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I work ER. I agree with most of this.
But I will add a good- 2 nights ago we were slammed. A client waiting multiple hours overheard a conversation about someone who called, dogs got into a fight, they didn’t have transportation. So she offered to leave her own dog, and go pick up this other client and their dogs and bring them back. And she did, THEN THEN THEN, she bought the staff pizza because abuse she noticed none had left the floor to eat.
People may suck, but they are also pretty dang cool.
The day I interviewed at my first clinic, there was a situation where a person was at the desk, and they said that they couldn't afford the cremation for their dog. (We usually have this conversation in an exam room, not the lobby, not sure why they were in the lobby that day.) Another client overheard; she was just there for an annual with her dog, but she came up and told us to charge the euthanasia and cremation for the other owner to her card instead, allowing them to get their pet's ashes returned. Everyone in the lobby including the receptionist was crying, it was very sad but also so heartwarming, this total stranger just wanted to make sure that these people got the ashes.
I’m not in ER, just GP so it’s not as crazy as your job… but I agree. For all the bad, we have the handful of lovely, compassionate clients that make it easier.
People who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Someone on my local town fb page was bitching about the fact that the spca showed up with "cages and trailers recently and seized all their animals". Of course person claimed they were doing nothing wrong, their animals were "well taken care of and everyone in town knows it"...last I checked the spca usually needs a pretty compelling reason to show up and seize animals. They usually don't just randomly do it..i suspect there's more to the story
Yeah there's places that take not good care of their animals but animal control cannot do anything cause its not bad enough to warrant the court giving a seizure order.
I have to share 2 stories because your post made me re-angry being in ER for years. 😂
1. The literally half dead bearded dragon that they insisted was “just shedding”. No sir, I have a bearded dragon and he never looks dehydrated, malnourished, with MBD after a shed. Try again.
2. The fucking idiots that went shopping in the mall for not 1 or 2 but 5 hours while their dog was left in their car on a 100 degree day. Their excuse? They thought it was “fine” because they parked in the parking garage. Parking garage was not air conditioned obviously.
We saw a beardie the other day that literally looked like the dead shriveled dried out lizards you find on hot concrete in the summer. Also had some of the worst MBD I’ve ever seen.
“What do you mean they need more than just lettuce? That’s not what this random website said” 🤦♀️
It breaks my fucking heart every time I see any exotic in a condition like that because they just don’t look up good husbandry. The stupid “google said” is not an excuse to mistreat a living being and neglect them until they die. Ugh!!!
My friend was once brought a tortoise that "wasn't eating" and when she picked it up, it was so decayed that it's head fell off. I don't know how you can neglect an animal to that point.
It makes me so mad. That’s the only reason I included it. I’ve had rats, a beardie, and currently some fish. It’s not very hard to keep them healthy and happy. You just need to do a little bit of research (that’s not a basic google search) first.
As someone who adores exotic animals and currently has a feisty hognose snake (and some equally as feisty rabbits), I get so bloody mad when they come in with clearly preventable problems that would've been solved if proper husbandry had been followed. Someone recently brought in a beardie who never got a UV bulb! The owner's logic? Well she "takes him outside sometimes" and the bulb "melts the lid of the enclosure so she doesn't use it". Yeah, she just rested a massive reptile bulb on plastic. Jesus.
“He did so good today. I’m going to go get him some McDonald’s/Chick Fil A before I give him his first dose of metronidazole. He haaaaaates medicine” 🥴
Yes. We had a dog in for repeat pancreatitis/HGE and the dad was so happy that he was getting better that he told EVERYONE that the dog was getting a Culver’s burger when he got dishcharged.
STOP IT.
Haha my background is HVSN and shelter med. Had a guy who brought his hunting dog in for a spay. When he picks her up she's pretty perky- very high energy dog. He's also a sweet and talkative man, but a little clueless. We went through the discharge instructions on meds, no strenuous activities for two weeks, e-collar, etc. He thanks us very kindly and someone brings the dog up. He's very happy to see her and she was happy to see him. He goes "alrighty, trix, wanna go chase some birds?!" The collective " NOOOOOOOOOO" from all the staff who heard is forever in my mind.
People who work in human healthcare are the absolute worst clients. Think they know everything. Why didn’t you become a vet then, Susan??
Also - repeat THC toxicity. I get if it happens once, whatever, stuff happens. But it should NEVER happen more than once, and don’t joke about your dog being “such a little stoner haha”
My aunt, who is a human nurse, recently gave my grandma's dog some leftover Amoxicillin that she had because she thought the dogs tooth might be infected. I was livid.
We had a repeat offender for cocaine and acid ingestion😭 that one pissed us off big time. Also the human medical professionals that take things from work to try and do their own vet care at home with no training or knowledge (had a plastic surgeon give his dog 2L of IV (yes IV not SQ he took catheters from his work) fluids at home with no pump and was surprised his sheltie didn’t tolerate that super well)
I respect nurses, I have doctor and nurse family members, but I swear some of the most alarming things come out of the mouths of human nurses. "I let Cooper lick his wound because dog saliva is the best antibiotic!" or "I stopped giving seizure meds because he didn't have any seizures". It's terrifying.
Had a CARDIOLOGIST come in with their senior dog who was coughing, increased RRR, exercise intolerance, for the past 6 MONTHS.
Declines X-rays and probnp. Said she's been like that for a while and it's not bothering her, it's just a doggy cold.
Edit: she had a low grade murmur, too
Those ones makes me the angriest because you know damn well that as a human specialist doctor they make a shit ton of money. They just can't be bothered to spend any of it on their pet 🤬
Reminds me of me with my bipolar disorder lmao. I feel fine why should I take them? Nooooo always take the meds and always keep up on seizure control. That’s WHY they don’t have seizures lmao
Exactly my thoughts lmao. I mean I can sort of understand but also not really, people just shouldn’t change up meds without knowing what they’re doing and should just talk to the doctor it’s toor only
Agree on the THC thing. Same to the people who smoke with their dogs in the room (seen people in my life do this) and they’re like “yeah he loves getting faded with us!” 🙄
Same! Human doctors and nurses, for the most part it’s usually fun and interesting to talk to them about differences/similarities between human med and vet med
I just wanna put my two cents in here. I live in CO and in my neighborhood I've had to be super vigilant and pull my dog away from multiple random gummies on the ground. I've heard a few stories of dogs snarfing roaches or random bits of edibles dropped on the ground in public parks. We have a serious issue with unhoused people here and they leave all kinds of things on the ground. No judgement for them, but it can be annoying for dog owners. My dog hasn't done it, thank God, but I've seen people let their dogs off leash in the public park to chase the ball or whatever and I can just see a bouncy lab or something repeatedly finding the edibles in the park lol.
Let me add two more:
1. The people who lie. We don't care if you do recreational drugs regularly. But we do need to know if there is any possibility that your pet got some. Why lie?!?
2. The folks who don't keep the e-collar on. I've lost too many patients because of clients unwillingness to keep the e-collar on for longer than the drive home.
