injuried pony, vet prob would you complain (kinda long)

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stacey_lou

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Well only had my girl just over a week and the vets been out already.
got her in from the field last night and she had bite marks all down her stomache and bum so when on my way to the tack room to get some vet cream and clean water mum called over she bleeding!!!
When I looked she'd been kicked right on her hock and the nails had scrached down the back of her leg, blood was dripping all over the yard and was horrific,
My friend and mum hosed her down clean whilst i call the vet and the vet on call at my practice said just poltice it and he come out in the morning. Which i was fine with untill I saw it cleaned up and still wouldnt stop bleeding
So I called back and said id like him to come out incase it caused infection to her joint (it was right there) he huffed and puffed well I have just got in and once am sorted am not going to with you for another hour plus
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. so I said dont bother and called another vet that I wasnt even registered with and he came out.
I was shocked as my normal vet would have been out in a heart beat, so i called up the surgery this morning and complianed. Am I being out of line, would anyone else have done this?
 
You possibly caught the vet at a bad moment, & to be honest for a vet to arrive within the hour out of hours isn't too bad. My vet is quite a distance from my yard so an hour would be reasonable. Speak to the practice manager about it & see if the problem can be rectified, if not move to the vet practice who did turn out to you.
 
He obviously thought it wasn't life/death situation so within an hour would be reasonable.However that is of no consolation to you. Yes I would complain because of his attitude if nothing else. And yes I would of probably called another vet if I was that worried.
 
I find your post slightly incoherent but here goes.

When you first called the vet you gave him sufficient information for him to make a decision that poulticing was the correct treatment. Most people would rather have the vet out during the day than pay the emergency rates unless it WAS an emergency, which this case doesn't seem to have been, so he was in effect saving you money whilst ensuring your horse had the appropriate treatment.

When you rang him back the situation had changed however he had just got in and he told you that it would take him over an hour to get over to you. Now I don't know how far you are from the vet but it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that say 25 minutes driving time, then time for him to check he'd got all he needed plus a wash and brush up if he'd been dealing with something exceptionally mucky - or infectious - is unreasonable at all. You'd rung him twice, it wasn't an emergency with her leg hanging off or even with her being so lame that you'd noticed the trouble with her hock first.

So all in all I'd be pretty pissed off I was the vet. Sorry.

Hope she's better soon. Out of interest what treatment did the vet who you got to come out advise?
 
Well the practice did say that the practice manager would call me back but I dont like complaining about people espically where work is concerened unless I really have to.
Am not joking through her blood has stained the yard there was that much of it.
I stayed with the vets am with now when I moved beacuse they were so amazing when my past horse had cancer and they were incredible and to speek to a vet like that was shocking for me.
If he had of said well am a fair distance from you ill be there as soon as I can but may take an hour then fair play to him but to huff and piff with "well ive only just got in" is just damn rude
 
jemima_too - The other vet gave her antibiotics and sedated her as it was very painfull and he applied a special cream which will stop it becoming capped and gettin infected then dressed it.Said he come back today with a full pot of cream for me to apply 2 times a day with dressing and some antiflamitry/antibiotics powder to go into her tea he was very good.
Am not bothered at the time as in an hour to get to me would have been ok I could have put a temp dressing on and waited but his whole attitude to me stunk!
 
I think you did the right thing. Vets should not be so rude when you are worried about your animals!!!
 
I know but I think at the end of the day I can only tell them what I think and then they can choose to do with it what they like.(the complaint I mean).My main vet would never have been like that with me espically if I was worried, One night he even came out on a BH monday at about 20.30 in the rain, cold and dark beacuse my boy had mild cholic, it want major but and prob would have been ok but i was worried and so he came out. I dont mind extra call out fees if I am worried and they need a vet. Its better to be safe than sorry.
 
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I think you did the right thing. Vets should not be so rude when you are worried about your animals!!!

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They're only human... It was out of hours, she had rung twice with conflicting information, he might have had a horrific previous visit (e.g. putting something down) for all you know and he offered to come out fairly quickly... I don't think that is that bad...
 
I think you are totally right to be annoyed. The vet was ON CALL & you pay the bills so he wouldn't be doing for free would he?

A few years back I rang my vet about my dog as he had what I thought to be over 50 ticks. He had a terrible attitude & told me not to exagerate!!

He refused to see the dog & told me to apply frontline
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The next day my equine vet came out to check my lad who had ongoing lameness probs, I mentioned to her that the dog had all these ticks.

She took one look & was horrified & told me to get him to her surgery immediately, we managed to count 120 (YES ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY) ticks before we lost count. He had 42 between his toes on one foot alone!!

He needed antibiotics & blood transfusion and was VERY poorly, she said frontline would not have touched this amount & the dog could well have died.

If an owner of any animal calls the out of hours vet they SHOULD come out if you request so. If you didn't want to pay the extra fees you wouldn't have called would you?

Tell the practise manager that you are not an expert & was requesting expert help. Luckily for you you did get the horse seen to as for all you knew the joint could have been damaged.
 
Thank you for that. And yes I was worried I have an 8 year old who loves to jump with a damaged hock. If she had of gotton it infected then that would have been the end of her jumping days before they even begun.
I wouldnt have expected him to have been there in the drop of a hat but to show a little compassion and support and agree to come out in first place would have been nice.
Im no expert but I for one would say any damage to a jointed area is pretty bad and would need looking at.
My normal vet would have said you to options you can either poltice and clean it and ill come tomorrow to inspect it but of your worried then ill come now and see what i can do, be there in half hour - hour and that is the attitude you expect from a vet not well Ive just got in Huf huff Ill be there in an hour plus.
 
We had a horse on our yard that was kicked on the point of the hock. The vet was there within 30min and the horse was taken to the hospital soon after. The tendon that runs over the hock was damaged and the joint capsule comprimised. The horse stayed there for several days, having the wound flushed to stop any infection.
Just be careful that the same hasn't happened to yours.
 
Well the vet who came out said its just cosmetic damage more than anything which is good, and fingers crossed it nothing more. But who was to know it wasnt worse.,
I hope the horse was ok in the end
 
The horse made a full recovery, but just goes to show that quick veterinary care is crucial. The horse was also brought in from the field straight away (the kick was witnessed). All this added up to ensure that no infection set in. I'm sure yours will be fine.
 
i dont think its unreasonable of you to talk to the practice manager about it!

As others have said vets are human, however you were obv not calling at 3am! (which I am dreading getting phone calls at!
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) And it was a ligitimate call out request.

A vet should try to assess the situation over the phone to see whether it requires a call out (and I know most owners think EVERYTHING requires a call out if requested) however this was obv a situation where..... ye call out needed!

and as you say a naff attitutude like that is not acceptable, I know vets are humans but they are professionals and should act in an appropriate manner.

Again as others said (and as you accepted) the hour to get to you is not that bad, its the way he put the point across to you that was the problem!

glad ur girl is ok
 
Thank you, Well I spoke to the manager and he was very lovely and cinciderate. I explained how I wasnt upset over the time till arrival as I am a good 20mins from the town they are based but that I was upset at the attitude that I was spoken to in.he said he would speek to my vet (whos the head vet) and explain my concern and that he would allow him to take ity into his own hands.Which I think is fair enough, they way I look at it is if i was a new client then I think I would have registered else where after that call.
But she is ok now thank you and my main vet is going to come check up on her mid week to check her over.
 
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