Help! Do I complain about my vet?

touchstone

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Where is the evidence that she had returned to euthanise the pony? To quote OP:-

"A couple of days later we were approached by a neighbour who let us know that our previous vet had gone into our feild without our permission or without even letting us know. We are not sure what she was doing or why. After we let her know that we did not want her to put our pony to sleep a few days earlier, we had not heard from her. Our neighbour approached her to see If everything was ok and she quickly leapt our feild gate and left."

I suspect if she were to euthanise the pony there would be evidence of a catheter in the neck or a bullet in the head; I can't see any vet taking that action and putting themselves at risk; far more likely is that she was checking the condition of the pony in case she needed to get welfare agencies involved. Prosecuting for trespass would be ridiculous as no damage was done, this could well be a vet who had the pony's best interests at heart.

As for not being registered, I was sat in the vets reception yesterday and a client wasn't coming up as registered,despite being a regular client, seems it was a computer glitch. If the vet was fully booked then an appointment for ten days was reasonable, she came out when told it was serious, her diagnosis and 'treatment' was correct. We also aren't aware of the attitude of the OP towards the vet, which may have been antagonistic and made the vet unwilling to contact them, it may not have been the most professional way to go about things, but if I thought a vet was concerned about a pony and she felt she couldn't approach the owner then I wouldn't mind them checking in the field - far better than turning a blind eye.
 
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ester

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Maybe, if she had had previous dealings with her the vet just didn't want to speak to the neighbour?

I can imagine if I were a vet, had discovered a pony was sick, likely with liver failure and had not been called out again I might go check on it from the view of welfare. As she wouldn't have known another vet was then involved.
 

kez81

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Where is the evidence that she had returned to euthanise the pony? To quote OP:-

"A couple of days later we were approached by a neighbour who let us know that our previous vet had gone into our feild without our permission or without even letting us know. We are not sure what she was doing or why. After we let her know that we did not want her to put our pony to sleep a few days earlier, we had not heard from her. Our neighbour approached her to see If everything was ok and she quickly leapt our feild gate and left."

I suspect if she were to euthanise the pony there would be evidence of a catheter in the neck or a bullet in the head; I can't see any vet taking that action and putting themselves at risk; far more likely is that she was checking the condition of the pony in case she needed to get welfare agencies involved. Prosecuting for trespass would be ridiculous as no damage was done, this could well be a vet who had the pony's best interests at heart.

As for not being registered, I was sat in the vets reception yesterday and a client wasn't coming up as registered,despite being a regular client, seems it was a computer glitch. If the vet was fully booked then an appointment for ten days was reasonable, she came out when told it was serious, her diagnosis and 'treatment' was correct. We also aren't aware of the attitude of the OP towards the vet, which may have been antagonistic and made the vet unwilling to contact them, it may not have been the most professional way to go about things, but if I thought a vet was concerned about a pony and she felt she couldn't approach the owner then I wouldn't mind them checking in the field - far better than turning a blind eye.

If you read my subsequent post, you will see I apologised for miss understanding ops post about the vets return. Yes its better than turning a blind eye but I would personally not expect a vet to go sneaking about without my permission. A courtesy call at least to say she was popping by to check pony is just good manners. If op then gave her some bizarre excuses not to come visit, I could then understand maybe popping by to try and speak to her and see pony but creeping about ?
 

cobgoblin

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If I caught my vet creeping about in my fields he would get such a dressing down his ears would probably melt.
But I know he wouldn't do it.
 

MotherOfChickens

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I can imagine if I were a vet, had discovered a pony was sick, likely with liver failure and had not been called out again I might go check on it from the view of welfare. As she wouldn't have known another vet was then involved.

This. We only have one side of the story, none of it makes alot of sense. How many of us might nip into a field to check a horse we were worried about? I know I would (not a vet).
 

applecart14

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So sorry to hear your tale. I reported a vet once, to the Senior Practice Manager of that practice. The young woman vet had misdiagnosed my horse with EHV instead of Wobblers even though by this stage he had had an ataxic episode in front of one of the senior vets at the practice whom had stated that he thought my horse had wobblers although he changed his mind shortly after speaking to the YO. No doubt he'd been told I was a bit of a worrier and would be anxious.

