Vets are only human.....

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gunnergundog

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....be understanding and kind to your vet today and every day please.
Regardless of what you may think of corporates, costs, whatever. The professional persona that may be bright, bubbly and effervescent does not necessarily reflect what is going on internally and the stresses felt.

A star is burning very bright tonight; a star that should not be there so soon.

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I always think it must be a horrible job, people go into the profession because they love animals, yet they have to scare and hurt them, my animals all dislike the vet.

That’s aside the angry owners, financial side of things, the stress of people wanting animals fixed that they can’t afford to pay for, the lists are endless and I can’t in all honesty see what’s good about the job!
Of course there are good stories, it must be amazing when you do fix a dog or something.
 
My vet came for jabs a couple of weeks ago and just melted into Ben's neck. I think she'd had a tough few days. My nervous nelly pony just wrapped his head around her. It was a strange emotional moment. She doesn't know Ben well and has only done his jabs previously but she needed a Ben cuddle that day and he was very understanding.
 
I couldn't do your job for all the money in the world. My dog is the most precious thing in the world to me and I imagine / hope most people feel the same, the least we can do is treat those we entrust our pets to with respect and appreciation. I don't believe for a second that my vets don't try their very best.

As an aside, I'm with a chain for basic stuff-vaccines, tummy bugs etc, they always squeeze us in, don't overcharge, and have been known to undercharge/only charge for meds not consult etc, have removed stubborn ticks for free and lots more, I really appreciate them.
 
If my local vet, who has recently been taken over by the big guys, had not referred my Jessie dog on the 7th April to the vet specialist hospital, she would now be dead. If that same hospital had not persevered diligently nursing her 24/7 while they worked to diagnose and treat her, she would now be dead.

She is sitting here beside my bed, first day home, not quite there yet but hopefully on the way to full recovery at some point in the future. Vet bill now over 5,000 euro and rising. But worth every cent of it for the skills, expertise, specialist input and not least kind and compassionate care from all the vets, nurses and receptionists that all got her through this. I will never question a vets bill again.
 
I hugely value my independent vet practice who always have the animals and clients interests at the centre of their business (whilst obviously still needing to provide reasonable recompense for the partners who have invested time, money and taken risk running the business). They are very reasonable I think when considering the overheads.

In my opinion large corporations where profits are the only motivating factor should not be involved in any of the caring professions be it veterinary, medicine or care homes unless there is some way of directly linking profit to both value for money and quality of care.
 
Mrs. Jingle said:
If my local vet, who has recently been taken over by the big guys, had not referred my Jessie dog on the 7th April to the vet specialist hospital, she would now be dead. If that same hospital had not persevered diligently nursing her 24/7 while they worked to diagnose and treat her, she would now be dead.

She is sitting here beside my bed, first day home, not quite there yet but hopefully on the way to full recovery at some point in the future. Vet bill now over 5,000 euro and rising. But worth every cent of it for the skills, expertise, specialist input and not least kind and compassionate care from all the vets, nurses and receptionists that all got her through this. I will never question a vets bill again.
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I'm so glad to hear she is home Mrs J. Fingers firmly crossed for a speedy recovery.

5000 Euros is exceptionally reasonable for such a long hospital stay. Vet prices in Ireland seem much lower than the UK, I have noticed that several times over the years when they are discussed on here.
 
I love my vets. The equine vets are the most caring professional people to deal with. They have treated my pony through some injuries that had bleak prognoses and she came out sound and well. I sent them a box of cakes from a well known local cafe/ cake business as a thank you and I sing their praises at every opportunity.
 
alibali said:
I'm so glad to hear she is home Mrs J. Fingers firmly crossed for a speedy recovery.

5000 Euros is exceptionally reasonable for such a long hospital stay. Vet prices in Ireland seem much lower than the UK, I have noticed that several times over the years when they are discussed on here.
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That is a bill at a practice which regularly gets complained about here for being pricey - I feel they are value for what is available and the level of care!
 
alibali said:
5000 Euros is exceptionally reasonable for such a long hospital stay.
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Absolutely. I approached the receptionist to make payment quite expecting to shell out easily another €5000 on top of the €1,750 we had already paid as a deposit on admission. Pleasantly surprised to say the least. My equine vet is a small one man band and I find him extremely diligent, knowledgeable and always goes the extra mile, his prices are somewhat higher than some other quine vets here but still more competitively priced than I have paid in the UK in the past.
 
