Vet second opinion - is it okay?

rustyboy21

Its a difficult situation for both owner and Vet OP.

You have every right to seek other advice, you pay the bill at the end of the day. If you want to speak to your vet again and say you are not happy with his/her advice, you are worried he is getting worse, then great, I don't see they will have an issue with it.

The problem we all have , being pet owners ( or Pet slave in my case !) is that we want the best for them. We look at vets as some sort of Magician/Mind reader/Faith healer. The problem is, that the patient cannot tell them what is wrong, most of the time, they hide what is wrong, as in the animal kingdom, illness is a weakness and can be seen as weak enough to attack and kill by their own kind. Look at what happens in the wild, our Cats and Dogs haven't moved so much away from the animal in the jungle really if you look at their actions and mannerisms.

We do expect Vets to be all knowing and seeing, with an animal who is desperately trying to hide what is wrong. Sometimes we expect too much.

OP, hope you get it sorted very soon and hopefully it is something Minor. Black Labs are one of my favourite dogs, they are so loyal and goofy, I understand how you must be feeling. x

Margaret_Skinner

stir_crazy wrote: »

I've just noticed you're in Aberdeen, I'm in Aberdeen too. It is hard to choose "the best" vet; a practice which may have glowing reviews from others may let you down, which is what happened to me with my first boy. The practice I'm with now have been good for both of my cats, but I know others who havent been happy with them.

It is indeed and also - just as there are good and not so good docs in a surgery I suppose the same is true of a vet practice.:)

Margaret_Skinner

arbroath_lass wrote: »

Of course it is difficult to decide. I wasn't having a go at you, sorry if it came across that way.

I hope your boy gets the help he needs.

No worries!

Margaret_Skinner

krlyr wrote: »

No harm in getting a second opinion - there are no rules that you can only register with one vet at a time, though your first vet would be entitled to charge you for the second vet wanting copies of any notes etc.

Alternatively, approach your current vets and express your desire to do some further diagnostics. I have done this with my vets before - Kiki had an intermittant limp they felt was 'just' arthritis, given her breed and age. I had a niggle about it and after the last episode, asked that we x-ray to rule out any alternative issues, and get an official diagnosis. Turned out she had tendonitis of the shoulder, and the action plan for arthritis wouldn't have really helped her condition long-term.

I popped into another local vets and discovered this - and that it happens quite often to my surprise. Made an appointment anyway but was disconcerted that the second vets would need the notes - hadn't thought about that but they assured me it wouldn't be a problem although didn't mention a charge.

Glad you got some satisfaction with Kiki once you pushed - it's hard to know when to do that sometimes but I suppose gut instinct often comes into play there.

Margaret_Skinner

teddysmum wrote: »

I'd ring your practice and ask to speak to a specific vet. If they are like my practice, a vet will be quite happy to ring you back.


This way there are no vet ethics involved, as if you go to another practice it is required that they consult your vet for permission, as they are already 'treating' your dog. (This isn't the case , if you want to go elsewhere for cheaper vacs or for a first time consultation for another ailment).

The other vet I went to didn't say they would need permission but just that they would need his notes but said normally it's not a problem and happens quite a lot. I don't know another vet at our practice to speak to I'm afraid.

krlyr

I imagine it's a tough call for vets. Insist on lots of diagnostics, and they may be branded as money-hungry, trying to rip customers off. Decide on the 'wait and see' method, and they can be accused of not being thorough enough.

That's why I was happy enough sticking to my regular vets but requesting further diagnostics myself, because I saw their 'wait and see' attitude as it being the most likely cause of her limp - and if it was arthritis, an x-ray wouldn't have changed the way we dealt with it, but would just mean putting her under sedation perhaps unnecessarily. However, after the third spate of limping I wanted to be sure of the cause, and they didn't mind me insisting on x-rays at all - and haven't minded when I've made similar requests with other pets. The only time I struggled was one vet who wasn't convinced when I wanted Kiki's thyroid levels checked - think he thought I'd been Google-happy and took offense to me turning up armed with various articles, etc. online, but he did the tests and I just ensured I booked my next appointment with a different vet. The first vet did eat some humble pie when it turned outher thyroid levels were low and that she improved so much once we trialled supplementation though!

Margaret_Skinner

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Its a difficult situation for both owner and Vet OP.

You have every right to seek other advice, you pay the bill at the end of the day. If you want to speak to your vet again and say you are not happy with his/her advice, you are worried he is getting worse, then great, I don't see they will have an issue with it.