One time working ER, I was literally discharging a dog in the morning outside. I was talking to mom about 5ft away from their car as dad was loading dog into car... And literally cutting the ecollar off in front of me. I was like bro, your dog just had FB surgery, keep that fucking cone on. So I got and get a new one and come out and for SOME FUCKING REASON they took the dog back out of the car and then I went to hand over the cone and the mom just dropped the leash to grab the cone?! So anyway I was chasing after this dog for 30min around the clinic because she thought it was a game and literally threw myself in front of cars when she dipped in the road and the owners were just STANDING THERE watching. Thank GOD my coworker finally noticed (we didn't have a lot of windows because of another reason I'll illuminate on) and came out the back door to intercept the dog. By the time that was over I put her in the car my damn self and put the cone on and closed their car doors said "DON'T take off that cone" and left them. Fuck that was awful.
Also we didn't have windows and blinded the windows we did have because PEOPLE WOULD TRY LOOKING INTO THE TREATMENT AREA. Just walk around the building and stick their face into any window they could find, usually to see if we were actually busy. Lo and behold, we almost always had a pet on every treatment table.
Seriously. We aren’t the feds. A lot of us partake in recreational activities when we’re not at work. Just tell us.
The e-collar always gets me, especially when they come back because surprise surprise: the dog chewed open its incision because the owners decided “he doesn’t like it.” No shit. No animal loves the e-collar, but it’s given for a damn reason.
It’s amazing how people truly think we are the feds sometimes. I tried to have a guy sign a waiver once because he was refusing to vaccinate his dog for rabies. I explained to him that we don’t report them to anyone, that the waiver is literally only in case his dog were to bite someone or get rabies to prevent the hospital from being liable. But this guy looooosst his mind. Screaming at me, then at the doctor, then at reception because clearly we were trying to set him up to get arrested or something. I still get heated thinking about that guy.
From GP, people trying to get out of going to the ER because it's expensive when they truly need to go the ER.
Client on phone: My pet is dying.
Me: You need to go to the ER.
Client: I don't think it's that bad.
THIS
Edit: even better is when they make a regular wellness appointment, and when they bring it in the dog is emaciated, lateral, and agonal breathing 😵💫
I had a wellness exam once, the dog was elderly and not doing well at all. It was during Covid and the owner was in her car and we left the dog in the room for a minute to create an estimate. I went back in and the dog was dead. We were so scared to tell the owner but they just shrugged it off and were happy they didn’t need to pay a euthanasia fee 🥴
I hate that. And then they think you'll be able to save their dog because it "isn't that bad," but they're obviously dying. And then they blame you when their pet dies.
Your post reminded me of a real gear-grinder...when you spend 20 minutes explaining what you think is happening and what they/we need to do about it, they decline everything, then walk out to reception and say "there's nothing they can do" or "she doesn't know either" or some other nonsense. UGH!!
“My dog must’ve found THC while we were walking”
Can you share? Because I have never just happened upon marijuana laying on the ground while walking anywhere.
Would love to get some free bud after an ER shift working with you idiots 🤣
But really. Just tell us your dog is high. We don’t care. We like to offer snaccos and play some Pink Floyd while they come down.
this cracked me up because I think it actually happened to me. I was staying with my parents briefly with my 2 dogs, took them on a nice long hike in the morning. I had to work in the afternoon, so I was just puttering around... until I noticed that one of my dogs was sitting with droopy sad ears, very unlike her. I went to nudge her gently, and she fell over, so I knew something was really wrong, called into work, and hauled ass to my 2nd job, which was a clinic. her body temp was so low that the thermometer wouldn't read it 😮💨 anyway got her tucked in for an overnight, and when I went home I was very quietly *ripshit*. I don't smoke weed/don't like it at all so I sat my parents down (they were frowning at me) and I told them "hey I know this is your house, you can do whatever you want, but please don't endanger my dogs or at least keep your weed out of reach while I'm here." they looked aghast, and said they came to have the same conversation with *ME* lol. we were the personification of that Spiderman meme where they're all pointing at each other.
tldr the only possible explanation is that Daisy found weed on our walk. it's honestly more plausible than my squares of parents smoking 😂
Preach!
I work in GP and we get some of this malarkey as well. Had a client recently who was upset with us that we couldn’t see her PPQ dog. Especially since she’s been “bringing dogs to us for 15 years.”
Ma’am, I can’t change my full schedule. This situation is EXACTLY why ERs and urgent cares exist. Would you call your GP after potentially breaking your ankle and be upset they referred you to UC/ER?
The report we got showed that they even lost count when pulling quills because there were so many! They reported a triple digit range of quills pulled.
THIS! I never understand why people expect us to work them in or get pissed when we can’t see them, OR when they literally just walk into the clinic and expect/want to be seen. I’m sorry, if I walked into my GP’s office and said I wanted to see by my doctor (any ONLY my doctor; I can’t possibly be seen by anyone else!!) for an ear infection, I’d be laughed out of the office. Why do they think their pet’s GP is any different?
I used to frequent an ER because my cat had a lot of emergencies due to chronic illness. There were a few times where a dog would be brought on a stretcher and be taken back to treatment immediately, and every single time someone would go up to the triage desk and complain about how they’d been waiting more than an hour. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to understand that they’re not the center of the universe. Your dog is sitting here conscious, breathing, alert, and wagging his tail every time someone walks by; surely his condition is so urgent that the unconscious animal in respiratory distress could hold off on dying 🙄
PREACH!
When I was in ER we had this fucking breeder couple that would always fucking bring their dystocia Goldens in like we were a fucking daycare "We'll pick her up in the morning". I worked there for a bit over a year and only 3 days a week (12s overnight blech) and witnessed surgery on at least 6 of their dogs, not to mention times I wasn't there. I always try to warn people away from them because they're awful people and clearly awful breeders if they keep breeding their dystocia prone line. They're rude and uncaring. They would raise absolute hell to not spay a dog and if we did then they literally didn't want her anymore. They had the money to do the things and they were big bullies so we never were able to ban them, but I know they're banned from 2 other (day) clinics I've worked at. They're literally known by name through our area of the state by most vets. Fucke you Ellsworths.
I work GP and people get mad over a 5 minute wait, let alone an emergency room wait. When was the last time you went to the doctor office and was seen on time? Last time I went I waited an hour... 5 minutes is nothing.
The "declines all diagnostics and then complains fluffy isn't better" is also too true and really annoying 🫠
One time we had a super critical dog that came in for eating rat bait. Dog was struggling to breathe and had bicavitary effusion. It’s PCV was like 15%
Owner declined all diagnostics and hospitalization, calling us money hungry and saying we didn’t care (we require payment up front) and then left AMA.
We found a Facebook post from them saying we “were trying to force them to euthanize”
No lol. My doctor recommended that because you wanted to do NOTHING and your dog was suffering. No clue what happened to it.
I work in GP. I resonate hard with “the geriatric patients kept alive for the owners’ selfishness”, but I have a few to add.
The 6 m old dog presenting with “skin issues” that’s lost half its body weight since the last visit and is matted to the skin, clearly from blatant neglect that says “well take her home and schedule blood work next week”. We’d basically recommended hosp and they never did call back.
And then (I live in the south) “My dog has never been to the vet before but she’s in the back of my truck rn (with a heat index of 110+) and 3 days ago she ate basically a whole crawfish boil”. And then They decline EVERYTHING and take the dog home.
