Why do emergency vets seem like crooks?

[reba]

Remember when urgent care facilities were staffed by the worst doctors and were places of last resort.  Now they are just like going to your regular doctor and a step up over the emergency room if you're not in that bad a shape.

At least where I live the emergency clinic isn't a sole practitioner who just "decided" they wanted to open an e-clinic or have 24-7 hours.  It's a modern, group practice that's attached to a specialty group practice.  They aren't open during the day and you have to come get your pet and transfer them to your regular vet.  They also have arrangements where there's no intake or evaluation fee if it's a direct transfer from your regular vet. 

All the vet's here participate in the e-clinic from what I can see. 

You are right to the extent that sometimes communication is lacking. I've sat in an exam room for over an hour because they forgot to come and tell me I could go.  Overall though I've watched them treat for what I know is going to be for free because the people failed the credit check.  They also have animals in the lobby for adoption from what I'm assuming are cats that people just don't pick up.

 

[2bcat]

 
Remember when urgent care facilities were staffed by the worst doctors and were places of last resort.  Now they are just like going to your regular doctor and a step up over the emergency room if you're not in that bad a shape.

At least where I live the emergency clinic isn't a sole practitioner who just "decided" they wanted to open an e-clinic or have 24-7 hours.  It's a modern, group practice that's attached to a specialty group practice.  They aren't open during the day and you have to come get your pet and transfer them to your regular vet.  They also have arrangements where there's no intake or evaluation fee if it's a direct transfer from your regular vet. 

All the vet's here participate in the e-clinic from what I can see. 

You are right to the extent that sometimes communication is lacking. I've sat in an exam room for over an hour because they forgot to come and tell me I could go.  Overall though I've watched them treat for what I know is going to be for free because the people failed the credit check.  They also have animals in the lobby for adoption from what I'm assuming are cats that people just don't pick up.

That sounds like a pretty good setup.  In the case of the one I went to, it is more separate from other vets than you describe.  Regular vets do "refer" to the facility, but at least during my one visit, that association seems to be nothing more than a basic recommendation.  There is seemingly not even a guarantee that the emergency facility will use any medical info received rom the regular vet.  The particular emergency place is attached to a specialty practice as well, but the emergency is open 24/7 as far as I know.  The whole thing is set up as a sort of destination facility with all the very latest in pet specialty medicine. 

All I know is, since there's another place that for me in a slightly different direction that's not too much farther away, I would try the different one if there's a next time.  My vet has info in his office about the one I don't like, but if it came to that I would be explaining why we wouldn't go to his apparent preferred facility.

 

[kris361]

Its not always as it seems but sometimes its worse.  The only comfort I try to remind myself is that most (if not all) vets got into the business because they love animals.  Most unnecessary orders are out of convince or worse...ignorance.  It is competency you need to be worried about.  As one the posters already pointed out the laws for human medicine and Vetinary medicine are different or just plain absent.  Most people don't know but there are like millions of regulation and procedures in a hospital for things like:  lab equipment, defibrillators, expiration dates on sterile items, disinfection, and (wait for it)........human competency.  Now imagine all the mistakes made by hospitals, doctors, and nurses.  Wrong leg removed, wrong med, closed after surgery but lost a few gauzes?  These mistakes are made with all these law and regulations.  How many laws and regulations exist for vets?  NOT NEARLY AS MANY.  When a human has surgery his oxygen is monitored, he has a breathing tube placed because anesthesia stops or severely slows respiration.  I have seen animals received anesthesia with none of that.  Ever wonder why your pet acts differently after surgery.  Does he recognize you (brain damage from hypoxia)  Is he now aggressive (did he even receive anesthesia).  While most vets are competent and don't do any of that stuff,  the ones that do usually get away with it and continue to do it.  Choose your vet with caution. 

 

[mariebic57]

I agree with you, but if you feel they are taking advantage of you, I would take my cat and leave immediately.

I have a friend who took her cat to Canal Animal Clinic, Washington Street, Canal Winchester, OH,  because it was late at night, the cat had been hit by a car.  Its paw was apparently in bad shape, broken, I'm not sure if she said it was broken.   I believe I remember this right, they told her they needed money to examine it, $800 more to remove the paw or it would die.

