Why'd you pick & Do you like the vet you have?

When we moved up to WI I went around and interviewed the local vets. I called and made appointments for a routine physical, told the desk staff I was new to the area and wanted to meet and interview the vets and brought Riggs.

One vet was almost afraid to touch him (Riggs did nothing). Next.
One vet was insulted that I was 'interviewing' him. Next
One vet was appalled that I was feeding my dogs RAW. Next.

Finally, found a vet that is GREAT with the dogs (even with scared fosters). Doesn't question my decisions on how I treat (or don't treat) my dogs. Doesn't 100% agree with raw but sees that it works for me. Has an off hours emergency number (I LOVE having the ER vet be MY vet). Gives discounts to rescues. Sometimes doesn't even charge me for things (like quick visits). Knows I want to be present for anything they do to the dogs (shots, nail trims, stitch removal, x-rays, etc.). Knows I know how to restrain my dogs and WHEN they need to be restrained. And so on.

They are a bit more expensive than other vets but worth the money. Bonus - they are about 10 minutes from home!

I like our regular vets office. I've been taking our dogs there for about 12 years. One of the doctors there must be 80 years old and is the cutest little man. I feel comfort in that he must have seen a lot of different things over the years. The staff is also very friendly.

Molly has a veterinary opthamologist that she needs to see regularly because of pressure in her eye. We feel like we're getting ripped off with their office. The last time I went in, I didn't realize I had to give Molly her medicine before bringing her in. They said the pressure in her eyes was high so they wanted to see how she would do after he medicine. They said I could leave her there and come back in 2 hours. There is a normal check up fee of about $80. This does not include a pressure check of her eyes. That's all we need done! It's about $30 to check the pressure. When I came back to pick her up, the bill was somehow $250. They charged us 4 times for pressure checks. The office also has her on 4 different medications which are very expensive. Molly had the same surgery done by another doctor in her other eye 3 years ago and she only needed to stay one medicine. Her eye recovered a lot better too. I'm thinking about taking her back to that doctor but it's over an hour away. The other doctor was so incredibly nice that she canceled a party at her house the next day because Molly needed emergency surgery. That was so sweet of her.

Our vet is awesome. We started going to him because the previous vet we had sold his practice and we just didn't care for the woman who took over.

Most of the dogs we see when we go into this office are large breed. There are always GSD, Huskys, Doberman, etc. There are two doctors, and Rocky has seen both but I like his regular vet better.

He always takes the time to answer out questions, will discuss anything thing we are unsure about. Rocky doesn't have a problem going there, and his assistant is just excellent with Rocky.

Rocky's Most Current Vet Bill

Vaccinations and Exam $50.00
Distemper-Lepto-Parvo
Rabies
Nail Clipping
Heartworm Test $25.00
Interceptor White $47.00
Total Bill $124.82

If we take him and he is not getting his shots, then the office visit is $40. I havent gotten Rockys hips done and I probably won't unless i have to. I am not going to breed him, and his is just a family pet/companion, so I figure I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Proximity and from there I got lucky.

The receptionists are funny and easy to deal with. They work really hard, are very busy, but take the time to try to make friends with each of my dogs and even remember their quirks/needs. When I have to leave a dog (or cat) there they understand I am at High Terror Alert and are very nice about it.

The techs are good both technically and personally. I don't like my dogs to go in the back without me, so they come in the exam room. The one got down on the floor under Kramer to take out his stitches because she knew he didn't like to be on his back/side. Nina loves "her" tech-she wants to see her every time we go and her tech usually comes to find her if she knows we are there.

One vet transferred to another practice so we don't get to see her-she was really good and we had some laughs when she was Bruno's vet. They had one vet there that we would always see who had a system for everything, literally saved a couple of my fosters' lives and was great with cats. He left (he's in Buffalo at a nice practice) so I transferred (in my mind) the dogs to the other vets within the practice. That's another thing I like-some like cats, some like ortho stuff, and then I have Kramer and Nina seeing the senior (by years) vet as seniors, plus they all consult with each other.

