Sooo angry with vets

[Peanot]

On Thursday last week I phoned the vets to come out to my horse as her annual flu was due. It was due to the date, on the Saturday. The lady said that they were so busy that I`d have to wait til Monday! I asked her if this was ok and she said that as it would only be 2 days overdue, it would be fine, so I agreed to wait til this morning!
How annoying, when vet came out, looked at passport and told me that I`d have to start her all over again, with another in 6 weeks, then 6 months etc!

I told her what I had been told on the phone by the receptionist and she said that she was just down the road on Thursday and Friday and another vet was in the next village, 2 miles away on Saturday morning.

so someone could`ve come out to me.
She told me that she would have a word with the receptionist as she shouldn`t have told me that it would be ok. The receptionist asked me if I was competing and I told her that I did, but not that upcoming weekend.
The vet this morning told me that if I was to go to a competition and they asked for my passport, I could be asked to leave!
This has cost me an extra £100 and possibly the embarrassment if I was told to leave a show, plus the inconvenience of having to wait around for the vet again.
The vet also told me that she would have a word with the manager and see what can be done.
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH

 

[serena2005]

OMG!

 

[Bex7]

I would be very pi**ed off!

Have you paid already or is it an account system? I would be witholding payment or asking for the difference to be refunded.

 

[AmyMay]

Would it have killed your vet to back date the passport by two days??? Talk about screwing every penny out of you.

I'd be bloody furious.

 

[K9Wendy]

Don't quote me on this, but my vet told me there was a 3 week grace period. This is on the last of a full set of vaccines done this year. Bee is due in 4 weeks time so I'm booking her in for 2 weeks to allow for a delay..

 

[flyingfeet]

Definitely new vet time....

 

[Peanot]

I have already paid as I pay when they come out so as its done.

 

[Peanot]

Amymay, I hinted at this and she told me that it is all computerised.

 

[samp]

We used to back date the passprts if need be. There is a bit of lee way

 

[Quarrybank]

If you are competing, including for riding clubs, there is no leway at all. If the booster is not done within the calender year you will have to start again. However, I would def take it up with your vet. If they advised you wrong they shouldn't charge you for their mistake.

 

[Peanot]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't quote me on this, but my vet told me there was a 3 week grace period.

[/ QUOTE ]

I asked her about this as I was always meant to believe that it doesn`t have to be to the exact day but within a week or so, but she said that it couldn`t be over 365 days.

and that today was actually 366 days.

 

[K9Wendy]

What a bummer... Vet should try and make ammends, his staff informed you wrong, so therefore you should not have to pay for their mistake!

 

[TheresaW]

But what about when you have a leap year. Surely, if you vaccinate to the day, then leap year would make it a day late!

Hope I've made that clear. I know what I mean

 

[Zebedee]

Whilst it's perfectly legal for the horse to be vacinated 'to the day' all it takes is for the vet to be called to an emergency, for the horse to refuse to be caught etc etc - and the horse has been prevented from being vacinated on that day. It's always as well to allow a few days grace, but in this instance to be honest I think the easiest way for all concerned is for your vet to back date the certificate. If they do agree to do this they need to obliterate the entry they have made & re-enter the corrected details on the next line, & then there can be no confusion if ever your passport is checked at a competition. Just altering the date & initialling it can cause problems if the date isn't 100% clear.
Hope you can resolve this quickly & amicably.

 

[Peanot]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are competing, including for riding clubs, there is no leway at all. If the booster is not done within the calender year you will have to start again.
This is what she said.



If they advised you wrong they shouldn't charge you for their mistake.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was definately told that it would be ok and that they were very busy and there wouldn`t be anyone spare to see me until today. Yet, the vet today told me that they weren`t that busy and someone would have definately come out to me.

 

[S_N]

I would be absolutely bloody fuming if that was me! you shouldn't have to pay for the next vaccine, or the 6 month one + the callouts for them, as they are the ones that are surplus to requirements!!

I had a fit about this last year! When I bought B she was un-vacccinated, not even tetanus!! So I had to start her again before sending her off to stud! Whilst she was at stud, she had her 2nd jabs - ONE DAY TOO SOON!!!! instead of on the 21st day or after, it was done on the 20th day

I refused point blank to pay for it, as it wasn't my fault, luckily, when she came home, she was still well within the 92 days, so I had my vet do it! I was furious with this other vet - he is a very well respected equine vet too, so he should have known a LOT better!!

 

[Zebedee]

Leap years are now ignored for the purpose of annual vacinations, although they DID used to be taken into account!
I saw one this year that on first glance appeared to have only had 20 days not 21 between the first two injections. Luckily for these people not only did I notice that the 20 days spanned the end of February in 2004 I also remembered that that was.......a leap year!

 

[ihatework]

I don't think it's so much that if you are a day or 2 overdue that your horse isn't covered, they are, in fact I think there is a good few weeks leway.

