Before i verbally blast my veterinarian..input?

[vash]

some of you know i adopted a problem dog. "harry". he is 12 years old. one year ago, for whatever reason, his owners pushed him into one of those dog drop off boxes late at night. he had to endure the entire dog pound experience, and when finally cleared for adoption he was taken to a new home. well, it didnt work out..and he was night dropped again. a note was left saying, "sorry, we cant take his barking".

now my wife and i have him. he was HELL in the beginning. but we worked through it. i say harry is 80% reformed. he slips into his dark place sometimes. we deal.

now our vet knows all this. we took him in friday to have his teeth cleaned. we were told not to feed him much the night before, and nothing that morning. he was scheduled for an early procedure, a day of observations, and we were to call at 5pm to confirm a pickup. we did as we were asked. well come 5pm, my wife called..i went mountain biking so i didnt go. i get back around 5:30 and my wife's car was gone..good! she is picking up harry. as i was cooling down in the backyard, they pull up. my wife was pissed! the vet never got to harry! he was left in a box with no water or food for 9 hours. harry was FREAKED! he wouldnt sleep in his kennel, wouldnt leave our sides. the separation anxiety came back!!

the vet graciously rescheduled us for this coming friday, automatically. we never saw the vet himself. wife wants me to call and cancel, and ask for our files. i want to release the kraken. i purposely waited until today to calm down.

harry is ok. he is almost normal again..but damn. my weekend was tough managing that little hellion again. but i am proud, he bounced back quickly. we kept him tired from constant exercise all weekend. no explanation from the vet staff.

not cool, right?

[vash]

harry. we joke that "he put the terror in terrier"

[GWN7]

Ask for a explanation. If still not happy, unleash the kracken.

[9dreizig]

totally unacceptable.. I'd rip him a new one and find another vet..

[stomachmonkey]

Hmm, they know the dog is in for a procedure that limited food/water from the previous day on and left him in a crate for 9 hours without?

Posible the vet had an emergency situation that tied him up but at some point the vet/his office had to realize they would not get to Harry that day.

Yeah i'd be looking for a new vet and I might have to make a call to the state licensing board.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by GWN7

Ask for a explanation. If still not happy, unleash the kracken.

Even IF happy release the Kraken. That is horse hockey at it's worst. There is no excuse. Even if "something came up" the lack of communication is not acceptable. You've worked very hard to make Harry a good boy only to stress him out by a non carrying vet.
It will be interesting to see if Mark chimes in, I think he'll agree.
Let us know what happens.

[tharbert]

Bad vets are easy to find. Goods vets are a different story. He sounds like the first type. Vote with your wallet. Pick up the records and go someplace else. I'd also send him a bill for dog rental.

[Rikao4]

a couple of hrs..a MAYBE..
9 hrs..
that's not right Vash..
abuse in my book...
a tech could have handled Harry..

they forgot about him..

my wife once had a ?..
our former Vet responded with..
google it..

Rika

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Remember your vet works for YOU. Fire his/her ass, and tell him/her exactly why you are doing it.

[cashflyer]

There are a few places that you can make your voice heard: State Licensing Board, State Consumer Affairs Department, BBB, Angies list, etc.

A Vet is a service provider. If he/she is not providing the level of service you expect, then find a new provider. There is no sense in patronizing any service business that does not appreciate you as a customer - whether it is a vet, an auto mechanic, etc.

If you had gone to your doctor for an early procedure, but had to sit in the waiting room for 9 hours before being sent home sans procedure, what would you be doing right now?

[Laneco]

Unleash the Kracken.

angela

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Unleash the Kracken.

angela

Short and sweet....Angela - you called it.

UNACCEPTABLE ON SO MANY LEVELS!

You need to find a vet who gives a damn about your furkid! Fark that guy and his lame excuse for a staff.

Poor Harry - bless you and your wife Vash for your caring.

Best,
Baz and the girls

[kconway]

Thats BS, so does everyone at the Vet's office turn into a pumpkin at 5pm? Why the hell doesn't anyone work til the job's done anymore?

[billybek]

i would be fricken pissed.
Poor old dog....

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Unleash the Kracken.

angela

Then let Harry get first dibs on the scraps

Damn shame. There are other Vets out there who will do right by Harry. Move on.

[mikester]

Uh, yeah - that is completely uncool and there simply is no acceptable explanation short of the vet himself dying and not having someone around (office manager or techs) to handle the situation.

If that happened to my dog no explanation would be needed. I don't need some service provider scaring the crap out of my dog and turning them into something with an over abundance of fear. Fearful dogs bite people they are afraid of.

I would doubt that I would be able to take my dog back there without them being scared. I already don't like taking my dog places where she is afraid (my dog happens to be a wimpy scardy-dog though who is afraid of her own shadow).

[schwarz633]

We weren't comfortable having the vet put our labradoodle under general anesthesia just to clean his teeth, and I also wasn't too thrilled about the cost (~$500), so I purchased a double ended scaler ($3) and my wife and I do it ourselves every 3 months or so. It's just the back teeth that get the heavy tartar build up and it flakes right off once you get the hang of using the scaler. Of course your dog has to have the right temperament to pull this off. Our dog's coat requires quite a bit of maintenance, so he's used to us handling him, and inflicting some occasional minor discomfort.

[gtc]

It sucks that they treated your dog that way.

I can only imagine it was because someone came in with something a little more serious than tartar buildup.

[stomachmonkey]

My old neighbor in NY was a vet.

Had his own cable TV show for years.

We'd bring our Schnauzer in and he'd call in this big football player looking orderly to keep the dog under control. He'd do "maintenance" stuff like clip the nails for a $40 upsell on the visit.

He had an associate, woman, she could do anything to that dog and he'd take it without a complaint. She used to clip the nails and we would never be charged for it.

When she left and opened her own practice we moved with her.

My neighbor calls me and asks what gives?

Said sorry, dog likes her better and I don't feel like I'm getting raked over the coals every time I come in for a visit.

[Danimal16]

Wow, 9 hours??? Doesn't say much for the vet's bed side manner.
Find another that is interested in your old boy's well being. Give him a pet from us here at the bird. He has suffered enough.