They are also the on-call vets which I like. So when Kramer bloated-by luck-we got his actual vet who knew everything about him. But we still would have gotten someone who knew us.

They are great with all the different behaviors. Ilsa and Mariele see one vet who did their ortho procedures and he is incredibly patient with both. He let me bring Mariele in day of, and leave with her day of knee surgery-because of our issues.

Their costs are probably the highest around here in the more rural practices-but they have that team idea and are really fair with me given the number of pets I have. I am allowed to do credit as needed and they try to cut costs when they can-Nina's vet saved me like $30 by pricing the Baytril by size. PLUS they put up with my research, questions, and nervousness with good humor.

I like my vet because they are up to date on all the new technology. They can perform most services at their office and if it's a surgery or test that requires a specialist then often times they will bring one in to do the procedure.

She also gives me hope with my megaE dog. Not false hope but she strives to manage her condition and give her the best quality of life possible. She doesn't look at MegaE as a death sentence but rather just another illness that needs to be managed.

If she doesn't know an answer to a question she will always say, let me consult with some other vets or specialists and I will get back to you. She never fails to do that. She doesn't just pull answers our of her butt to please me. She wants to make sure I have all the correct information.

She does not have trouble admitting that she does not know everything. I really like that in a vet!

I could go on and on, but overall I am VERY happy with her. Did I mention she loves GSD's too?! LOL! That always helps!!

They are a little more expensive then the other vets around here, but well worth the cost if you ask me!

I just switched to a new vet after 10 yrs of going to another one whom I used to work for. I just didn't feel comfortable questioning her, etc (I think b/c she used to be my boss). anyway, I went to 3 different vets and finally decided on Dr Liebel, who is awesome. I knew he was the one when I went in for a tour of the hospital and to meet/talk to him/ask questions (Kodee didn't need an appt for anything), and I took Kodee in also. Dr. L. spent almost an entire hour talking to me, asking questions, did a VERY thorough, gentle exam on Kodee, and I was hooked. Didn't chg for the exam, and his staff was nice and friendly, place was spotless. He is also board certified, and up to date on the latest vet technology and medicine. I am completely comfortable with him, and he is great w/Kodee. It's obvious he loves animals, and isn't in it for the money. Although he is probably the most expensive vet in town, you sometimes get what you pay for, and I think that is the case with him. He's always thorough, and doesn't ever talk "down" to me, which is a huge pet peeve of mine that seems to be common in a lot of the vets I've met before.

Originally Posted By: Luca_stlWe've been using the same Vet's office for 25 years. We stay with them because we know them, they know us. I can call and say, "Hi it's Tracy. Fanny's got a rash..." and they know exactly who I am and what dog I'm talking about.

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I call up and say, "Hi Danielle. Zamboni would like to refill her prescription." And Danielle says "yes, her Tramadol is about due, isn't it? Will Zamboni be sending her driver over today or tomorrow?"

I don't even have to mention MY name!

My vet clinic has three vets. The owner is my main vet, and one of the other vets whom I have a great relationship. (The other is fine. I just don't' usually use her). I know a good deal about medicine and some stuff about veterinary medicine and I'm always questioning: is this safe? Is this the best way? How else can we do this? And my kids never have something that's easily diagnosed. If there's a mystery ailment, they have it. So my vet and I work together on things. I feel like we're in the trenches together. I can call and get my calls returned promptly. I can email anytime of the day or night, and usually get my emails returned extremely promptly, even at night and on weekends. He knows that I like to go to specialists once we get to that point where things are starting to look especially unusual, and he doesn't get his ego all ruffled about it. He refers me to the best specialists in the state, the ones he would bring his dogs to.

Is he the cheapest? No. I could get cheaper shots elsewhere. But when I bring my dogs in for vaccines, they get a full physical -- top to bottom, including a prostate exam for my male, and a dental exam (he's a board-certified dentist) for all kids. He answers all my questions at that appointment, and he is always available by phone to answer other questions by phone, when other vets might require me to come in. So I don't scrimp on a few dollars for shots when I get incredible valuable service in the long run.

