Sorry to hear this happened.

I think it depends a lot on the area where you live. If you live in a large populated area you have more options or clinics to choose from. Vets just like Medical Doctors vary greatly. I think you have to rely on your instincts and go with the one you feel comfortable and confident with to provide care of your dog just like you do when you choose a Medical Doctor.

I live in a small tourist area, have very few options when it comes to Vets unless I want to make a 50 mile round trip. I had been going to a clinic within five minutes of my house for over 20 years. There are 4 Vets in this clinic, the last several years I always made an appt. for my guys with one of the Vets only because I preferred her.

She recently went out on her own, is a Mobile Vet now and makes house calls. She's really wonderful. My Bridge girl had cancer, this Vet was treating her. When it was time to set her free, she came to my house to do it.

 

Vets like Dr's are a personal choice and yes it's normal to shop around. I live in a small town and went through 2 before driving 2 hrs. to find one I trusted and liked... both staff and vet. But I needed someone closer for emergencies so broke down and went to the 3rd vet (only 3 to pick from in town) and while I don't like his office personnel as much as the preferred clinic I do like the vet and his medical staff. He just did my girls spay and he did a great job, price was under $200. and entire process went smoothly.

 

I have different vets for different "jobs"- a repro vet for that stuff, a pet vet for health certs and vaccines,
an ophthalmologist, cardiologist, ortho for clearances... find someone you feel safe entrusting your pets to and be glad you have that person! Much as vets catch a lot of criticism for charges, I find them all to be very reasonable with my money- and if I ask to be worked in or something, I take bagels and coffee or some other nicety- if I have an emergency and the repro has to use her and the staff's lunch time for a c-section, I order them all lunch in. If we didn't have health insurance for our own care and had to approve and pay for everything we do for our own bodies, we would find vet care very inexpensive in comparison.

 

I'm extremely fortunate to have a multi vet practice that I love only a mile from home. I do miss my old vet from years ago because he operated like an old time country doctor, but times were different then.

Medical care and Veterinary care costs rising are partly because we have access to much more services and technology than in bygone days.

FWIW, many insurance companies are assisting customers in "price shopping" for things like CT scans and MRI services, something that is more difficult to do on your own.

If only I could get social security numbers for the dogs and cats.....

 

We started out taking him to the vet my parents had used when I was growing up. Before we brought him home, we purchased a "puppy package" through them (mistake #1). For around $450 we were supposed to get the first shots and neuter done.

The first red flag was when we walked in the door with him and the receptionists didn't even look up from their desks to greet us. Never said hello to him. He was a 15 pound ball of fluff just wanting some attention...who doesn't love a golden puppy?! This continued every visit.

Next issue..they made us wait between 25 and 30 minutes in the little exam room for the vet to come. Then she would come in and complain that he was too hyper and she needed a vet tech to hold him down. Ummm maybe don't make him wait for half an hour and get excited smelling everything. She never said anything nice, only that he was "weird" and clingy. She never leaned down to pet him.

THEN we read all this research about waiting to neuter when he is close to 2 years old. I print out the information and bring it in for the vet to see. She tells me she usually neuters at THREE MONTHS (What?!) but the oldest she would do is 8 months. AND we needed to pay an extra $150 because in the tiny print at the bottom of the puppy package contract it said "must be neutered by 6 months."

The final straw was when I asked her for a list of good dog foods and she said "Oh I don't know, I guess Purina has some good ones"

For months after that we searched for a better place and finally found one. The place we went last night was a total 180. Thank God!

 

This! Front desk staff can make or break a practice! I have actually recommended that my parents stop using the practice/vets they have used since I was a kid (I worked there before vet school) because their front desk staff is so bad and could have caused some bad outcomes had I not intervened on my parents' behalf. I interviewed for a job at a practice in NY after my internship and knew before I even met the doctor that I would never work there because the front desk staff treated me so badly. And then for you to follow it up with a vet who seems to be phoning it in (to put it mildly), I'm so glad you have changed and found somewhere you like!

 

We've been going to the same vet for 25 years. We love him! I wouldn't make the drive if we didn't love him. I'm glad you found one that you trust.

 

When we adopted my jack russell 8 years ago, we picked a vet practice that had been in our town for over 20 years. They have a clinic within a 5 minute drive from our home & a 15 minute drive to their hospital. They have a staff of several vets & our jrt saw them all. Now that we our golden girl, Luna, we have narrowed it down to seeing one of the co-owners. He is great, takes his time and I was able to negotiate some prices with him. He is actually very popular with many patients so I book early.

In recent years, due to new residences, etc. I've noticed 3 other vet clinics that have opened up but none have a hospital as well so we chose to stay.