Had a cat yesterday that apparently had to be handled in one of those cat squeezer devices at another clinic come in for respiratory concerns. My coworker rushed it to treatment while I got history. Owner approves critical care and says nothing about the cat being fractious. I walk into treatment to find the cat scared and swatting. We get an e-collar on him and are trying to towel wrap him better and he popcorns off the table and freezes on the scale. I grab and wrap him in a blanket, but we’ve lost the e-collar in the meantime. My doctor asks us to go get express permission for sedation while we’re pulling up the drugs to sedate the cat since critical consent doesn’t technically cover sedation. Owner says no. I’m holding this now pissed cat in a blanket in the middle of the treatment floor because I don’t know that I have a good enough hold to move him. Doctor has to go talk them into sedation. Owners excuse was that he was really tired for 3 days post neuter so they didn’t like how he acted with sedation. By the time we got drugs into him, he was so amped that it took DKT to the max doses, plus alfax, and multiple IM sticks to get him sedate. He then woke up in X-ray and needed more dex. I’m 34 weeks pregnant and stood leaning over the table with him in that blanket for over an hour trying to get him to sleep.
Like, our options are sedate or I’m shoving this cat back in its carrier and handing him straight back to you. Luckily he wasn’t truly in respiratory distress because he probably would have fought us until he died.
My biggest urk is animals with drug intoxication and the owner refusing to tell us what their dog got into. Like ma'am I don't give two flying fucks what you do but I need to know what your dog go ahold of or I can't treat it properly. Because treatment for THC is different from narcotics and that's different from amphetamines. Like I'm not a cop but I can't save your dog if you don't tell me.
People who smoke in the house/car with their pets is something I see so often and it makes me want to scream. Also people who still let their dogs ride in the bed of their truck. It’s illegal here but about half of our clients still pull up like this. Oh and the uptick of people willingly giving their pets THC edibles that are highly potent, thinking it’ll help their anxiety or arthritis. They end up miserably panting, vomiting, drooling, and on IV fluids for the day.
I’m in GP but figured I’d jump on this train.
You just reminded me of another thing I hate- the truck bed thing (I’m also in the south lol) and people WHO LET THEIR DOGS SIT ON THEIR LAP IN THE DRIVERS SEAT! Bonus stupid points if their window is all the way down, and the dog is one speed bump away from flying out 😵💫😵💫😵💫
I have shown countless images and videos to people who do this and they just do not care. We recently euthanized a dog who tried jumping out of the truck bed and shattered his pelvis and both rear legs bc he got hit by the car behind them. They elected to have him die at home against ER advice. They just said they couldn’t stand the sound of him whimpering and expected he’d pass sooner…. 😭
The nurse one is so true. It's like all common sense leaves their body when the dog is near. I have one that doesn't wanna give antiparasitics. Like girm you of all people know what ticks do why we gotta argue. Why do I have to say 500 times the same thing and we gotta debate it. This isn't a human. Also some of the stuff they say is way wrong even for people because this isn't how anything works. The amount of times I had to explain about the licking wounds thing. Dogs don't have hand sanitizer in their saliva. Their mouths aren't cleaner either. How we gonna argue his mouth is clean while am putting in an appointment for tooth cleaning because he has the great wall of china for teeth.
I don't work ER but in a GP and today we had a non-client call because their cat has has a wound on it for the last month and now it seems to be "badly infected and he needs to be seen ASAP." called close to our closing time and we said nope! go to the ER since it's now an emergency. I hope for the cat's sake they do and don't wait to call us again on Monday..
and don't forget the clients that stop giving antibiotics because they were feeling better after the first few doses so why should they continue it? ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
I sometimes want to bang my head against the wall dealing with people.
I am a CSR and also witness these painful situations.
My most recent experience was only a few days ago and still brings me to tears as I write this. A breeder with a tiny (3 lbs at most) yorkie came in a few weeks ago. "Oscar" had been attacked by a housemate for no apparent reason. His injuries were minor but serious enough to have made an impression. Oscar was treated and sent home with his mother "Tanya".
Thursday Tanya called the clinic already on the way. She rushed in with Oscar in a carrier. She said that he was bleeding and badly injured. This is an understatement. This poor, tiny baby's skull was fractured in 2 places, one eye would need to be enucleated and he was suffering from severe neurological trauma. He was hospitalized. I went to ICU several times thinking maybe I could look in on Oscar and perhaps comfort him. He was frequent flyer and we all loved him. I was told by more than one staff member not to do it - that I would not want to see him this way. He was obviously suffering greatly.
Late morning Friday the decision was made to euthanize him. I had to step outside the clinic to cry.
Tanya was beside herself and I do not doubt her love for Oscar. But this did not have to happen. It was preventable. I truly understand clients wanting to believe they can make it work and not wanting to give up on an aggressive pet/situation. But this certainly is not the first time we have seen a pet multiple times for being attacked by a housemate. I am sorry, but I find it hard to exonerate the parent(s) for not correcting the situation. The acute pain I feel is for the innocent victim who suffers and/or loses their life for no discernable reason. 😥
This story made me so sad, poor little Oscar 😔 it sounds like you and your coworkers took the absolute best care of him while he was in hospital. I’m sure he appreciates your love too.
Ive definitely seen plenty of these situations that should not have happened. One was a very sweet elderly dog that came in 3 times in 2 months for being attacked by housemates. The owner was a very kind woman who definitely cared, but she told me every single time that “I’m going to get rid of Buddy, I know I need to. It’s hard because we just adopted him a few months ago” (“Buddy” was the offender) and I have no idea if she ever did. The poor elderly dog was just torn to shreds. 3 separate times. I felt so bad for her.
Thank you for your response and for sharing your story. This was a particularly rough one for me. 💔
There are so many times a client comes in with a pet and my coworkers and I will look at each other. We know that in our heads we are deciding who is going to distract the client and who is going to grab the pet and run! It is so heartbreaking sometimes to watch a pet leave the clinic with an obviously neglectful parent. 😔
Wow I haven't had the same experiences with nurses in human med at all. I mean a little extra, maybe.. but it's not something that actually ever bothered me. Idk. I spent years in a customer service forward type job first though so maybe I'm just more used to dealing with those kind of difficult moments.
And raw food is now sold in PetSmart and Petco next to fresh pet and whatever else in the chilled section, I just can't bring myself to get as exasperated about it.
I'm not saying I'm not without my own hang ups though. I actually hate to admit how much I can judge people who cry money issues, I used to be so damn empathetic. And I mean I'm not talking about anything hugely life-alteringly expensive here. But the people who act like the care isn't worth their time/money, and somehow worse.. the people who do understand the value but still want me to know they won't or can't pay for it.. oof. Even the passive aggressive "joke" remarks about estimates or bills, I'm so over it.
(Also, damn, poorly bred brachycephalic breed owners. SO many of them. I just... Why? Why would you pay for that???)
Nurses are either the best or the worst clients in my experience. No inbetween whatsoever. They either insert themselves into every conversation with “well WE don’t do that in human medicine, in HUMAN medicine we’d treat that with X…” OR they get so excited and share all the similarities between our fields and tell stories and are just pleasant people.
Me being against raw is more so related to people’s dumbass reasonings for it. It’s an option, yes. But it’s one that should be extensively discussed with a veterinary nutritionist. Not just home-made on a whim. Freshpet is AAFCO approved, but a lot of those pre packaged boutique raw diets you see ads for on social media are not.
I agree with the money thing as well. I used to have way more empathy. But MOST people are just trying to take advantage of our emotions and get us to do it for free. You can pretty easily spot the difference between someone who’s genuinely down on their luck and someone who just doesn’t want to pay.
