Emergency Vets - are they really the best in an emergency situation?

Originally Posted by GingersMom

What do you use? An oversized butterfly net?

BaDUM!

Is it Friday yet?

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The one vet is such a moron....I think you could actually catch the man in one!

The only time we had to go to the emergency vet was last Canada Day. Max had scooted across the ground ONE TIME that afternoon. I made a mental note to take him to the vet on monday (this was saturday night) to check his anal glands, then we went out for the night. When we got home, his rear end was bloody and cleaning revealed a burst anal gland. We brought him to the emergency vet and were seen very quickly. The vet gave me a bit of a look when I said Max wouldn't go on the examination table (it makes him super uncooperative). Other than that, we were very pleased. The vet cleaned the wound, applied antibiotic ointment and gave us a 2 week course of antibiotics. It was not even expensive!

I have been to the local er clinic several times...lmao.. I have a 18.75 yr crf cat ....

I dont care for one of the vets but he is good ... My trouble is my animals due to diet look and act much younger than they are ... One night I took Kandie in cause she hadnt peed enough and wasnt eating... Well the vet didnt think any thing was wrong ( my vet showed me the report) because she looks like she is 7-10 yr s old not nearly 19 ... She had a UTI and her vet treated her

Flip side THEY SAVED GIGIs LIFE ... she went into anaphalactic shock ... the vet was very nice and calmed me down and explained what he needed to do ...

Overall I dont hesistate to take my girls to the ER vet when needed ...

Well my city dont have one we call our vet and he will come in but im guessing its like a emergency room visit for us.

They dont know your pet personally like a reg vet does as they see it only in a emergency situation. They dont know any past history or what the animal is like normally. So they would have to go on the assumption of right now.

I dont know if I would do anything drastic without talking to my vet first but I havent been put in the situation to have to think about it.

I know ive taken my kids to the emergency room and have thought to myself what is this doctor thinking!!! I told my son in with a asthma attack and got told hes constipated I mean come on.

Also as with any thing I think some vets are more apt to put a animal to sleep then others are.

I have taken Peedoodle to the emergency vet - he started exhibiting symptoms of not feeling well all of a sudden - I like to believe that I am in tune with him and I knew something was wrong, and so off to the emergency vet he went. We did have to wait for a while because a dog came in with a twisted bowel and he had to work on the dog first.
But when we went in, the vet took a good look at him, and said that he had an infection somewhere - I think it was in his tummy and gave him an injection, and some pills. Peedoodle was back to his normal self again in the morning.
It may depend on where you are when it comes to e-vets.

We are extremely fortunate in not having an "e-vet" per se. What is have is a partnership with an animal hospital and several local vets to their entire vet staff (9 or 10 of them) to take turns being the after hours "on-call" vet. So, if you have an emergency, you go to the animal hospital (its about 15 miles from here, but worth it), and you get to see a regular vet.

one thing i have noticed, is that vets seem much faster to write off cats vs dogs. i may be wrong, but that is just the way i see it. There is on vet here in town that i wont take a cat to period,.

I am very fortunate we have an excellent emergency clinic in Columbus. They are also a referral clinic for specialist care. They have been visited and received a glowing letter from the man in charge of the clinic in Colorado that is featured in the show on Animal Planet. The only difference between them and the clinic in Colorado is that they don't provide primary care, other than emergency care, only referral speciality care. They are about 50 percent higher than my own vet but I am glad they are there and I have used them once. The best care would be 24 hour access to their own vet but of course that isn't possible. I know I wouldn't want to be on call 24/7.

Originally Posted by theimp98

one thing i have noticed, is that vets seem much faster to write off cats vs dogs. i may be wrong, but that is just the way i see it. There is on vet here in town that i wont take a cat to period,.

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Unfortunately, that happens here, too. One vet is pretty much small animals, but deals with farm animals as well. One vets specialty is horses, but she does small animals as well. The third vet, I swear his specialty is being a moron....he does OK with large animals & stinks to high heaven when it comes to small animals.

Originally Posted by april31

Well my city dont have one we call our vet and he will come in but im guessing its like a emergency room visit for us.

I know ive taken my kids to the emergency room and have thought to myself what is this doctor thinking!!! I told my son in with a asthma attack and got told hes constipated I mean come on.

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Now THAT is a whole 'nuther thread - the first time I came down with Belle's Palsy I was mocked by the ER nurses for rushing to the ER thinking it might be a stroke (I thought it was one or the other, having suddenly experienced the paralysis of exactly half of my face,) she said to me and I quote, "What, did you see something on TV so now you think you're having a stroke?" Then the ER doctor examined me, and actually told me that I was having, as he put it: "a small brain-stem stroke."

I went home instead of being admitted on his recommendation, and researched "brain stem stroke" online to find that if I HAD had one, I would be a thinking vegetable, completely paralyzed but conscious. Excuse me???

Considering that I was walking and talking, that is when I lost nearly all faith in HUMAN emergency doctors.

You just can't think clearly at the end of a 36+ hour shift.

I admit that they can save lives, but if I was a pet and he was a vet, I'd have been PTS that night.

I think the main lesson learned here is that most of us here are pretty well educated about feline health issues, and in tune with our cats. So, yes, take them in to the ER when necessary, but if you're not comfortable with their assessment/diagnosis, have them stabilize your cat and see your regular vet ASAP.

I think to answer the title - yes, if it is a true emergency situation, you have no choice. I have had mixed reactions from my emergency vets - while they did a good job with Pebbles the first time, they removed a pin in her leg, then a month later she lost the leg, and I can't help wondering if they shold have picked up on the arthritis, shortness of bone, muscle loss and inflammation that was apparent even to me weeks later. I can't blame them for saying she would have no furhter probs and then her be back 2 hours later cos of her paw turning under, I spoke to 3 vets that week, and none had heard of that kind of reaction!! The second time I just thought it was too expensive for what they actually did. But they are very friendly and helpful when you ring for an answer when debating if they need to see a vet or not.

I have brought to E-vets not only my cat but my now angel guinea pigs in the past. I have never experienced any type of negative response from them as far as putting down any of them. I live in a huge city with multiple E-vets so I have many choices but I went to the same one each time and they took care of the situation. If tho, they did mention euthanasia (sp) I would check first with my vet asap before doing anything so crucial.

Since i now work at the shelter as a vet tech- i do not take my foster kittens to the emergency vet now...i run them up to the shelter (As i have a key and the alarm code) and give them iv's /meds myself after i call the director. I have saved several that way- and aside from that that seems to be all that our emergency vet does for my foster kittens is give the sick on an IV- so since i can do that myself- why not save $500 as that seems to be their current going rate for anything. Their prices are outrageous. Now that being said about my kitties- my emergency vet HAS saved our wolf mix's life before when she was bit by a snake. Ginger was in really bad shape and our emergency vet took wonderful care of her and she is just fine now. Had we not taken her i hate to think of what could have happened. Also- my emergency vet is not "euthaniazia happy"as some other ones seem to be- they do everything in their power to save the aniamls that come through their doors so i respect them for that. My main complaint is how much they price gouge.