Barklands
Well-Known Member
I don't know if this is just due to the emotions of being due to lose horse to laminitis (as referred to in another recent post) but the more I think about our situation, the more frustrated I am with the vet service we have had.
We are registered with the "best" vets in the area and before Christmas last year my mare came down with severe laminitis. We had the vets out straightaway who advised bloods for EMS and Cushings, both of which came back negative. We had vets back out a week later and she was still in a lot of pain. We had full bloods run and a urine test (due to some other symptoms), all of which came back negative. She would improve then drop back when lowering her bute from 2 to 1 a day. We would regularly call the vets and ask for more bute but for over a month I was unable to actually speak to a vet myself to understand if her progress was normal or not. It turns out the vet tried to call me three weeks ago but I was in a meeting and they made no effort to call back, so was unaware that they had tried.
I became increasingly frustrated at lack of contact and over a week ago I was at the end of my tether and went in to speak to them. Finally I had a call back from the vet who explained she wasn't happy with progress and that there is an additional EMS test that they could run and a drug they could give to stop the insulin. Fast forward to yesterday, the vet attended, lifted up the foot and the mare has had catastrophic rotation and a very poor prognosis meaning we are at the end of the road and she is to be PTS this week. She is a young, otherwise fit horse and we followed the vet's instructions to the letter. I am not frustrated with the actual vet but feel that overall the practice completely dropped the ball. I had no idea there was an additional test that could have been done and drugs that she could have been given to lower the sugars in the body. Maybe the outcome would not have been different but she was not even given a chance. As an owner who has never had to deal with such severe laminitis, I had no idea of what timescales were normal and every time called felt like they were just trying to get me off the phone as quickly as possible.
To clarify, I was not given the opportunity to speak directly to a vet from end of December to three weeks ago when I missed their call. It was a further two weeks (plus me going in person to the practice) to actually speak to the vet. I am aware that they have difficult workloads and didn't want to be pushy but is this normal??
If you were in my position would you raise this? I am awaiting my final bill from the visit yesterday and paying it will really stick in my throat.
We are registered with the "best" vets in the area and before Christmas last year my mare came down with severe laminitis. We had the vets out straightaway who advised bloods for EMS and Cushings, both of which came back negative. We had vets back out a week later and she was still in a lot of pain. We had full bloods run and a urine test (due to some other symptoms), all of which came back negative. She would improve then drop back when lowering her bute from 2 to 1 a day. We would regularly call the vets and ask for more bute but for over a month I was unable to actually speak to a vet myself to understand if her progress was normal or not. It turns out the vet tried to call me three weeks ago but I was in a meeting and they made no effort to call back, so was unaware that they had tried.
I became increasingly frustrated at lack of contact and over a week ago I was at the end of my tether and went in to speak to them. Finally I had a call back from the vet who explained she wasn't happy with progress and that there is an additional EMS test that they could run and a drug they could give to stop the insulin. Fast forward to yesterday, the vet attended, lifted up the foot and the mare has had catastrophic rotation and a very poor prognosis meaning we are at the end of the road and she is to be PTS this week. She is a young, otherwise fit horse and we followed the vet's instructions to the letter. I am not frustrated with the actual vet but feel that overall the practice completely dropped the ball. I had no idea there was an additional test that could have been done and drugs that she could have been given to lower the sugars in the body. Maybe the outcome would not have been different but she was not even given a chance. As an owner who has never had to deal with such severe laminitis, I had no idea of what timescales were normal and every time called felt like they were just trying to get me off the phone as quickly as possible.
To clarify, I was not given the opportunity to speak directly to a vet from end of December to three weeks ago when I missed their call. It was a further two weeks (plus me going in person to the practice) to actually speak to the vet. I am aware that they have difficult workloads and didn't want to be pushy but is this normal??
If you were in my position would you raise this? I am awaiting my final bill from the visit yesterday and paying it will really stick in my throat.
