Should I be annoyed? - Vets.

S

SillySausage

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 March 2008
Messages
2,150
Location
Warwickshire
Visit site
To cut a long story short, I had my feral cat speyed about 3 weeks ago. It was paid for by the Cats Protection so they chose the vets (I had no preference as no previous experience anywhere). They said they would then microchip her when I took her back in for her check up a week later.

When I took her back the next week, they had the chips but not the gun. The lovely nurse told me to pop back at any time to get her done.

I took her in yesterday (3rd trip) and got to the vets to find the door locked. There was a sign up that said something along the lines of:

'In emergency surgery, please ring on the doorbell and we will be with you as soon as possible.'

So, rang on the door bell. Stood in the pouring rain for 30 minutes (if I had got back in the car they wouldn't have seen me), by which time two other clients were waiting with me. Client 2 was there to register her cats, and Client 3 had an elderly ill cat they thought would have to be put down.

When the nurse eventually let us in, client 2 was fairly irrate and bought up that if we had an emergency we would have been in trouble (each of us had rung the doorbell when we arrived) not to the nurse, but to me.

I then said to the nurse I had come to get her chipped, to be told that without an appointment she couldn't have it done. I pointed out this wasn't what the other nurse had told me, and that she had also developed a hernia that I would like somebody just to have a quick look at. Again, no chance.

So now I am having to go back again on Thursday. It's a good 25 minute drive from me, and I have kept a close eye on her hernia but am miffed that she wouldn't even just have the quickest of looks to set my mind at rest.

Think I will go back to have her microchipped (part of the deal from CP) and then will move her to another surgery. This is a fairly new vets apparently (less that 3 months old) and they only have two veterinary surgeons (not sure if this makes a difference)..

I didn't lose my temper and I will be taking her back on Thursday.... But do you think I should be annoyed or am I blowing it out of proportion? I understand that they had an emergency, but what if I had an emergency too? Also feel sorry for client 3 having to stand for 30 minutes with his ill elderly cat, and I really hope they would see his for him. The contact page underneath the note for the next emergency contact was 45 minutes away.

Thanks :)
 
I think it depends if its out of hours (maybe they closed early yesterday). At mine you have to phone first or they just won't answer then door. If they'd closed just to deal with an emergency then I would be annoyed, if they'd advertised their opening hours then not much you can do about it. But if there's one vet and one nurse and they're in the middle of a surgery then they can't just leave to deal with people at the door. So no, I wouldn't be annoyed unless I'd been told it was fine to come down at that time only to find it closed.
 
Or if they were open we used to put signs up like that when dealing with an emergency, a put to sleep or in emergency theatre. Would you like me to leave your animal that is dying or under ga to answer the door? If it was a dire emergency I would assume you would keep ringing and hammering on the door.
 
It was New Year's Eve, and not an emergency. So no, I wouldn't be annoyed. In fact, I wouldn't have wasted the petrol going there until tomorrow.
 
If I'd have just turned up on the off chance, and found it was emergencies only I would have turned round and got back in the car. I hope the person with the very ill cat was allowed to go first? I'd have been fuming if a microchip and a new registration were seen before my dying pet.
 
I'd only be annoyed that one nurse tells you one thing (pop back any time to get microchipped) only for another to tell you something different (actually you need an appointment).
 
My vets were open as normal yesterday, but they are a fairly big practice with a receptionist and vet nurses so presumably this situation wouldn't arise.

I think the OP meant that the vet was in theatre and no one could come to the door, not that they were only seeing emergencies.

I think that there has been some misinformation given as to whether an appointment was needed or not and seems a bit odd that the nurse wouldn't have a look at the hernia.

If you are not happy then I would change vets.
 
I can see where you are coming from but I think it's just one of them things where there are more things important and you've just got to let it go.

I do think the gentleman with the elderly ill cat should be annoyed though, that's really sad :(
 
why should the vets have been closed/not fully functioning on a Monday? it wasn't a bank holiday.

I don't think the OP ever thought that a microchip was an emergency- it was the vet (and nurse presumably) that were in doing emergency surgery (hence the locked door and a request to ring the bell for attention). It sounds like the vets were just understaffed for the situation they found themselves in.
 
