My vets sold out

[HeyRunDog]

Just discovered why I couldn't get the greyhound savvy vet or the nurse, who has 8 adopted sight hounds, at the practice Grace and Guinness are signed up to for Graces last check-up. The owner has sold out to one of the big veterinary groups and half the vets have gone together with half the nurses. The greyhound savvy vet has gone to a practice out of the area so it isn't practical to follow her there.

Of the two vets that are left one is the previous owner who is all smiles and loves the chance to operate at the drop of a hat. He cut Graces corn out when she had an abscess removed and it now comes back bigger than her other corns. The other is a Hungarian who has no bedside manner and treats all animals as if they are just livestock.

I'm off this morning to have a word with another vets who are still part of a veterinary group but have more vets available so fingers crossed one of them is switched onto greyhounds.

[DocsDoctor]

Good luck! This happened to us in London, some years back; despite people's moans about high vet charges I think even then it was becoming hard to impossible for solo practices to cover running costs - business rates, professional insurance, equipment updates etc etc do not come cheap.  Judging by what happened to us the old owner will have been contracted as part of the deal to stay on for a while and provide a reassuringly familiar face (not that reassuring in your case, evidently!) but may well then move on to pastures new. Sensible to have a look around at your other local practices, in any case.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Sadly, this is happening here, too.

Thankfully my wonderful hound Vet works out of a smallish clinic that’s owned / operated by another Vet. I dread the day either of them retire.
My Equine Vet is on her own, in practice with one other Vet. They are both mid 30’s, so no worries about them retiring or selling out any time soon.
 

[phall]

This happened to me too a few years ago.  I was starting to look around for another vet that was not "corporate" owned, but decided to wait and see how things played out because of how convenient the vet office was to me.  It's been a couple of years now it has worked out okay, thankfully.  There are 2 permanent vets in the practice and 1 "roving" that covers as needed.  I really like one of the permanent vets and the other one is okay - very young and obviously still learning - but that is fine.  The roving vet, I don't care much for so I avoid scheduling with him.  (Unless it's an emergency).  

I hate that is happening, but understand why. 

[Remolacha]

I understand that there is a business side to running a vet clinic, and it must be very hard these days to be an independent. It still sucks to loose a good vet when something like this happens. I hope you can find a new vet that is either sight hound experienced or willing to learn.

[greysmom]

This is currently one of the biggest worries I have.

I switched to this vet because our previous vet was a walk-in-only clinic and you sometimes had to wait HOURS just to be seen for regular vaccinations if you chose the wrong time of day.  Plus, I'm pretty sure their need to rush through every client to get to the next contributed to the death of at least one of my dogs.    So we switched to our current vet that many other local greyhound owners also use.  

We LOVELOVELOVE her!!!  She owns the clinic, and there are currently 4 or 5 vets on staff, but she's the greyhound savvy one.  I know she's getting ready to retire as she's been cutting back her clinic hours for the last few years.  I have to schedule several weeks out to get in to see her specifically.  Several of the other vets are fine, but I really appreciate the collaborative relationship I've built with this vet over the years.  She doesn't dismiss my knowledge and research, and I always ask her opinion about what she'd do.  

In fact, both my dogs need to go in for shots in July, so I'd better make that appointment soon!!

[FiveRoooooers]

Our fantastic vet of 25+ years sold her practice and went corporate. She was like family (only better ) and we followed her until we couldn't. Corporate runs on a schedule, appointments are kept to a time limit, lights go out at 5:00pm, no one is available after hours or for weekend emergencies (as we had been used to), and pricing is off the wall. Two profound things forced me to look elsewhere, including hearing a receptionist tell a new client that by signing up for the monthly coverage plan they would receive VIP treatment. 

The issues today are compound. Private practice vets face incredible challenges hiring support staff, let alone reliable staff. Vets just out of school are going into specialty fields and are choosing to work three days a week, not the five, six and seven days with long hours that the private vets have been doing. Add in staff and vets who have chosen to retire. Sigh.