Wondering About Vet

[Hubcitypam]

Many of you know that I got a foster last week. Drew was found near a dog dumping field in South Dallas and taken in by a nice lady that couldn't keep him as she has 6 of her own. She took him to the pound and contacted my friend that runs a very small rescue and is on the board at the pound. He stayed at the pound long enough to get neutered then was transferred to her vet for two days while she found a foster home. Something about this vet doesn't shake out right to me, but maybe it is just me...you know I'm old and cranky.

 

Here are my concerns -

 

1. Vaccinations. When I took him in for his yellow snot yesterday they gave me his rabies tag and the certificate saying that they did his rabies shot. That struck me as odd as I knew that he would have received his shots at Dallas Animal Services. Guess what, they gave him a DHLPP and rabies when he came in. They were told he had been neutered at DAS. If I know that dogs don't come out of the pound without shots, shouldn't they? They said they just did that out of habit as some other dogs the rescue brought in did not have shots. So Drew had two full rounds of shots within 3 days.

2. The Fortiflora. Just seems an odd and expensive choice to give to a dog when a rescue is paying. They said it was the best option for his runs. Really? I'd think it would be better suited to a dog like my Rex that had ongoing tummy issues, not a young dog that had been eating who knows what before his intake and had been stressed out. BTW - it expires in 2 months.

3. Drontal Plus. Best thing since sliced bread. I'm just confused as the bottle says "dogs 26 - 60 pounds" but there were 4 in the bottle. They gave him two before he left there and the bottle says to give the remaining two on 9/26. I always thought Drontal was a single dose wormer...and why give him two each time? He weighed 50# yesterday. I'm fully aware of how much Drontal Plus costs.

 

Do these seem odd choices for a vet to make when working with a rescue group? I'm all about the Drontal, just wondering if he really needs four. Granted, when paying the bills for rescue dogs I was in Lubbock where we could fix things with spit and bailing wire, but something seems a bit off here.

Please enlighten me. Thank you guys.

 

P.S. Adding to my crankiness was when we went in yesterday (8 days after his neuter) the vet tech's asked "why doesn't he have his lampshade on?" I said "because I didn't want to try and load him in and out of the car in his his lampshade and have him banging into every door in this office in his lampshade". I seriously doubt any dog with the chance to go-for-ride would take those moments to lick his change purse. She then told me to put him on the table and I said that I couldn't. She did, took his pulse and temp then said the doctor would be right in and to keep him on the table. Twenty minutes (on my phone clock) the vet, who was very nice, came in. Believe me, holding a young 50 pound dog on the slippery steel table for 20 minutes was not a fun experience.

 

Thanks for the rant. I thought it would get me the info I needed here more than soapbox.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Not all pounds/animal control places give all shots. Several local (Atlanta-area) ones do not give a rabies shot. They'll give DHPP in order to prevent an epidemic in their own kennels and to avoid the risk that they're sending out a new pet with a disease, but they rarely give rabies shots, and leave that to the rescue group or new adopter.

 

I was a groomer at PetSmart. We frequently got people straight from adopting a new pet who were bringing us their new babies for baths or grooming. We'd have to turn them away because examination of the adoption papers revealed that the pet had had DHPP vacs, but not rabies shots. I think AC figures that there's no way they're sending out a rabid dog, and thus they shove the expense off onto the new adopter, but usually without specifically saying anything about it. So it's not impossible that this vet frequently encounters unvaccinated dogs released by the authorities.

 

And it's just possible that this vet got a donation of FortiFlora--perhaps from someone who knew they wouldn't use it before it expired.

 

I don't have a clue about the Drontal.

 

Maybe have a conversation with your friend who runs the rescue--something along the lines of, "Do you get a lot of odd charges from this vet? Or is there a lump-sum charge for each dog?"

 

(I got my Silver from SEGA. Turns out, she had not been spayed, but she'd had a dental just before I got her. About nine months after the dental, I took her to SEGA's vet for the spay, with SEGA footing the bill for that. While Silver was under, SEGA's vet cleaned Silver's teeth and pulled two. I didn't find out about that until I picked her up. Presumably, SEGA paid for that--and it's a service that's included with most of the dogs SEGA adopts out. The vet didn't ask me or tell me about the dental because he's used to doing whatever needs to be done--mostly spay/neuter and dental--on all of SEGA's dogs, and maybe there's just a lump-sum charge per dog. Of course, Silver was no longer SEGA's dog by this time, and I'd have appreciated at least a head's-up that they were going to do a dental on my dog--but that's a different issue.)