The problem we all have , being pet owners ( or Pet slave in my case !) is that we want the best for them. We look at vets as some sort of Magician/Mind reader/Faith healer. The problem is, that the patient cannot tell them what is wrong, most of the time, they hide what is wrong, as in the animal kingdom, illness is a weakness and can be seen as weak enough to attack and kill by their own kind. Look at what happens in the wild, our Cats and Dogs haven't moved so much away from the animal in the jungle really if you look at their actions and mannerisms.

We do expect Vets to be all knowing and seeing, with an animal who is desperately trying to hide what is wrong. Sometimes we expect too much.

OP, hope you get it sorted very soon and hopefully it is something Minor. Black Labs are one of my favourite dogs, they are so loyal and goofy, I understand how you must be feeling. x

I hadn't thought of it in that way - interesting theory! Certainly one of the problems was because he wasn't displaying symptoms when we went during the day it was hard to get across what I meant - but to be honest I would have expected her to listen to his heart at least. And I'm perfectly happy to be called an overprotective mum but I also want to ensure he's not in distress or discomfort when he's panting away at night and that there's not some hidden misery lurking in the background that might be getting missed.

Having said that I'm sure nothing serious is going on - he can still get up the stairs ok, in the car ok, on the settee ok and would walk for Scotland if he got the chance! :rotfl:

Margaret_Skinner

krlyr wrote: »

I imagine it's a tough call for vets. Insist on lots of diagnostics, and they may be branded as money-hungry, trying to rip customers off. Decide on the 'wait and see' method, and they can be accused of not being thorough enough.

That's why I was happy enough sticking to my regular vets but requesting further diagnostics myself, because I saw their 'wait and see' attitude as it being the most likely cause of her limp - and if it was arthritis, an x-ray wouldn't have changed the way we dealt with it, but would just mean putting her under sedation perhaps unnecessarily. However, after the third spate of limping I wanted to be sure of the cause, and they didn't mind me insisting on x-rays at all - and haven't minded when I've made similar requests with other pets. The only time I struggled was one vet who wasn't convinced when I wanted Kiki's thyroid levels checked - think he thought I'd been Google-happy and took offense to me turning up armed with various articles, etc. online, but he did the tests and I just ensured I booked my next appointment with a different vet. The first vet did eat some humble pie when it turned outher thyroid levels were low and that she improved so much once we trialled supplementation though!

Just shows it pays to be thorough! To be fair she gave him tablets to take for 10 days which might help his circulation but it seemed more of an afterthought and I was just a bit floored that she couldn't come up with ANY possible reasons for the heavy panting and coughing.

I have an appointment for Monday afternoon with the other vet so will see how different the consultation is if at all.

Margaret_Skinner

Sorry I said I would update then forgot to do so!

I did go to the other vet and she gave him a thorough exam and could find nothing amiss but my mind was finally put to rest that I'd done all I could and at least he was checked over properly. The tablets I think did make a difference - occasionally the panting and throat-clearing still happen but don't go on for such long periods and there doesn't seem to be the same distress.

I did notice the bill was much cheaper than the other vet and hadn't even thought about that i.e. the differences in price between different vets. I could see this one reduces costs in overheads - one (overworked) receptionist instead of two, smaller premises, etc. etc. and I would have no hesitation in changing but my dog is a rescue dog and has problems being near other dogs so going to the vet is a stressfest much of the time. The original vet has a large square waiting room with a huge window so you can see before you go in if other dogs are there and it's never busy.

Has anyone experienced any similar problems to this? I wondered if it would be pertinent to ask if there was a back door or something we could go in instead of sitting in the waiting room. He was fine the other week but I was a sweaty heap by the time we came out of there having to pass 4 other dogs in the process! It did seem a friendlier vet overall though.

By the way thanks for the advice to ask for a 'special' vet. I get what you mean but how do you get to know who specialises in what - how do you find out these things about the vets?

rustyboy21

When Rusty was alive, we did have issues with taking him to the vet. When he was younger he used to try and be friendly with every dog, but always got pushed away by them. As he got older he seemed to get more stressed and start growling at other dogs and Cats were a nightmare!.


We spoke to our vet and he said we could use the side door, which led straight into the consulting rooms. It went right past the scales, so he just used to jump on them and wait to be measured ! lol. Afterwards we would go out the side door again.


Vets will try and accommodate you as much as they can. The other alternative is to leave him in your car, until you are called and then rush him through. We also did that a few times.