Not bad dog, BAD VET

[Tex]

Ok, I don't want to break any rules here, but I HAVE to share this with ya'll. There's a post on another board (some of you may have read it), and I'll copy it to here if that's ok.......this poor woman made the hard decision to put her doxie to sleep. He was suffering from arthritis and it was his time to go. I'll try to paraphrase in my own words here. She gets to the vet after a very hard car ride with her dog only to be informed AT THAT TIME that if she wants to hold her little one while they give him the shot, she has to have an appointment!!! The next appointment was 4 days away & she didn't have the money for YET ANOTHER office visit. She had to give her little one to a vet tech./nurse type person who took the dog into another room. First, I cried my eyes out reading her story. Then I got pissed. How could a vet office do this??? She tried to argue with them about being there to hold him. They hid behind the whole "it's policy" b.s. So I tried to rationalize this. Ok, what if this woman called to ask about the cost, but didn't specifically ask about being there to hold her dog? Answer, any vets office worth anything (in my book atleast) would have a standard list of info. to give out concerning this topic, which would include that "you need an appointment" thing. Ok, what if she looked up prices on the internet and never actually talked to a person? Answer, how bloody hard is it to post the necessary info. on the same website where one would find prices!!! It's obviously not too hard to put stuff on the web. I figured out how to do it, anyone can. I just got so mad after reading this story (I figure mad is better than crying hysterically all day). I had to share this. If ya'll want a copy of her story, I can copy it to a post here. I wasn't sure it that was in the rules or not and I'm too upset/angry to think clearly about it right now. Does this bug anyone else???!!!!

[Alex's Mom]

Yup. I read the same story, and cried a lot too. I was also pissed off with the lack of compassion at the vet office, but frankly, I also thought that given how upset the dog was, she should have taken him out of there and done some more investigating. It's such a hard time, and hard to think clearly though. But there's no power on earth that would keep me away from my furkids when their time comes. As Cat has pointed out in another thread, just like with humans, preplanning is an excellent, if difficult, idea!!

[Tex]

That's why I'm so glad we have great people on a wonderful site in help us plan for things like this. I found Cat's thread after I posted this one. As the mudder of a 2 year old pupper, this is not something I had given a lot of thought to. I just feel REALLY bad for the woman in the story!

[areese]

I DID feel really bad for her but I also don't understand why she didn't ask for specifics ahead of time. Since it was arthritis, it wasn't sudden, it wasn't an emergency, and she had time to think and plan the best way to take care of this for the dog. I know nobody wants to think about that but when you have a chronically sick or elderly dog, you HAVE to. Actually I don't know how you can help thinking about it with an old dog. I worried about not doing it "right"-choosing the right time, not waiting too long...not knowing when....not being able to handle it. I could only ask the vet like ONE question about it each time I went in cuz I'd cry. But I was in quite often with my 16 year old arthritic cockerpoo angel so I had all the information. I knew they would come to the house, I knew what the medication was, I knew she would be in my arms when she left. I didn't cry until she was gone cuz I wouldn't let her last minutes be ones of worry or fear. I wanted her only to feel love.
I also know my vet would have NEVER not let me be with her even if I didn't have an appointment. And I took a friend's cat to be euthanized cuz she couldn't...just took him to the humane society and they let me stay with him during.... So I don't understand that vet's "policy" at all, either.
god I still miss my Kerby....

[Tex]

Being able to be a little more objective now. I will put some of the blame back on the owner, because getting info. is part of being a responsible pet owner. Now I'm just POed at that vet's particular policy and their lack of flexiblity......I wonder how some of these people sleep at night. I could never look at someone in this woman's situation and say "I'm sorry, it's our policy."

[areese]

A couple of weekends ago, my friend's dog went "down". Laid down and couldn't get up again. Of course on a Friday evening. Now this friend was in pretty much complete denial that she was gonna have to put Nicki down. I couldn't even LOOK at the dog...she was 12 and a large lab and her arthritis was just HORRIBLE. My friend had her on various meds and took good care of her but refused to discuss the end although I talked to her about it. Just siad Nicki was gonna live forever. So anyway, after a couple of days of trying to take care of this dog who can no longer walk, she remembers my conversation telling her how my vet came to the house and all...she calls the emergency number at my vet and even though it wasn't her vet (her vet said wait until monday and then that she would have to bring her in) and the fact that Dr. Bobby doesn't really do house calls anymore, she drove out to my friend's house on a SUNDAY and looked at her dog and then euthanised dear Nicki for them.
I dunno if my vet is up on all the new stuff and she prob. still says to vaccinate every year, but she has the heart and caring and love for animals that really makes a good vet, I think.

[Tex]

Sounds like you have a great vet there Amy! Tell her I said so next time you go in, will ya? Wonderful people in professions like this don't get enough recognition. We only end up discussing the people who AREN'T caring enough.

[lotsadox]

I've never heard of suich a thing! Why would you have to have an appt to be with your pet when it was pts? My vet did one of mine on the spur of the moment in the regular visit room with me holding her on my lap. She just put and IV in and gave her the drugs? What's the magic about whether or not you are there? Why does that constitute having to have an appt? That vet should be kicked in the butt! Where's her/his compassion for animals and people? I understand policies, but shouldn't the feelings of the humans and animals be more important than words on paper? After all that's really all polices are. If you can't do better than that, you shouldn't be in the business. JMHO. Okay, I'm stepping off my soapbox now.

My vet has a limited practice. No surgery or major injuries (unless they are emergencies). She's only open on Sat a month. Yet when Pebbles was dying, she told me she would keep her pager on and to call her over the weekend if Pebbles got worse and I needed her to come in to put her to sleep. There was no "extra" or "appt" to be there with her. That was a given.

[catstamm]

I'm gonna plead the 5th on this one..... lots of different thoughts.....I hope Jack Daniels is resting well in heaven....:angel7:

[Patt]

I am truly sorry to hear all that this woman had to go through. Since I wasn’t there though, it’s really hard to say exactly what happened. Unfortunately, this story like most must be considered hearsay. With that caveat in mind, I can only tell you what would have happened if she had walked into the clinic where I work. If anyone calls in ahead for information concerning our “PTS” procedure, euthanasia and ‘after care’ prices are quoted and an appointment is made. If anyone with this problem walks in without an appointment, they will not be turned away. If their problem isn’t an emergency and the examination rooms are already occupied, they would be asked to wait for a few minutes until the doctor could meet with them. Otherwise they would be seen immediately.

Let me say however, each situation is different and must be handled based upon both the animal’s needs and availability of staff. Veterinary hospitals are there to help animals; procedures however may vary from one to another. No one though, should ever be turned away or forced to be coldly parted from a pet in distress.

[Tex]

Upon lengthy thought and discussion, I have come to the conclusion that the woman in this story was either SERIOUSLY emotionaly distrought, or just kinda dumb. I know that NONE of us would ever hand over any of our fur-babies to someone else to be pts. I thank everyone for calmly pointing out flaws in this woman's story, and not jumping on me for becoming instantly upset. Now, I just feel sorry for her pup.......

[laura]

I wish a huge hemorhoid on that vet!

[Nancy]

I havent heard of this story before, but my heart goes out to her. Two years ago when I had to put Ezra down, I had to make an appointment. I didnt think it was out of the ordinary to have to make an appointment for such a thing.......

Anyways, it's a sad story and I hope this woman is feeling a little bit better everyday that passes.