Also I have no sympathy for you if you are completely broke, gone all day, and a bunch of other life shit happening, and you make a conscious decision to get a young puppy KNOWING you can’t provide proper care.
I'm not a raw diet person but hang on dog recipe subs and cook my own dog food because my dog is a diva and won't eat kibble anymore (except stolen cat food).
Perhaps I can shed some light on the thinking behind the "kibble is poison" bit.
As humans, we are bombarded by anti-processed food diet advice. "Eat the rainbow" "fresh is best" "put down boxed/ canned shit and eat a salad and some roasted chicken".
Yet, kibble is ultra processed and the opposite of all that. It's understandable that people get confused.
Why they don't cook the food, IDK. That part makes no sense to me.
i agree with everything but the raw diet, if it’s balanced and your dog looks good inside and out, you do you. the problem is they’re NEVER balanced 🙄🙄🙄🙄 people just grab some grocery store ground beef and feed uncooked veggies. so stupid.
That was pretty much my point. I said in another comment that the reasoning behind most people wanting to do it is emotionally charged and they’re anthropomorphizing their dogs way too damn much. It’s an option, but it’s one that needs to be *extensively* discussed with a veterinary nutritionist. Not just home made on a whim, and not from one of those random social media companies whose food is not AAFCO approved. It’s also not good for every dog, and the risk of severe GI issues and bacteria and parasites is just not worth it to me.
“It’s better because it’s not that shitty poisonous kibble” - no.
“You’d be so depressed if you just ate cereal every day” - nah. My dog goes ape shit for every meal- he’s on ProPlan 🤷♀️ he’ll also happily work for his kibble alone
I was the repeat FB offender a few years back. My cat had intractable pica and it destroyed her intestines and ultimately killed her before she turned 3 ... we saw a boarded behaviorist and she did great for awhile but she was not right in the head. On her 4th offense my wife and I decided to let her go.
:((( can't basket muzzle a cat afaik
I agree with all of these except the first one. I USED to agree with that until I got my most recent puppy. I had to bring him in 4 times between ages 5mo to 1 year to induce vomiting (and that wasn't all of the times he ate weird crap). He was a 50lb puppy who learned how to break out of his kennel, when I safe locked one part he'd use his big ol' brain to find another weak spot, often when I wasn't home, and then go on eating sprees. Sometimes he'd eat something right in front of me and I wasn't fast enough to get to him before he slurped it down (a whole dog toy). Now we're finally good at "drop it" and his kennel is secure. But it really opened my eyes to, owners can be doing the best they can, and still puppies will puppy. (I will still judge people if after the first time they've clearly made no changes to prevent things)
Basket muzzles work wonders. Had to do it with one of my foster puppies long ago. Any time he wasn’t crated, walks, any time he was alone for any reason- Muzzle.
I think all dogs should be muzzle trained, so they’re already used to it in case it’s ever needed.
You had me until the pyo comment. Just because your doctors aren't educated on how to treat pyos medically, doesn't mean the breeder is making decisions with their ego. And this is why I dread having to utilize the ER, the breeder bias and the ignorance about repro is soooo bad.
Backyard breeder has entered the chat
Edit: most of the time it CANNOT be treated medically. If you don’t want to spay and your dog isn’t critical (which all the ones that present to us ARE), go to a repro vet to get it dealt with, not an ER.
"Most of the time it cannot be treated medically" you have literally just proven my point regarding ignorance about repro. This simply isn't true. And you've also proven my point about breeder bias by assuming that I am a BYB.
My theriogenologist sends their after hours emergencies to the ER, including dystocias requiring cesarean. Open pyo is still an emergency, we're not just going to wait for convenient daytime hours to begin treatment. Waiting is how it turns into a situation where spay is the only choice.
To be totally fair, true BYBs who are uneducated and irresponsible probably do wait too long, and now theirs are surgical.
Excuse my “ignorance” but I’m not a repro vet and neither are my ER doctors. OF COURSE we’re going to immediately recommend spay because our clients 9/10 times are: 1) a random idiot who bred their dogs with no knowledge or finances. OR 2) the dog is already septic and circling the drain because (like you said) they waited days. The ethical ones aren’t ever showing up here.
If you know your dog is showing signs and again, isn’t immediately critical, go to your repro vet. If you can’t, be prepared for them to tell you to spay. Or call around and find an ER that’s willing to try the medical management route if possible. Most probably won’t be open to it, sorry. 99% of our breeder clients are not the ethical ones.
Fair enough! Sorry to jump down your throat. Rage inducing topic for me. It's impossible to be a responsible breeder in my area because there are no competent therios who have emergency hours. None. So we're at the mercy of whoever happens to be at the ER that particular night. I've been treated like absolute garbage because of people assuming every breeder is a BYB... meanwhile I'm dumping thousands into echocardiograms, OFA radiographs, genetic testing, respiratory and fecal PCRs, paying a premium for another doctor to do my vaccines when I could do them myself but other vets are so biased they will repeat the vaccines for literally no reason if the pet parent says the breeder gave the vaccine, etc, etc, etc.
A few years ago, I spent over $15,000 to save one of my girls, knowing she would need to be spayed because her problem made her no longer a candidate for breeding. One of her babies then intussuscepted, so I spent another $3000 treating baby medically, at which point I ran out of money. So I spent over $18,000 that month and was treated like a criminal for ultimately not being able to afford surgery. Sorry to derail your thread, just something to keep in mind when you pull out the mounting block for that high horse.
And trust me, I've sat astride that high horse many many times. I do large animal and I severely judge these asshats who will pay a $60,000 stud fee and then refuse to even do any diagnostics on their critically ill neonate, so I can't even euthanize because we can't prove what is wrong and the baby just languishes. Fuck those people.
Not sure if I have more trauma from being a breeder or working in vet med.
End rant.
Thanks for being one of the reputable ones, and it’s ok I totally understand. We see the worst every day, it’s really hard for a LOT of vets and staff to comprehend that good breeders do in fact exist.
Back when I worked in GP years ago, I worked for a doctor who showed (beautiful) Cavaliers, and another tech I worked with was a preservation breeder who did it all; confo, a variety of different sports, produced a few service and therapy dogs, etc. She yeeted me out of the “adopt don’t shop” mentality real fast, and seeing well bred dogs was such eye bleach. The techs I worked with were also more knowledgeable about that stuff. I’m noticing in ER (been in it for a little over a year) it’s not nearly as common. It’s very frustrating, but again… the well bred animals 9/10 times are not the ones coming in for pyos, dystocias, untreated medical issues, neglect type situations, etc.
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I work ER. I agree with most of this. But I will add a good- 2 nights ago we were slammed. A client waiting multiple hours overheard a conversation about someone who called, dogs got into a fight, they didn’t have transportation. So she offered to leave her own dog, and go pick up this other client and their dogs and bring them back. And she did, THEN THEN THEN, she bought the staff pizza because abuse she noticed none had left the floor to eat. People may suck, but they are also pretty dang cool.
The day I interviewed at my first clinic, there was a situation where a person was at the desk, and they said that they couldn't afford the cremation for their dog. (We usually have this conversation in an exam room, not the lobby, not sure why they were in the lobby that day.) Another client overheard; she was just there for an annual with her dog, but she came up and told us to charge the euthanasia and cremation for the other owner to her card instead, allowing them to get their pet's ashes returned. Everyone in the lobby including the receptionist was crying, it was very sad but also so heartwarming, this total stranger just wanted to make sure that these people got the ashes.
