Is this odd for a vet?

Hi,

This is my first post, anyways...I took my kitten tortie (the sweetest kitten I have ever had) to be fixed yesterday. While I was waiting to drop her off the people in front of me were asking if there son (probably 6-7 years old) could go and visit his dog....the girl at the desk was kinda rude and told them "no" that no one is allowed back there and that they are prepping for surgery, etc. So, then the boys mom asked if they could bring the dog up to the front; the girl told them no to this also....claiming that they were too busy. The boys mom said well, you don't even have to let us go back there with him...it's just one little boy. The girl still refused...so the people left. Then, I was giving her my kitten and trying to say bye to her....I am very attached and the girl took the cage, I don't know if she thought I had said bye or what, but I thought that was kinda odd. That's beside the point, my concern is them not wanting the boy to go back and see his dog at the vet that I took all of my other cats to, they always let me come by and go back and visit them anytime that I wanted. Does this mean that the vet that I am taking her to has something to hide??? or could it just be that my old vet bent the rules? Please let me know what you think, because I am considering switching, I just want whats best for Tortie.
Thanks in advance.

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Some vets have policies and rules in effect based on past experiences. For example, my vet, will not allow small children back to see the animals, because years ago, a small child was severely bitten by a caged animal and the parents tried to sue the clinic. But, he will allow a supervised visit of small children provided the child is accompanied by a parent and a vet tech- but her really doesn't like to do it. Plus, when you visit an animal that has been caged, and ill, you tend to work the animal up into a state, and then crash the animal's hope of being released quickly, so perhaps that is why they have the rules they do? There was no reason for the lady behind the desk to be rude, but face it, there are some people who work at vet hospitals that really don't care about anything except the paycheck they get.

yeah, that is true...I couldn't imagine working somewhere like that and not caring about the animals, but that could be part of the problem. Thanks so much, I didn't know if ir was odd or not for them not to let people back there....it makes me feel better to know that it could just be a policy and not them trying to hide something.

The best way to find a cat-friendly vet I have learned, is to call around and just ask each clinic if they declaw. If they say yes automatically hang up, if they try to talk you out of it, or offer alternatives or say no- embrace that clinic as truly caring about cats.

While I detest declawing, I don't 100% agree with the comment about finding a vet who won't declaw. I have a friend in America who is a vet, and she declaws. We've learned to agree to disagree on that one...it's the only thing we don't see eye to eye on. She hasn't declawed her own cats, and doesn't encourage people to declaw, but she will do so if asked. Having known her for 3-4 years, I can say that she is an extremely kind vet, who loves cats very much. In fact, she is in the throes of opening up her own cat clinic.

Julia.

Yes, I would say that is a little suspicious. Where I work, we always let people see their pets upon request. Now, we will sometimes move the animal to an exam room or bring it up front if possible, because in order to get to the pet's housing, people would be walking past as we are performing sugeries, doing treatments, making phone calls to clients, etc. and it is just not appropriate to have visitors walking through at those times. I would be wary of a clinic that doesn't want it's clients to see the back.

See, thats kind of what I thought...this was my first time at this vet, my fiancee has taken her for all of her shots. I told him and he said that we would find someone else, but there is no way that I can know if that is better for her or not. She came home today and she seems to be fine, just really sleepy and her tummy is bruised. Is the bruising normal from being fixed?

What this sounds like to me is someone in the office who is either not good with people, or does not grasp the strength of the pet human bond. I wouldn't say that one person in the office speaks for how the whole office is run, but I personally feel that a big part of being my cat's vet is how you deal with me. My cat can not talk or understand what is going on so if I go somewhere & they are not willing to talk to me or make me feel comfortable then I wouldn't go back. When choosing a vet, always go to the office for a visit before making an appointment. I've been told that any reputiable vet will give a tour of their facilities to perspective cliets.

thanks so much i have a friend who works with the humane society and she recommended a couple of different vets, so i think that i will check them out

I have to put my two cents in here. I don't think you can judge the vet by this one incident. Suppose the dog was just coming out of anesthesia? A lot of dogs moan and wail before they are fully conscious, and that is upsetting to an adult, let alone a child. Or perhaps there were other freshly operated or ill pets in the same room that would have been disturbed? And what about germs? As to the receptionist's "rudeness", I'd give her the benefit of the doubt. Suppose things were extremely hectic that day, with emergencies, etc.? We all have bad days. If you have additional bad experiences there, then switch, but I wouldn't overreact to one thing.

I wouldn't have been so concerned, but it was 7:15 in the morning, so they had not done any surgeries yet.

hmmm I don't know. I would want to be able to go back and visit my pet, but i could understand if they were busy. they shouldn't have been rude!

