Getting the vet when you work full time :(

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HashRouge

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How do normal people fit vets appointments around work? My average working day is 8.20am-6pm and I can't get away easily (I'm a teacher). I really need to get the vet this week as one horse has an eye infection that won't go (she saw the vet for it originally) and now the other one seems to have caught it off her, but I don't know when I'm going to actually manage it. The YO might do it for me if she's around and I beg her, but I hate having to ask other people :(
 
It can be a hard one and in the past I have booked half days holiday if needed (my current employers are amazing and I can take time if I need to). So long as you aren't in the habit of taking lots of time off then hopefully your employees will understand and the same if you do need to ask your stable manager.
I hope you get it sorted and they start to improve quickly.
 
I have my horse on a yard where I can pay for services including holding for the vet. I have taken holiday in the past for vet appointmentso but it isn't always possible
 
I've just asked my YO so I will see what she says. It's made trickier by the fact that one of them is very hard to catch! Luckily though we do have a technique which works well so fingers crossed. If not, I *might* be able to get Tuesday afternoon off as I'm not teaching, I just have a meeting and some extra-curricular stuff which I might be able to re-arrange. My mum always used to do it as she's retired, but now I live at the other end of the country, so that's not much use!
 
You have my sympathy, teaching is not the sort of job you can take half a day off with.

Would it be possible to get an appointment for shortly after school finishes (at a time you can get to the yard for) and leave 'early' that day? It's not as if you won't be doing the work at home later.
 
Problem is you really need to be present to discuss the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis with the vet. I used to teach so I know you can't get a day off easily - how helpful is your head or colleagues, can you get away with just an hour or so? Or do Saturday morning?
 
patchwork puzzle said:
It can be a hard one and in the past I have booked half days holiday if needed (my current employers are amazing and I can take time if I need to). So long as you aren't in the habit of taking lots of time off then hopefully your employees will understand and the same if you do need to ask your stable manager.
I hope you get it sorted and they start to improve quickly.
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When you're a teacher, there's no asking for time off. Yes, the holidays are great but you can't have half day or an extra hour off. No flexibility at all.
My school day ends at 3pm. I cn be out the door by 3.05 if I need to be and that gets me to the yard by 4pm. Can you ask foe t he last appointment of t he day?
 
I did once ring school and explain that I was waiting for the vet, as one of the horses had colic. that school was only a short distance from home. The horses are at home and there was no-one else available to deal with the horse. Fortunately the horse made a swift recovery and I went to school in the afternoon. I managed to swap my PPA time to pay the time back.
 
Is there anyone locally that does some freelance grooming that you could book? Helpful for farrier, vet and dentist. I'm lucky in that I can work at home with enough notice but other times I use a girl that does exactly this (she also house sits for us).
 
gryff said:
When you're a teacher, there's no asking for time off. Yes, the holidays are great but you can't have half day or an extra hour off. No flexibility at all.
My school day ends at 3pm. I cn be out the door by 3.05 if I need to be and that gets me to the yard by 4pm. Can you ask foe t he last appointment of t he day?
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Unfortunately I work in a private school and the day (for staff and students alike) doesn't end until 6pm. I think I will have to hope YO can do it (they are supposed to be on full grass livery, after all) and then I will speak to the vet afterwards by phone if necessary. It's so stressful, I'm really worried about one of them as the infection just won't go.
 
Why won't your vet come out at a time that suits you? Mine will come at 7am or 6pm and weekends. I couldn't have one that didn't offer such a great service. I just phone up and arrange appointment at time that suits me. If they have an emergency, I am phoned and appointment rescheduled.
 
I don't have this issue being a vet myself but I work 8.30-7 most days an hour from home in usual traffic so other appointments are a nightmare!
 
Your options are:
Take the time off work so you can be there or get someone else to be there. Yard owners must be used to helping in this situation. What do you do for farrier/ dentist/ routine vet visits?
 
JillA said:
Problem is you really need to be present to discuss the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis with the vet. I used to teach so I know you can't get a day off easily - how helpful is your head or colleagues, can you get away with just an hour or so? Or do Saturday morning?
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My vet are happy to discuss over the phone if I can't be there.
 
My work are very good so I would just take a morning off and make the time back through the week.

Can't you tell a sneaky lie? Poorly child or something? Most work places allow time off for carers leave.
 
It's extremely difficult to get time off as a teacher, and I suspect there's even more pressure / expectation not to do so in the independent sector.

HashRouge, I'd ask the YO and arrange for the vet to phone you during the exam to discuss what they find, if that's at all possible around teaching.

Have you tried Goldeneye ointment? Not as a replacement for the vet, but can be very good at relieving discomfort in tge meantime and cleared up my mare's eyes this summer in a couple of days when she was bothered badly by flies.
 
I have a very understanding Head of Department and I rarely ask for cover for anything, so he doesn't mind if I take 1 or 2 half days per week for urgent vet treatment. I will always cover in return if it has inconvenienced other people
 
Totally understand. I am a teacher too.
You go home 15 minutes after the children have gone home and deal with the vet and do the work you need to do, at home, after the vet has been. If you have to be in school until 6, is that your choice or the head's choice? If it is the head's then you need to look into directed hours. If it is your choice then you need to be more flexible. Or just tell the head you will take unpaid leave.
 
Chloramphenical ointment is a good start for eye problems. Our chemist does the generic version but I think Golden Eye is the same stuff. I also pop a uv flymask on 24:7 - I've got one who has lots of eye issues.
 
dozzie said:
Totally understand. I am a teacher too.
You go home 15 minutes after the children have gone home and deal with the vet and do the work you need to do, at home, after the vet has been. If you have to be in school until 6, is that your choice or the head's choice? If it is the head's then you need to look into directed hours. If it is your choice then you need to be more flexible. Or just tell the head you will take unpaid leave.
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It will relate to providing after school co-curricular activities, which are required of teachers in most independent schools. The children will be in school - It's not staying late to get marking dine.
 
I'm in the same situation as I am a teacher. My vet is very good and will see my horse without me being there as long as it's a assessment she can do on her own. If it requires two people I have to get the last appointment of the day and hope I don't get held up at work.
 
dozzie said:
Yes you can.
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Gosh...we absolutely cannot. All medical and dental appointments must be made out of school hours unless an absolute emergency. People haven't been allowed to children's graduation ceremonies and close family weddings too.
I went straight to school after having my horse euthanized suddenly due to a field accident. I'd have had to lie about being ill and I wasn't prepared to do that.
 
dozzie said:
Yes you can.
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Theocat said:
It will relate to providing after school co-curricular activities, which are required of teachers in most independent schools. The children will be in school - It's not staying late to get marking dine.
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No you can't.
In a maintained (State) school, you can put in a request to the Governors for 'compassionate leave', sometimes in listed circumstances, depending on your employer's policy. The Governors do not have to grant it.
 
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