The problem is that if you want to compete your horse the annual boosters must be on or before the previous years.

RC in particular are VERY anal about this and will seriously disqualify you/your team if there is a blip in the record.

From my experience BE are slightly more forgiving and if you have missed it by a day or two will often overlook it.

Personally I would expect the vets to restart the course for free if they are not willing to back date the passport.

 

[Quarrybank]

The rule is to the day, but I agree with the other poster that it is too much of a risk to leave it to the last day. I always book my boys in for the week before, that way if there is a problem, I'm not caught out. If you're not competing it's not a problem, but if you are and you're just a day over, you could get turned away.

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
Amymay, I hinted at this and she told me that it is all computerised

[/ QUOTE ]

It may well be - in their practice. Which is fantastically organised. But realistically if its in your passport - then no organisers are going to check beyound that unless they have a real serious doubt about a particular competitor.

Still think that it's poor show on your vets behalf. By all means tell you to be a little more organised next year - but I just think they're taking the proverbial.

 

[TGM]

I think there are 2 issues here - one of health risk and one of competition legality.

I suspect the receptionist was telling you it was OK in that your horse wasn't at risk of disease because of delayed vaccination. However, when it comes to competition rules there is no leeway whatsoever.

We found this out the hard way in almost exactly the same circumstances. Jabs were organised by YO and she rang to book the horses in and they couldn't be done straightaway but receptionist said it was OK to go over by a couple of days.

Unfortunately we didn't realise at the time, it was only at a RC competition a few years later that they went back through the vacc record and found the anomaly - so we were barred from RC team events.

If we had discovered the error at the time then I would have got the vets to restart the course free of charge, but as a few years had elapsed I had to let it go

.

 

[Peanot]

So this morning I agreed that it would have to be re-started, but does that mean that I can`t compete until she has had the 3rd one in 8 months?
I want to show jump on Thursday.

 

[vicijp]

HRA rules are after the first 2, so you would be ok in 3 weeks. Id be surpised if any other governing body was any harsher.

 

[Zebedee]

21 days between the first two injections then SEVEN CLEAR DAYS between the second injection & the competition. So in practice it will be 28 days, & day one is the day AFTER the injection.

 

[LEC]

I am a walking vaccination nightmare - just spent £60 for my nag to be done as he was 2 days out 3 years ago. BE is very forgiving but RC and FEI are not. I got pulled up at B&W yesterday over mine as my horse was not 7 days clear from last jab (which I knew but honestly I think mine has only ever been checked onece at BE) as he has been done in time for a comp coming up this weekend. Vet came and checked him said he was fine and off I went competing. Now RC would have done there nut. Vet said most jabs cover you for 15 months and he also said the new FEI rules were ridiculous as needs to be done every 6 months.

 

[star]

spit fire at your vets - it's not on for a receptionist to be giving out wrong advice. i would refuse to pay for the next jab needed and the 6 month one. in terms of health, you can go over by several weeks with no issues with regard to level of protection. in terms of competition, not one day is acceptable. it is illegal for your vet to backdate the passport and i personally wont, but you need to kick up stink about what the receptionist told you until they sort it out for you which means you should onyl have to pay for the one vacc, not the 21-92days one or the 150-215days one.

 

[Doreys_Mum]

Am I the only one who thinks fool you for leaving it so late?

My mum always books boosters ages in advance. We never get caught out that way!

Whilst I agree the receptionist was wrong, she'd not have been put in that position if you'd booked it sooner than 2 days before it expired.

 

[Peanot]

I hadn`t checked it, which I`m sure that loads don`t either.
For some reason I thought it was due November but I just checked and phoned straight away. The vet that came out to me this morning, told me that it is very common for someone to ring saying it was up the same day and they go out to them. Usually I book around 2 weeks before the day but we all make mistakes sometimes.
I`m sure that is the same with MOTs on cars too. I am only human and I have a lot of things to contend with at the moment.
Also, the receptionist shouldn`t be giving out information if she isn`t sure. She should`ve asked someone there.
The reason I am p*ssed also is that she said that they were booked up til Monday and the vet told me that she had been in the area Thursday and Friday sorting out a sarcoid down the road and a partner was down in the village on Saturday so I should`ve been guaranteed a visit!!!

 

[ginniebee]

You must be furious, its completly unacceptalble on the vets behalf, their error and if i were you i would expect them to rectify it.

 

[Doreys_Mum]

Saying loads of other people do something doesn't make it right, you know.

As it happens, every january my mum puts cats and horses vaccines on the calender, so when she's making arrangements for each month as they come, she sees the vaccines are needed and books them.

Fairy snuff, leaving it till last minute is not like you, but it is alarming how many people you claim do so.

Vets are not superhuman. Agreed, on this occasion, they could have fit you in, but if they truely were busy, you'd only have yourself to blame!