Following on from the shocked at vets post

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Dobiegirl

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After hearing Shadowboys terrible experience at their vets, today having had an appointment with mine I asked them for clarification and they told me they would fit an animal in at any time. Even if all their appointment are filled and an owner rings and says today Ive decided the time has come to pts my dog the vets will fit it in. They said they know what a hard decision it is to pts a much loved pet and they consider its their duty to accommadate the owner at this distressing time. They are on call 24hours a day and the only time a vet wouldnt be available is if they were already dealing with an emergency. The receptionists are all trained and aware of this policy.

Has anyone else checked this out with their vets? or intend to do it for peace of mind.
 
I haven't checked because I know from past experience that they will come at any time.
I changed to the practice I am currently with from a previous one after a bad experience with a dog with bloat. I phoned the vet to tell him the dog was bloating and I needed to bring him , he response was "my wife has just put my meal in front of me and won't be happy if I don't eat it but I will come afterwards". It was nearly an hour before he got to the surgery, for a condition which is known to need fastest possible attention. The treatment the dog then received was with hindsight not correct, and he died. Though I accept we may well have lost him anyway I could never have faith in that vet again, so changed.
Shortly after moving I had a bitch with problems whelping, vet met me at surgery within 20 minutes of my call (in the middle of the night of course) she needed a caesarian but the btich and litter of 9 were fine.
So many practices seem to be using these out of hours companies now, and I just don't think the service is as good from the stories I hear (although I know it wasn't an OOH firm in shadowboy's case).
 
Ino our vets accommodate emergency or pts any time of day. We were with a different vet many years ago while dog with dog sitter ate poisoned rabbit and was fitting the dog sitter rang our vets to be told he couldn't go in until an hour later as it was lunch time- by a vet not even receptionist. Needless to say we changed vets.
 
My vets will ALWAYS move everything to put a dog down if it's suffering. They did with Chloe-she was meant to leave us as 2pm but in fact left at 10.45 as she had deteriorated so rapidly.

I wonder if the previous OP wasn't forceful enough... I would be spitting blood if they'd refused.
 
my vets are brilliant, having a kennel full of sensitive dogs, they know that when I call I really need them, no matter what time of the day or night, they are available, I also use them for my horses, I cannot praise them enough.

So sorry that two fur babies have past over the bridge :(
 
Not a pts related story but I wanted to book the cat in to be checked as he had an infected bite. Got the appointment for 5.10pm as my car needed new tires so couldn't really drive it - had to wait for parents to finish work. Receptionist phoned me back demanding that I brought said cat in asap then put me through to the new vet who demanded to know why I wasn't prepared to bring him in earlier (made me feel like a bad owner etc). Rushed him in as apparently it was an emergency and would need an operation. So had to drive my car with bare tires to the vets - New vet had a go at me on arrival then cleaned the wound, gave him couple of jabs, some tablets and cream. No op needed and I'm still left feeling incompetent even though I said it wasn't an emergency.

Will try to get appointments with my favourite vet from now on. They do drop everything for emergencies though :)

My favourite vet opened the practice back up when Jake was hit by a van and he gave me his mobile number in case of emergencies
 
Nearly 20 years ago, I lived in London and did not drive. My adored cocker spaniel needed to be PTS. He had a hugely enlarged heart, was being treated, but had come to the end of the road.

I discovered the hard way that my vet did not do out of hours. There was no way he would have survived a taxi drive. I remember sitting on the sofa, with my house mates around me and my beautiful ou at my feet, going through the yellow Pages and begging some vet to visit. One did agree finally and insisted i pay him before he did the job.

I'm older and wiser now, but hat was one of the most traumatic events of my life.
 
Unfortunately you will find that more and more vet practices will have an out of hours service provided by another practice or by a specialised ooh group.
 
I phoned my vet practice in January and asked to speak to the vet, the receptionist said he was very busy could she give him a message. I said my name and Jack. Jack was my 17 year old Whippet who the vet knew well and had helped when he was paralysed a few years ago. The vet rang back and said he would rearrag]nge his day so he come to the house and put Jack down as he had gone down hill quickly. When he arrived 6 dogs (Jack included) went to greet him. He "did the deed" and said it was the one job he wanted to do before he left to climb Kilamanjaro the following day. Two days later I had a lovely card from him saying how much Jack, he and I had been through over the last 10 years.
 
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