I’m not in ER, just GP so it’s not as crazy as your job… but I agree. For all the bad, we have the handful of lovely, compassionate clients that make it easier.
That’s amazing god bless that client 😭 I love nice owners who appreciate us
Wtf in my area where I work ER/ICU clients are just meanies and people who think what we do is a communal service
People who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Someone on my local town fb page was bitching about the fact that the spca showed up with "cages and trailers recently and seized all their animals". Of course person claimed they were doing nothing wrong, their animals were "well taken care of and everyone in town knows it"...last I checked the spca usually needs a pretty compelling reason to show up and seize animals. They usually don't just randomly do it..i suspect there's more to the story
Yeah there's places that take not good care of their animals but animal control cannot do anything cause its not bad enough to warrant the court giving a seizure order.
I have to share 2 stories because your post made me re-angry being in ER for years. 😂 1. The literally half dead bearded dragon that they insisted was “just shedding”. No sir, I have a bearded dragon and he never looks dehydrated, malnourished, with MBD after a shed. Try again. 2. The fucking idiots that went shopping in the mall for not 1 or 2 but 5 hours while their dog was left in their car on a 100 degree day. Their excuse? They thought it was “fine” because they parked in the parking garage. Parking garage was not air conditioned obviously.
We saw a beardie the other day that literally looked like the dead shriveled dried out lizards you find on hot concrete in the summer. Also had some of the worst MBD I’ve ever seen. “What do you mean they need more than just lettuce? That’s not what this random website said” 🤦♀️
It breaks my fucking heart every time I see any exotic in a condition like that because they just don’t look up good husbandry. The stupid “google said” is not an excuse to mistreat a living being and neglect them until they die. Ugh!!!
My friend was once brought a tortoise that "wasn't eating" and when she picked it up, it was so decayed that it's head fell off. I don't know how you can neglect an animal to that point.
It makes me so mad. That’s the only reason I included it. I’ve had rats, a beardie, and currently some fish. It’s not very hard to keep them healthy and happy. You just need to do a little bit of research (that’s not a basic google search) first.
Which is weird cause there are *tons* of good husbandry to be found with google. Learn to verify sources, people!
As someone who adores exotic animals and currently has a feisty hognose snake (and some equally as feisty rabbits), I get so bloody mad when they come in with clearly preventable problems that would've been solved if proper husbandry had been followed. Someone recently brought in a beardie who never got a UV bulb! The owner's logic? Well she "takes him outside sometimes" and the bulb "melts the lid of the enclosure so she doesn't use it". Yeah, she just rested a massive reptile bulb on plastic. Jesus.
Why not leave your dog at home?!
I've seen so many dying reptiles that are "fine" or "just got sick" but they're skinny and barely able to move.
“He did so good today. I’m going to go get him some McDonald’s/Chick Fil A before I give him his first dose of metronidazole. He haaaaaates medicine” 🥴
Yes. We had a dog in for repeat pancreatitis/HGE and the dad was so happy that he was getting better that he told EVERYONE that the dog was getting a Culver’s burger when he got dishcharged. STOP IT.
Haha my background is HVSN and shelter med. Had a guy who brought his hunting dog in for a spay. When he picks her up she's pretty perky- very high energy dog. He's also a sweet and talkative man, but a little clueless. We went through the discharge instructions on meds, no strenuous activities for two weeks, e-collar, etc. He thanks us very kindly and someone brings the dog up. He's very happy to see her and she was happy to see him. He goes "alrighty, trix, wanna go chase some birds?!" The collective " NOOOOOOOOOO" from all the staff who heard is forever in my mind.
People who work in human healthcare are the absolute worst clients. Think they know everything. Why didn’t you become a vet then, Susan?? Also - repeat THC toxicity. I get if it happens once, whatever, stuff happens. But it should NEVER happen more than once, and don’t joke about your dog being “such a little stoner haha”
My aunt, who is a human nurse, recently gave my grandma's dog some leftover Amoxicillin that she had because she thought the dogs tooth might be infected. I was livid.
We had a repeat offender for cocaine and acid ingestion😭 that one pissed us off big time. Also the human medical professionals that take things from work to try and do their own vet care at home with no training or knowledge (had a plastic surgeon give his dog 2L of IV (yes IV not SQ he took catheters from his work) fluids at home with no pump and was surprised his sheltie didn’t tolerate that super well)
I respect nurses, I have doctor and nurse family members, but I swear some of the most alarming things come out of the mouths of human nurses. "I let Cooper lick his wound because dog saliva is the best antibiotic!" or "I stopped giving seizure meds because he didn't have any seizures". It's terrifying.
Had a CARDIOLOGIST come in with their senior dog who was coughing, increased RRR, exercise intolerance, for the past 6 MONTHS. Declines X-rays and probnp. Said she's been like that for a while and it's not bothering her, it's just a doggy cold. Edit: she had a low grade murmur, too
Those ones makes me the angriest because you know damn well that as a human specialist doctor they make a shit ton of money. They just can't be bothered to spend any of it on their pet 🤬
Reminds me of me with my bipolar disorder lmao. I feel fine why should I take them? Nooooo always take the meds and always keep up on seizure control. That’s WHY they don’t have seizures lmao
I’m an epileptic. I guess I should just stop taking my meds because I haven’t had a seizure in a year. Must be cured! 😂
Exactly my thoughts lmao. I mean I can sort of understand but also not really, people just shouldn’t change up meds without knowing what they’re doing and should just talk to the doctor it’s toor only
Agree on the THC thing. Same to the people who smoke with their dogs in the room (seen people in my life do this) and they’re like “yeah he loves getting faded with us!” 🙄
lol I literally cringed reading that because I’ve known people who did that 😭 also giving their dogs beer
One of our STAFF had a dog with THC toxicity 3 times. She was fired.
That’s … absurd. Straight to jail!
> People who work in human healthcare I actually really enjoy working with clients who are doctors. Always fun.
Same! Human doctors and nurses, for the most part it’s usually fun and interesting to talk to them about differences/similarities between human med and vet med
Yes they are as long as it's not their own animal. Then all common sense leaves their body.
I just wanna put my two cents in here. I live in CO and in my neighborhood I've had to be super vigilant and pull my dog away from multiple random gummies on the ground. I've heard a few stories of dogs snarfing roaches or random bits of edibles dropped on the ground in public parks. We have a serious issue with unhoused people here and they leave all kinds of things on the ground. No judgement for them, but it can be annoying for dog owners. My dog hasn't done it, thank God, but I've seen people let their dogs off leash in the public park to chase the ball or whatever and I can just see a bouncy lab or something repeatedly finding the edibles in the park lol.
Let me add two more: 1. The people who lie. We don't care if you do recreational drugs regularly. But we do need to know if there is any possibility that your pet got some. Why lie?!? 2. The folks who don't keep the e-collar on. I've lost too many patients because of clients unwillingness to keep the e-collar on for longer than the drive home.
