Breeze went to have a scan on Tuesday which showed she fully ruptured her cruciate ligament. Unfortunately, when she was coming round from sedation, the radiologist went to mover her head and she bit him. I know this wasn't nice for him, but we did leave her muzzle their and told them that she doesn't really like to be handled and can be a bit grumpy.

She had surgery on Wednesday and came home yesterday, but I was so upset on how they treated her. I called to everyday but could not get hold of anyone to give me any answers. I was also enquring about the guy she bit but got no news to 8pm the following night when the vet called to say her surgery went well.
For being the main vetinary hospital in the country, their reaction to her was not what I would have expected and I would not send her there again as when I went to pick her up, the word that they kept mentioning was TEMPERMENT. She is lovely by nature, but should be handled with care when being treated. That does not make her aggresive, just a little scared. They are now suggesting that we go and see a behaviourist.

She is home and much happier to be in a place where she will get love and decent care. They could not wait to get her out of there and told me that she should be muzzled even before she goes into the vet. RUBBISH..... We muzzle her once the vet says hi and gains some trust and then wants to examine her. They want our vet to do the 6 weeks scan and send them over to the hospital as they do not want to see her again, this is fine by me as our practice are much better with her.

She looks pitifull with half of one side shaved, with a hint of blue on her skin. I have a royal dog....... I also noticed that she had something wound her neck, which I guess was masking tape. It was on so tighly, it was actually cutting into her neck. I was so upset for her as this must have been hurting. When I cut it off, you could see marks in her neck and the blood on the tape, which made me really angry.

Oh bless her - I hope she recovers soon xx

As for the vets - no, it can't be nice being bitten but you gave them ample warning. To be honest, in my experience, vets don't necessarily know much more than the  "layman"  about temperament, training, dog psychology or even, often, nutrition.

I've known a few who don't even seem to like animals that much!

Aah what a shame. Sounds like she didnt have an easy ride. Vets of all people should know when an animal is dozy from an op or is ill then they are more prone to show sides to their personality which is never normally there.
You warned them about using a mizzle-they ignored it. And you provided them with a muzzle to use so they are totally to blame if they were bitten.
I would complain about the treatment and the tape being tight. Completely not  on.
Hope she makes a quick recovery and you give her lots of extra cuddles and kisses to make up for the cr*p time she had at the vets.x

Oh, what terrible attitude they have...............I hope the recovery goes well, it's as important as the op itself IMO :) Good luck XX

to be frank the vet sounds like a bit of an idiot. i'd be a bit more careful with any dog coming off of anesthetic, anesthetics can do strange stuff to reasoning and she'll have been scared and sore...can't blame her for being a bit snippy, poor thing.

As to her leg, good luck with it. our boy had surgery on his cruciate recently, totally fine now! hope yours is to, big hugs.

So sorry to hear that Breeze was treated like that.  I do believe that you don't have to be an animal lover to be a vet.  I am so lucky with the vet I have now.  Even though a Toy Poodle can't savage you, they could give a nasty bite, and my old girl who is 15 years old, is a right grumpy sod.  She recently underwent tests, and I asked my vet if he would prefer to muzzle her.  He put on a really soft fabric muzzle, took his time talking gently to her, and had the patience of a saint with her.  I really appreciated his understanding and the way he was with her.  Don't quite know what I would have said to him if he had been as uncaring as they were with your girl.  Not all vets are the same - but I would never want to take Breeze back to them either.  I do hope she recovers well.

Hi Sarah

What an unpleasant experience for you both, I can see why you would be angry.
Any dog just coming round from sedation will be confused, upset and irritable, he should have been more considerate with her, and plus if you had prewarned him she may snap he should have been extra careful.

This must be an everyday aspect as a vet getting the odd nip or bite, they are animals who are not well at the end of the day and frightened they should be used to dealing with this.

Dont let it wind you up what they have said, like another Poster said, some vets know zilch about anything except the functions inside the body!
Write in and complain if youre still annoyed.

Hope your Girl is making a good recovery and dont take her to that nasty vet again!

Elizabeth

I think a lot of newly trained and modern vets expect animals to behave like stuffed toys. It's unbelievable how stupid they can be. Please give me the old country vets of yesteryear, that didn't want to de-sex everything that moved over 2 months old and accepted that animals would behave like animals and that not everything can be found in a text book.
Remember too, that you are the customer. You pay their wages and they are not faultless Gods. You need to remember this as sometimes, they need reminding.

Totally agree with spiritualist!

A while ago whilst my puppy was having his vaccinations and routine check up, I said to the vet I needed some wormer, and said "I dont want panacur". (This was when there had been a lot of bad press about this wormer) and pllus the breeder had been usiing drontal from day one, and wanted to carry on with the same.

His reply was "we are not in the practice of giving out lethal medicines to young puppies"!  I smiled and said right ok but I still dont want it.