See, I could understand if they were busy, but I work in customer service and I honestly think that being rude is unexcusable.

I think you should follow your gut instinct and find a different vet. However, saying that, I would probably stop by their office to buy some food or find some reason to stop by a couple times and view how the people out front treat the customers. Then if you still see some rude treatment of customers, you'll know for sure it's not the place for you. I stayed with a vet for too long because I kept giving them 'another chance' and wish I had switched a long time ago cause the vet I have now is unbelievably compassionate and that goes for ALL the help at the front desk too! No matter how busy they are, they are all very nice to people!

see...thats how i kind of felt, and it didn't help any that when she came home, we couldn't get her to eat for 2 days, it could have been the surgery, but who knows.

The clinic I work in does not even allow children in the building. It is a liability for the clinic. Cats are not really a concern because they are in carriers but dogs are on leashes and not all dogs are friendly with other dogs. There is a risk for a dog fight and dogs that do not like children or are protective of their owners. And we all know that not all parents discipline their children real well and let them run wild. This is why the clinic does not allow children under 12. I'm sure you could sympathize that it is for their safety and that is probably what the concern was for at your vet.

I went through 4-5 vets (can't remember exactly) before I found the vet I have now. I do not give second chances, if you are rude, arrogant, unwilling to listen, or have dirty facilities, I won't be coming back. I don't like vets that don't tell you what they are going to do to your animal before they do it, they come in to the room, needle in hand, give you a nod, and start poking.

Or they want to argue with you about whats really wrong with your animal. When I adopted my cat Oliver from a shelter, I found that he clearly had round worms. I went to a vet that the shelter had given me a coupon for. The vet said he was just allergic to his food. When I asked why he had worms in the stool sample I brought in, he said "Those were dead worms, and I didn't see many eggs, so no, it's not worms" - $80 later he still had worms. So I went to another vet (the one I have now) and by this time, the dog had gotten worms from eating poop out of the litter box, I just brought in the dog, and told them the whole story. They did a stool sample, and even though it showed no worms yet, based on my description of the worms found in the cat poop, and the fact that the dog had vomited "spagetti" shaped worms and foam, a diagnosis of round worms was made, and they gave me medicine for both animals. Total cost $28

If you get bad vibes from a vet, trust your instincts.

thanks so much, that is what I have thought....I asked a friend that works with the humane society who she would reccommend and she told me one, so I am going to try them.

With regards to children: It might be very upsetting for a child to see his animal friend not feeling well and the other animals in their cages in various conditions with wounds/tubes/IVs and what have you. I wouldn't take a kid to a human emergency room unless I had to (meaning that unless it was he that was injured, I'd wait until the person was stablized, in a room, away from frightenting chaos before I'd bring the kid in.) So, in the interest of minimizing the trauma all the way around - the dog might get upset if the kid gets upset - I'd say that office made the right call.

Now, if YOU are acting overly anxious, they might exclude you for those very same reasons. Not that you would have a meltdown, just that they don't know you well enough to be able to risk it.

HOWEVER, that being said, let me also say that there are some offices where the staff and vets are idiots and/or insensitive to the needs of their clients. This place you describe sounds very much like the evening shift of the specialist's office where my old collie was. They wouldn't let me go back and see her either and in their infinite *&^%$ wisdom, they unhooked her from her IV and meds and brought her staggering out. I was just livid. The day shift people were much better and they let me hold my Lori while she died.

In contrast from the evening shift bozos, the emergency vet where she had been moved from earlier that day not only let us in back, they let us bring a pillow from home with my scent on it. They let me sit in her cage with her and the vet talked to my mom (who is an RN and a collie breeder) about the situation on my cell phone in the back work area. They have always been wonderful people.

So, in your quest for a new vet, make up a list of things that are important to you and go in when you think it might not be busy and visit. Run down your list with whomever is on duty - starting with the desk staff - and on the things they cannot accomodate, ask them why. If their answer isn't good enough, go on to the next place. You are the consummer and you are going to be shelling out big bucks over the course of your animal's life and you have a right to care that meets your needs. Vets are not gods and the ones that think they are aren't worth your time.

Hope this helps. Sorry for writing a book.

Z~

no, thank you so much...i really appreciate it. i got another kitten about a week ago from operation kindness and took her to one that they recommended and he is absolutely the best vet i have vever met. she was really sick and i called that morning and they told me they would make room so that we could get her in that morning, i got there and they were really busy, i ended up waiting two hours...but at least they were nice enough to let me bring her in, even though they were that busy. also, i had to take her back, because she still didn't get better and both times all that he charged me for was the medicine, since i had adopted her. she is still a little sick, but better than she was. thanks so much : )