She was horrified, who carries $800. around, this was an emergency and she only took it there because they were open.  As I understood her, she was so upset when she told me, they were very rude and said they would NOT take it in payments, and intimidated her into signing over the cat to them because they wouldn't let her make payments. She had had the cat since a kitten, was very attached & to have a 

Clinic just snatch the cat & said she had to sign it over to them, is disgusting; telling her it would die if they didn't remove the paw.

She could hear the cat crying in the back room, if I had been her, I would have grabbed the cat, rather than let them take her, taken her home and called my Vet for suggestions.......they had her so upset she couldn't think straight, & let it there, hoping for the best for it......but she cried for days.....at least if it had to die, she and the cat would have been together at home. She has no idea what they did with the cat!!

What kind of Vet clinic operates like this?  They are to be compassionate & helpful...they apparently don't care for animals, they would Never get one of our animals for any reason.  I wish someone would investigate this clinic.

 

[denice]

 
I agree with you, but if you feel they are taking advantage of you, I would take my cat and leave immediately.

I have a friend who took her cat to Canal Animal Clinic, Washington Street, Canal Winchester, OH,  because it was late at night, the cat had been hit by a car.  Its paw was apparently in bad shape, broken, I'm not sure if she said it was broken.   I believe I remember this right, they told her they needed money to examine it, $800 more to remove the paw or it would die.

She was horrified, who carries $800. around, this was an emergency and she only took it there because they were open.  As I understood her, she was so upset when she told me, they were very rude and said they would NOT take it in payments, and intimidated her into signing over the cat to them because they wouldn't let her make payments. She had had the cat since a kitten, was very attached & to have a 

Clinic just snatch the cat & said she had to sign it over to them, is disgusting; telling her it would die if they didn't remove the paw.

She could hear the cat crying in the back room, if I had been her, I would have grabbed the cat, rather than let them take her, taken her home and called my Vet for suggestions.......they had her so upset she couldn't think straight, & let it there, hoping for the best for it......but she cried for days.....at least if it had to die, she and the cat would have been together at home. She has no idea what they did with the cat!!

What kind of Vet clinic operates like this?  They are to be compassionate & helpful...they apparently don't care for animals, they would Never get one of our animals for any reason.  I wish someone would investigate this clinic.

I live in the Columbus metro area, I hadn't heard of this particular clinic but I do believe that there are some very sub par vet practices in this area.  I did the vet hopping thing with a chronically ill kitty before I finally found a vet who got things sorted out for him.  I don't know why it is that way especially since the University has a Vet School but it is that way.  I have used a vet e-clinic in this area twice but not this particular one.  They are very good but they do demand payment at time of service.  They will let people apply for Care Credit there.  One night I was there and an older woman had her dog there and they were helping her with the online application.

 

[BonitaBaby]

 
I agree with you, but if you feel they are taking advantage of you, I would take my cat and leave immediately.

I have a friend who took her cat to Canal Animal Clinic, Washington Street, Canal Winchester, OH,  because it was late at night, the cat had been hit by a car.  Its paw was apparently in bad shape, broken, I'm not sure if she said it was broken.   I believe I remember this right, they told her they needed money to examine it, $800 more to remove the paw or it would die.

She was horrified, who carries $800. around, this was an emergency and she only took it there because they were open.  As I understood her, she was so upset when she told me, they were very rude and said they would NOT take it in payments, and intimidated her into signing over the cat to them because they wouldn't let her make payments. She had had the cat since a kitten, was very attached & to have a 

Clinic just snatch the cat & said she had to sign it over to them, is disgusting; telling her it would die if they didn't remove the paw.

She could hear the cat crying in the back room, if I had been her, I would have grabbed the cat, rather than let them take her, taken her home and called my Vet for suggestions.......they had her so upset she couldn't think straight, & let it there, hoping for the best for it......but she cried for days.....at least if it had to die, she and the cat would have been together at home. She has no idea what they did with the cat!!

What kind of Vet clinic operates like this?  They are to be compassionate & helpful...they apparently don't care for animals, they would Never get one of our animals for any reason.  I wish someone would investigate this clinic.

