OT: New vet suct

I took Roxy to a new vet today. He is supposed to be "holistic" and a
great clinician. He was nice enough, but the whole experience just
didn't sit well at all.

First off, I can't imagine an animal having surgery in this place. The
outside was fine, but the inside was dirty, disorganized and smelled very
strongly of mildew and dust. From the moment I walked in, I had a bad
feeling about the place. While waiting in the examination room, I noted
a theme of scare tactics regarding parasites. Thankfully, I have my head
about me on that front, but I can imagine a new pet owner with young
children absolutely FREAKING out. There was poster after poster about
parasites (and of course preventatives), with a focus on zoonosis, and
graphic photos of kids with worms in their eyes, etc. Very creepy.

Then the vet went on and on about every vaccine in the universe and
wanted to shoot her full of everything, all at once. He kept saying,
"well we have to tell you about this, it's your choice if you don't want
to protect her." (One example: a Giardia vaccine. I know nothing about
this vaccine, but plenty about Giardia. I'm not about to let him give it
to her without research. He said, "it's hard to diagonose and even
harder to treat!" I said, "um, isn't it treated with Flagyl?"...)

He barely examined her, and I had to remind him to check her anal glands
twice after brining them up as a concern right off the bat. I couldn't
get out of there fast enough.

Needless to say, we won't be going back.

Sandy in OK...

What makes you think this man was a holistic vet? Because he told you
so? My holistic vet's office is clean, calm and bright. I probably
wouldn't go to her for surgery because my other vet has the best
operating room and equipment in town (except for the surgery center
which does nothing else and is basically $800 to walk in the door)
Also, because when I am going to her it is not for traditional western
protocols. She not only doesn't "push" vaccines, she recommends a lot
fewer shots, and a different schedule than my allopathic vet. But of
course, even they go along with my instructions of a three years
rabies, titer testing for parvo and distemper, and nothing else.

the.longest.username.available...

My vet isn't a holistic vet, but he doesn't push any of the extra
shots. He does recommend a few more than the typical holistic vet, but
typically only because of the certain circumstances of that dog. ie.
some vaccines are worth the risk if that particular dog is at a higher
risk for what it vaccinates against because of it's environment.

the.longest.username.available...

It sure is hard to find a good vet these days. I drive about 25
minutes to get to my vet, and when I move in the next few months it
will take about 45 minutes. I'll probably keep making the drive until
I move out of state, or across the state. I'm sure people have talked
about it before, but for those who haven't, my vet has talked about
supposedly educational vetrinary conferences he has gone to where they
turn out to be just ways to get your clients to pay for more things
then they really need. Perhaps these scare tactics are a result of
similar conferences. Thankfully my vet doesn't subscribe to these
tactics, and has always had fair prices for the quality of service he
supplies.

I am just curious, what prompted the desire to find a new vet?

Lynne...

A number of things. My other vet just isn't very knowlegeable about cats,
and especially about FHV (which my kitten has). He also wasn't concerned
about looking at potential causes for my dog's incontinence, he went
straight for the treatments. I had to press to have her evaluated for
possible urinary tract problems, and ended up taking her to a vet
specialist for that. She turned out to not have any problems, but I think
it's pretty basic to rule them out before prescribing treatment.

the.longest.username.available...

I can understand looking for a new vet then, as this is one of my
requirements for a vet as well.

There have been a few other things which have made me want to seek a new
vet. OTOH, he does what I ask him to do. After today, he's looking pretty
good...