Would You Make Use Of A Vet Whose Clinic Cannot Keep Dogs Overnight?

[ahicks51]

First poll question. Have mercy on me.

 

So- we have a very good vet clinic, all nice and shiny; they just added a whole new wing. There are five vets there.

 

Last I checked, they can't hold dogs overnight, and they don't take emergency calls; we have a first-class e-vet clinic (almost certainly with a contrail of zeroes on any vet bills) a couple miles further up the street, so if anything goes wrong after surgery, the hounds would have to go there.

 

Is this a totally whacked situation, or is this typical- not to be able to kennel dogs overnight?

[Guest LindsaySF]

Actually, while most vet offices will hold dogs overnight, there is NO ONE there to monitor them. Someone might pop in for meds, but then they go home. If the dog needs 24/7 care they should be transfered to an emergency clinic with 24/7 staff.

 

At least your vet is being honest and not misleading you that there is someone to monitor the dogs overnight.

 

[Guest LoveMyJoseyBean]

I don't think so. They would have to be a very VERY good vet. But personally, if something has gone wrong with my dog, I would want her to have the best care possible, as soon as possible, with the least amount of stress possible.

 

 

 

 

[grey14me]

It sounds typical. After regular hours, patients are referred to the e-vet. And I agree with the above, they may hold them overnight, but no one will be there with them.

[Batmom]

My regular vet can keep dogs overnight, but there is no one there to monitor them. If the dog needs 24-hour care or watching, they discharge to the e-vet a couple blocks away.

 

The e-vet here is owned at least in part by a consortium of local vets, including my regular vet. Staff is different people, but communication and records transfer works very smoothly. If we have an e-vet visit, follow-up care at my regular vet is charged on the same basis my vet uses -- usually, $0.

 

Having to move a dog at the end of the day or when something bad develops too late to do anything at the regular vet can be cumbersome. Last time we had to do it, tho, my regular vet carried the dog to/from our car and came to the e-vet with us.

[Guest budsmom]

No one stays overnight at my vet, unless the situation is really critical, either. They do, however, keep most surgical patients overnight. Some good things about a small city - my regular vet is my e-vet. There are 4 vets in the practice and they rotate on call duty for emergencies. I guess I'm really spoiled, it's nice to be able to go to a familiar person who has all your records when you have an emergency.

[dmswartzfager]

Yes. There are very few vets in the area that offer 24-hour care/monitoring. Lots of vet offices - I can name five within five miles of my house, but I don't believe any of them offer 24-hour care, except for the referral vet - but they're not a regular office. Major surgeries would (ok, SHOULD) be done at the referral vet or at one of the referral/emergency hospitals. Blitz's exploratory abdominal surgery and Frazzle's tieback surgery were done at these referral hospitals, not our regular vet, and I was okay with that.

 

Now, that being said, the clinic at which I used to work and take our greyhounds, could keep patients overnight, but once the staff left sometime between 8 and 10 pm, no one was there again until 7:30 am, and the vets usually weren't there until 8:30 am. (I'm in between clinics right now - I use Dr. Patty, who left that clinic and has not started her own clinic yet.)

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

My vet will keep dogs overnight but he doesn't have a staff to watch over them overnight so if I need overnight care I have to go to the e-vet and pay triple the prices. Or a specialist depending on the problem.

 

[greytluck]

I did.

 

Hobbes was very sick in the beginning of November, he ended up having to be at the vets on a IV for 6 days. We brought him back and forth between the regular vets and the E-vets each evening and morning. The two vet clinics are partnered so they shared info and were both helpful. I trust my regular vet and I didn't want to change clinics during a crisis so I did what had to be done.

[Guest SoulsMom]

Actually, while most vet offices will hold dogs overnight, there is NO ONE there to monitor them. Someone might pop in for meds, but then they go home. If the dog needs 24/7 care they should be transfered to an emergency clinic with 24/7 staff.

 

At least your vet is being honest and not misleading you that there is someone to monitor the dogs overnight.

 

Ditto. When Soul needed 24hr fluids, my vet said he could stay at their clinic overnight, but they don't monitor them round the clock and he'd feel better if Soul was at the hospital where they do . . .

 

[Remolacha]

My vet is a small, one vet clinic, and no one is there after hours. They will keep an animal overnight, but are very upfront about the fact that no one will be there with them. I understand she can't afford to pay a tech to stay overnight.

I love my vet and the techs, and they are only about 5 min from my house, so I wouldn't change. In fact I think it would be hard to find an non-evet clinic that did have staff overnight anymore.

[CaliforniaGreys]

My vet will keep dogs overnight but he doesn't have a staff to watch over them overnight so if I need overnight care I have to go to the e-vet and pay triple the prices. Or a specialist depending on the problem.