That is horrible. I'm sorry that happened to your friend. It is ridiculous to want payment immediately and then intimidate a pet owner into signing over the pet if they can't. I understand that emergency vets want to get paid and don't want pet owners bringing in sick pets and then skipping out on the bills, but for emergency situations, it could be late at night and the pet owner might not have cash lying around or enough space on a credit card, but would make payments or pay later.

I realize I have a huge problem with the first emergency clinic that I took my cat to when she went into shock from a lot of vomiting one morning. I posted a one star Yelp review for them and they have not responded. The vet owner personally responded to the other one star Yelp reviews immediately, but has still not responded to mine. They prescribed horrible liquid meds for my cat that made her foam at the mouth and drool for a really long time. She must have thought I was torturing her. They looked like that they tasted horrible and probably are also why she didn't eat. They pretty much knew my cat wouldn't be eating with those foul-tasting liquid meds. They seemed to want to keep her, treat her shabbily (she looked horrible when I went to pick her up), then operate on her to put a feeding tube in her neck, and hospitalize her some more to collect lots of money. The vet didn't even give me a choice in leaving my cat which I had brought there deliberately for emergency hospitalization. "Well, I'm keeping her anyway." It made me feel like I had to go along with what the vet wanted to do because they were going to keep my kitty "anyway". It really felt like my cat was suddenly being held hostage and I had to cooperate to get her back. 

Yes, Mirtazapine sounds bad, but I'd say it's a lot better to give a cat that's not eating and has lost lots of weight to see if that will get the cat to eat instead of trying to intimidate the owner to allow them to put the skinny cat under anesthesia for a neck feeding tube and further hospitalization. My cat could have died under anesthesia weighing only 6 lbs or less. Another Yelp review said that the primary vet/owner intimidated the pet owner into running home to get cash for an emergency surgery. If the pet owner brought cash, then this emergency clinic would drop the price from $5K+ to about $1,500. Otherwise, they wouldn't operate. The dog died and it sounds like the clinic owner didn't really care and said that the dog had a good chance of dying during surgery given his condition so it was no surprise. It sounded like this wasn't conveyed properly to the pet owner because he was surprised his dog died during surgery. This emergency clinic really just seems mostly heartless and like a business. It's not there to take care of sick or injured pets. It's there to make money off of sick or injured pets. As much as possible. I unfortunately met the clinic owner on my second visit back when I complained that they seemed to be padding their bills and told them how horrible my cat looked when I picked her up. I had to go back there since they already had the x-ray and pancreas test information and my cat wasn't eating. The vet tech went to go talk to the clinic owner/vet on staff and then came back in to say that they refused further treatment because I didn't trust them. 

Just a few minutes earlier the clinic owner/vet had been pressuring me in a really rude manner to consent to the neck feeding tube and further hospitalization instead of the nasal feeding tube. He and the vet tech were trying to tell me my cat really needed more hospitalization. So I said to the vet tech, "So my cat's so ill that you wanted to keep her overnight?" Vet tech: "Yes!" Me: "But she's not so ill that you'll just let her go home now?" Vet tech: silent. 

Now I know how important it is to find an emergency pet clinic where they don't just run it like a business, but are actually in business to help pets (and make money doing it). The clinic owner/vet was so not interested in my cat when he examined her. It's the least interested I've ever seen a vet treat my cat. No petting. Nothing. No smile. Came in reading her file. Looked angry. Tried to intimidate as he has to some other people from their Yelp reviews. Pulled the skin at my cat's neck to see if she was dehydrated. Could have been examining a broken object or something. The other vet never even told me that the blood tests I had paid for showed elevated liver levels...I found out from the vet specialist I took my cat to after another clinic got me my cat's records from this horrible emergency clinic. Fortunately, a few days later, my cats liver levels were fine again. Bad communication. Bad attitude. Bad treatment plans. Just bad. Sorry, I went off on a rant again. It sounds like this clinic owner/vet is sometimes nice though from some of the Yelp reviews...

If I had taken my cat somewhere else for treatment instead of this emergency clinic, she could have recovered much faster and it wouldn't have been such a huge ordeal for her. 

