I fired my longterm vet (surgery, treatment, rescues, euthanize)
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My four pets are rescues and seniors. Their vet took care of them for over four years. My priorities when choosing my vets are: a relationship with me and my pets will be seen quickly if injured or hurt. Each fifteen minute annual visit for shots and exam was over $250. I could get the same shots for under $50 at a local Pet store.
Sunday evening I observed one of my dogs had a half golf ball sized swelling on his leg and we saw no injury to cause it. I went to my vet on Tuesday morning, as Monday the vet office was closed, to have it assessed.The receptionist said the schedule was full and I would have to wait, perhaps hours, to see a vet if they could fit me in. I declined and found another vet to see him within the hour.
I changed our vet to the one who could see our pet. If I'm going to pay a premium for shots I expected our vet office to see my pet on a timely basis. I feel bad for being so impatient, but the vet office didn't care about our pet's history with the office.
What would you have done?
Last edited by texan2yankee; 09-08-2016 at 07:57 PM..
It was the day after a long weekend. The possibility of a full schedule was predictable. Did you call before dropping in? If you had, the probability is that you could have been given a time later in the day to come in, perhaps after the last scheduled patient. Since you had already waited two days, I presume your dog was not in distress.
When my vet who I have been using since since about 1990 is too busy and I have something I feel needs to be seen ASAP they give me the option of just dropping off my dog and leaving him so the vet can take a look at the dog when he has a few minutes. Then I pick the dog up later. That said I have had a one of the vets give up her lunch because one dog had a foxtail and required a minor surgery to find it and get it out.
The other time I was taking a LOA to take care of my dying mother who lived 120 miles away but had to come back into town to get some things. I had noticed a lump on one of my dogs legs had suddenly started growing fast so I called them the day before and told them the situation they said they had no appointments available but if I could drop him off when I got to town and leave him someone could look at it. I did that and when I went to pick him up the vet said he felt we should get it off asap so I told him I would have my parents vet do it. He said " when are you heading out of town?" and I told him after dinner so he said in that case leave him and He will take it off later after they closed using a local as he thought my parents vent would probably put the dog under to do it and he did not feel that was necessary. I left him and picked him up after hours when the vet called and told me to come get him and no the vet did not charge me extra in either case.
I love my vets ( there are several at the clinic) but they are VERY busy and often do not accept new patients as they just do not have the time. You can never get an appointment on the same day you call but as I said frequently they will give you the drop the pet off option. While they close at 6 PM on weekdays and 5PM on weekends ( they are open 7days a week) I know my favorite vet is often still there at 10 or 11 PM doing things he could not get too during his busy day and how most of them give up lunches to look at things that got added to full schedules so I myself would never be upset if they told me we just can not see you today so if you think it can not wait go to the emergency vet in town.Maybe being in the medical field I really understand how their days can go as you can already be scheduled for a full day then some type of emergency happens an now you are hours behind. I appreciate my vets big time and they all know I do!
I've taken one of my cats to another vet if my regular vet was booked up and an emergency came up; however, after the emergency was over I went back to the regular vet. The only time I changed was when my regular vet performed a procedure on an elderly cat without pain meds and then the ear swelled up. After I took her to another vet and had to have the procedure repeated (under anesthesia), I then changed her to that vet until she passed away. I won't normally change vets unless they perform poorly with the animals; I don't think your vet's busy schedule and your lack of notice rises to that level, IMHO.
I hope your little dog is alright. I have switched Dr.s and dentists several times if scheduling was too difficult or I thought they were money grubbers. You made the right decision for you based on the information in your post.
Our vet group doesn't take appointments. I used to think it was a pain to have to go and wait, but realistically, we're usually put in a room within 15 minutes. First come, first served. If you go mid-afternoon during the week, there's rarely a wait at all. I've waited far longer for vets that take appointments.
All they ask is that if your pet has something that might spread to other animals, to call ahead and use the back entrance. You can also call ahead for a euthanasia appointment, and in that case you are given a room immediately.
