Fuming with vets...

[severnmiles]

It had been a good 3 hours since the last puppy so we took the bitch to the vets (I had been in earlier in the week to let them know I had a bitch due to whelp in the next ten days and they had said, any problems bring her down!) explained that there had been nothing for 3 hours and she was looking tucked up and squeaked a bit when she got up, was told take a seat, sat there for nearly half an hour with the bitch panting her head off, to see a dog that had been brought in for the vet to look at its eye seen to before my bitch, all the while one of the vets was answering the telephone when there are two secretary's, spat my dummy out and asked why was that dog being seen to before my bitch who was mid-flow whelping and by now looking thoroughly pissed off. 'We work on an appointment scheme' how the bloody hell do you make an appointment for a bitch thats whelping?

If you were in a hospital would you see the man with the chesty cough before the woman in labour?

Grrrrr

the little boy arrives 4 hours after the last and he was very snuffly and weak.... not impressed with my vets at all

Sorry if this sounds silly but a bit tired after sleepless night anyway without stressing about my bitch (she comes before pups!!).

Am now awaiting a nice big bill for them doing sweet F.A!

 

[MurphysMinder]

I don't blame you, I would be fuming too. A whelping bitch should definitely have had priority. I would complain to the senior partner. Many years ago we had a Shepherd with a torsion. I phoned the vet (it was of course after hours) and his words were " I'll meet you in the surgery in about 45 mins, my wife has just cooked my meal and will be furious if I miss it". WTF , I told him to get to the surgery straight away but he obviously stopped to eat cos I had quite a wait. The dog didn'tmake it and I changed vets very swiftly

I hope your little dog pup is okay, and that the bitch settles down with her litter.

 

[GinaB]

That is terrible! I can't believe they treated you like that!

How is the little one now? I would put forward a formal complaint if I was you. And go and get some sleep!

 

[k9h]

That is shocking really. I would not be happy either.
Hope the pups are doing OK?

 

[severnmiles]

Thanks guys!

Little one is doing fine now, had a good suck

I spent a while rubbing him with the towl which seemed to help alot.

MM, sorry to hear about yours

Shocking. Dinner vs welfare of animal

I remember when my 2y.o(horse) jumped out of the field and impaled herself on a stake (she ripped out her intestines but of course still had a fully functioning heart and lungs) the vet was nearly 40 mins (unfortunately our local huntsman was miles away), when I asked what was the emergency he looked blank and said there wasn't one. 40 mins to come 5 miles ?????

As I am writing this post the vet has just phoned to apologise...thats something atleast. He was concerened the pup wouldn't be alive!! Probably just my warped way of looking at things but that vet doesn't know me - he's probably looked up and seen how much I spend with them hence the phone call

 

[MizElz]

That is awful, although I can believe it only too well. When our Lab went into labour, we noticed very early on that there was a fair bit of green discharge - something we had been told was a warning sign of problems ahead. We bundled her into the car and set off on the 10 mile journey to the vets...she had one pup on my lap on the way there, and by the time we got there (2am) the vet said that if she'd had one, she'd be fine, so to take her straight home again!

Mum argued the toss big time; you cant take a labouring bitch to and fro in a car just for the sake of it

So the sleepy vet finally agreed to take her in, and she had two more relatively easily. Vet thought she had at least another one inside, but China by this time was almost totally spent. Her calcium levels had dropped dangerously low, and so the vet made the decision to C section her.

In the end, there were 11 puppies, one of whom was PTS as his insides were on his outside. I doubt very much that if we had done as the vet initially said and taken China home, that we would have had any puppies at all, let alone a mummy dog left to nurse them, for they nearly lost her under the anaesthetic.

 

[HeatherAda]

Glad you got an apology... perhaps suggest a big fat lifelong discount might help soothe your anger