(I once called my vet for a friend's dog. The friend's vet wouldn't return her calls. And the situation seemed like it might be urgent to our layperson eyes. My vet took the time to run through the symptoms with me, and explain what to do. This wasn't even MY dog!)

I also am ALWAYS accommodated when I have a need to get into the vet the same day. Always. Usually, I don't need to. But like yesterday, I really felt that it was important enough that my GSD was seen asap. I called as soon as the office was opened, and of course, he was seen.

The other vet in his office is someone with whom I have a great relationship. She has a slightly different view on veterinary medicine than her boss. So sometimes, I'll make an appointment with her for complicated issues. And I can tell her that "Dr. X sees it this way. My internet GSD friends think that these are issues. I'm wondering about this. What do you think?" And she has a great down-to-earth let's-analyze-it-all approach, and we can really work through all of it together. She's an invaluable part of my "team."

As you can imagine, I refer a lot of people to their practice. When I speak to people who talk about how their vets speak down to them, rush them, or poo-poo their ideas, I always tell them the same thing -- find another vet. There are plenty of fine vets out there. I've lived lots of places and I've been able to find great professionals like this everywhere I've lived. But excellent vets are almost always not the cheapest vets in town.

Excellent vets know that they have to have sufficient staffing. That costs money. They have to have state-of-the-art equipment (or access to that equipment). That costs money. They can only see so many patients in a day and treat them each as individuals without rushing them. Overbooking is one way that you can keep costs down. Cheap xrays? That likely means that a board-certified radiologist is NOT reading those xrays. I respect my vets. But I want a radiologist to read every xray. Excellent vets have better access to better specialists for referrals too, whether the specialist comes to the regular vet's office or you go to their office.

So when people start posting price comparisons, that's good and fine. And some reasonably priced vets are good vets, there's no doubt about it. And there are some veterinary clinics that appear to be reasonably priced but they're owned by corporations that put quotas on their vet employees to order so many extra tests each month. Do you know if your vet actually works for one of these corporations? If so, your reasonably priced vet for most things may get very expensive when something goes wrong. And of course, there are perfectly awful vets that are incredibly overpriced as well.

So, when I find a vet that I like and trust, and they treat me and my animals with respect and caring, that's who I stick with. If I don't have a vet like that, I keep looking, while my dogs are healthy, until I find someone that is everything I want. Because when my dog is sick, I don't want to be second-guessing the necessity of the treatment, or the care my dog is receiving.

I have been using the same vet for 14 years now. I know all the people in the office, and it helps that I have worked there in the past. I like the fact that I can go into surgery, heck I can sleep there if they have be kept over night. She is rescue friendly, actually work on a akita rescue with her where we saved 28 akita's and then did a spay/neuter marathon.

The thing that I liked the most was I had a shep/chow that didn't care to have his nails trimmed, he would always show her his teeth, instead of slapping a muzzle on him she took the TIME to help him through his fear. He never stopped showing her his teeth, but she knew he would never bite her. They actually were great buddys.

I like the fact that should something happen in the middle of the night I can call her and she will go to the clinic for me, I don't have to use an unknow vet, this gives me great security.

I can also just call and tell them I need an antibodic and there is no trouble getting it, without having to bring the dog in. She is willing to try alternitive vetting, and she continues to take classes on new practice.

I'm on our second/third vet with Risa.

When I first moved out here, I just had the two guinea pigs. Kira got sick and I took her to the closest hospital that had a vet that specializes in guinea pigs. So, when I got Risa, it made sense for her to go to the same hospital as well. Unfortunately, we couldn't get in with the same vet who sees my piggies so we saw a different one. At first, we didn't have any problems with her. Nothing major anyway.