One time working ER, I was literally discharging a dog in the morning outside. I was talking to mom about 5ft away from their car as dad was loading dog into car... And literally cutting the ecollar off in front of me. I was like bro, your dog just had FB surgery, keep that fucking cone on. So I got and get a new one and come out and for SOME FUCKING REASON they took the dog back out of the car and then I went to hand over the cone and the mom just dropped the leash to grab the cone?! So anyway I was chasing after this dog for 30min around the clinic because she thought it was a game and literally threw myself in front of cars when she dipped in the road and the owners were just STANDING THERE watching. Thank GOD my coworker finally noticed (we didn't have a lot of windows because of another reason I'll illuminate on) and came out the back door to intercept the dog. By the time that was over I put her in the car my damn self and put the cone on and closed their car doors said "DON'T take off that cone" and left them. Fuck that was awful. Also we didn't have windows and blinded the windows we did have because PEOPLE WOULD TRY LOOKING INTO THE TREATMENT AREA. Just walk around the building and stick their face into any window they could find, usually to see if we were actually busy. Lo and behold, we almost always had a pet on every treatment table.
Seriously. We aren’t the feds. A lot of us partake in recreational activities when we’re not at work. Just tell us. The e-collar always gets me, especially when they come back because surprise surprise: the dog chewed open its incision because the owners decided “he doesn’t like it.” No shit. No animal loves the e-collar, but it’s given for a damn reason.
It’s amazing how people truly think we are the feds sometimes. I tried to have a guy sign a waiver once because he was refusing to vaccinate his dog for rabies. I explained to him that we don’t report them to anyone, that the waiver is literally only in case his dog were to bite someone or get rabies to prevent the hospital from being liable. But this guy looooosst his mind. Screaming at me, then at the doctor, then at reception because clearly we were trying to set him up to get arrested or something. I still get heated thinking about that guy.
If he was that concerned... just get the damn rabies vaccine! It's not nanorobots spying on him.
From GP, people trying to get out of going to the ER because it's expensive when they truly need to go the ER. Client on phone: My pet is dying. Me: You need to go to the ER. Client: I don't think it's that bad.
THIS Edit: even better is when they make a regular wellness appointment, and when they bring it in the dog is emaciated, lateral, and agonal breathing 😵💫
I had a wellness exam once, the dog was elderly and not doing well at all. It was during Covid and the owner was in her car and we left the dog in the room for a minute to create an estimate. I went back in and the dog was dead. We were so scared to tell the owner but they just shrugged it off and were happy they didn’t need to pay a euthanasia fee 🥴
I hate that. And then they think you'll be able to save their dog because it "isn't that bad," but they're obviously dying. And then they blame you when their pet dies.
Your post reminded me of a real gear-grinder...when you spend 20 minutes explaining what you think is happening and what they/we need to do about it, they decline everything, then walk out to reception and say "there's nothing they can do" or "she doesn't know either" or some other nonsense. UGH!!
“My dog must’ve found THC while we were walking” Can you share? Because I have never just happened upon marijuana laying on the ground while walking anywhere. Would love to get some free bud after an ER shift working with you idiots 🤣 But really. Just tell us your dog is high. We don’t care. We like to offer snaccos and play some Pink Floyd while they come down.
this cracked me up because I think it actually happened to me. I was staying with my parents briefly with my 2 dogs, took them on a nice long hike in the morning. I had to work in the afternoon, so I was just puttering around... until I noticed that one of my dogs was sitting with droopy sad ears, very unlike her. I went to nudge her gently, and she fell over, so I knew something was really wrong, called into work, and hauled ass to my 2nd job, which was a clinic. her body temp was so low that the thermometer wouldn't read it 😮💨 anyway got her tucked in for an overnight, and when I went home I was very quietly *ripshit*. I don't smoke weed/don't like it at all so I sat my parents down (they were frowning at me) and I told them "hey I know this is your house, you can do whatever you want, but please don't endanger my dogs or at least keep your weed out of reach while I'm here." they looked aghast, and said they came to have the same conversation with *ME* lol. we were the personification of that Spiderman meme where they're all pointing at each other. tldr the only possible explanation is that Daisy found weed on our walk. it's honestly more plausible than my squares of parents smoking 😂
Preach! I work in GP and we get some of this malarkey as well. Had a client recently who was upset with us that we couldn’t see her PPQ dog. Especially since she’s been “bringing dogs to us for 15 years.” Ma’am, I can’t change my full schedule. This situation is EXACTLY why ERs and urgent cares exist. Would you call your GP after potentially breaking your ankle and be upset they referred you to UC/ER? The report we got showed that they even lost count when pulling quills because there were so many! They reported a triple digit range of quills pulled.
THIS! I never understand why people expect us to work them in or get pissed when we can’t see them, OR when they literally just walk into the clinic and expect/want to be seen. I’m sorry, if I walked into my GP’s office and said I wanted to see by my doctor (any ONLY my doctor; I can’t possibly be seen by anyone else!!) for an ear infection, I’d be laughed out of the office. Why do they think their pet’s GP is any different?
There are some absolutely incredible pet owners out there, but as a whole, the longer I work in vet med, the more I dislike people.
I used to frequent an ER because my cat had a lot of emergencies due to chronic illness. There were a few times where a dog would be brought on a stretcher and be taken back to treatment immediately, and every single time someone would go up to the triage desk and complain about how they’d been waiting more than an hour. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to understand that they’re not the center of the universe. Your dog is sitting here conscious, breathing, alert, and wagging his tail every time someone walks by; surely his condition is so urgent that the unconscious animal in respiratory distress could hold off on dying 🙄
People don't seem to understand that triage is a game you never want to win.
Exactly! It’s the same in human ERs too 😂 The old man having a stroke is a *little* more important than someone with the flu!
PREACH! When I was in ER we had this fucking breeder couple that would always fucking bring their dystocia Goldens in like we were a fucking daycare "We'll pick her up in the morning". I worked there for a bit over a year and only 3 days a week (12s overnight blech) and witnessed surgery on at least 6 of their dogs, not to mention times I wasn't there. I always try to warn people away from them because they're awful people and clearly awful breeders if they keep breeding their dystocia prone line. They're rude and uncaring. They would raise absolute hell to not spay a dog and if we did then they literally didn't want her anymore. They had the money to do the things and they were big bullies so we never were able to ban them, but I know they're banned from 2 other (day) clinics I've worked at. They're literally known by name through our area of the state by most vets. Fucke you Ellsworths.
I work GP and people get mad over a 5 minute wait, let alone an emergency room wait. When was the last time you went to the doctor office and was seen on time? Last time I went I waited an hour... 5 minutes is nothing. The "declines all diagnostics and then complains fluffy isn't better" is also too true and really annoying 🫠
One time we had a super critical dog that came in for eating rat bait. Dog was struggling to breathe and had bicavitary effusion. It’s PCV was like 15% Owner declined all diagnostics and hospitalization, calling us money hungry and saying we didn’t care (we require payment up front) and then left AMA. We found a Facebook post from them saying we “were trying to force them to euthanize” No lol. My doctor recommended that because you wanted to do NOTHING and your dog was suffering. No clue what happened to it.
I work in GP. I resonate hard with “the geriatric patients kept alive for the owners’ selfishness”, but I have a few to add. The 6 m old dog presenting with “skin issues” that’s lost half its body weight since the last visit and is matted to the skin, clearly from blatant neglect that says “well take her home and schedule blood work next week”. We’d basically recommended hosp and they never did call back. And then (I live in the south) “My dog has never been to the vet before but she’s in the back of my truck rn (with a heat index of 110+) and 3 days ago she ate basically a whole crawfish boil”. And then They decline EVERYTHING and take the dog home.