 

I have a vet clinic 5 minutes from my home. When we first moved in I took my diabetic dog to that clinic. I was appalled to discover that the vet in that clinic actually knew LESS about canine diabetes than I did. In fact he actually told me, "Well, just give Maggie as much insulin as you think will work" (!?!?) That, obviously did not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I got a recommendation for a clinic from a woman who works with a well known rescue in MN. The vet clinic is 45 minutes from my home but every vet in the practice is fantastic. When it turned out that the dog my daughter had rescued needed major surgery shortly after she got him (the dog had been hit by a car and, according to our vet, had some of the worst damage from badly healed fractures she had ever seen) we were immediately referred to an exceptional ortho surgeon. Yes, the surgery was outrageously expensive (of course DH and I paid for it as she was still in law school...and it meant they basically rebuilt the dog's left hind leg) but the surgery was successful and our daughter's dog is doing well now. I shudder to think what the previous vet would have told us...maybe, "Here's a scalpel, fix it yourself"? At any rate I have recently learned that our previous vet has lost his license to practice veterinary medicine in this state due to "failure to treat in an appropriate manner". So, my advice is that if anything seems a little off with a vet clinic or vet find another one. The majority of vets, in my experience, are good and competent people who are trying to do what is best for your pets but there area a few stinkers out there. Don't settle for a bad vet. Even if it means you have to drive a distance to a good one!

 

When we first got Pilgrim, his breeder worked at the vet clinic we already used near our home, so it made sense to continue using that vet. We then moved and tried the local vet who was very good with farm animals, but treated dogs the same way you would a sheep. I've no doubt he knew his stuff, but he had no sympathy - he wouldn't prescribe more painkillers for Pilgrim's arthritis because he said we should expect an old, arthritic dog to be lame. Then, rather than go to that vet again for anything but emergencies, we used to make the 240km (150miles) trip there and back every 6 months to the original vet to do his senior check ups.
So, I would always shop around for a vet who you (and your dog) feel comfortable with. You have to be able to trust them.

 

We live in a town with a Big 10 University that has a Vet Med school. There are no shortages of good Vets in town. We have used a few over the years, but have settled in with a 3 Vet practice that have 4 locations in the area, we can schedule at any location and our preferred Vet will meet there. We just clicked with one of the 3, and their staff is excellent. Yhey come around from behind the counter to greet the dog, and even the techs in the back come out to say hi to him. I would like to believe they do it for all their clients, but it certainly does make one feel special when everyone is so happy to see our boy.

 

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I didn't want to overreact, so we stuck it out for a few visits, but at a certain point it is really frustrating when A) the safety and comfort of your dog is at stake and B) you are shelling out hundreds of dollars to people who can't even be polite. We genuinely wanted her expert opinion on things and she acted like she couldn't be bothered. I feel like I was getting more/better advice from online research and this forum!

 

I think you have to go with your gut.

I know our vet charges a bit more, but the several times we have taken Luna in for various things, they have called on their days' off to see how she was doing.

 

A good vet is priceless, and that includes the office staff! I drive 45 minutes each way to our regular vet. We have 4 locally and I'm sure I pass another 20 driving through the city to see our vet but I love their office. The staff is always friendly and they love and remember all of my dogs. One of the techs actually teaches obedience classes and Teal attended one of her courses. They really go above and beyond. I have to bring my infant son to all of our appointments and they've offered to help me load him in the car when I'm trying to juggle an excited dog, papers, and baby Branch. Our vet is knowledgeable and friendly, and I can tell she really wants what's best for them, not just our money. She breeds and shows giant breed dogs so I know she's up to date on all the latest large/giant breed health news.

 

I truly feel so lucky to have my vet, who is 5 minutes away. She was on maternity leave when my last girl, Tesia, was diagnosed with cancer. But she happened to come into the vet with her new baby on a day we were there, so she knew. And a very short time later, one of the vet techs carried Tee in from my car, and they let me sit with her for hours, saying goodbye, and then just sitting with her after she was gone. They were so wonderful. And even though my own vet wasn't there that day, I guess someone let her know, and on her personal time, with her new baby, she called me to tell me how sorry she was, and then she called me a few days later to see how I was doing, and about a week after that to make sure I was okay. She has always been so good about follow up and making sure all questions are answered, etc. She is just as attentive and caring now about Shala. It's definitely worth finding the right vet.

