Grrrr...just had a set to at the vets

Toothsmith

Dobiesmon wrote: »

I hate our vets you never see a poor one .

I do hate stupid little comments like this! :mad:

How many vets do you actually know???? How many of them do you know well enough to have insight into their financial affairs?

Were you aware that they top the suicide table?

I personally went to school with a girl who became a vet and then O/Dd on horse tranquilisers when her practice got into financial difficulties and her relationship fell apart.

How many wives kids and families of 'poor' vets you've never seen do you think there might be out there?

All the professions, Vetinary, dentistry, medicine, law.... all have benevolent funds for members who have fallen on hard times, and each one has more and more demands on it every year.

If you think life is so easy for people like vets, why not get yourself a few 'A' levels (At least 3-4 at top grades, plus experience at working at a vet's practice on a voluntary basis in your 'spare' time before you'd even be considered for a place). Work your butt off for 6 years to get qualified with God knows how much debt behind you from student loans and tuition fees. Then, work your way up into a practice.

You'll be in the land of milk and honey (And horse pills) in no time.

Just think before you type in future!

Rant over!

lowis

if i have been unhappy with a vet i have just changed where i go.

my current vet is just fantastic - he has recently seen my cat through 18 months of ongoing care in remission (sadly though the cancer came back and she passed away 2 months ago). As you can imagine it cost a small fortune...luckily i was insured but I am still liable for the first 20%. my vet always told me not to worry about the money, he gave me discounts where he could and has agreed to let me pay off the excess in monthly installments. care for my cat was his priority, and because he is such a brilliant vet I have stayed with his practice for 11 years now.

i wish more vets could be like him...and yes, he is always complaining of being skint too!

Paparika

I got my pet insurance free for 6 weeks when i first went to the vets (pet plan).

I decided after looking around to stay with them and got another month free, i think i start paying this month.

But my vet nurse said the reason they ask for money up front and then you claim back is so many people have treatment done for their animals and then don't come back to pay. which hope to god nothing nasty happens to my pup, will make it very tough for me, as financially i don't have spare cash.

But when i said what if i didn't have the money etc they said they would review it and the vet would consider financial situations.

Toothsmith

Paparika wrote: »

I got my pet insurance free for 6 weeks when i first went to the vets (pet plan).

I decided after looking around to stay with them and got another month free, i think i start paying this month.

But my vet nurse said the reason they ask for money up front and then you claim back is so many people have treatment done for their animals and then don't come back to pay. which hope to god nothing nasty happens to my pup, will make it very tough for me, as financially i don't have spare cash.

But when i said what if i didn't have the money etc they said they would review it and the vet would consider financial situations.

It's such a shame that having a pet is compulsory.

If people could choose, then those that didn't have the cash to look after them if they get poorly could simply decide not to have one.

The law should be changed!

lowis

sometimes though, despite being able to afford a pet for many years (food, toys, treatment, petsitters, insurance etc), something happens like it did with my cat...cancer...at the age of 11 years old. the vet told me that she would have a normal quality of life for 6-9 months with treatment or 2 weeks at best without. i asked how much the treatment would cost (as i was liable for 20%) and was told it would be around £4000 if she made 9 months. I decided I could afford £800 in excess so we treated her.

the little poppet was not ready to go and went on to live for 18 months! obviously though this cost me even more money in treatment and ongoing care than what i was quoted, and early on my vet and i had the discussion about cost implications and put a plan in place that worked for both of us.

yes, some people may think i am nuts spending this sort of money on 'just a cat' but any pet owner will know, and understand, the bond that forms between you and your animal, and this bond gets stronger when you are seeing them through something like cancer too. she was worth every penny.

golly99

Before you make a complaint, please have a thought for the nurse, who is probably working on the minimum wage, working weekends and long hours and as you say, the form said pay in full, and you wrote on pay half now without checking with anyone.

Toothsmith

I completely agree lowis.

But it was a decision that you made based on your finances and your love for your pet. Completely right.

What SHOULDN'T ever happen is for the owner to believe that just because the vet has worked his butt off to get into the position he/she is in, that they then have some sort of moral responsibility to provide treatment free of charge.

If the owner is short of cash, then the decision must be to have the animal put to sleep, not to lay some guilt trip on the vet just because he has a nice car out in the carpark. The job is unsocial enough without being responsible for every furry creature that's brought through the door.

simpywimpy

There is no exuse for rudeness - more so at such a difficult time for you. A pet is a member of the family and you wouldn't expect to be spoken to in that manner if you were dropping someone off for surgery at a hospital

Glad pooch is okay. I didn't understand how you can feel about a pet until I got my Jack!

Soubrette

Toothsmith wrote: »

Were you aware that they top the suicide table?

Can I ask where you obtained the statistics to back up that fact? I could only find a 2005 BBC article which stated that vets had a suicide of nearly 4 times the national average (but no mention of whether they were top of the table). Plus a 2001 article "Suicide by Occupation Inconclusive although that is American.

I ask because I had a friend who worked in the farming industry and she was always adamant that it was farmers who topped the suicide league.

Also just to counter your picture of the 'struggling' vet, although I do not doubt there is a significant minority of those who are struggling, here is an article from the Times Online back in June of this year which seems to show that perhaps the perception that vets do rather well compared to the average worker is in fact nearer the truth.

Sou

lowis

any good vet, or veterinary nurse will be caring and will have compassion - they have enetered a profession which, I assume, was chosen because they love animals and have compassion? however, if they work in a private practice then they have to also work within the limits that a profit-making business puts upon them, whilst trying to remain compassionate. i would imagine that that is particularly difficult. but i agree - there is no excuse for rudeness (unless the customer has been rude to them).

also, i think it is only the Head Vets or Practice Owners (usually the Head vet) who rake the money in. the vets at the practice i use are not rolling in it by any means. the practice owner on the other hand has a couple of very expensive looking vehicles. like any business, the owner reaps the greatest rewards whilst the workers get paid standard fare.

the vet i used to use before my current one was a total a-hole so i left his practice. he also had a very high turnover of staff, a sure sign that all is not well. my current vet has had some of his staff there for as long as I have been going (10 years).

vote with your feet and spread the word about any poor treatment you have received.