Veterinarians, Partners with you on your dog's well-being

[selzer]

It always makes me a bit nervous when I see advice I think is potentially dangerous, whether veterinary or training or in breeding/raising puppies.

[lzver]

I never really considered how important a relationship / partnership with your vet is until we got Jake. He spent the first 9 months of his life struggling with digestive issues and then allergies and at one point we were in at the vet every week.

The clinic we go to is a smaller clinic with 3 vets in a rural setting. I did price comparisons before getting Jake and while they weren't the cheapest, they certainly weren't the most expensive.

At the end of the day, I turned to the internet for assistance in trying to resolve Jake's problems. I always came with questions and after time I started to trust that the vets in our clinic were quite competent, because they usually brought things up before I had a chance ... especially with the EPI conversation and they knew it could be common in GSD's.

I always appreciated that our vet would work with us to find the cheapest route for diagnostic tests and they even threw a couple in for free when we were spending hundreds of dollars there each week (including special canned dog food).

They didn't always have the answers when we were there in the office for a visit. But they would consult with the other vets in the clinic and in some cases consult with colleagues online and were prompt in getting back to me with answers. And the number of times I was able to leave messages and they promptly called me back to save me yet another visit to the office.

The one thing that always pleased me is I could tell how much they cared about Jake. I'll never forget the time she came out to help hold Jake while the vet tech clipped his nails. She was hugging around his torso and giving him kisses on the back. She didn't need to come out to help, but she wanted to see Jake and see how his allergies were doing.

They can't possibly know everything. But if you have a vet that is committed to the health of your pet and works to find those answers, what more can you ask for? We are all humans and we all make mistakes. I will be forever grateful to our vet clinic for being so great with us.

Just last week one of the vets called the house just to see how Jake was doing on the new homemade cooked diet we had started him on back in December. She was so happy to hear that Jake was doing well and that his allergies were greatly improved.

[LoveOscar]

I think a veterinarians bed side manner is extremely important. Maybe its just my vet, one of three in this particular hospital. I dont know ANY of the technicians. I know atleast 3 of the ladies on the front counter by name, and they know me and my animals. My vet remembers me and my animals, has amazing bed side manner, and even better interactions with my animals. I trusted her with my dogs and cat because of how she interacts with both of us. One of the other vets, who was very detached emotionally from me and my dogs, I did not like at all. My dog didnt like her, I never used that vet again. And now every time I go in I ask for a specific vet, who knows me and my animals and is happy to see us. She isnt bugged by my questions or my tears, she has full conversations with me, will come out from the back to see me and discuss the earlier visit with me because my husband doesnt necessarily ask all the questions I need answered when I missed the appointment.

I meant it when I said I dont know a single technician at my hospital. They dont really chat with me, but theyre nice enough to my animals. I rarely see them come from the back unless I am in am exam room.

The veterinarian is the face you deal with when it comes to your animals health. They dont need the best bed side manner in the world, but you **** well better be able to talk to them. The equine iveterinarian that my barn uses is a stodgy, grumpy old man that dislikes gaited horses and totally adores Thoroughbreds. A quarter of my barn is gaited though, and he is the prefered vet in the area. But I can walk right up to him during his visits and talk with him and have him answer my appropriate questions. That is so very important, and no matter how much he knocks on my favorite Walkers conformation, he is still respectful and respectable.

[harmony]

Originally Posted by selzer

I am starting this thread due to a thread where the OP is rather upset with the vet, has done research on line and found that the vet may have over-looked side-effects of a common antibiotic, had some mis-information, but also had the experience of the vet not taking her seriously, poo pooing the pup's symptoms as reported by her.

And another thread where the vet did not take the cat owner's concerns seriously and operated on the cat the way they wanted to, ignoring her request.

First off, I have a great vet in my opinion. The clinic has three vets, and is rather small, rural, we do not have a full lab or ultrasound equipment, so for some things we are referred to larger clinics. I went to them the first time nearly 30 years ago, and keep going back. I have had a few questionable moments, but in all I am glad I have stuck with them. So this is not about my own vet. But more in general.

It seems to be a balance. I have to respect the education and experience my vet has if I want to keep going there. I do not run off and research everything on the internet to ensure that the vet is doing right by my critters. But, I also have a breed of dog that can have many issues, and I can't expect the vet to be 100% up to par on well over a hundred dog breeds' idiosyncrasies. And, I am the one that lives with the dog, I see that they are not quite right, and if I can connect the dots somewhat, I can ask questions that might jar them into considering something, then I see nothing wrong with that.

The problem with the internet is that there is good information, bad information, and incomplete information, and unless we have been trained, by education or experience, we may not be able to tell the difference. When I do look stuff up, sometimes the technical information is a bit beyond me. But it gives me enough information to be dangerous. I take that and instead of demanding a vet do what I have come up with (like I do with my doctor), I use it to ask intelligent (I hope) questions.

I think it takes more than one or two visits for a vet to totally trust their clients too. They should definitely respect them, and give them as much information as they can, but I think that sometimes we expect an awful lot from vets. A workmate of my sister's would switch vets every time one of them would tell her her dog was over-weight. My sister says the dog resembled a coffee table, and one of the vets told her she was killing her dog. She left in a huff. I think I would like to know that vet's name so I could recommend him.

Over time, a client might be able to purchase the necessaries to fix a recurring issue without dragging the dog in and paying an office call. But that would take a level of trust.

I think also, even the best vets make mistakes. If we see a problem we should not just trust blindly that what the vet ordered/prescribed must be ok and everything will be just fine if we plow forward.

It is a partnership. We know our dogs better than the vet does, we know their behavior and when they are off. The vet knows the science better than we do, or we would have DVM after our names. We are our dog's advocate, their voice. We have to communicate effectively what is happening, and if we do not understand something we have to keep asking questions until we are satisfied. They need to respect us enough to listen to our concerns.

If the respect isn't there are both sides, I think that the overall care for the critter will suffer. And maybe the owner should take their dog elsewhere.

How do you see your vet in partnership with you for your dog's health? I know I hear a lot on here about how we shouldn't take nutrition advice from vets, or behavioral advice from vets. Do you feel that your vet has your dog's best interests in mind but that you can still disagree with what they want to do, and choose to not follow the advice?

Good reading , heck that could be said about our doctors

[harmony]

I don't know anyone but I can tell what a dog means by the way it barks and the way kids do, what is serious and not.