and their bill was over $500. for a toenail cut too short. that's disgusting.

your average client doesn't know what's needed and what's not. they're trusting the vet to lead them in the right direction. it makes me sick to my stomach the way that so many of them are taken advantage of because they're trying to do right by their animals.

ETA: LOL i just remembered you're in lancaster, so that probably WAS our local e-clinic!

LOL is it called PETS- Pet Emergency Treatment Services... yeah they suck

I didn't realize you were in the same area

 

[elegy]

yup, PETS is the place. i hope i never have to go there, but at least there *is* an e-clinic. and it's not that they do bad medicine, it's that they want to do everything possible and then more, necessary or not. $$$$$

 

[sparks19]

I agree. if I had an emergency I would still go there and be confident that my pet would receive care... it just might cost me my first born lol. I wasn't too keen on the fact that they were so quick to want to put teddy under anesthesia without even looking at the cut.

 

[ACooper]

I left my first vet when he punched one of my dogs in the face....RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! It was actually when Hitch was a puppy and he was mouthing the vets hand. I apologized and corrected him once but the second time the vet clocked him right on the head and sent Hitch into a yelping crying fit. I walked out of that office right at that moment and refused to pay.

My next vet wasent much better. She was rough of my dogs and was constantly saying what a shame it was that they weren't "real" pets. She did have knowledge or racing Huskies and the kind of care they needed but she also had a chip on her shoulder. I wasent with her long because of this. She also charged and arm and a leg.

My current vet is AMAZING. The only downside would be his age. He is well into his late 60s and isn't of the best health. But he is an ex musher and understands where im coming from when I bring in my dogs. He is great with them all and they all love him. He is gentle and understands every one is different. He also loves my two Pitbulls Tundra and Babe. He is one of Babes very favorite people actually . He also doesent charge insane amounts for care either which is nice.

:yikes: OMG! That is HORRIBLE! Did he offer any excuse or apology? (even later in the mail?) I mean NOT that there IS an excuse for such behavior.......I was just wondering how he attempted to justify it

Me leaving and not paying would probably be the least of it!!

 

[MyHorseMyRules]

My worst experience was also an E Vet. They were another of the ones who won't let owners go back with their dogs. They just take the dogs, and the owners have to wait out in the waiting room. Well, I threw a fit, though that's quite an understatement. I'm sure I made quite a few enemies, as I kept it up until they eventually moved all their needed stuff into a little room so I could be in there with her. They tried several times after that, though, to take her back away from me into the back room to give her things like IVs. I made them bring all that into the room and told them she wasn't leaving my sight. The rest of the time, they talked down to me and acted like I was not only a bad owner but also a complete moron. Then, they tried to charge me for all this crap I didn't need and wouldn't explain what it was. So, I called my mom and listed the stuff off to her, and she told me what I did and did not need. I love my mom. I'm sure the vets there hate her now. lol

 

[smkie]

BEcause if i had listened to what he said, and if Zoom hadn't found Mary a second opinion with the vet she has now, she would have been pts. I wish him the same medical service he is handing out.

THe only time i changed vets before that was when the vet i was seeing got so greedy he charged more for a spoon and wrap the the er charged to set my son's arm. I paid him the same amount the human er charged and never went back.

Good for you Myhorsemyules, i would throw a fit too. No one is taking my animal back without me.
I had an er vet that refused to put a puppy down because i didn't have 250 cash on me. I had 75, it was every last dime i had, i could have gotten the rest within a week. THat 8 week puppy died in my lap on the way home and it died hard. THat was 30 years ago and i still haven't gotten over it.

 

[~Jessie~]

Oh geez... we've been to SO many... let me count them...

The final number... we're on number SIX in TWO years :yikes:

The first one we went to was overpriced, and we found out that one of the vet tech's had killed a couple of dogs out of pure negligence.

We tried Banfield after that, which was a mistake. We broke our contracts partway through the year.

After that we started going to the vet that Ian worked at (he worked there for a few months a couple of years ago)... there was a lot of drama there, and one of the vets was so stressed a couple of dogs died due to his negligence.

The next vet was recommended to us... we had Chloe spayed there. They were terrible. Chloe STILL has a really bad spay scar. They also told us that the food we fed (Timberwolf at the time, I think) was bad and we needed to feed Science Diet.

After that we tried another recommended vet... however, they had an entire store full of SD and lectured us about vaccines and food. They wouldn't let us follow the vaccine schedule that we wanted.

So after that we looked up holistic vets online, and found our vet. I'm not too happy with them, but I like how they do limited vaccines and titers, and sell raw rather than the normal vet foods.

 

[skittledoo]

The biggest reason why I left my last vet was because Goober had been scratching at his ears really bad and I thought he might have mites since he had tiny dusty specks in his ears... the vet didn't seem to think it was a big deal and said, "meh.. his ears look alright to me"

I took him to another vet who ran a full panel on his ears and the results came back that he had a major ear infection. Because the other vet never fully examined or took ear swab tests on Goober... his ear infection had gotten worse.

Needless to say that vet will never ever see my animals set foot through his door ever again.

 

[Laurelin]

Can I ask what happened that you needed to get rabies shots? Sounds awful!

I certainly feel blessed that we have such a wonderful clinic/group of vets after reading some of these stories.

Well, I had a puppy when I was a kid that started seizing suddenly like so bad she'd start biting whatever she could get to. she was foaming at the mouth and just.... not pretty at all. She was in the vet's and they never figured out what was wrong, but she got worse and we decided to put her down.

She had been through all but her last round of puppy shots (very young pup when she died). So to test for rabies, they'd keep the head (this is gross I realize) and send it off to do some sort of analysis with the brain. (?) Anyways, the vet office was 99.9% positive it wasn't rabies since she'd had a rabies shot. But they were supposed to send it off to a lab, but sent it the wrong place, the place opened it up and then contaminated the samples somehow so we get told they 'don't know if it's rabies or not'. Soooo.... we and everyone who had contacted the dog ever had to go in for rabies shots. Well, the hospital giving the shots messed up them and used a needle that was literally twice as big as it should be on us.

All around, not a good experience. We ended up receiving some monetary compensation for all that.