Bad publicity for my vet

This week my vet was the subj. of a TV investigation. She has been accused of mistreating animals both physically and medically. The TV investigation focused on why vets can't lose their license by the state,Ohio. I have used her for two yrs. She was the vet for the local animal shelter and since my babies were both shelter cats I continued to use her. She did both their spays, and treatment when they fell victim to the food problem last year. Last Fall the shelter changed vets and warned everyone of the existence of panleukopena in the vets office. This is about the time of the first mistreatment allegation. I wonder if the shelter was not being truthful about why they were changing vets. I am really conflicted. My cats have never been mistreated, but if the allegations are true of course I don't want to take any chances. She had been fined in both cases which implies guilt. One of the allegations was that she used human antibotics for cats, specifially amoxicillin. Does anyone know if that can be used for animals? I guess in the long run I'll need to change vets. I can't put my kitties in danger and there are other good vets in the area. Any input would be appreciated.

Sorry to hear of the problems with your vet. Amoxicillian is a normal antibotics for cats, dogs and humans. Every vet I know of has used it and its been given to people. There is no problems with prescribing it humans and cats/dogs.

Its known as "the pink stuff"

I took Coco to the worst Vet here when we moved here because we didnt know. They have been shut down too and the owner is in jail. My good Vet here does use human Antibiotics sometimes. Coco got Cephalexem which comes in a big bottle. They told me it was off label. My Vet is the number 1 Vet here too. Sounds like the pound new your Vet was bad but could not tell you. I would change Vets. The bad Vet here was going to give Coco a pill taht fell on the floor. I said dont you give that to my Cat. She also made me get tests Coco did not need. Said her Asthma was Cancer. We had called alot of vets but no one could see Coco that day and we were desperate. I should have looked online at the reviews first. They said her heart was tilted too. I went to my Vet for a 2nd Opinion and there was nothing wrong. All her Xrays showed was Asthma. She had a very bad cold.

I would suggest for your piece of mind asking the vet board if they have LEGIT complaints.. ie something they investigated ... remember the addage one bad customer experience is told to 5-10 people ... a good one likely only on person

Amoxicillin is NORMAL and ROUTINE for dogs , cats, humans , fish and cattle

Personally I use mostly HUMAN items for my dog .... her RXs are human in a dose for her

I just wanted to add that Holly Golightly was given amoxicyllin after her surgery and she turned out great.

Originally Posted by sharky

Amoxicillin is NORMAL and ROUTINE for dogs , cats, humans , fish and cattle

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Fish? My imagination got the best of me here, and it's quite a funny mental picture.

Lots of medicines are used in both humans and animals. People forget that these medicines were originally developed by using animals - it would only makes sense that many are still used and many treatments are used in animals too (joint replacement in animals, etc). On the flip side of that, I use to know someone that was a vet tech and hurt her back at work - the vet gave her some pain meds and muscle relaxers for it till she could get to the doctor the following week.

Does her own staff have complaints against her? As suggested, it could very well be the shelter trying to pull something. Maybe she refused to do certain treatments because possible poor outcome or costs the shelter couldn't pay for?

My vet gave Chloe amoxicillin after her spay surgery. I'm not sure if there is any difference between pet-grade and human-grade amoxicillin, but I'm inclined to think that if there is, I'd rather Chloe get the human-grade version.

Amoxicillin is commonly given to cats and dogs as "Clavamox". I don't understand why this is a problem?

Is there some sort of public records you can get ahold of regarding the mistreatments?
I would change vets if the mistreatments resulted to be true.

If you no longer feel comfortable using this vet then it is your prerogative to change to someone else...Obviously there must be some sort of reason why she was investigated in the first place...

Originally Posted by Sakura

My vet gave Chloe amoxicillin after her spay surgery. I'm not sure if there is any difference between pet-grade and human-grade amoxicillin, but I'm inclined to think that if there is, I'd rather Chloe get the human-grade version.

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The same companies that make human medications, make pet medications. Bayer and Pfizer are two examples. The only thing that changes is the dose.

My Vet does it all the time. They told me Amoxocillion is Clavamox. Coco gets Pred for Asthma too. She had the Cephalexem too. The only problem with that is hald gets wasted because the Vet gets the same bottles the Dr uses. There is a site you can check and see if there is anything bad on it.

