Vets: Saints or ****?

Grandeeod · 25-07-2018 11:24PM

I can relate a story here from 36 years ago. So its 1982. I was heading on 11 years old. I'm an animal lover. Reared with Dogs and Cats all my life. I've even tried feckin Hamsters. Back in '82, we got a dog. A pup. A cross between a pointer and labrador. He was a great feeder, but was losing weight by the week. My poverty striken/taxed to the hilt Dad brought him to a local vet in West Dublin. It was a "young" practice with a human Pharmacy attached. Local bigshots. For its time it was nothing more than a money grabbing, disrespectful dump of a place to bring an animal. It had no compassion, charged a fortune and couldn't resolve our dogs problem. This was a take your money and fook your love of your pet in an era when having and actually caring for a pet was an expensive thing for those on a low wage. A few queries later and we got referred to a Vet called Watkins. He was the brother of Cathleen Watkins, the wife of Gay Byrne, up in Saggart, Co. Dublin. He was brilliant. Resolved the issue and charged a fair price. He cared about that dog. Did his best for him. That dog lived for 16 years and got great attention from another vet in his final years without a rip off fee. With pet insurance we have transformed the well being of our pets into an opportunity to charge a fortune, just like we do in human terms.

Some vets are into it and some vets are just in it for the dough. Not that I begrudge them a decent fee.

Sheep breeder · 25-07-2018 11:33PM

Two types of vets large and small animal practice,the small animal vet is not cut out for the large game and knows how to milk the customers heart strings to make a living. The large animal is a vocation and the real world.

PucaMama · 25-07-2018 11:43PM

Sheep breeder wrote: »

Two types of vets large and small animal practice,the small animal vet is not cut out for the large game and knows how to milk the customers heart strings to make a living. The large animal is a vocation and the real world.

Rubbish. Take off your rose tinted glasses and look again.

The vet I use is just a few Euro less expensive per visit than a gp. But they offer monthly plans for your pet e.g pay 15 a month and all vet visits are free for the year plus you get vaccinations etc too. I have 4 dogs so this kind of scheme is very helpfull.

I find most people who disagree with spending money on pets are they “back in my day....” type when dogs were lucky to live on the table scraps. Far too many of those still hanging on.

Lady Haywire · 25-07-2018 11:44PM

Sheep breeder wrote: »

Two types of vets large and small animal practice,the small animal vet is not cut out for the large game and knows how to milk the customers heart strings to make a living. The large animal is a vocation and the real world.

Our practice has a few who does both sooooo.....they can either milk both small & large animal customers or have a giant vocation

Wesser · 25-07-2018 11:52PM

OP I think your post is way over the top, full of venomous anger and way too personal.

Tuco88 · 26-07-2018 12:47AM

Its not an easy job too, The pet in question cant tell them anything. Destroying peoples best frends for over 10 years or more on a weekly basis must grind you down.

Noveight · 26-07-2018 12:50AM

No doubting that they're saints around here. The amount of cattle that'd be four legs up without the practise in our locality is unthinkable.

r93kaey5p2izun · 26-07-2018 01:57AM

Personally I would love to receive health care to the standard my pets receive from the vet! Same day appointment with a full check up, and if necessary immediate bloods (phoned with results within a couple of hours), XRays, ultrasound or surgery, all from the local clinic. Referral appointment with a specialist within a week. I find the price completely reasonable for the standard of service. I would 100% accept treatment from my vet clinic if possible and would trust them as much as my gp and the sh1tty service I'm currently battling through in private hospitals with health insurance at the moment.

LETHAL LADY · 26-07-2018 02:13AM

My vet of 30 odd years is brilliant.
He's a real animal lover with the best interests of my pets.
He also kept working through a cancer diagnosis, so kudos to the chap for that.
Although, when he squeezed one of my dog's anal glands, and proceeded to wipe the gunk on his white coat, all the while keeping eye contact with me, truth be told he did make me waver a bit.

