Do you insist on a particular vet from your vets practice

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canteron

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Just wondering. 3 vets at our local practice. 1 brilliant, 1 OK, 1 who has got really bad local reputation - mainly due to lack of experience coupled with bad attitude.

Is it really rude to ask for the good vet for anything other than routine work?
 
Yes I ask for a specific vet. I don't think its rude at all to have someone you trust. A lot of it is just down to knowing the vet I ask for where as I don't know the others.
 
My practice pairs you up with a vet as standard so they will send the same vet out everytime (unless he is on hols or it's an emergency of course!). This seems to work quite well as the vet gets to know the horses and you can build up a relationship with him.

I would ask for the good vet, but I would be a bit worried about what happens in an emergency if the one with a bad reputation is on call. Is there another practice you could try?
 
There is only a couple that i will let see my horses from our practice.
One vet in particular is terrible, to prove she was wrong on something years ago I have to pay for x-rays etc just to prove her wrong! it was worth every penny though!
those that are local to me i am sure will know which vet i am talking about!
 
Not at all! I always ask for one particular vet, I use him alot, he knows my horses, if he's not available there are 2 others I ask for but there are 2 vets (1 with a bad attitude and one who seems to want to x-ray everything) who I try and avoid and will ask not to have!
 
I don't think it is rude if there is a specific vet that you trust and that knows your horse or that works in a way your horse can deal with. My mare is much more settled with Women, for example, but I don't ask for a lady vet each time as i know that she needs to be sensible with men too, but some people do request the female vets every time.

The only time i did ask for one specific vet was when merlin, my old boy, was coming to the end, and one vet at the practice had treated him since i got him at 6 months old. I wanted her to see him as she knew him, and she helped me to make the decision to put him to sleep, i felt comfortable that she knew how much he had gone down hill, and how different he was from the happy pony he always had been.
 
Depends on the nature of the visit. If just routine things, then any vet will do from the practice. But for the complicated/unusual things or when one of mine is having a regular colic attack, I ask for the head of practice or a specific named vet as they know his history inside out and the last thing you need when you have been trying to keep a 640kg horse on it's feet for an hour is a million questions before they administer pain relief and examine him!!. In addition I trust their judgement and diagnosis and having had situations when things have gone wrong on and post vet's visits in the past, this is the most important thing to me.
 
I like to chose who sees my horse but for vaccinations I'm less picky.
Unfortunately my favorite vet isnt doing as much as he used to so I often go to him if I want to see him. One of the others is excellent but I cant understand a word he says!
Over the years I have used them all for various things and only had a bad experience with 1 of them so cant really complain.
 
yes there is only 1 vet who deals with my lad, little less fussy for my mare but still only a choice of 2. don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the other vets its just my personal preference
 
I find most people dont seem to ask for a specific vet. The head vet does get asked by long-time clients for lameness and the like but clients (it appears) assume that he only employs decent vets - which is true of course - and are herefor happy to be seen by any of the vets. All the vets get on well together and regularly discuss cases so we all tend to be up to date on any on-going cases, meaning we can all give the best care possible. Most of the vets here have over 6years experience and as I have just started my career, any clients I see can be sure that I discuss the case with the other vets in order to get the right diagnosis/treatment. I think it works quite well and clients have so far been very happy with this.
 
I always use the same vet - he is a saint in my eyes - in fact I rarely call the practice and often call him directly on his mobile for advice and he then decides whether he should come out or not (he usually does - on his way through to another yard) I'm very lucky...
 
It depends. If it's just routine or something minor then I'm happy with any of the vets from our practice (it's purely equine anyway). However if it's something bigger, for example we had a youngster that had hock surgery, we asked for one of the vets that worked on his case to come out to see him.

They're generally great vets though, and because I'm a vet student there are a couple (generally the ones that come out our way most frequently) that let me have a go at stuff myself and really explain what they're doing.
 
Yes, always ask for my vet by name to come out if possible, don't mind if the others come out either but on the whole only use 1 vet as he is excellent
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Yes, I ask for a particular vet. He knows my horses and explains things well. I would use other vets from the practice if he couldn't make it though.
 
My last vets had a rather chucky lady who was USELESS!! i complained to the practice and told them never to send her to me. They tried one day - I requested another vet - and they did send one.

Months after the head vet - said he wished he had taken more notice of what I had reported - she had lost them several good customers.
 
I don't insist on having a certain vet, i would happily use any of them at my practice, however i do always ask if a particular vet is available, just because i know him and trust his opinion.
 
Our vets which is an Equine practice has 4 vets and I have one who I use regularly.
I have an accident prone TB so there is quite alot of history and it helps not to have to explain. Plus I can use the opportunity to talk about any ongoing problems.
Sometime I call him direct on his mobile and discuss whether he needs to come out or not. If he needs to come out that day he will let me know when he be there and lets reception know.
When I call reception for routine stuff I do ask for him by name.

For emergencies out of hours you get redirected to the vets mobile so you know who is on call and discuss it first.
 
What about asking for a particular vet that happens to be the practice (he is the big white chief)? If I was the receptionist I would feel awkward getting that call, someone would be requesting not to have the boss.
 
Mine is a one man practise, best horse Vet I have ever come across. I dread the time he decides to retire.

Back in Wales, there was one Vet I would always ask NOT to have, because, by his own admission, he hated horses and thought they were useless animals, he disliked seeing them as much as we disliked him seeing them, he was a very good small animal practitioner though. Another Vet at the same practice was fabulous with horses and most people asked for him, I imagine he did most of the large animal callouts.
 
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