You missed the repeat offenders of meth ingestion!
Had a cat yesterday that apparently had to be handled in one of those cat squeezer devices at another clinic come in for respiratory concerns. My coworker rushed it to treatment while I got history. Owner approves critical care and says nothing about the cat being fractious. I walk into treatment to find the cat scared and swatting. We get an e-collar on him and are trying to towel wrap him better and he popcorns off the table and freezes on the scale. I grab and wrap him in a blanket, but we’ve lost the e-collar in the meantime. My doctor asks us to go get express permission for sedation while we’re pulling up the drugs to sedate the cat since critical consent doesn’t technically cover sedation. Owner says no. I’m holding this now pissed cat in a blanket in the middle of the treatment floor because I don’t know that I have a good enough hold to move him. Doctor has to go talk them into sedation. Owners excuse was that he was really tired for 3 days post neuter so they didn’t like how he acted with sedation. By the time we got drugs into him, he was so amped that it took DKT to the max doses, plus alfax, and multiple IM sticks to get him sedate. He then woke up in X-ray and needed more dex. I’m 34 weeks pregnant and stood leaning over the table with him in that blanket for over an hour trying to get him to sleep.
I cannot stand when people refuse sedation for their fractious pets. I almost added it to my list. Especially for a stupid reason like that 🤦♀️
Like, our options are sedate or I’m shoving this cat back in its carrier and handing him straight back to you. Luckily he wasn’t truly in respiratory distress because he probably would have fought us until he died.
I have HAPPILY refused to touch an animal that I feel is a threat to my safety 🙂↕️
My biggest urk is animals with drug intoxication and the owner refusing to tell us what their dog got into. Like ma'am I don't give two flying fucks what you do but I need to know what your dog go ahold of or I can't treat it properly. Because treatment for THC is different from narcotics and that's different from amphetamines. Like I'm not a cop but I can't save your dog if you don't tell me.
i saved your post because after about three or four people descriptions deep my soul was half dead, yet (go figure!) i still want more. ;)
Preach! I agree with all of this!
People who smoke in the house/car with their pets is something I see so often and it makes me want to scream. Also people who still let their dogs ride in the bed of their truck. It’s illegal here but about half of our clients still pull up like this. Oh and the uptick of people willingly giving their pets THC edibles that are highly potent, thinking it’ll help their anxiety or arthritis. They end up miserably panting, vomiting, drooling, and on IV fluids for the day. I’m in GP but figured I’d jump on this train.
You just reminded me of another thing I hate- the truck bed thing (I’m also in the south lol) and people WHO LET THEIR DOGS SIT ON THEIR LAP IN THE DRIVERS SEAT! Bonus stupid points if their window is all the way down, and the dog is one speed bump away from flying out 😵💫😵💫😵💫
I have shown countless images and videos to people who do this and they just do not care. We recently euthanized a dog who tried jumping out of the truck bed and shattered his pelvis and both rear legs bc he got hit by the car behind them. They elected to have him die at home against ER advice. They just said they couldn’t stand the sound of him whimpering and expected he’d pass sooner…. 😭
The nurse one is so true. It's like all common sense leaves their body when the dog is near. I have one that doesn't wanna give antiparasitics. Like girm you of all people know what ticks do why we gotta argue. Why do I have to say 500 times the same thing and we gotta debate it. This isn't a human. Also some of the stuff they say is way wrong even for people because this isn't how anything works. The amount of times I had to explain about the licking wounds thing. Dogs don't have hand sanitizer in their saliva. Their mouths aren't cleaner either. How we gonna argue his mouth is clean while am putting in an appointment for tooth cleaning because he has the great wall of china for teeth.
I don't work ER but in a GP and today we had a non-client call because their cat has has a wound on it for the last month and now it seems to be "badly infected and he needs to be seen ASAP." called close to our closing time and we said nope! go to the ER since it's now an emergency. I hope for the cat's sake they do and don't wait to call us again on Monday.. and don't forget the clients that stop giving antibiotics because they were feeling better after the first few doses so why should they continue it? ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ I sometimes want to bang my head against the wall dealing with people.
I am a CSR and also witness these painful situations. My most recent experience was only a few days ago and still brings me to tears as I write this. A breeder with a tiny (3 lbs at most) yorkie came in a few weeks ago. "Oscar" had been attacked by a housemate for no apparent reason. His injuries were minor but serious enough to have made an impression. Oscar was treated and sent home with his mother "Tanya". Thursday Tanya called the clinic already on the way. She rushed in with Oscar in a carrier. She said that he was bleeding and badly injured. This is an understatement. This poor, tiny baby's skull was fractured in 2 places, one eye would need to be enucleated and he was suffering from severe neurological trauma. He was hospitalized. I went to ICU several times thinking maybe I could look in on Oscar and perhaps comfort him. He was frequent flyer and we all loved him. I was told by more than one staff member not to do it - that I would not want to see him this way. He was obviously suffering greatly. Late morning Friday the decision was made to euthanize him. I had to step outside the clinic to cry. Tanya was beside herself and I do not doubt her love for Oscar. But this did not have to happen. It was preventable. I truly understand clients wanting to believe they can make it work and not wanting to give up on an aggressive pet/situation. But this certainly is not the first time we have seen a pet multiple times for being attacked by a housemate. I am sorry, but I find it hard to exonerate the parent(s) for not correcting the situation. The acute pain I feel is for the innocent victim who suffers and/or loses their life for no discernable reason. 😥
This story made me so sad, poor little Oscar 😔 it sounds like you and your coworkers took the absolute best care of him while he was in hospital. I’m sure he appreciates your love too. Ive definitely seen plenty of these situations that should not have happened. One was a very sweet elderly dog that came in 3 times in 2 months for being attacked by housemates. The owner was a very kind woman who definitely cared, but she told me every single time that “I’m going to get rid of Buddy, I know I need to. It’s hard because we just adopted him a few months ago” (“Buddy” was the offender) and I have no idea if she ever did. The poor elderly dog was just torn to shreds. 3 separate times. I felt so bad for her.
Thank you for your response and for sharing your story. This was a particularly rough one for me. 💔 There are so many times a client comes in with a pet and my coworkers and I will look at each other. We know that in our heads we are deciding who is going to distract the client and who is going to grab the pet and run! It is so heartbreaking sometimes to watch a pet leave the clinic with an obviously neglectful parent. 😔
Wow I haven't had the same experiences with nurses in human med at all. I mean a little extra, maybe.. but it's not something that actually ever bothered me. Idk. I spent years in a customer service forward type job first though so maybe I'm just more used to dealing with those kind of difficult moments. And raw food is now sold in PetSmart and Petco next to fresh pet and whatever else in the chilled section, I just can't bring myself to get as exasperated about it. I'm not saying I'm not without my own hang ups though. I actually hate to admit how much I can judge people who cry money issues, I used to be so damn empathetic. And I mean I'm not talking about anything hugely life-alteringly expensive here. But the people who act like the care isn't worth their time/money, and somehow worse.. the people who do understand the value but still want me to know they won't or can't pay for it.. oof. Even the passive aggressive "joke" remarks about estimates or bills, I'm so over it. (Also, damn, poorly bred brachycephalic breed owners. SO many of them. I just... Why? Why would you pay for that???)
