AMA I work in a vet practice

[Davesmum2021]

After a very shitty day today, the last client of the day said that “we was robbing bas@£-d’s and that we don’t love animals cause if if we did we wouldn’t be charging that.
Really wanted to say that earlier this morning causes it’s a Saturday I had to help give cpr to a dog and what she’s paying paid for me to do my cpr training refresh and save that dog!
So got me thinking what would you lien to know about vet practices?

Why do guinea pigs count as exotics when so many people have them?

Why do dogs now need yearly vaccinations? When I was a kid you got the puppy jabbed once and that was it - pretty much like getting children vaccinated.

Now it needs separate vaccinations every single year.

The term "exotic pet" is often used for small mammals such as guinea pig as the way they organs are can vary compared to your standard dog and cat. They can also be quite worrying when they come round from any anaesthetic so they need more care and with exotic vets they have the staff to deal with these animals on one to one basis x

I can understand the client's frustration to be honest.

They shouldn't have sworn at you though.

diseases like parvovirus, hepatitis and distemper was around 20 years ago but vets know so much more about these diseases now and the Royal vet collage has done intense testing and it was found by giving boosters every year boosts a dogs immune system. It won’t stop dogs getting these disease but it gives them a very good fighting chance. Parvovirus is very common in younger dogs as they immune is very low and hardly heard of in older dogs because of this reason.

I just wanted to say a) I'm sorry you have to deal with shitty people like that, b) you, and your colleagues I'm sure do a brilliant job.

Also, c) what is your favourite thing about your job?

But if you look at the other way and I hadn’t had my refresh training which the practice had to pay for the owner of the dog this morning would be asking “why are your staff not up to date with they training” All the machines we use to help your pets are not free unfortunately.

My favourite part is when I’m in recovery with a patient and they are all sleepy on my lap and I talk to them softly and stroke them so when they come round it’s not scary to see they little faces when they realise they being comforted and love it.

Thank you for recognising that we are human and just do our job.

What are the most unusual or exotic animals you've worked on or seen in the course of work?

I'm guessing it tends to be mainly either cats and dogs for domestic vets or then a country/farming vet who does horses and livestock?

What's the most amount of money someone has spent on the smallest animal?

Do you agree that it's now a legal requirement to microchip cats? Other than the obvious fact it brings in work.

Thank you!

My cousin is a vet and she says she definitely doesn't want a dog as she's covered in dog hair and slobber from work and doesn't want that at home!

Do you have any patients you have a soft spot for?

Our Labrador lost her leg in a nasty accident and since then she is like a minor celebrity when she goes to the vets. The receptionists all flock round her to ask after her and give her fusses.

Thank you for everything you do.

Do you despair on a daily basis at all the wild animals being "rescued" by stupid meddling humans?

E.g fledgling birds, newborn deer etc. My FB feed is currently full of people who won't leave nature alone as they want to be the latest hero.

Do you have any pets?

Do you work in my vets where I have to make an appointment to collect a prescription from the receptionist because otherwise my pets prescription might be in the cupboard rather than in the Monday basket.....it's never in the right basket and they always question whether I made an appointment to collect it. If so can you explain why this is so important .

Our vets haven't charged us for a couple of appointments - the last in a series each time, confirming my pet is well and doesn't need further treatment. Is this common?

Also, our vet hasn't suggested we pts, but seems almost relieved when we have brought it up. Do vets hesitate to suggest it and do people often leave it too late?

Do you work for an independent practice?

I don’t really see many exotics as we don’t have an exotic vet but at my last practice we had someone bring in baby lama to get him weighed.
To be honest other than rabbits other small mammals tend to only cone when they need to go to heaven. A rabbit recently costed someone £920.
100% all animals should be chipped. We see many reunions with pets. One was a cat who went missing for 6 years and caused he was microchipped we found his owners should could not believe it. Then we have sad cars where cats have been bought in after road traffic accidents and by being chipped the owners got there to make the final decision on they cat. We unfortunately have a cat at the moment who has passed and not chipped but can tell his well looked after but we can only hold for a certain amount of time before we have to send off for a communal cremation.
Always got hair on me and quite often get a tongue in my ear or up my nose 🤣

We all have our favourites and everyone likes a different breed so when they come in we are always called out to have a look.
Some Clients know and when they come in to check in they just hand me they dog and they sit with me till they go in to see a vet.

Insurance - do practices inflate fees if they know you’re insured?

If an owner couldn’t pay for treatment what would happen?

Would you personally pay out £1000s to insure a 12 year old dog?

Sorry; can you tell what’s on my mind atm.

Thank you for caring for the animals, it must be a really trying role at times.

Yes! Unfortunately people do not understand that these animals need specific care or take babies away cause mum wasn’t there for 5 minutes.

No never had to make an appointment to collect medication. Not sure why they do that. All we ask is to leave 48 hours for collection.

Yes. If someone has been in our care for a long time then we also discount some of the meds and a lot of long term medication we take off the dispensary fee.

Thank you! Funnily enough I asked the first question to my cousin's boyfriend and he said a llama!

No I work for a large corporate company but a lot of corporate vets are actually joint owners with the company pretty much like a franchise and it’s normal the clinical lead who owns the practice.

I think people are used to the NHS and free care at the point of delivery and they forget that vets are not subsidised in any way. Stuff costs money! It’s a service and practitioners have to keep up their skills and registration. Not a question, just an observation. And over many years of looking after animals, only once have I encountered someone who I wondered why they even bothered doing their exams. Everyone else has been compassionate, caring and kind - without exception. Keep on doing what you are doing, I hope you love it,