Hello. I'd like to get advice about my recent experience at the vet clinic. I'll make a long story short, but can provide more details if needed.
Basically, I took my cat to the vet's for an exam and a senior screen (blood work and urinalysis - I do these tests yearly). In the past, if it was not possible to obtain a urine sample there, the pet owners always had 30 days to obtain and submit a sample. Well, it was only after the vet had drawn the blood that they told me that it had been changed to 7 days and that there was now a charge if I had to bring the cat back in for a cystocentesis.
Had I known about these changes beforehand, I would have gotten the less expensive blood work done and taken the cat someplace more accommodating for the urinalysis.
There is no way I'm gonna be able to collect a sample from this cat at home. She only urinates once a day, which is around 8 pm or so. She will not urinate in the litter box for me. Sometimes, I'm not even sure if she urinates even once a day. We need to test the urine specific gravity, so I assume that trying to force her to drink water with a syringe would provide inaccurate results.
I've been going to this same clinic for nearly 10 years and it's only been in the past three years or so that I've had problems with what I refer to as "deceitful business practices". They're always trying to add things to my bill like an OTC hairball gel that I could get at Petco for half the price. There always seems to be some billing type problem where they always come off as being deceitful. I almost always try to ask if there's a charge for something and I usually try to get all the details. But it gets exhausting and they seem to get annoyed. I have reason to believe that the reason one vet quit working there is because of the type of stuff I'm complaining about.
I intend to take my business elsewhere within the next month, but I would like or may need to go back there for a second opinion. I'm very impressed with one of the vet's there and would like to get their opinion for serious illnesses (like CRF).
Do I have a right to complain about this? Should I politely ask that due to the fact they failed to tell me about these changes beforehand that they do the cystocentesis for free?
Basically, I took my cat to the vet's for an exam and a senior screen (blood work and urinalysis - I do these tests yearly). In the past, if it was not possible to obtain a urine sample there, the pet owners always had 30 days to obtain and submit a sample. Well, it was only after the vet had drawn the blood that they told me that it had been changed to 7 days and that there was now a charge if I had to bring the cat back in for a cystocentesis.
Had I known about these changes beforehand, I would have gotten the less expensive blood work done and taken the cat someplace more accommodating for the urinalysis.
There is no way I'm gonna be able to collect a sample from this cat at home. She only urinates once a day, which is around 8 pm or so. She will not urinate in the litter box for me. Sometimes, I'm not even sure if she urinates even once a day. We need to test the urine specific gravity, so I assume that trying to force her to drink water with a syringe would provide inaccurate results.
I've been going to this same clinic for nearly 10 years and it's only been in the past three years or so that I've had problems with what I refer to as "deceitful business practices". They're always trying to add things to my bill like an OTC hairball gel that I could get at Petco for half the price. There always seems to be some billing type problem where they always come off as being deceitful. I almost always try to ask if there's a charge for something and I usually try to get all the details. But it gets exhausting and they seem to get annoyed. I have reason to believe that the reason one vet quit working there is because of the type of stuff I'm complaining about.
I intend to take my business elsewhere within the next month, but I would like or may need to go back there for a second opinion. I'm very impressed with one of the vet's there and would like to get their opinion for serious illnesses (like CRF).
Do I have a right to complain about this? Should I politely ask that due to the fact they failed to tell me about these changes beforehand that they do the cystocentesis for free?