On coming out on an emergency visit to my horse for a bad ataxic episode (his second) the woman vet was certain he had EHV and clapped her hands in front of me in glee and declared "I will be the first vet in the midlands to diagnose this condition. I will be able to write my thesis about this". I was very angry with her. I was convinced my horse was EHV free and had googled all the symptoms of Wobblers. The EHV swab came back positive but 33% of the horse population are carriers anyway so the test didn't prove anything other than he was a potential shredder ~(although he hadn't shed the virus). Antoher two horses on the yard were also positive.

After a period without any additional symptoms my horse was eventually (on my assistance) referred to Liverpool where he was pts within three hourse of admittance with Grade 3/4 Wobblers Syndrome following diagnosis using comprehensive xrays and trot up. He did not have EHV and never had EHV.

I wrote to the senior practice manager who stuck together with his staff and defended this womans actions. Coincidentally some four years previously another vet from the same practice had had to shoot my horse twice to pts after a broken leg in the field (apparently the first one missed his head).

i felt very angry that my horse had gone on to suffer another two bad ataxic episodes and suffered quite badly before a diagnosis had been made. The journey to Liverpool had been horrendous for him (partly to do with the terrible transport company I'd used) and my horse was dripping with sweat on arrival. He was pulled off his feet by the groom when he tried to tank off after unloading even though I'd told her he HAD to be unloaded with a chifney (he was very strong in the neck). He fell onto the concrete where he thrashed around trying to find his useless legs that didn't work because he'd been so uncordinated. When they asked me to trot him I refused, he could barely walk without falling over. EHV indeed!!!
I didn't use the practice again.

I wish I'd written to the RCVS now but did not think about it at the time. Maybe that would be your best course of action. So sorry about your story. x
 
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ycbm

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Op stated she later found out the vet had returned to try and euthanise the horse. I would assume by speaking to her? Very serious indeed.

No, she did not. You must have misread what she wrote.
 

ycbm

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Yes, which is what I then apologised for in my subsequent post!


And I have only just read it, and returned to delete mine but in the few seconds that took, you had already posted.
 

ycbm

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If you read my subsequent post, you will see I apologised for miss understanding ops post about the vets return. Yes its better than turning a blind eye but I would personally not expect a vet to go sneaking about without my permission. A courtesy call at least to say she was popping by to check pony is just good manners. If op then gave her some bizarre excuses not to come visit, I could then understand maybe popping by to try and speak to her and see pony but creeping about ?

I doubt if you would expect to refuse to put down a horse dying of liver failure, would you? In a welfare case, as I believe this was, since the diagnosis was correct and the pony was left to suffer for several more days before it was put down, I would expect the vet to be concerned enough to check the pony if she was driving past and saw it still in the field.

Going back to manners, it is unethical for the second vet not to have contacted the first, and bad manners for the owner not to have told her she was getting a second opinion. I find it impossible to believe that she would have gone into the field if either of those things had happened.

As far as I can tell, all this vet has done is been faced with an owner she had reason to doubt would be able/willing to pay their bill, who gave a diagnosis at eight at night which was probably her first opportunity to do so, whose diagnosis was correct, her advice ignored, and a pony was left to suffer from a horrible condition where the next stage is blindness, fits, and head banging.
Concerned to see it still alive, she checked when she saw it still in the field to see if she should take emergency action to put it out of its misery, with an owner who as far as she knew was doing nothing except keeping the animal alive and in pain.

And for doing that, she gets torn to pieces on a public forum and the owner is encouraged to report her to the police, her employer and her governing body. Nice :(
 
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cobgoblin

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I doubt if you would expect to refuse to put down a horse dying of liver failure, would you? In a welfare case, as I believe this was, since the diagnosis was correct and the pony was left to suffer for several more days before it was put down, I would expect the vet to be concerned enough to check the pony if she was driving past and saw it still in the field.