When I came to pay he gave me panacur!! Silly me instead of kicking up a fuss, paid for it, came home and rang the breeder who had to go back to her own vets get me the drontal and post it to me!

Im a lot tougher now and wouldnt put up with it, with that vet though he just has an attitude problem, doesnt like anyone who thinks they know anything.
My vet now is lovely and is touch with what is going on in the dog world which helps a lot

I hate to say this but you did give the vet some amunition by telling them that your dog can be a grumpy old so and so, and left a muzzle. (ducks to get out of the way of flying objects....) However, you did leave it and they knew there might be a problem so should have been more aware. I think that part of the training they do should also be bedside manners, if they can't listen they shouldn't be allowed to practice.

Very bad to have had that tape on too tight as well, I would certainly complain about that. :-(

I think a lot of newly trained and modern vets expect animals to behave like stuffed toys. It's unbelievable how stupid they can be. Please give me the old country vets of yesteryear, that didn't want to de-sex everything that moved over 2 months old and accepted that animals would behave like animals and that not everything can be found in a text book.
Remember too, that you are the customer. You pay their wages and they are not faultless Gods. You need to remember this as sometimes, they need reminding

Could`nt agree more,   One of my vets (he is semi retirement)  he was the one I always called out to the horses...we had a very grumpy so an so  of a pony,  yrs ago, he had been mistreated before we had him, and you would enter his stable at your peril, he would charge and bite you as soon as you walked into his stable's, once you caught him he was fine,  (we got he to trust us over time) but my vet, was fantastic with him.  He had been to watch Monty Roberts and decided to put into practice some of his techniques..LOL!!

He would come into the stable with his back to Robin, bending down talking away to himself,  (he was not concerned at all if he looked silly)   he would then start to investigate something of interest in the shavings,  and before you knew it Robin was behind him,  also investigating the shavings.....John (vet) would then run his hands up his leg , then pick his foot up......got him!!!!!!!!    job done with no fuss or stress to eithe rhim or the pony.

Sadly those old vets will be something of  the past I am afraid.

Sorry to hear of the bad time she had,   give her  some  extra cuddles .

spirtitualist, couldn't agree more.

we once took a friends cat to the vets as it was ill, and our friends were on holiday, when the cat wouldnt come out of the box the vet picked up the box and shook the cat out of it, i couldnt believe my eyes my partner said "what the f*ck are you doing", another time the vet was visting a different friend who is a farmer to give his bullocks their tb shots, the bullock moved and the vet stuck the needle with live tb into our friends hand

ah...this is turning into a general inept vets thread then? thanks to our vet not being able to read a scan we ended up losing a puppy and our bitch was opened up for no reason, so they are generally not in my good books... our bitch had a bit of trouble with her delivery (very long time ago, admin not advertising!) (she kept stopping) so after a while she was taken to get scanned, the vet told us there were 2 pups still in there and that one was on its way out but was distressed. wouldn't do anything about that though and she came out oxygen deprived, we lost her the next day. we think she had brain damage, was constantly shaking, couldn't feed etc (despite very careful hand feeding) which was devastating. particularly liked the comment the vet made to my distraught parents about how no one would notice brain damage in a bullmastiff (the idiot clearly knows nothing of the breed or about bedside manner...), then as Kizzy didn't deliver the second pup he saw on the scan they decided to section her. having lost a bitch when i was a child due to botched surgery my parents wanted to avoid this at all costs but we thought it needed doing. anyway...she goes in, phone goes half an hour later...there is no other puppy. the idiot had scanned her wrong and counted the same one twice. raging does not cover it.

Gosh, at least our inept vet experience was a minor one! Started off on the wrong foot when I took the new puppies to her, she insulted one boy's pedigree by saying he was too closely bred (he's a little close but bred by someone who knew what they were doing), and insulted the other boy's head (American cocker) by saying she didn't like this squashed overdone fancy dog heads (he's got a great head for the breed!). Then when the Yankee got cherry eye she just put him under, popped it back in and said 'let's see if it stays', which of course it didn't. At that point I moved vets!

>ah...this is turning into a general inept vets thread then?

Well, here's mine :-D

When my Dobe was 5 months old he became very lethargic one evening and threw up a small pool of blood. We phoned the emergency vet and he said to keep an eye on him and to phone back if anything else developed. My quick thinking mum found an old jam jar and sterilised it with boiling water incase we needed to take a sample in. Nothing further happened overnight but the next morning when I took him out to the toilet he had a bum literally like a hosepipe with a combination of blood and poo that stank to high heaven. We managed to get a sample and took him in to the vets. Were quite pleased as by luck we had an appointment with the head vet. Told him the story so far and gave him the sample. "Oh no need for that" he said "it will just be a run of the mill stomach bug" and with that he threw the jar into the waste paper bin!! He gave us a sachet of that mineral replacement stuff and sent us home.

