Experience with veterinarian (long). Your opinion please.
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:57 pm
Changed vets after several years a few weeks ago. How this guy stays in business is beyond me. Seemed to have found a new one - young guy from my hometown, State graduate, duck hunter, easy to get along with. First time met him was to put our 17 year-old datchund down. Which bring me back to the previous vet.
So back in April call this previous vet, tell him the old dog was sick and what could be done on weekend. Hadn't eaten, drank, done his business, hardly moved in a couple of days. He says no problem, call his pager, he'll swing by and put dog he's seen for years down if needed. SOB hasn't called back yet. So we go to a stranger, shell out too much money, hand the dog to stranger that administers the shot, and we bury the 14 year-old member of our family in the back yard. I felt ashamed for having waited too long and for having had a stranger have to do it.
Fast forward to October. Go by and tell the vet's clerk - can we reserve a date and time for this ancient little datchund y'all have seen for years, two weeks from today? Sure. We can count on you, the doc will be here - because it really disappointed me last time to the point only reason I'm here is because of my wife. No problem she reiterates, guaranteed. Just too personal for strangers I told her. She said she understood. So I schedule a tooth cleaning for Delta while I'm there for morning of "the day".
It's tough. Every morning I'm cognizant of the dog's impending day. The wife can't talk about it without tears the whole time. Still, really. She even went by vet to double check, no problem he assured her, he'd even come by the house after work to take care of it. He came into our lives the first year we dated, nearly 2 decades ago. Never picked up a duck in his life, but he’s like family. So there’s this situation, an impending death sentence, an awkwardness in the whole week. Wife swings him by Sonic everyday for French fries. And the day arrives. At noon wife calls in tears: Dammned clerk had called and left voicemail within a couple hours of the event. Says doc left “sick” can't do it, says maybe it can wait till next week, hangs up.
Went by to get Delta as well as the sick lizard one of the kids had taken up there (I know, but you’ll understand when you have kids). Doc is gone, a technician says that SHE hasn’t (put Delta under) and cleaned her teeth, that I’ll need to come back. Me thinking WTF I thought vets had to be on hand when your dog got put under anesthesia, say Nope, ain’t happening. Not here, not now, not ever. Give me my dog, give me the lizard, I told you where we stood last time I was in here and don’t appreciate the way it was handled; neither my family nor anyone we ever speak to will be back in here. Tell the doc to call if he wants to know how I really feel. I was seething, but didn’t drop f bombs. Pretty sure anyway. Turns out the lizard had died and they had disposed of it. Try explaining THAT one to a kid. SOB vet hasn't called for that opinion yet.
Call new vet to explain. Set appointment that same afternoon. Nice people. The family says good bye. Sad, sad. I take our old buddy up there. New staff seemed to understand the whole personal nature and gravity of it. It was just like watching an old friend fall asleep in my arms. New vet refuses to charge me, said it's against their policy. Buried next to the old dog we buried in April.
New vet cleans Delta’s teeth, and before putting her under requests medical records. Calls with questions: did you know she hasn’t had this or that? That she’s not been tested for this or that? Impossible, the ex vet’s office has written TWO health certificates for Canada duck hunts in just the last 2 month. True, she says. Has she been on heart worm preventives? Absolutely. You bought them from that vet? Yep. Did you know they’re not supposed to sell heart worm preventatives without regularly testing the dog? I thought she’d been tested. New vet says it’s ok to wait until February, because she’s on the low side. But that she definitely has heartworms.
Your opinions please: SHOULD I HAVE DROPPED THE F BOMB OR WHAT?
So back in April call this previous vet, tell him the old dog was sick and what could be done on weekend. Hadn't eaten, drank, done his business, hardly moved in a couple of days. He says no problem, call his pager, he'll swing by and put dog he's seen for years down if needed. SOB hasn't called back yet. So we go to a stranger, shell out too much money, hand the dog to stranger that administers the shot, and we bury the 14 year-old member of our family in the back yard. I felt ashamed for having waited too long and for having had a stranger have to do it.
Fast forward to October. Go by and tell the vet's clerk - can we reserve a date and time for this ancient little datchund y'all have seen for years, two weeks from today? Sure. We can count on you, the doc will be here - because it really disappointed me last time to the point only reason I'm here is because of my wife. No problem she reiterates, guaranteed. Just too personal for strangers I told her. She said she understood. So I schedule a tooth cleaning for Delta while I'm there for morning of "the day".
It's tough. Every morning I'm cognizant of the dog's impending day. The wife can't talk about it without tears the whole time. Still, really. She even went by vet to double check, no problem he assured her, he'd even come by the house after work to take care of it. He came into our lives the first year we dated, nearly 2 decades ago. Never picked up a duck in his life, but he’s like family. So there’s this situation, an impending death sentence, an awkwardness in the whole week. Wife swings him by Sonic everyday for French fries. And the day arrives. At noon wife calls in tears: Dammned clerk had called and left voicemail within a couple hours of the event. Says doc left “sick” can't do it, says maybe it can wait till next week, hangs up.
Went by to get Delta as well as the sick lizard one of the kids had taken up there (I know, but you’ll understand when you have kids). Doc is gone, a technician says that SHE hasn’t (put Delta under) and cleaned her teeth, that I’ll need to come back. Me thinking WTF I thought vets had to be on hand when your dog got put under anesthesia, say Nope, ain’t happening. Not here, not now, not ever. Give me my dog, give me the lizard, I told you where we stood last time I was in here and don’t appreciate the way it was handled; neither my family nor anyone we ever speak to will be back in here. Tell the doc to call if he wants to know how I really feel. I was seething, but didn’t drop f bombs. Pretty sure anyway. Turns out the lizard had died and they had disposed of it. Try explaining THAT one to a kid. SOB vet hasn't called for that opinion yet.
Call new vet to explain. Set appointment that same afternoon. Nice people. The family says good bye. Sad, sad. I take our old buddy up there. New staff seemed to understand the whole personal nature and gravity of it. It was just like watching an old friend fall asleep in my arms. New vet refuses to charge me, said it's against their policy. Buried next to the old dog we buried in April.
New vet cleans Delta’s teeth, and before putting her under requests medical records. Calls with questions: did you know she hasn’t had this or that? That she’s not been tested for this or that? Impossible, the ex vet’s office has written TWO health certificates for Canada duck hunts in just the last 2 month. True, she says. Has she been on heart worm preventives? Absolutely. You bought them from that vet? Yep. Did you know they’re not supposed to sell heart worm preventatives without regularly testing the dog? I thought she’d been tested. New vet says it’s ok to wait until February, because she’s on the low side. But that she definitely has heartworms.
Your opinions please: SHOULD I HAVE DROPPED THE F BOMB OR WHAT?
