Blooming vet!!!Question:Well, as some of you know, Georgie has been lame for 2 weeks now, and I wasted a vsit last week seeing some dipstick trainee who told me it was arthritis, and I since discovered he's got a couple of broken nails where they attach to his toe. So, rang and asked when my own vet would be on, was told Saturday morning, so I booked for 9.10 am. Took Cassie along too as she has been up and down all night like a yo yo wanting to go out for a poo (big piles of grey poo,ending in diarrhea), so she is having a flare up of her EPI, which needs anti-biotics (I've had 6 years of this so I know what's happening with her). Anyway, arrived at 9.00 am. was then told my vet was off for the week-end!!!! I showed my displeasure by stating "oh, another wasted trip then seeing a trainee"!!! Luckily, the girl on reception knows me very well, and went and spoke to Gerry (my own vet) who was in his jeans and had only popped in and he said he'd see me. Well, waited till 9.30 am. and got called in by the young new Aussie lady, and Gerry just poked his head round the door!!! Ended up with yet again, NO painkillers or anti-biotic ointment for him, just a bottle of blooming Malaseb shampoo!!! She then said, if I'm still not happy with it next week, then we'll go down the x-ray route!!! So, cost me £75 for what??????? Oh yes, his usual steroid jab (£20) and some more preds (£5) coz he'd managed to gnaw a hotspot this morning before we went which she noticed, so I had to listen to a lecture on pyoderma, when I probably knowmore than her on the subject after having Georgie for 2 years!!! I don't know what she thought of me, but I was getting quite irrate with her, and when I mentioned about Cassie, well that was a big "no-no" coz Cassie hadn't been seen for 3 months!!! I told her she had been brought in only a couple of months ago with nothing wrong with her, just for a check-over because of this very thing, but she said because it's May (???? Yes!!!) now and she hadn'tbeen since November, she couldn't prescribe any!!! I told her I had her in the car too, but it would have meant waiting a further 2 hours!!! I also told her if she looks back on the records she will see that these flare-ups occur every six months and she needs the anti-biotics otherwise I will have blood coming out of her by tonight!!!Grrrrrr Needless to say when I came out of there my pal on reception could see my fury (half an hour I was in there too!!!)so she went and had a word with this trainee, came back and said "you're getting your tablets"!!! A result then, and another £28 handed over, but at least Cassie will be ok now. Meanwhile, poor old Georgie will have to hobble around and be in pain!!!! I'm steaming mad!!!!!!!!!Grrrrrr I feel better now though!! Thanks for listening, it feels better when it's off my chest! Answer: you are more polite than me if they say oh your vet is caught in an emergency and its the other vet i say o.k thanks i will go home and rebook,they kind of look at me when they are new as if to say what the heck in emergencies i take them to either the emergency vet and pay the extra £100 to ensure they get looked at properly or another vet nearby i don't care who i offend anymore hope both doggies are soon on the mend Answer: I don't want to scaremonger here but in January last year my Akita x GSD, Willow, broke her nail in the same place that you are saying. I didn't notice it until the toe swelled (no evidence of pain but that is the Akita blood I think) up. She had got an infection that eventually, even after aggresive treatment with anti-biotics, killed the bone in her toe and caused it to have to be amputated. I'm only pointing this out as a broken nail is often seen as just a painful complaint that will just heal. Fortunately, my vets are brill but they still could not save the toe. Please just keep a close eye on them for any sign of infection. Answer: Oh don't worry griff, she quite understood my feelings and in fact when I came out of there, I was adamant I was changing vets on Monday to a closer practice!!! I think my friend on receiption saw this, and that's probably why she went in and insisted that she gave me the anti-biotics for Cassie, I was really steamin'!!!!! In fact, I almost cried with frustration, that my poor little man Georgie, was given nothing!!! At least I would have felt a lot better had my own experienced vet at least had a look at it and tell me whether it was infected or not. As for Malaseb shampoo, well this has never worked for anything on him before, so how it can heal up an infection on a toenail I really don't know!!! WHY can't I have some anti-biotic ointment, there must be some around, surely!!!! Thanks for that input Chellie, I am doing my utmost with it as you can imagine, even though he's now getting a bit miffed with me wanting to touch it/bathe it, look at it, and he's such a laid back little guy it wouldn't normally bother him, so I'm thinking he's gotta be in pain with it! She said the steroid jab he had for his skin problem would act as a sort of pain killer. He's sleeping now, bless him, bet he's well fed up with it. I'm wondering about a broken toe or something now, mainly because of the pain he seems to be in when getting up or walking, and yet I can see/feel no swelling on the toe? I know what happened, it was when I opened the bathroom door and he was sitting right behind it, and I caught his little toes underneath it - ouch!!! He really cried out, but seemed ok for a while, and now all this! Funny thing is, normally when my own vet is on, you can't get an appointment coz it's chock a block, and yet this morning (saturday as well!!!) it's empty!!!! Why should we be stuck with a trainee? I know they've got to learn, but alongside the vet, not on their own diagnosing my dogs!!! Grrrrrr. I might be changing vets on Monday, that's the way I feel right now. Answer: Oh Helena, I do feel for you, it's hard not to blow your top in these situations isn't it?? (especially where our dogs are concerned). I also agree that at the prices you have to pay I would have thought having a trainee working alongside one of the partners, (at least for six months or so), would be perfectly reasonable. Answer: ouch poor georgie the only time my boy hurt his toe was when he was a pup tearing around,he damaged his ligament or something he still doesn't like to be touched around his claws/toes i agree it is disgusting that she paid no attention to his problem if you could see he has hurt his claws if she had bothered her a**e to look then she would too lucky your friend was on reception so you managed to get cassies ABs,fancy a receptionist having to advise a vet i think you are quite right to be angry.are there any vets local to you that are open all day on a saturday where you could take him for a second opinion??? Answer: Inka just had a very badly infected quick removed from a broken nail £199 quid Answer: Calm down Helena or you will need a vet for high blood pressure I mentioned about Cassie, well that was a big "no-no" coz Cassie hadn't been seen for 3 months!!! I told her she had been brought in only a couple of months ago with nothing wrong with her, just for a check-over because of this very thing, but she said because it's May (???? Yes!!!) now and she hadn't been since November, she couldn't prescribe any There seems to be some sort of ruling that you can only have so many repeat prescriptions without actualy seeing a vet. I fell foul of this recently when asking for a repeat prescription for heart tablets , I was told because Amy hadn't been seen for a few months I would need to take her in, I replied that nothing had changed, if it had I would have been in like a shot and did they think she might have died and I was taking the pills myself So I went in to be told nothing has changed, Amy is amazing for her age and I paid a consultation fee on top of the repeat prescription Answer: Aww sounds like a stressful time, glad u have it sorted now Last year i moved to a wonderful vet and its a small clinic and there is only 2 vets, Both i trust very much so i know im happy there, we tried a vets where there was more than 9 of them but we only trusted a few, bit like doctors for us really, because we want to see our doctor as we can trust them! Answer: Welcome to the I'm not happy with my vets gang!!!!!! Terrible morning for you H! Hugs to the doglets.(And you but that goes without saying I hope!!!) |
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