I've been reading a few posts lately where the advice given to new (or not so new) dog owners by their vets is the sort of advice you'd get from your next door neighbour who'd never owned a dog in their lives! The advice is so wrong it's not funny! Is there some sort of stupid vet school churning these people out?!

Don't forget we only get the hearsay ;)  Some distortion may occur because people have misheard, heard only what they want to hear or tell us only what they want us to hear :) 

My vets are great they are lovely with the dogs & remember names etc They do not push neutering dogs(or pedigree cats)but do ask new puppy/kitten/cat owners about ID & general health issues. They haven't offered me duff advice & the one I did have a problem with has had a major attitude change & for the better

Not all vets have a good knowledge of breeding dogs nor even of seasons etc & few have any idea about stud dogs unless they either breed dogs themselves or have been involved with a clients studs(they obviously know about how dog mate etc)

Vets have to be able to make educated guessses if their if no physical/test evidence to go on, unlike doctors who can ask most of their patients questions

Did you know it is legal for a vet to treat a human but not a doctor to treat an animal. Vets have a longer training period because of the nature of the work

Went to my vets the other day and their was a notice up which the practice had typed saying:-

Black male dog for sale.  Kennel Cough registered ...............  Nobody at the surgery nor visitors had picked up on it and I believe that it had been there for a while.  I had to bring it up, but couldn't help burst out laughing!!

I have been at my vets for 10 years and they have been fantastic. They are kind, considerate and more importantly, caring for both me and my pets. They have never given me bad advice.

Saying that, my vet before was terrible and that's why I found another practice.

Don't forget that a lot of the time the vet will alos only have the information that the owner gives them to go on - and listening to some people I overhear in the streets who discuss their dogs ailments rather loudly as if it's something to be proud off I for one don't find it surprising that some animals have the correct treatment delayed slightly :(

I really hope that's the case and that there aren't vets out there saying (for instance)that it is acceptable to leave a 10 week old puppy alone for 9 hours and that it should only have two meals a day!

Are there any vets on here by the way? Would be interesting to hear their views. We've had lots of vets, some excellent, some not so, but never met any as bad as some of the posters on here apparently do!

In all honesty I can't imagine any vet suggesting that a 9 week old puppy should only have two meals a day - not sure on the suggesting a time scale where a pup can be left on it's own - but one of the most basic things a vet learns is stomach torsion and that by feeding a puppy their required daily intake of food in two meals is just asking for trouble - a pup can only digest so much food in one go, they will certainly eat all that you put down for them to the point of making themselves sick (especially in a food orientated breed) but their body can only 'work' on a set amount at one time which is why it is recommended that a pup of that age has four meals a day.

But like I say, some people do not give the vet all the information they need and I'm sure that those same type of people never really listen to all the information they receive and end up filtering out the bits they want to hear - the vet probably said NO to two meals a day but all they heard was '...two meals a day...' (pup probably yapping in their ear because it's hungry !)

My current vet is excellent - they know both my dogs by sight and truly love my springer cross, the fact that I have worked so hard with him to get him well behaved so that the vets can examine him without any fuss at all helps :)  - in fact he actually whines when we go to the vets and runs into the examining room and literally leaps onto the table - then when the vet is done they make a big fuss of him and he gives them a big kiss :D   Makes me a very proud mum, Tara x

I agree, I can't imagine a vet suggesting such a young pup be left for that amount of time.

I'd guess that someone has bought a puppy and in defense of their stupidity is claiming "my vet said it's okay to be left alone". It happens - people are unlikely to admit that their vet told them that is unsuitable.

There are good and bad vets, and some people don't get on with some vets for nothing other than personality clash.

when I discussed the options I had over Fagans missing testicle I discussed neturing with my vet and he told me all the cons, even that my boys coat would change I was impressed he went into so much detail (so didnt tell him I already knew all that from CD ;) )

I think a lot of the time the problem is that vets know about SICK animals, but not necessarily about healthy ones. That's my impression anyway from when I did work as a vet nurse.

The practice I use have 2 vets that I will happily see anytime and I don't mind which,I trust them both fully, they also have 2 or 3 that I will avoid at all costs. One fomer vet of theirs once told me I should sell my pedigree kittens at 6-8 weeks as otherwise they'd never be able to settle into their new homes. I pointed out that a) cat fancy rules say that kittens have to be 13 weeks before sold, and b) I'd never had a problem with a kitten settling in 16 years of selling kittens.

Having said all of this, I ALSO know it is true that people often get things wrong that vets say.