Cupatae · 26-07-2018 02:15AM

Hammer89 wrote: »

I don't really like when our dog is ill; not only because I love her very much and her pain is my pain, but because it also hurts my pocket. It hurts my pocket because, well, vets are robbing c*nts.

There, I said it. I know it's controversial, and I know they cure our furry friends of their ills, and I know we treat these people with the reverance that we treated priests with a few decades ago but, like those some of those same priests, vets are knackers, and charlatans, and scumbags - well, some of them. Our one, Aoife, most certainly is.

In my experience with Aoife and others, vets usually look for - and usually find - something else wrong with your cat or dog, just to ensure that the bill is a bit longer. And obviously you can't say, 'Hang on Aoife, is her tail really going to fall off if we don't buy your €80 prescription skin cream?' or else you look like a sh*t owner who cares more about money than you do about the pet, which is categorically untrue.

Our visit today cost a lot of money. We came back with treatments for three different things, even though we went for a specific complaint - her paws.

If it helps the dog then maybe it's money well spent, but how do I, as a non-vet, know if the dog was actually suffering from these other things in the first place? How do I know it's not the equivalent of a GP writing a prescription for cortisol cream just because her patient happened to come in with flakey eyebrows or something? How do we know Aoife and other vets aren't taking the piss on a massive scale? We don't. We just have to grin and bear it and take it up the arse because a UCD 2015 graduate says this is the best course of action.

No more Butchy.

It costs money to be a vet, it cost money to do the job, it costs money for the equipment to do the job, what are you expecting?

People expect, everything for nothing these days!

Discodog · 26-07-2018 08:53AM

Wibbs wrote: »

I'd put the blame more at the feet of insurance companies and medical supply companies. Vet costs and bills have gone up a lot since the whole pet insurance thing came in. Such insurance almost always raises prices across the board, both to the supplier of a service/product and the consumer.

Insurance changed everything & created a two tier system. I have been involved with Vets for many years & I have seen the changes. Vets now rely on tests rather than knowledge & instinct.

My Greyhound had a swelling on her cheek. The Vet insisted on blood tests, antibiotics etc. Two weeks & €300 later I met a retired Vet, that I know. He said it was a blocked saliva gland, common with Greyhounds & would get better on it's own.

I had a dog with a severe stomach problem. I thought that a blockage was a real possibility. The Vet took x rays, then ultrasound & they then admitted that neither would confirm a blockage as some items won't show on the tests.
The dog died during the exploratory operation which discovered a blockage. I was billed for two expensive tests which were pointless & delayed the operation.

borderlinemeath · 26-07-2018 09:36AM

I can't fault my vet, I have 4 dogs and I foster for a local rescue so I know everybody in the practice and they're not in it for the money. They have dealt with complex problems with my eldest dog to cancer surgery for my very special rescue boy and I have never felt that I was ripped off, all follow ups and check ups are FOC until the problem is sorted (although additional medical supplies are charged for). They do generous discounts for the local rescue and run donation drives for them. I've had to ring the emergency number on bank holidays, Good Friday (for assistance with a litter of rescue pups) and at 2am, where the vet stayed up all night with the sick dog. I have the head vets private mobile if I need to run something by her and on occasion has said to ring her from 6.30am if I needed her.

It's certainly a vocation for them, not a cash cow.

_Dara_ · 26-07-2018 10:08AM

Discodog wrote: »

Insurance changed everything & created a two tier system. I have been involved with Vets for many years & I have seen the changes. Vets now rely on tests rather than knowledge & instinct.

My Greyhound had a swelling on her cheek. The Vet insisted on blood tests, antibiotics etc. Two weeks & €300 later I met a retired Vet, that I know. He said it was a blocked saliva gland, common with Greyhounds & would get better on it's own.

I had a dog with a severe stomach problem. I thought that a blockage was a real possibility. The Vet took x rays, then ultrasound & they then admitted that neither would confirm a blockage as some items won't show on the tests.
The dog died during the exploratory operation which discovered a blockage. I was billed for two expensive tests which were pointless & delayed the operation.