 

[therese]

I am in south Florida, around Ft. Lauderdale area ( Palm Beach county/ Broward County ) ...the vets in my area, especially the ER's, are mostly very expensive.  We also have some of the best vets in the country down here, as well.  Its a mixed bag, to say the least. 

I have had cats and dogs for 25 years and have had my share of late night visits to several ER's , over a long period of time.  Used to be, most ER's had a flat rate for the emergency visit, sometimes $75, sometimes $150.....which to me, is reasonable given your pet is in dire straits and its 3 a.m. and you need a hospital.  You pay the service charge going in and then from there, it was pretty much standard vet prices, no surprises.

However, in the last five years or so, I have noticed that the ER charges have sky-rocketed.....Its nothing to take an animal into an ER and come out with a $1000-1500 bill and I am not talking about big-dog  orthapedic surgery for a car accident...I am talking about a friend of mine, whose cat went into a sudden decline in the middle of the night, ended up in the ER, had a total work-up, had a diabetes diagnosis, and ended up with a $1300 bill.   Lucky for her, she had a good credit card. Her husband had just died and she was numb. 

One time, I had my dog in an ER, and while I waited ( an hour ) to get her seen, I saw, sadly, several distraught people, they type that look like they had decent jobs, drove up in nice cars,  kids in tow, etc. with a very sick dog or cat , leaving without medical attention b/c they simply could not afford the crazy fees. Lucky for me, on this occasion,  I was able to negotiate the vet down to  simple diagnostic blood work  ( still way more expensive than normal )  ( by this time it was 4:30 a.m.)  and took my dog to our regular vet at 8 a.m  I got lucky that time. 

My friends and I have done the rounds in our area, and have found one ER that is a little less 'frilly,' smaller, out of the way location,  but their doctors have degrees from the good schools.

Last time, when my dog was bit by a bee at 3 a.m. ( why does this stuff always happen in the middle of the night?  face swelled up like a balloon, ...scary )  we took him there, they were very nice, professional, administered to him and I got out under $400.  My fear was that he was going into anaphylaxis, that he would stop breathing.    

This particular vet ER has been there for years, they are not cheap, mind you,  but they don't  give the vibe that they are a professional grind-it-out money factory, with crystal chandeliers and snotty doctors... yet they seemed to have the right credentials.  It was small, in an out of the way place, but had been there for 25 years that I know of.  So that is where we go now.  

I don't have an answer here for your question as to why this is happening....but in my area it seems that the big money, high-end ER has become like a particular business model....but its causing a lot of pet owners a lot of concern.  

I am not disputing the fact that you have to have the educated doctors , excellent diagnostic equipment and late night availability, that is a given, but it seems to be a particular brusque arrogance and a 'show me the money' attitude that comes with that model that is not good.

I try to look at the ER's side, I am sure many people come in with NO money and want help and that probably wears on the doctors, too, but something weird is going on in my area with all this and I am concerned.

 

[catladyvettech]

I agree with what some people posted, there are good ER vets and bad ones, just as there are good and bad regular vets. Emergency services cost more, but that's to be expected.

I'm an emergency vet tech at a busy hospital where we see up to 30 cases a night. Going over estimates and talking about money is absolutely the worst part of my job. It's tough when a pet is ill and the owner has financial constraints. We try to offer the best care that's within their budget and we offer Care Credit as a way to make payments. But payment is due at time of service and we do not offer any other payment plans besides that. We would lose a ton of money if we did. The hospital used to make payment agreements with clients about 5 years ago and many people never paid what they were supposed to so they stopped offering that.

I understand how stressful it is when your pet is ill and you don't have money for services, but people need to understand that a vet hospital is still a business and a business needs money in order to operate. Perhaps people think an emergency vet hospital is like a human ER where they have to treat you, regardless of how much money you have. I don't know. But I've had people yell at me, call me a bad person, say I'm cold and uncaring, and "why can't you just do all this for free?" Dealing with the money side of things is the hardest part of my otherwise incredibly rewarding job.

To the original poster, it does sound like that vet was pushing for unnecessary diagnostics. I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm glad everything worked out in the end and hopefully you'll never have to seek emergency services there again.