By the next day my dog was completely lifeless other than having a hose pipe bum that, by now, was just pure blood - never seen anything like it in my life. Pools of it all over the garden. We took him back to the vets (saw a different one this time) who admitted him straight away (he said it wasn't even on his notes that he'd thrown up blood) and he spent 5 days on a drip (which he pulled out the first night much to the nurse's amusement - "oh he's a naughty puppy!" she told us when we phoned to check on him). We went to visit him on day 3 and were asked if we could take him outside to the grass area to see if we could take a sample!! Completely bemused by this point. Of course the sample came back negative for everything because it was taken too late (he'd been ill for about 6 days by this point). Thankfully he finally ate some food from my hand on day 5 at the vets so was allowed home. It took a long time to get any weight on him. It wasn't until he was 2 that he started doing normal poos regularly again (they said he probably had internal damage and might never do normal poos again).

Still can't believe to this day that they threw the sample from the first day in the bin, and more to the point, that I let them! I suspect he had parvo but will never know. Needless to say, we go elsewhere now!

thats awful! they thing they know everything sometimes don't they? i'm having similar issues with doctors at the mo (roley eyes!!)

When we took in our AfghanX we went to the vets for vaccs, were told no point as he'll have natural immunity as he was living on the streets - come back 18 months-2yrs. Fair enough.   2 years later we call vets to arrange vaccs and take him in, unknown to us there was parvo in the town, and the vet had also told a woman with a litter to bring in the last two live ones - to the waiting room   they marched into a full waiting room with the 2 pups in her arms, and while her OH was explaining to receptionist, the one pup vomited - all over the floor from a height of 4ft right in front of my dog   They got rushed in to the vet and came back emptyhanded.  We got called in and I insisted on seeing vet clean the table.  Couldn't have the vacc as the last one had been given to the pup and they both died!   I was absolutely fuming.  Told they will call when vacc is in.

2 weeks later my dog started vomiting, then squitting, the smell was unbelievable.  Phoned the vet and took him in (I suspected parvo) vet just said enteritis despite knowing there'd been contact with parvo 2 weeks earlier and at that point he was just passing blood and shreds - didn't want the sample :rolleyes: and gave kaolin.   The dog was much worse later in the day so phoned the vet again who said I was panicking - the dog was 'fitting' and dehydrated but vet not interested.  I hurried to the Library, thank heaven for Blacks Vet. Dictionary!  All signs were of parvo (but obviously I couldn't do tests)    I spent a sleepless 3 weeks syringing that dog with a mixture of honey and salt every 20 minutes and giving him Kaolin and Morphine Mixture from the chemist - at least he wasn't in such terrible pain.  He was a shadow of himself afterwards but did recover, he later developed dreadful allergies which I am positive were the result of damage to his intestines.

If I take my dogs to the vet now there has to be a bl**dy good reason.

that is appaling. i'm so sorry dill, that must have been so scary and upsetting

It was.  If I'd known then what I do now, I'd have reported them.  Hindsight is wonderful, so is the internet.

A vet board, well at least now it has turned into one.  LOL

Here is my experiences:

My bitch, went into get her ears done, buy a well respected vets that everyone recommends.  So I take her there.  During the exam, all was fine, told him the kind of crop I wanted, and then agreed to preanesthetic blood panels.  Went to the back, and there was my dog already.  Ok I thought, they must have got blood real quick.  They then gas her for the surgery.  In the OR, SHE STARTED TO WAKE UP!!!!  Along with another dog that was already gased out, but not being operated on.  He was finishing up my dog, while the other one as well was under anesthetic. 
Called to get the results faxed to my vets, and it was a year later (this is calling each month) before the vets clinic sent up the info on the cropping.  BUT no blood panels were ever sent up.  I do not believe they did the blood panels. 

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My worst experience was when I had a 9 month old pup who had retained baby canine teeth.  Was wanted to get them pulled, but the vet suggested dental xrays, something that they couldnt offer cos they didnt have the machine.  Phoned around to a couple local vets, and there was one in town who could do the surgery with xrays before hand.  Well, he started in on me that unless I agreed to spay my dog, then he wouldnt do the surgery.  When I said that I wasnt going to do that, he said "Well then sign a no breed contract and I will send it into the CKC."  Cant do that, he isnt the owner or breeder of the dog.  But anways. after a stink with him, I found another vet (out of town) that was willing to do the surgery. 
His team was awesome, and very friendly.  Cher was in and out within the day, and even when I had questions they didnt hesitate to answer them quickly and correctly.  When I walked out of the vets that day with Cher, I had a report in my hands, the xrays, and the bill, along with her puppy teeth in a medicine bottle. 
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Now I believe there are two kinds of vets.  Breeder vets, ones that respect and know a lot about breeding practices.  And then there are pet vets, who are seemingly out to take every penny you have.

> He would come into the stable with his back to Robin, bending down talking away to himself,  (he was not concerned at all if he looked silly) 

Jackbox......  what a super vet!