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

Soubrette

lowis wrote: »

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.

I suspect that is much nearer the truth.

Sou

Toothsmith

http://www.bva.co.uk/press/2007/07congress_pr_vbf_vetlife.asp

Read note 5 of the 'notes to editors' at the end of this article. I can't find the original study on a quick google though.

Farmers can be high as well - as are dentists and Drs - and Roman Catholic priests apparently.

Part of the equation of suicide though is access to the means of actually doing it. Farmers with their guns, and vets with their drugs can top themselves pretty easily if they decide to.

As to 'struggling vets' - I make no mention of vets being badly off in general. My objection is to people who use the phrase 'You never see a poor one' be it vet, dentist, farmer, lawyer or whatever that person is feeling particularly envious of or bigoted towards at that time.

Professionals are people too with strengths and weaknesses, and there is no immunity from being hard up just because you follow a certain profession.

Soubrette

Toothsmith wrote: »

As to 'struggling vets' - I make no mention of vets being badly off in general. My objection is to people who use the phrase 'You never see a poor one' be it vet, dentist, farmer, lawyer or whatever that person is feeling particularly envious of or bigoted towards at that time.

Or are just simply annoyed at that time I find we're all much likely to make negative generalisations if someone has irritated us. Likewise I find on this forum that some people tend to make negative assumptions when no information is forthcoming, as an example, "question: I am leaving my husband, what am I entitled to - response: why do you want to take the shirt off of his back" kind of thing.

Thanks for explaining - it's one of my bug bears that people who are fortunate enough to have the intelligence and opportunity to work in any profession where they are able to earn well over the national average often like to portray themselves as hard done by, whether financially, hours worked etc etc.

In my experience nearly every walk of life has people who work bloody hard for their living and for a lot of them they get paid very little for the extra or unsocial hours or dirty work that they put in.

But I guess that's a topic for another thread

Sou

johnwayne

Toothsmith wrote: »

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!

I am one of those people who cant afford to pay £1000's for my dogs to be treated.

I have 3 dogs (all rescues) and if anything major happened to them I couldnt afford the £1000's which went along with the treatment. WHat I can afford is pet insurance for them to avoid this.

So should we still not have pets?!

Toothsmith

Don't quite understand your point JW?

If you can afford the insurance, (And are sensible enough to get it!) then you CAN afford your pets.

'Having the cash to look after them' means being able to afford the insurance. I didn't mean having enough cash to pay for everything possible without that.

If you mean that you couldn't afford £1000s up front and wait for the insurance to reimburse you - then I can understand that, but I doubt there would be many situations where that was likely to happen, and even if it did, then a credit card could take the strain whilst the claim was processed.

olibrofiz

golly99 wrote: »

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.

Whilst the nurse may be on a minimum wage and long hours there are many people in that position, does that make it ok for all of them to be rude? The whole point of why I was upset was because I HAD checked if I could pay in two parts and was led to believe it was possible. If they'd said no from the start then ok. I have ALWAYS paid my vets fees in full at the time of appointment.

The owner of the practice told me to ring up and book doggie in for op straight away if her face swelled up again, so, despite not having a load of cash spare, I did. If any member of my family were ill I would seek medical advice and damn the consequences/cost.

I wasn;t rude to the nurse, in fact I was stunned into silence and doing an oscar winning goldfish impression

I think vets & their staff do a great job on the whole btw, and often in sad circumstances. I couldn't do it.

amethystdove

Toothsmith wrote: »

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!

I have a dog, nearly ten years old, got him when could afford to keep him.
It isn't his fault that I am now disabled and finances have changed and so therefore if I can't afford vet fees and insurance for him I should have to put him to sleep???
He is part of my family.

Toothsmith

amethystdove wrote: »

I have a dog, nearly ten years old, got him when could afford to keep him.
It isn't his fault that I am now disabled and finances have changed and so therefore if I can't afford vet fees and insurance for him I should have to put him to sleep???
He is part of my family.

I don't know.

What's your plan if/when it gets sick?

Expect the vet to pay?

orlao

Toothsmith wrote: »

I don't know.

What's your plan if/when it gets sick?

Expect the vet to pay?

I think that's a bit harsh TBH.

In those circumstances there are the likes of the PDSA to help out, maybe not to the extent of having the "expensive" options that may be available if you can pay/have insurance but that's the way of the world.......look at the NHS!

The point that the nurse might only be on minimum wage, overworked etc does not excuse her, to follow on your point that vets are businesses looking to make a profit ( which I don't have any problem with btw) means that customer service and customer satisfaction must be a priority as they should rely on repeat custom and word of mouth to maintain and increase their turnover and as a result their profit.There are ways of disagreeing, for want of a better word, with a client that do not involve humilating them but that usually involves training your staff in customer service, either formally or inhouse. Surely any good business owner would want to know and have the option of resolving this issue rather than losing a customer?

lowis

if you have financial problems, low-income or claim benefits then I think you can go to the Blue Cross, RSPCA, PDSA, vet colleges for free/reduced cost treatment.