 

The first vet I went to with Kaizer I chose because they were five minutes away from my house (I literally just had to exit my neighborhood, drive a mile and turn right). I figured if we ever had an emergency with Kaizer, at least his vet is nearby. I ended up moving vets last August because there was a rash that appeared on Kaizer's belly. I never saw him itching it - and I spend a lot of time with him, but the skin kept peeling and it was this bright angry red. When I took him to the vet after it persisted for a couple days, the vet took one very brief look at it and said "allergies" and gave us a spray to use on it once a day. The spray cleared up the rash, but as soon as we stopped it, it came back. Went back to the vet, he claimed allergies again and gave us Apoquel - one pill twice a day (I think) for seven days then a pill as needed. The Apoquel didn't do anything for the rash and left Kaizer slower than normal. I didn't feel like the rash was caused from allergies, I figured he would've had some other symptoms and maybe the rash would've bothered him more but he had none of that. I thought it was too quick for them to say it was allergies too, it just seemed like the easy way out to me. There were also more red flags for me. Our vet tried to push us to neuter Kaizer at 6 months, then a year. When I told him that I wasn't going to neuter him until he stopped growing then cited the UC Davis study, he said he knew about the study and said it made sense to wait. Then why didn't he tell me to wait?? And why did he push neutering so hard?? It just blew my mind that he recognized the benefits of waiting but decided to push early neutering anyway. The staff at this office were always very kind and helpful and loved Kaizer a lot, but I wasn't impressed with the vets at all.

When Kaizer had the rash, I took him to another vet recommended to me by someone on this forum and our training instructor. She took a skin scraping and found out the rash was some kind of bacterial infection. The pills she prescribed us cleared up the rash in a couple of days and it never came back. This vet also applauded us on waiting to neuter and told us that she tells most, if not all, of her patients to wait until they neuter. This office is more expensive, but I am more impressed with the vets and the staff is just as friendly, so I'm very happy with them.

 

@aesthetic - The UC Davis study is the one I printed out and brought to show our original vet. I understand that it is probably annoying for them when dog owners act like they know more, but I truly respected her opinion and was only trying to share our side of things and our concerns. Also, she told us that she has cocker spaniels and it seemed like she wasn't aware of the specifics of large breed dogs or golden retrievers. Which is fine, I don't expect anyone to be an expert on every single breed; HOWEVER, I do expect them to at least act like they care!

 

That vet didn't have an excuse imo. He knew about the study, knew the benefits, and still tried to push me to neuter as soon as possible. It wasn't until I brought up the study that he backed off. I didn't expect that from a vet, I figured if a vet knew there was a possibility of a dog having a healthier life from neutering later, they'd push that instead.

 

That was really strange for us too. It's one thing if someone doesn't know any better (which is still weird, you would think they would stay up to date on recent research). But when a client is literally showing you evidence on paper of something, it is surprising that they still don't seem concerned. My thing is, what could it really hurt to wait? We were so insistent upon it, and she just kept arguing. She told us that she likes to neuter at 3 or 4 months because the healing time is faster and it's easier for her. My husband got the feeling that she wasn't comfortable performing the surgery on an older dog, like maybe she didn't know what she was doing but obviously wasn't going to say that.

 

@Archer's mom when it shows that the vet truly wants what best for your dog, that is the best feeling. I think most of us have that sixth sense, where you can tell the difference between someone schmoozing you and someone actually caring. Our new vet just suggested the lepto vaccine (We hadn't heard about it from the original vet) and we could tell it was only because she really wants him to be healthy, not just to add things to the bill.

 

my vet story:

Alaskan Malamute was about 6 (I think) and was going in for a teeth work/cleaning, perhaps (memory is foggy)..it was like 15-20 years ago...

They were doing some blood draws prior to anesthesia to screen for any issues that would have possible complications. The vet came in and said the dog was anemic and the recommendation was to do a "tumor search" and find the source of the anemia. First estimate was $1k to get started. They gave me a bit to think about it and while I was sitting there, my girlfriend at the time was looking at the blood panel printout. She used to work in a lab that did a lot of mice studies doing blood draws, was a bio major, etc. She said some of the panel doesn't look right and consistent with anemia, etc. and said we should get a 2nd opinion.

Found a mobile vet solo practitioner through a friend. First thing he said was, "well, for all we know it was a bad blood draw, so let's re-confirm before doing anything." He re-drew the blood and, of course, totally normal. He suspected it was a vet tech that inadvertently got some air in there or something. Dog lived to be 13.5.

Vets are imperfect humans, of course, but some are more diligent than others.

 

@kiva822 wow, thank goodness you got a second opinion! The vet we started out with is apparently well known in our area for charging people money for x rays they don't need (we found this out later). My husband keeps saying it is weird that a vet would go to school for so long to work with animals, and then be super unfriendly and hateful towards our puppy. You would think a love for animals is what would make them choose that career. I guess a lot of people get jaded and money hungry, no matter what field they work in.

 

We LOVE our vet(and her whole staff!). She is fairly close to us and while she cost more- we trust her 100%. It is hard finding that perfect match. We went through several before we found her(with our Rainbow girl), and lots and lots of pediatricians with our kids! Its a 2nd job finding someone that blends well with you!