My four pets are rescues and seniors. Their vet took care of them for over four years. My priorities when choosing my vets are: a relationship with me and my pets will be seen quickly if injured or hurt. Each fifteen minute annual visit for shots and exam was over $250. I could get the same shots for under $50 at a local Pet store.
Sunday evening I observed one of my dogs had a half golf ball sized swelling on his leg and we saw no injury to cause it. I went to my vet on Tuesday morning, as Monday the vet office was closed, to have it assessed.The receptionist said the schedule was full and I would have to wait, perhaps hours, to see a vet if they could fit me in. I declined and found another vet to see him within the hour.
I changed our vet to the one who could see our pet. If I'm going to pay a premium for shots I expected our vet office to see my pet on a timely basis. I feel bad for being so impatient, but the vet office didn't care about our pet's history with the office.
What would you have done?
Seeing as how your priorities were not met changing vets would seem reasonable, especially since you don't seem to have a particularly deep relationship with them at 15 minutes a year. You are paying for a service, and if that provider doesn't meet your needs but you find another one that does, you shouldn't feel bad about switching.
In Kentucky my vet practice had one or two of their six vets that did walk-ins each day, so no one had to make appointments, although you risked occasional longish waits. They set it up that way because they didn't just do pets, they also did large working animals, including million dollar horses, and there were times they needed to be able to drop everything to take care of those animals. The rest of the vets did appointments. I got spoiled, they were probably at the top of the things I missed most when we moved.
The first vet I went to up here I was not happy with at all and ended up shopping around until I landed with the ones use now. I have to travel a bit more than I would like to get there but it is worth it to me to feel comfortable with my pets' care. Usually they can fit my really old fellow in as long as I am not picky about which of the vets I want him to see. They did have me drop my dog off once when I felt he needed to be seen and another time they sent us to the local emergency vet (very pricey). I do think practices with multiple vets generally have a lot more flexibility about fitting in urgent care, so I plan on sticking with that type of practice if we move again.
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That is why there are emergency vet centers. If it was an emergency ask for the phone number of the closest one, then go there. Hope your pet is okay.
I live more than an hour away from the nearest emergency vet (in another state). But my vet, and others in town will meet you in the middle of the night, for an extra charge.
OP, I have worked for many vets and the truth is unless they really know you - like you have a sick dog that comes in weekly, and has tons of (usually expensive) treatments you are really not going to be on their radar. Unless they happen to fall in love with said pet. YMMV but even clinic staff are more attentive to pets/owners they know.
The fact that you pay $250 for an annual means a Lot to you, but it doesn't mean anything to them. It is a lot to me too, a lot period. Vets that charge more, or have fancier clinics are not my choice.
From past experience I know that - especially after a holiday, if I want my pet seen I will call after hours and pay the charge. I tell everyone the same thing. I agree drop offs can be a good idea, but I hate doing it, and haven't had to in years.
Recently a friend of a friend had an ancient dog that was dying on a Sunday night and they couldn't afford the extra charge, so I told her to leave a message saying she would be waiting in the morning (just in case anyone checked) and then to drive to sit in front of the clinic at 7 am for an hour to see if they could have the dog euthanized as soon as they arrived. This had been a healthy 16 year old dog, and they had no vet relationship, so they were going to be hard pressed anyway. But euthanasia usually doesn't get in the way first thing at a clinic.
My little dog had a lump, and they got me in the next day. I was frantic, of course, but didn't want to go anywhere but my vet. It ended up not being an emergency, but it took about a month to diagnose cancer when the lump wasn't going away....
How did it go with the new vet, was it a successful appointment? That is what is really important! Stay with them if you are happy with them.
So they should have pushed aside other people's scheduled appointments to accommodate your dog for what doesn't seem to have been an urgent emergency? When I need my dog seen on the day I discover a problem, I call the vet office to ask when they have time that day. They can almost always fit me in, but not necessarily right away. If I deem the issue urgent and my normal vet can't see me immediately, I go to the ER vet.
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