I am lucky I have used the same local independent vets for over 20 years. They know us and our dogs. They are so reasonably priced they have a waiting list.
I have also used Fitzpatricks orthopedic hospital a couple of times and Moti is currently under them for his IVDD. Hydrotherapy there is brilliant and costs no more than others locally. Tilly had a tumour removed from her mouth many years ago in their soft tissue hospital.
People complain but their staff are lovely and so willing to explain everything and give you time to think and ask questions. Their facilities are brilliant. Unlike what I've seen on TV I've never felt pressured into surgery I'm uncomfortable with or unsure about.
Vet treatment is expensive because they have to manage ionising radiation, run big buildings, insure buildings and staff, service and maintain expensive delicate equipment etc. I often wonder how my local vets make a profit.
 
gunnergundog said:
....be understanding and kind to your vet today and every day please.
Regardless of what you may think of corporates, costs, whatever. The professional persona that may be bright, bubbly and effervescent does not necessarily reflect what is going on internally and the stresses felt.

A star is burning very bright tonight; a star that should not be there so soon.

Support Your Veterinary Team | Not One More Vet | NOMV

Not One More Vet provides resources, peer support, and more to help veterinary professionals. Find out how you can support your veterinary team as a pet guardian.
nomv.org
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I do mostly but Not always possible specially when they fail to diagnose your horses condition and you loose your horse because it was not diagnosed or diagnosed late.

I am moving one of mine to a different practice as the vet moved and she knows my connies history and she is one of those vets who goes above and beyond.
 
I recently had to have a guinea pig put to sleep and despite it being 'just' a guinea pig and thinking I would be fine I ended up a blubbering mess in the surgery! I received a lovely card a week later with a handwritten message from all the staff to say they were sorry for my loss. I thought it was such a lovely touch and emailed them to say so. It doesn't take 5 minutes to appreciate someone for something kind and without them we would all be screwed. Let's not forget it's not just tough day to day but years of gruelling study, low paying placements and dealing with the general public which can't be easy!
 
gunnergundog said:
....be understanding and kind to your vet today and every day please.
Regardless of what you may think of corporates, costs, whatever. The professional persona that may be bright, bubbly and effervescent does not necessarily reflect what is going on internally and the stresses felt.

A star is burning very bright tonight; a star that should not be there so soon.

Support Your Veterinary Team | Not One More Vet | NOMV

Not One More Vet provides resources, peer support, and more to help veterinary professionals. Find out how you can support your veterinary team as a pet guardian.
nomv.org
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The veterinary profession is such a difficult one - my thoughts are with the vet, family and the practice
 
They have to do so much variety in their work. Humans come from the same blueprint, dogs, rabbits, cats, etc don't and it must be even more diverse in large animals like horses and cattle. Mistakes will always happen no matter how hard they try and it must be hard to deal with distraught owners at anytime. I think human medicine is probably easier.
 
ycbm said:
My last 2 visits to a corporate horsepital I've told them that I thought their charges were very reasonable for the expertise they provided. We need our vets and even if people have a problem with what was done there's no excuse for abuse.
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Ashbrook?
 
ester said:
I’m not sure profit is ever the only motivating factor because they all have vets on the ground for whom that isn’t the biggest driver.
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If that's in response to my post then to clarify what I meant; I'm sure the vets working in corporate owned practice are motivated by much better reasons than profit however they are not the ones setting the policies and the KPIs therefore they may have to toe the party line despite their own motivations. I'm absolutely not blaming vets for corporate owned practices being profit driven, only the large corporations themselves.

Hopefully that clears up any ambiguity 🙂
 
Yes but they are the ones seeing the patients and making the suggestions of what work up (£) needs to be done so there is always a buffer to the corporate profit being the only factor, meaning it is no longer the only factor.

Arguably partners who own practices should be more profit driven than employed vets (I'm not suggesting they do!)
 
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