About 8 months after I got Risa, she had some really nasty diarrhea that would not go away. I tried changing her diet, etc. to no avail. So I brought her in to be evaluated by the vet. Ris has never liked going to the vet (and since she's a rescue I don't know what caused her dislike) and was never really comfortable with the doctor she saw. The vet always insisted on putting Ris up on the table for exams. . .and Ris would try and bolt while she was up there. It was tough for me to hold her and even tougher for the vet to examine her (I decided after that appointment that Ris would not be put up on tables for exams again). We discussed Ris' diet (she's raw-fed) and the vet really felt that her diet was the cause of Ris' illness. Even though Risa had been fine for 8 months. After some discussion, the vet gave me some Metranidozole for Ris to take for a week. Once Ris finished the course of meds, her poop was still yucky. I called the vet about it but she never returned my call. So I stopped into the office after work to talk to her. She offered me a $200 fecal test (which would test for Giardia and 2 things I'd never heard of before) and some more antibiotics if things weren't cleared up by Monday. I declined the fecal. It was the straw that broke the camel's back when, again, she suggested that Ris' diet was the cause of her issues. The next day I requested all of Ris' records (not just the computer print out) and ended up talking to the vet about it. I told her I was getting a second opinion though I had no intention on coming back to her for Ris' care.

Our new vet was awesome. She was so open to hearing me out about my thoughts and course of action. I had wanted to get a CBC and Giardia antigen test done on Risa and that's pretty much exactly what she suggested. When those results came back inconclusive, I scheduled another appointment for Risa. I wanted to run the TLI/Coblamin/B12 test to rule out EPI and SIBO (based on information supplied here) and that's exactly what she recommended as well. As soon as the results were in, she called me and let me know that Risa had SIBO and we started her on a course of Tylan. I decided this was the hospital we wanted to go to.

Ris has been seen by both vets there. One has seen Ris for her annual checkup and is on top of the current trends in vaccination. They're open to doing titers or forgoing vaccinations entirely. She doesn't force me to vaccinate especially since AAHA recommendations are every 3 years (and they are an AAHA hospital). She's also very good about taking it easy with Risa who is still a bit leery of vets.

The other vet sees Risa mostly for her back problems. She's more open to holistic practices like chiropractic care and acupuncture. She's also good at taking things slow for my wuss dog.

Overall, the hospital is great. They stock raw food and even one of the vets feeds her pets partial raw. The waiting room isn't stocked full of Science Diet but Nature's Variety kibble and other high-quality kibbles. Even when I show up there without Risa, the staff recognizes me. My only major complaint about the office is lack of space. The waiting room is incredibly small and, when you have a reactive dog, it makes things a bit more difficult. I'm soooooooooo glad I switched though!

Re: Why'd you pick & Do you like the vet you have?

Ozzy is my first dog as an adult, so I never had a vet until we got Ozzy from VGSR. I was going to take my time, maybe interview some vets before we decided on one, but Ozzy did not allow it!

By the fourth day we had him he swallowed a pair of my pantyhose. When my husband noticed this, one leg was hanging out of his rear and the other leg obviously still had some mileage to make up. What to do!?

I took him to a vet my coworker absolutely loved, who had treated her dog's cancer, and who apparently was quite handsome (but that's neither here nor there...)

I called him out of the blue very panicked, he didn't know me from Adam. I explained what was going on and he said to just bring him right in which I did. They spent about 40 minutes with him while I was in the waiting room crying knowing what a terrible mother I was and how I was going to be blacklisted from every rescue in the country as a result. The staff were so sweet and Dr. Hiser came out 40 minutes later with the entire pair of pantyhose in his hand and gave them to me!!!!! I was so relieved I just put them in my purse, not thinking about where thay had just been!

Ozzy had been deflowered in the vet's office and I was hooked. The staff preened all over Ozzy. They kept him there for several more hours just for observation and took several series of Xrays to make sure his gas was passing properly.

So far we have been back twice for shots and a physical and Ozzy is treated like a king every single time. Dr. Hiser is so good with him (Ozzy is shy and nervous) and never appears to be traumatized by anything. Dr. H. always sits with me when the exam is over and lets me know that it's OK to feel all of Ozzy's ribs, that he is not emaciated, that he is in perfect shape.

Oh, and did I mention he is a major hottie?

Dr H sounds wonderful. (And easy on the eyes is always nice. )

Did you ever wear those pantyhose again? I mean, if they didn't get any runs in them or anything.

I still have them!

Haven't worn them again but I pull them out every once in awhile to reflect on how far Ozzy has come!