Originally Posted by sharky

I would suggest for your piece of mind asking the vet board if they have LEGIT complaints.. ie something they investigated ... remember the addage one bad customer experience is told to 5-10 people ... a good one likely only on person

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I agree, contact the organisation that certifies vets and gives them their licence to practice (here it would be the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, I don't know what the equivalent would be for you, but there must be something similar). If your vet is still licenced and hasn't been disbarred that would make me suspicious that a TV investigation may have been making a mountain out of a molehill - it wouldn't be the first time, as they do tend to go for the sensationalist angle to get better viewer ratings. Check with the professional body before deciding.

Doesn't sound like a reason to switch vets to me... If you cant find any truth behind the research than I wouldn't switch! Ive used baby amoxacillin on my cats before, vet told me I could, same stuff, different bottle!

Jewel is currently on Clavamox for her cold and it says it's Amoxicilian right on the box. If you like the vet and feel comfortable with them, I'd check into the complaints. If your spider sense is tingling, though, I wouldn't risk it.

I switched vets once because I asked the old vet why they didn't invest in laser surgery equipment; my personal experience with it v.s. scapal surgery are WORLDS different. Her response was that her "friend's research didn't show any difference". I wasn't comfortable with the simple fact that she hadn't done her own research on it. I can understand getting the opinions of others, but I hate to rely on them exclusively, especially when my real-life experience had clearly shown other wise.

No matter what you do, you have to make the right choice for you and yours.

I've had vets prescribe amoxicillin for my cats for many years - it comes as a pink liquid and the box would be labelled with pediatric dose information.

Clavamox, to be specific, contains amoxicillin PLUS clavulanate potassium. Per Pfizer's website, the amoxicillin is used as it is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, and the clavulanic acid, is used because of its "unique β-lactamase inhibiting effect"..."which extends the antibacterial spectrum to β-lactamase-producing and non-β-lactamase-producing organisms."

Say that 3 times fast

Just wanted to point out that Clavamox is not just/the same as amoxicillin.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

I've had vets prescribe amoxicillin for my cats for many years - it comes as a pink liquid and the box would be labelled with pediatric dose information.

Clavamox, to be specific, contains amoxicillin PLUS clavulanate potassium. Per Pfizer's website, the amoxicillin is used as it is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, and the clavulanic acid, is used because of its "unique β-lactamase inhibiting effect"..."which extends the antibacterial spectrum to β-lactamase-producing and non-β-lactamase-producing organisms."

Say that 3 times fast

Just wanted to point out that Clavamox is not just/the same as amoxicillin.

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Yes, but in both cases amoxicillin is the antibiotic in the medication. So the antibiotic part of the medication is the same. What the clavulanate does is allow the amoxicillin to be effective against bacteria which might otherwise be resistant to the amoxicillin alone. It's like... a bonus.

Originally Posted by Going Nova

Yes, but the Clavamox does have amoxicillin in it as the antibiotic. What the cavulanate does is allow the amoxicillin to be effective against bacteria which might otherwise be resistant to the amoxicillin alone. It increases the effectiveness of the amoxicillin, which is the antibiotic part of the medication.

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As I said, the amoxicillin is the antibiotic portion of the Clavamox, and I listed how the clavulanic acid helps further the overall efficacy of the medication.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

As I said, the amoxicillin is the antibiotic portion of the Clavamox, and I listed how the clavulanic acid helps further the overall efficacy of the medication.

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Hmmm...

My point (and it was implicit rather than explicit, sorry... I tried to edit, but maybe it's not clear from what I wrote) is that whether or not the antibiotic is amoxicillin alone or amoxicillin with clavulate, it is safe to administer to pets and should not be a problem. ...so a person should not be concerned if they were prescribed just the amoxicillin.

I dunno, I'm totally in the "better safe than sorry" camp. I know that if someone told me that my vet has abused an animal I'd tell them they were full of crap, without a moment's hesitation. I trust my vet 100%.

BUT. If I had even a niggling doubt, I would be switching vets. I want to feel safe if ever I need to leave my babies in her care, I don't want to be worrying and wondering what *might* be going on.

So I'd say that whether or not to switch depends on the relationship you have with the vet. Can you honestly say you trust her 100%? If not, I'd hightail it outta there.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

The same companies that make human medications, make pet medications. Bayer and Pfizer are two examples. The only thing that changes is the dose.

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I often get my kitty Rx from a compounding pharmacy that mostly serves people.