Going back to manners, it is unethical for the second vet not to have contacted the first, and bad manners for the owner not to have told her she was getting a second opinion. I find it impossible to believe that she would have gone into the field if either of those things had happened.

As far as I can tell, all this vet has done is been faced with an owner she had reason to doubt would be able/willing to pay their bill, who gave a diagnosis at eight at night which was probably her first opportunity to do so, whose diagnosis was correct, her advice ignored, and a pony was left to suffer from a horrible condition where the next stage is blindness, fits, and head banging.
Concerned to see it still alive, she checked when she saw it still in the field to see if she should take emergency action to put it out of its misery, with an owner who as far as she knew was doing nothing except keeping the animal alive and in pain.

And for doing that, she gets torn to pieces on a public forum and the owner is encouraged to report her to the police, her employer and her governing body. Nice :(

A lot of assumptions there!
 

kez81

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I doubt if you would expect to refuse to put down a horse dying of liver failure, would you? In a welfare case, as I believe this was, since the diagnosis was correct and the pony was left to suffer for several more days before it was put down, I would expect the vet to be concerned enough to check the pony if she was driving past and saw it still in the field.


I would never refuse to put down a horse down that needed it for any reason but I can see why op sought a second opinion if she felt vet wasn't giving her a proper service....


Going back to manners, it is unethical for the second vet not to have contacted the first, and bad manners for the owner not to have told her she was getting a second opinion.

I do agree with you there.

As far as I can tell, all this vet has done is been faced with an owner she had reason to doubt would be able/willing to pay their bill, who gave a diagnosis at eight at night which was probably her first opportunity to do so, whose diagnosis was correct, her advice ignored, and a pony was left to suffer from a horrible condition where the next stage is blindness, fits, and head banging.
Concerned to see it still alive, she checked when she saw it still in the field to see if she should take emergency action to put it out of its misery, with an owner who as far as she knew was doing nothing except keeping the animal alive and in pain.

Shows we all take a different view of the same event when given limited information.
 

npage123

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So sorry to hear your tale. I reported a vet once, to the Senior Practice Manager of that practice. The young woman vet had misdiagnosed my horse with EHV instead of Wobblers even though by this stage he had had an ataxic episode in front of one of the senior vets at the practice whom had stated that he thought my horse had wobblers although he changed his mind shortly after speaking to the YO. No doubt he'd been told I was a bit of a worrier and would be anxious.

On coming out on an emergency visit to my horse for a bad ataxic episode (his second) the woman vet was certain he had EHV and clapped her hands in front of me in glee and declared "I will be the first vet in the midlands to diagnose this condition. I will be able to write my thesis about this". I was very angry with her. I was convinced my horse was EHV free and had googled all the symptoms of Wobblers. The EHV swab came back positive but 33% of the horse population are carriers anyway so the test didn't prove anything other than he was a potential shredder ~(although he hadn't shed the virus). Antoher two horses on the yard were also positive.

After a period without any additional symptoms my horse was eventually (on my assistance) referred to Liverpool where he was pts within three hourse of admittance with Grade 3/4 Wobblers Syndrome following diagnosis using comprehensive xrays and trot up. He did not have EHV and never had EHV.

I wrote to the senior practice manager who stuck together with his staff and defended this womans actions. Coincidentally some four years previously another vet from the same practice had had to shoot my horse twice to pts after a broken leg in the field (apparently the first one missed his head).

i felt very angry that my horse had gone on to suffer another two bad ataxic episodes and suffered quite badly before a diagnosis had been made. The journey to Liverpool had been horrendous for him (partly to do with the terrible transport company I'd used) and my horse was dripping with sweat on arrival. He was pulled off his feet by the groom when he tried to tank off after unloading even though I'd told her he HAD to be unloaded with a chifney (he was very strong in the neck). He fell onto the concrete where he thrashed around trying to find his useless legs that didn't work because he'd been so uncordinated. When they asked me to trot him I refused, he could barely walk without falling over. EHV indeed!!!
I didn't use the practice again.