Same here.Problem here is that the e-vet just moved to the other end of the desert and know nothing at all about Greyhounds. Last time I was there with Misty, the e-vet wanted to test her for SLO by doing a blood test

Edited January 20, 2009 by cbudshome

[Guest houndlover]

Although my vet office can and will hold dogs overnite they are not a 24/7 facility so they normally leave by 11pm and then the tech doesn't come in until 6am the next day. I admit that sometimes it bothers me that no one is there to check on my pets if they have to stay overnite but if it was critical that they not be alone for the 7 hours or so that no one is there then I would make sure that they were at an e-vet.

 

 

[Rickiesmom]

Our situation is similar to many - regular clinic will keep pets overnight but there is no one there to monitor. Pets needing overnight care are transferred to the e-vet, which fortunately isn't too far away. The e-vet clinic also functions as a specialty clinic during the day, so unlike some e-vets, you don't have to move your pet back to the regular vet when they close for the day. It also means there's a team of very good people around if you need them, and that has been gold to me on more than one occasion.

[GreytHoundPoet]

My vet will keep dogs overnight but he doesn't have a staff to watch over them overnight so if I need overnight care I have to go to the e-vet and pay triple the prices. Or a specialist depending on the problem.

Same here.Problem here is that the e-vet just moved to the other end of the desert and know nothing at all about Greyhounds. Last time I was there with Misty, the e-vet wanted to test her for SLO by doing a blood test

 

 

We had a problem finding a vet anywhere near that knew anything about greyhounds. Our last vet had no idea what a Galgo was and told me it wasn't a breed. We now have a vet that is an hour away, but has 2 galgo customers plus Argos, and sees many, many greys and other sight hounds...as she was a sight hound owner herself.

 

Sorry for the hijack.

Edited January 20, 2009 by GreytHoundPoet

[DaisyDoodle]

I do use such a vet who doesn't have overnight staff (but offers to keep my dogs), but I take my dogs home overnight and bring them back in the AM. I've been asked to leave them overnight "for observation". When I asked if someone was there, I was told no, that there was no one there from about 8pm to 6am, so I said no, and I took my dog home. I'd rather observe my dog myself than to leave my dog alone overnight, just to say they are 'at the vets'. I don't know if any vet's office in this area has 24 hr care except one emergency vet's office, perhaps.

Edited January 20, 2009 by DaisyDoodle

[Guest BooandCalisMom]

We love our vet, but I dont think they hold dogs overnight. We have a great e-clinic close with 24 hour staffing (a vet on staff around the clock) so we'd take one of our pups there if they needed observation or something else that required overnight care.

[Anne]

My vet does boarding over night, but there is no one there from after dinner until midnight and they go out and then no one until morning. My only other option would be to go at least 75 miles further to a vet and that's too far.

My vet back in Ohio didn't keep sick dogs all night either unless it was a special thing.

If I need an ER type vet, it's a 100 mile drive.

Edited January 21, 2009 by Anne

[iluvgreys]

It's typical for SoCal to have a regular vet KNOT keep animals overnight, since there's no staff to monitor sick pets. There are a few specialty vet hospitals that have 24/7 hours and charge a minimum of about $900.00 just to have your pet there being observed. I'd MUCH rather use my regular vet, then go to an e-vet if additional services are critical after hours.

[Guest greyvettech]

I work for a vet. If animals are hospitalized, of course they stay over night-Also, if we do any abdominal surgery, we always keep the animal for a night and until the next afternoon to insure the animal can hold food and water down before he/or she goes home. I am guessing that this hospital has no over night staff to watch the animals so they don't/won't be responsible for something happening to an animal overnight... maybe the vet had a past bad experience... but it's weird to think that if the vet had a major surgery that he would send the animal home the same day? Maybe the vet refers the animal to an emergency clinic to be watched over night????

[Guest EmilyAnne]

I am extremely lucky that I have a vet who will answer her phone 7/24 and open her office anytime. A real blessing when you have a hound with epilepsy and I was very glad of this when Henry had his last cluster. She opened her office early Sunday morning just for Henry. I wouldnt be surprised if my vet has a bed at her office and stays overnight for certain special cases. Wish I could take our vet with us when we move.

[Guest MZH]

We do, but sometimes if they have the staff, they stay open for their regular clients. They also do boarding and there is always someone there all night for that. That's unusual, I'd guess.

 

We do have a 24-7 facility nearby though when they can't man their facility.

 

Our other option is to have serious procedures done at the referral center where someone is always there 24/7. I don't know if they're in the $900 range though. That's quite shocking!

 

Marcia

 

 

[Guest Winterwish]

The nearby vets here don't provide overnite *with staff supervision at all,so I wouldn't leave my dog there overnite,but they're very close by and accessable. For emergencies Brooklyn has an excellent,really excellent 24 hour emergency hospital. They also do specialty consults and procedures,but these appointments only work by referrals from your regular vet.

Edited January 21, 2009 by Winterwish

[RobinM]

No. with all the overnights we have, we need to have someplace where they can be treated around the clock if necessary.

 

[PatricksMom]

Yes, because I've never needed Patrick to stay overnight, and it would be a shame to have missed out on 7 years of a great vet because of that (our clinic can keep them, but that's not the point.) You can always have him at the fancier clinic if there's a reason that he would need to be overnight.