 

It's possible that your friend's vet has a lump-sum charge for each dog he does for her, but your friend probably should be told that the vet is re-vaccinating dogs unnecessarily.

 

It might also be a good idea for your friend to find a vet willing to examine large dogs on the floor. SEGA's vet examines dogs in the floor, as does my own vet.

[revamp]

In regards to asking you to lift the dog to the table and asking you to keep the dog at the table...

 

When I worked at a vet hospital, we never asked the owner to lift and/or restrain their dog. Further, we didn't allow them to lift/restrain their own dog for liability reasons (that and even though the owner always thinks they can hold their scared and snippy dog, the Vet and other techs are going to feel much better that the person who is doing the restraining actually knows what they are doing). We would *never* leave a dog of any size on an exam table without a staff member responsible for keeping the dog on the table. That was straight out negligent and dangerous. A big dog is a handful to keep on a table, and a little dog can quickly jump for it and break legs.

[JAJ2010]

Some dogs do better on a table and some better on the floor. Having you stand there and keep a large dog I am a table for 20 minutes is dangerous and stupid. I would talk to the rescue paying for all this and give your feedback on the vet. No way would I this vet for my critters just on bedside manner alone. If you're not nice to me your not going to be nice to my animals

[Hubcitypam]

It's possible that your friend's vet has a lump-sum charge for each dog he does for her, but your friend probably should be told that the vet is re-vaccinating dogs unnecessarily.

I worked out lump sum payments with several vets in Lubbock for spay/neuter/shots/dentals if needed and understand that.

 

The thing in this situation is that the neuter and shots had already been done. Dallas Animal Services is not going to let a dog out their doors without rabies because then they collect for city license.

[Hubcitypam]

No way would I this vet for my critters just on bedside manner alone. If you're not nice to me your not going to be nice to my animals

Well, the clinic manager was no sot nice to me when I called about his snot. I said he wasn't coughing but was having major bouts of reverse sneezing. She said "I don't want to scare you but there is a likelyhood he has distemper - the two things pound dogs have is kennel cough and distemper. Your dogs are at risk and he should have been isolated for 10 days."

*then why did they release him to the rescue*

I said all my dogs were older and vaccinated and she said "just remember that no vaccine is 100% effective".

Edited September 18, 2012 by Hubcitypam

[KF_in_Georgia]

It's possible that your friend's vet has a lump-sum charge for each dog he does for her, but your friend probably should be told that the vet is re-vaccinating dogs unnecessarily.

I worked out lump sum payments with several vets in Lubbock for spay/neuter/shots/dentals if needed and understand that.

 

The thing in this situation is that the neuter and shots had already been done. Dallas Animal Services is not going to let a dog out their doors without rabies because then they collect for city license.

 

That's why I said to tell your friend the vet re-vaccinates the dogs. The price probably is the same either way, but she needs to know what he's doing. (He'll chalk it up to clerical error. And is it possible that he didn't redo the vacs, but that the office paperwork just automatically includes it?)

 

I'd be careful of new baby with yellow snot being around your guys, even though they're older and vaccinated. At my house, I worry about the younger, healthy dog going out and picking up something nasty to bring home to her frail, 12-year-old brother.

[Hubcitypam]

What is falling thru the cracks is that this vet did nothing but hold the dog a day and a half. Drew now has two Rabies tags due to "clinical error".

He didn't have yellow snot when he came and after 4 doses of doxy it is all gone. It's too late if my dogs have distemper I guess. His lungs were clear and he had no eye gook.

 

...but he will get the full 2 weeks of doxy.

[JAJ2010]

Gee it couldn't possibly be a reaction to being double vaccinated. *eyeroll* I'm really glad I'm not dealing with this vet. When ever you take a shelter dog to the vet you also drop off his paperwork which would include vaccinations that were given.

[GeorgeofNE]

It's possible the vet himself is on the up and up, and he has LOUSY staff.

[PatricksMom]

The table would make me nervous, if nothing else. Wasn't there a GTer who lost their dog after he fell of a table at a vet's office?