I'm surprised that you thought new years eve was a good day to have a cat microchiped.it's an emergency only day for vet call outs and a chip or a question about a hernia is not an emergency in any sense of the word...I would've thought that was obvious? There would have been one vet on call so not necessarily on site! and one vet nurse available.... weather they were on site or not would depend on the time of day the size of the practice and if there were critical inpatients. ...if they were onsite they could have been monitoring and treating critically ill patients in the hospital, in the middle of surgery or putting an animal to sleep or have had to travel back to the practice from an emergency call out. Had yourself or client number two rang ahead neither of you would have been there in the first place. I wouldn't be annoyed in your case...if I was the vet on call in that practice and someone tryed to call me in for a microchip I would be seriously pissed off! if this is a mixed animal clinic or if u want out of hours emergency treatments then I would highly advise ringing ahead in future.most surgerys do not have vets living on site so a certain lenght of time before an emergency can be seen is to be expected and you will be told this and given advise on what to do in the meantime by the vet on call.just showing up at the clinic with no prewarning on emergency only days is not the quickest way to be seen unless you are lucky enough to have a vet on site. Client number 3 does not sound like an emergency either as the cat was elderly and ill but not a case with an immediate threat to life that could be fixed by a prompt treatment.Had they booked a normal appiintment on a normal day they would have been given a normal timeslot not an emergency one unless of course they booked a pts appointment...those are done where posible at quiet times of the day to give owners more time with their pets and to save anyone having to wait in the waiting room.however on a day like new years they would of course be treated as priority to be seen on and delays would have been avoided whereever possible....I would imagine if they had rang ahead they would have also been given a more accurate time to be seen that just ringing the clinic bell.....
 
surely we don't actually know that was the situ at the OPs vets though, re emergencies only. If that were the case would the sign not say something along the lines of 'emergencies only please ring bell for attention in an emergency' ?

I am surprised that most vets are not open as normal on what is essentially a normal working day :confused:

eta I did out of interest check my local village vets.. they were open 8-1 (4 if needed) which is earlier than there usual 7pm but usual service for most of the day
 
Last edited:
Is the hernia on the Spey wound?
If so then it does need to be seen as a matter of urgency.
Rest of it is probably a misunderstanding, I expect the nurse didn't mean you to just pop in, but phrased it badly.
Please get the hernia looked at ASAP though if it's on the wound
 
smiggy said:
Is the hernia on the Spey wound?
If so then it does need to be seen as a matter of urgency.
Rest of it is probably a misunderstanding, I expect the nurse didn't mean you to just pop in, but phrased it badly.
Please get the hernia looked at ASAP though if it's on the wound
Click to expand...

My dog was speyed 10 days ago and I thought she had a hernia. Its wasn't one and was actually a seranoma, a build up of fluid through being to active. She's had her stitches out and its gone now as she has been "made" to rest. Difficult for a 19month old Lab.

Microchipping - its done by appointment at our Vets, perhaps it was misunderstood by you when they said come anytime.
 
'In emergency surgery, please ring on the doorbell and we will be with you as soon as possible.'
Coming from an experienced nurse if we put a note like this on our door it means that it is out of hours so mimimum staff and we would be in theatre with an emergency so that we couldnt just leave what we were doing and answer the door, we would also expect clients to ring with any issues first so we could say if it needed seeing immediately or could wait til we had finished with the current emergency.

In all the practices Ive worked in xmas eve and new years eve have been early finishing and after that time is out of hours.

When ive been on out of hours we wouldnt even let a client in the building without the vet being present, also we usually had patients to see to so wouldnt hear the door bell go and asked our clients to phone when they arrived.
 
Obviously the OP wasn't the only one to misunderstand that the sign meant that though/2 others thought the vets were open.

surely 'please ring for emergencies only' would make it much clearer
 
Aru said:
I'm surprised that you thought new years eve was a good day to have a cat microchiped.it's an emergency only day for vet call outs and a chip or a question about a hernia is not an emergency in any sense of the word...I would've thought that was obvious? There would have been one vet on call so not necessarily on site! and one vet nurse available.... weather they were on site or not would depend on the time of day the size of the practice and if there were critical inpatients. ...if they were onsite they could have been monitoring and treating critically ill patients in the hospital, in the middle of surgery or putting an animal to sleep or have had to travel back to the practice from an emergency call out. Had yourself or client number two rang ahead neither of you would have been there in the first place. I wouldn't be annoyed in your case...if I was the vet on call in that practice and someone tryed to call me in for a microchip I would be seriously pissed off! if this is a mixed animal clinic or if u want out of hours emergency treatments then I would highly advise ringing ahead in future.most surgerys do not have vets living on site so a certain lenght of time before an emergency can be seen is to be expected and you will be told this and given advise on what to do in the meantime by the vet on call.just showing up at the clinic with no prewarning on emergency only days is not the quickest way to be seen unless you are lucky enough to have a vet on site. Client number 3 does not sound like an emergency either as the cat was elderly and ill but not a case with an immediate threat to life that could be fixed by a prompt treatment.Had they booked a normal appiintment on a normal day they would have been given a normal timeslot not an emergency one unless of course they booked a pts appointment...those are done where posible at quiet times of the day to give owners more time with their pets and to save anyone having to wait in the waiting room.however on a day like new years they would of course be treated as priority to be seen on and delays would have been avoided whereever possible....I would imagine if they had rang ahead they would have also been given a more accurate time to be seen that just ringing the clinic bell.....
Click to expand...