I wish I'd written to the RCVS now but did not think about it at the time. Maybe that would be your best course of action. So sorry about your story. x

I'm very sorry for the way in which you lost your horse :(
 

eggs

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Er, why? I've never done that. It's nothing to do with them if I feel I want a second opinion. I don't let the Co-Op know that I'm going to M&S from now on!

When I asked my vet on behalf of a friend if she would give a second opinion on her horse she said that she would want the the current vet to be advised of this before she saw the horse - professional courtesy.
 

ycbm

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Er, why? I've never done that. It's nothing to do with them if I feel I want a second opinion. I don't let the Co-Op know that I'm going to M&S from now on!

Because by doing so when you reject a firm diagnosis, you are calling into question her professional judgement and broadcasting that to another vet practice. In the case of an uncertain diagnosis requiring a second opinion, you want the results of tests already done shared so you don't have to pay for them a second time.

I buy baked beans or jumpers from the Co-op and M&S. From my vet, i buy a professional opinion and treatment, (which in this case was correct). I don't consider them comparable.
 

Nudibranch

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I'm really surprised just how much vet bashing there is on here. Personally I can't see reason to complain and I get the impression there isn't a whole story here.

A previous vet made an almighty mess of euthanising one of my old girls. As in an hour and a half of dying, whilst he had to drive back to the practice to fetch the gun. I had specifically requested she be shot in the first place....anyway, in the end I didn't take it further than the practice manager because they closed ranks and b*********ed their way over my two written complaints and the RCVS would have supported them anyway. So I am by no means blindly pro vet; but here I don't see a case.

So in answer to the original post; no.
 

ester

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Er, why? I've never done that. It's nothing to do with them if I feel I want a second opinion. I don't let the Co-Op know that I'm going to M&S from now on!

You haven't been told to euthanase your co-op carrier bags though have you?
It is something to do with them if they consider they might still be the 'treating' vet but that their advice has not been followed up/further information not given.

I would still like the OP to clarify the money situation tbh.
 

Annagain

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I don't think I'd make a complaint, but I would ask (her, directly) for an explanation as to why she was in the field. I suspect she was concerned and checking the pony (she wasn't to know another vet was involved) but agree it wasn't the best way to go about it.
 

AmyMay

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I don't think I'd make a complaint, but I would ask (her, directly) for an explanation as to why she was in the field. I suspect she was concerned and checking the pony (she wasn't to know another vet was involved) but agree it wasn't the best way to go about it.

Completely agree.
 

SpringArising

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Because by doing so when you reject a firm diagnosis, you are calling into question her professional judgement and broadcasting that to another vet practice.

And that is entirely within my right given that I am a paying customer.

And, ETA, there is nothing to say you have to tell Vet 2 who Vet 1 is/was.
 
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cobgoblin

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If I wasn't happy with the opinion of one vet, I would just call another. I wouldn't tell them about any previous vets visit, so they wouldn't even know if it was a second opinion or not. So I don't see how they could inform each other.
 

ycbm

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And that is entirely within my right given that I am a paying customer.

And, ETA, there is nothiing to say you have to tell Vet 2 who Vet 1 is/was.

No, but there is an ethical obligation, which I believe may be written into their code of practice, that vet 2 should notify vet 1 if they are aware it is a second opinion. So they need the name, and the only ethical way to provide that is to inform vet 1 first.
 

ycbm

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If I wasn't happy with the opinion of one vet, I would just call another. I wouldn't tell them about any previous vets visit, so they wouldn't even know if it was a second opinion or not. So I don't see how they could inform each other.

You would pay twice for the same lab tests?

In this case, for example, did the second vet even know how bad the blood test was?
 

cobgoblin

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You would pay twice for the same lab tests?

In this case, for example, did the second vet even know how bad the blood test was?

If necessary yes. If I wanted a second opinion, I would want it to be truly independent. Not in collaboration with a vet that I didn't trust.
 
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