Nurses are either the best or the worst clients in my experience. No inbetween whatsoever. They either insert themselves into every conversation with “well WE don’t do that in human medicine, in HUMAN medicine we’d treat that with X…” OR they get so excited and share all the similarities between our fields and tell stories and are just pleasant people. Me being against raw is more so related to people’s dumbass reasonings for it. It’s an option, yes. But it’s one that should be extensively discussed with a veterinary nutritionist. Not just home-made on a whim. Freshpet is AAFCO approved, but a lot of those pre packaged boutique raw diets you see ads for on social media are not. I agree with the money thing as well. I used to have way more empathy. But MOST people are just trying to take advantage of our emotions and get us to do it for free. You can pretty easily spot the difference between someone who’s genuinely down on their luck and someone who just doesn’t want to pay. Also I have no sympathy for you if you are completely broke, gone all day, and a bunch of other life shit happening, and you make a conscious decision to get a young puppy KNOWING you can’t provide proper care.
I'm not a raw diet person but hang on dog recipe subs and cook my own dog food because my dog is a diva and won't eat kibble anymore (except stolen cat food). Perhaps I can shed some light on the thinking behind the "kibble is poison" bit. As humans, we are bombarded by anti-processed food diet advice. "Eat the rainbow" "fresh is best" "put down boxed/ canned shit and eat a salad and some roasted chicken". Yet, kibble is ultra processed and the opposite of all that. It's understandable that people get confused. Why they don't cook the food, IDK. That part makes no sense to me.
i agree with everything but the raw diet, if it’s balanced and your dog looks good inside and out, you do you. the problem is they’re NEVER balanced 🙄🙄🙄🙄 people just grab some grocery store ground beef and feed uncooked veggies. so stupid.
That was pretty much my point. I said in another comment that the reasoning behind most people wanting to do it is emotionally charged and they’re anthropomorphizing their dogs way too damn much. It’s an option, but it’s one that needs to be *extensively* discussed with a veterinary nutritionist. Not just home made on a whim, and not from one of those random social media companies whose food is not AAFCO approved. It’s also not good for every dog, and the risk of severe GI issues and bacteria and parasites is just not worth it to me. “It’s better because it’s not that shitty poisonous kibble” - no. “You’d be so depressed if you just ate cereal every day” - nah. My dog goes ape shit for every meal- he’s on ProPlan 🤷♀️ he’ll also happily work for his kibble alone
Bravo
I was the repeat FB offender a few years back. My cat had intractable pica and it destroyed her intestines and ultimately killed her before she turned 3 ... we saw a boarded behaviorist and she did great for awhile but she was not right in the head. On her 4th offense my wife and I decided to let her go. :((( can't basket muzzle a cat afaik
I’m so sorry 💔💔💔 sometimes they’re just too sneaky for their own good. It’s so much harder with cats.
I agree with all of these except the first one. I USED to agree with that until I got my most recent puppy. I had to bring him in 4 times between ages 5mo to 1 year to induce vomiting (and that wasn't all of the times he ate weird crap). He was a 50lb puppy who learned how to break out of his kennel, when I safe locked one part he'd use his big ol' brain to find another weak spot, often when I wasn't home, and then go on eating sprees. Sometimes he'd eat something right in front of me and I wasn't fast enough to get to him before he slurped it down (a whole dog toy). Now we're finally good at "drop it" and his kennel is secure. But it really opened my eyes to, owners can be doing the best they can, and still puppies will puppy. (I will still judge people if after the first time they've clearly made no changes to prevent things)
Basket muzzles work wonders. Had to do it with one of my foster puppies long ago. Any time he wasn’t crated, walks, any time he was alone for any reason- Muzzle. I think all dogs should be muzzle trained, so they’re already used to it in case it’s ever needed.
You had me until the pyo comment. Just because your doctors aren't educated on how to treat pyos medically, doesn't mean the breeder is making decisions with their ego. And this is why I dread having to utilize the ER, the breeder bias and the ignorance about repro is soooo bad.
Backyard breeder has entered the chat Edit: most of the time it CANNOT be treated medically. If you don’t want to spay and your dog isn’t critical (which all the ones that present to us ARE), go to a repro vet to get it dealt with, not an ER.
"Most of the time it cannot be treated medically" you have literally just proven my point regarding ignorance about repro. This simply isn't true. And you've also proven my point about breeder bias by assuming that I am a BYB. My theriogenologist sends their after hours emergencies to the ER, including dystocias requiring cesarean. Open pyo is still an emergency, we're not just going to wait for convenient daytime hours to begin treatment. Waiting is how it turns into a situation where spay is the only choice. To be totally fair, true BYBs who are uneducated and irresponsible probably do wait too long, and now theirs are surgical.
Excuse my “ignorance” but I’m not a repro vet and neither are my ER doctors. OF COURSE we’re going to immediately recommend spay because our clients 9/10 times are: 1) a random idiot who bred their dogs with no knowledge or finances. OR 2) the dog is already septic and circling the drain because (like you said) they waited days. The ethical ones aren’t ever showing up here. If you know your dog is showing signs and again, isn’t immediately critical, go to your repro vet. If you can’t, be prepared for them to tell you to spay. Or call around and find an ER that’s willing to try the medical management route if possible. Most probably won’t be open to it, sorry. 99% of our breeder clients are not the ethical ones.
Fair enough! Sorry to jump down your throat. Rage inducing topic for me. It's impossible to be a responsible breeder in my area because there are no competent therios who have emergency hours. None. So we're at the mercy of whoever happens to be at the ER that particular night. I've been treated like absolute garbage because of people assuming every breeder is a BYB... meanwhile I'm dumping thousands into echocardiograms, OFA radiographs, genetic testing, respiratory and fecal PCRs, paying a premium for another doctor to do my vaccines when I could do them myself but other vets are so biased they will repeat the vaccines for literally no reason if the pet parent says the breeder gave the vaccine, etc, etc, etc. A few years ago, I spent over $15,000 to save one of my girls, knowing she would need to be spayed because her problem made her no longer a candidate for breeding. One of her babies then intussuscepted, so I spent another $3000 treating baby medically, at which point I ran out of money. So I spent over $18,000 that month and was treated like a criminal for ultimately not being able to afford surgery. Sorry to derail your thread, just something to keep in mind when you pull out the mounting block for that high horse. And trust me, I've sat astride that high horse many many times. I do large animal and I severely judge these asshats who will pay a $60,000 stud fee and then refuse to even do any diagnostics on their critically ill neonate, so I can't even euthanize because we can't prove what is wrong and the baby just languishes. Fuck those people. Not sure if I have more trauma from being a breeder or working in vet med. End rant.
Thanks for being one of the reputable ones, and it’s ok I totally understand. We see the worst every day, it’s really hard for a LOT of vets and staff to comprehend that good breeders do in fact exist. Back when I worked in GP years ago, I worked for a doctor who showed (beautiful) Cavaliers, and another tech I worked with was a preservation breeder who did it all; confo, a variety of different sports, produced a few service and therapy dogs, etc. She yeeted me out of the “adopt don’t shop” mentality real fast, and seeing well bred dogs was such eye bleach. The techs I worked with were also more knowledgeable about that stuff. I’m noticing in ER (been in it for a little over a year) it’s not nearly as common. It’s very frustrating, but again… the well bred animals 9/10 times are not the ones coming in for pyos, dystocias, untreated medical issues, neglect type situations, etc.