Yeah, that is mad that they couldn’t figure that out from observation. Switching back to humans for a sec, but my granny once had a blocked salivary gland. Her doctor figured it out very quickly because my granny noticed that as soon as she touched some food to her tongue, her cheek would swell up. As far as I recall, it was an easy fix which involved medication to dissolve the stone. I would be amazed if the same thing couldn’t be observed in an animal. Though maybe dogs produce saliva more constantly? In humans, even now, the preference is to keep things simple where possible. It should be the same for animals.

YFlyer · 26-07-2018 10:12AM

There were a lot of sick animals in Vietnam.

valoren · 26-07-2018 10:37AM

The things you own end up owning you.

Idle Passerby · 26-07-2018 10:53AM

If you dislike your vet you're free to go to a different one. Like every other service, you shop around til you find one you like.

Gorgeousgeorge · 26-07-2018 10:57AM

Neither saint or a wanker. They provide a service that i need. Same as the fella in the local shop.

Anyway think you have it bad my vet bill last year was just shy of 17k

Discodog · 26-07-2018 11:16AM

borderlinemeath wrote: »

It's certainly a vocation for them, not a cash cow.

It has become a serious cash cow as an industry. One company owns 363 vet clinics in the UK & they have started buying here. It's a very worrying development.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/13/cvs-the-countrys-biggest-veterinary-group-youve-never-heard-of-h/

Discodog · 26-07-2018 11:30AM

Idle Passerby wrote: »

If you dislike your vet you're free to go to a different one. Like every other service, you shop around til you find one you like.

Not really. You need someone fairly close. You don't want to long distances especially in an emergency.

_Brian · 26-07-2018 12:01PM

The vet we have coming to the farm here is great, she has a genuine care for animals and we never feel overcharged.

Discodog · 26-07-2018 12:21PM

_Brian wrote: »

The vet we have coming to the farm here is great, she has a genuine care for animals and we never feel overcharged.

Farm Vets will become a problem as it's not as lucrative as companion animal work. Practices use to do both but now many specialise.

topper75 · 26-07-2018 12:25PM

Gorgeousgeorge wrote: »

Neither saint or a wanker. They provide a service that i need. Same as the fella in the local shop.

Anyway think you have it bad my vet bill last year was just shy of 17k

I take it that you are a large livestock owner rather than a pet keeper with that figure?

Cabaal · 26-07-2018 12:28PM

gmisk wrote: »

I think our vets are fantastic, they aren't cheap but we have pet insurance which helps and I think is pretty essential especially if pedigree inbred dog.

Fixed your post

This idea of pedigree is no favour for the animal

ohnonotgmail · 26-07-2018 12:31PM

topper75 wrote: »

I take it that you are a large livestock owner rather than a pet keeper with that figure?

well that or their cat is a hypochondriac

Gorgeousgeorge · 26-07-2018 12:38PM

topper75 wrote: »

I take it that you are a large livestock owner rather than a pet keeper with that figure?

That is correct, family owned farm but not as large as you might think.

Feisar · 26-07-2018 12:48PM

"My baby" and "bedside manner", you what!?!? LOL

Idle Passerby · 26-07-2018 01:00PM

Discodog wrote: »

Not really. You need someone fairly close. You don't want to long distances especially in an emergency.

Vets aren't in short supply. I live in an under populated area and still have a choice of vets within a reasonable distance.

Alf Veedersane · 26-07-2018 01:08PM

Gorgeousgeorge wrote: »

Anyway think you have it bad my vet bill last year was just shy of 17k

I'd be a long way short of that when I'd be reconsidering the vet...

Discodog · 26-07-2018 01:08PM

Idle Passerby wrote: »

Vets aren't in short supply. I live in an under populated area and still have a choice of vets within a reasonable distance.

If we follow the UK you could find that all of them are owned by the same company

Boom_Bap · 26-07-2018 01:36PM

We are looking at changing our vet at the moment. We get the feeling that we are going too much although we have 2 extremely healthy cats.
Surely they don't need injections so frequent...we are relying on the vets advise on this so have been going along with it up until recently.

Vets: Saints or ****?

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