Why would yesterday be an emergency only day, New Years eve is a normal working day, it is not a bank holiday. Unless it was after normal hours I would expect the vets to be open.
 
Why would yesterday be an emergency only day, New Years eve is a normal working day, it is not a bank holiday. Unless it was after normal hours I would expect the vets to be open.

Because we would like a chance to have a break too. We have receptionists and nurses too but we were only open half a day on xmas and new years eve. I have never worked in a practice that is open its full usuall hours on xmas eve or new years eve, there is always a nurse on site and a vet who is on call and that is rota'd out fairly but it gives the rest of the staff a chance to party like everyone else, why shouldnt they?
 
Last edited:
Its not like everyone else though.. most were at work on Monday not partying until later in the evening if it took their fancy?

I think its fine if that is what they do/intend to do but they should make it clear to their clients if that is the case.
 
So many businesses have skeleton staff over Christmas holidays, people deserve time off

I would have seen the sign, assumed they were low on staff and gone back another day

In fact scratch that - I wouldnt have even gone at all yesterday!
 
but people have time off.. christmas.. boxing day.. new years day..

Perhaps we are just so used to most businesses being fully open these days.. I had my eyes tested and my car checked yesterday (we have a site shutdown so have to take our holiday days over christmas :( )
 
WelshD said:
So many businesses have skeleton staff over Christmas holidays, people deserve time off

I would have seen the sign, assumed they were low on staff and gone back another day

In fact scratch that - I wouldnt have even gone at all yesterday!
Click to expand...

I don't disagree that people deserve time off, especially people like vets and their staff who cover on call, but it should be made clear the opening times and other than that only emergency cases would be seen. It doesn't seem to be the case here as more than one person read it wrong.
 
Whoops internet crashed.

Vet was advertised as open normal hours.

I'm not stupid.... I don't consider a microchip to be an emergency, however being told to "pop in whenever" I took as just popping in on the off chance, as I did.

Most miffed about them not looking at her hernia. I wasn't expecting them to do something there and then, just to tell me if it was a come back later job or just see you in a few days. (My dog had an umbilical hernia and I was told just to gently massage it, she's now 5 and it cleared up on its own.)

I have worked in a vets and yes everyone needs a break. However, just as paramedics will work shifts such as Christmas and New Year, my previous vets have always done the same.
 
As a pet owner I can understand your frustration, but as a former VN I can see the other side of the coin too. Having a microchip inserted is most certainly not an immediately life threatening emergency and I would imagine that on New Year's Eve they will have been running at skeleton staff, like most places. Being kept waiting is unfortunate, however, in defence of the vets there is every chance that they were dealing with something which could not be left any sooner, and I am sure they will have attended to you as soon as possible. As for the hernia, if it was bothering her and you told them so then I would expect them to have a look, however, if she seems otherwise OK the probability is that you would be told to do exactly what you are doing anyway - keep an eye on it and make an appointment, if anything changes or she's unwell telephone the surgery before turning up. If you feel really aggrieved you could maybe say something along the lines of "gosh hope you've recovered from your busy New Year" and see if they make any comment/apology but to be honest I think it's all being blown a bit out of proportion.
 
Seems a bit odd they were shut I've been a VN for years & I've never known any practice not treat New Year's Eve as any thing other than a normal working day,indeed I worked New Year's Eve until 7pm & Xmas eve until 5pm. However if the note did say knock for emergencies I would've been miffed to have someone knocking to come in & have a microchip done! I did Locum at a practice that would,when short staffed lock the front door if we were in theatre & put a note on door requesting people ring in an emergency.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top