Good Vet

Not quite sure what you mean by the second paragraph I'm afraid

small animal practices especially urban ones belonging to chains that seem ot want the most money off people for simple things ... but that's because of the costs they incur with their high street / shopping mall locations and the franchise fees they pay for the twee name they go by...

So does that mean that it is now acceptable in the veterinary profession to deliberately leave an animal to suffer because you object to the owner's financial habits?

All the good vets I know would say "sod the owners, look after the animal", because that's why they're vets.

Anyone who can knowingly leave an animal to suffer shouldn't be allowed to practise veterinary medicine. And interestingly (according to my vet friends) the RCVS takes quite a similar line.

The OP should make formal complaints to the RCVS against every practise she asked for help and which refused.

There are legitimate reasons for wanting to keep the dispensing of drugs inside the veterinary surgery only.
No regular pharmacist is going to care whether or not you're administering the drugs properly. Sure, there will be regulations (don't I just know it; I currently work in a human pharmacy) but you can bet your bottom dollar that the majority of phamacists/dispensers are going to take short-cuts that they'd never even consider with human patients.

Whilst this is unfortunate and im sure that there are some people in the profession for reasons other than genuine concern for each and every animal they treat, my experience with vets has been very different.


I am yet to come across one who has not displayed evident concern for the animal they are treating. I have a dog who has in the past been very ill with diabetes and she has suffered various complications over the last few years associated with this. From the minute she began having problems the vets, vetinary nurses and every staff member I have encountered have bent over backwards in order to ensure her well being and to make sure that she has recieved the best possible care.

Recently, my dog (the same one) had to have both of her eyes removed due to fear they may burst and could possibly be cancerous. Before her opperation we were talked through exactly what would happen, the risks, benefits and any other relevant information. The opperation was schedualed quickly, and the staff who had treated her from day one made special provisions to ensure that they were there to assist/conduct the opperation themselves. This was dispite the fact that the opperation could have easily been left to staff at the other practice, which was a good 15 miles away from their own practice. After the opperation, the staff have stayed in contact and have been eager to find out how she is getting on. I can give lots of other examples.

Im just thankfull that there are so many committed and hard working people out there who do care that much about the animals they treat. What amazes me most is that those involved in the treatment of my dog are all volunteers and are under no obligation to do anything at all, yet have consistantly gone out of their way to make sure that my pet has recieved the very best care possible, and I really cant thank them enough for that.

I think vetinary medicine is a very under apprecaited profession, and id like to think that most, if not all who choose to follow that career path do so because they love animals and have their best interests at heart. There are always going to be people who take advantage when there is money involved- always, but I believe that the significant majority are good, honest people who genuinly care for the animals they encounter.

I don't know this person - this isnt any kind of personal gripe! I've no reason not to tell the whole story! I was just quite shocked by it when the cat could so easily have been saved but instead died in complete agony. Im not complaining about fees, just think the primary concern should be for the animal when its an emergency like that and then sort out the fees afterwards.

Also its not always that easy to spot a blocked bladder - my cat has a tendency to wee in the house so whenever we find him sitting like that the habit is to put him out! I noticed last night he had been doing it quite a lot yesterday and felt his bladder - rock solid - luckily i knew the symptoms and how serious a blocked bladder can be, but someone with no veterinary experience could be forgiven for assuming it was just the darn cat weeing in the house again and putting it out the front door till morning! i dont see how anyone can blame the owner for this case, really.

Sorry to burst your bubble OP but pretty much the only way all the local practices would refuse to treat unless paid up front, is if said client was a terrible debtor, who never paid. Most local practices email each other lists of bad debtors and they're just not worth the time of day, cheeky bastards.

All the practices I've been to would have taken it no questions and catheterised it there and then, with no questions of payment until afterwards.. unless the client happened to be a bad debtor.

In our chemist's the other night, whilst waiting for prescriptions to be filled, a woman noticed there were worming tablets and flea treatments available. She asked us if we could tell her what 13 stone was in kilos, as that's what her rottweiler weighs, and she was moaning about the costs of these from her vet. The pharmacist calculated the stones to kilos for her, and it was quickly obvious that the largest size the chemist had available were not going to be enough, but you couldn't just take two packs as it wasn't going to work out correctly that way either. This woman was not particularly highly educated and was worried about overdosing or underdosing, so in the end she said she would stick to her vet, but how many others...? If it hadn't been almost closing time, I don't think the pharmacist would have had time to do the calculations for her (neither of us could remember the formulae).

As for drug prices, i know they're expensive for us too, but they really dont cost anywhere near as much as we pay to produce!!

I don't mean to be rude, but surely there is the point that vets often cannot do anything more in the interest of the animal, yet owners insist on treatment and what have you... A diabetic and completely blind dog I can't see how such treatment could be plausable for the interest of the animal, sorry. There are numerous examples of this everywhere... For example a paralysed dog in my village hauls itself around on a trolly and my idoit of a great aunt keeps her aged cat alive my injecting it with insulin daily.. all in all alot of stories seem ludicrous. I feel for the vets that have to battle with such animals which in fairness would be better off if put to sleep :/

I wouldn't think twice about putting one of my animals down if they had an ailment or injury so severve. My horse has just undergone orthapaedic (sp) surgery, if any terrible complications had occured, it wouldn't of even been a second thought. Thankfully, 3 months and £5000 later all is well!

ever think that the cat may be keeping her going? (assuming your great aunt is elderly)
and diabetics inject themselves with insulin daily, whats the problem with that?

She has another cat and a husband. The poor thing is housebound ... diabetes in humans is an utterly different topic. Sometimes it is just better to put them out of thier misery, rather than faffing around, just my opinion

I don't mean to be rude, but surely there is the point that vets often cannot do anything more in the interest of the animal, yet owners insist on treatment and what have you... A diabetic and completely blind dog I can't see how such treatment could be plausable for the interest of the animal, sorry. There are numerous examples of this everywhere... For example a paralysed dog in my village hauls itself around on a trolly and my idoit of a great aunt keeps her aged cat alive my injecting it with insulin daily.. all in all alot of stories seem ludicrous. I feel for the vets that have to battle with such animals which in fairness would be better off if put to sleep :/

I wouldn't think twice about putting one of my animals down if they had an ailment or injury so severve. My horse has just undergone orthapaedic (sp) surgery, if any terrible complications had occured, it wouldn't of even been a second thought. Thankfully, 3 months and £5000 later all is well!