Changing Vets?

[Shalenarh]

Hello. I’ve run into some problems with my vet after my second old boy, Boo (16yo 13 lbs) started peeing blood. He’s not straining or cry when he pees. he’s eating and drinking water fine other then losing 2 lbs after being on a feeding schedule . I took him or rather provided a urine sample to my vet. She took a day to get back to me in which I had to call them and ask why they haven’t called back. They said she did call and left a message but both phone numbers they have down do not have any messages.

Regarding the bloody urine, she said his ph levels were low but did not see any crystals and then proceeded to tell me it could be stones or a tumor. Something she previously told me with Oreo and 2 months later after xrays, blood test and at least 3 more urine tests deduced he had Kidney Disease. She has prescribe Metacam and Amoxidrops for Boo. Telling me if it doesn’t get better to bring him back.

I don’t want to be rude as she’s helped my pets plenty of times and I really appreciate it. But today my mom got off work and she knew I was taking Boo to the vet. She told me she heard some coworkers talking about this vet saying they almost lost their own pet taking them to her. I have also read reviews regarding this vet saying the same thing but I still gave her the benefit of the doubt. But I’m not sure if I want to bring Boo, Oreo or any of my pet back to this vet. Don’t get me wrong she’s very nice and reasonably priced for me. But I don’t want to be told ‘“I’m not sure or I don’t know.“ and make me wait for something “bad” to happen but I wont blame this on her as it’s probably due to me because I don’t push her to do more and instead just wait it out as she advices. I’m not good at communication and get really bad anxiety talking to others and I’m trying to work this out on my own. It also doesn’t help with how she says some things to me like “Oh it could be stones... Or a tumor.” I end up unable to say anything and end up just going with what she says.

I feel this is just something on my side and the vet is doing all she can and I’m just overreacting. I understand pets ”get old and die” as my grandma puts it but I want to make sure they are comfortable until that time comes. I plan to call some other vets in the morning to get estimates and other opinions but I feel awful for doing this. Does anyone have any experience with this or switching vets in general? Thank you for your time.

 

[carebearbaby1]

It never hurts to get a second opinion. Take the meds that he's currently on to his new appointment. Ask about a senior blood panel and xrays, if that's within your budget. Those will tell you much more about his health than only a urinalysis.

 

[CatladyJan]

I think many of us run into issues with our vets and question them and if you can justify it then by all means find another vet. I've had to do it several times either because of something that happened that just wasn't right or because of moving. You learn a lot that way. Absolutely get a second opinion without shutting any doors. Ask around and check reviews from trusted people.

 

[MissClouseau]

Regardless of how good a vet is, personally I think it's always good to get a second opinion. The same reason I think ideally two different clinics would be familiar with you and the cat. If possible I would recommend choosing one clinic with young vets as they are more up to date on veterinary.

And it's not rudeness by the way. A good vet would recommend a different vet for certain things too as they cannot be great on everything with every animal. This is one thing I pay attention to myself when I choose vets. One of the clinics I go to direct people to a different clinic for some surgeries for example. They also call different vets sometimes to diagnose, to get a second opinion. You can do that yourself too. If your vet would feel bad about it, it's her, not you.

P.S. For anxiety, you can maybe try to talk on the phone with her if in person feels more uncomfortable? It could also help to write down everything you want to ask.

 

[Antonio65]

I plan to call some other vets in the morning to get estimates and other opinions but I feel awful for doing this. Does anyone have any experience with this or switching vets in general? Thank you for your time.

I had to change my vet a few years ago.
I had had her for over 15 years, she was one of the best vets in my opinion, she was reasonably priced, and on a good number of occasions, she didn't even asked me to pay for the visit.
She was very well prepared, always present, followed my cases with passion and attention, and fixed a few issues along the way. She would also ran, along with her colleague, a cat and dog pension. I took advantage of this facility a few times and the price was absolutely great. She would also keep a semi-feral cat of mine for the winter in order to keep him in a warm place.
In short, she was close to perfect and I usually would advise her to other people I knew.

Then, my cat Lola got very sick. I started taking her in very very often, the vet couldn't find what the problem was. She directed me to other specialist vets, with very few or no success, until, on my own decision, I went to a clinic where, after two days of hspitalization, the vets found out what the issue was and proposed a course of therapy and surgery for a very rare disease and with few chances of a positive outcome.
When I told my long-time vet what had happened and what I did, she was happy for my cat and for me, but shortly after that she said I was going to torture my cat for my selfish desire to keep her with me for a longer time and that I should have let her go.

Well, I paired the last two months failures with these last words, and decided to change my vet, and switched to that clinic. Nothing changed in terms of distance and time to get there, 10 miles/25 minutes, though in two different towns, but I thought I wanted to have a better service.
I was sorry and sad to leave my former vet behind, after all she had done for me and my two cats, but certain events and episodes decided for me.

I think you are feeling just the same, but you have to work in the your cat's best interest.
Ask around, read some reviews, try them for something less important and see how they approach and relate with you and your cat, see if they explain the things to you plainly and clearly, then decide.

 

[LTS3]

You don't need to give the current vet any explanation why you leaving. Just ask for all copies of your cat's records. If asked why, just say you want to get a second opinion. You don't need to say anymore than that.

 

[Shalenarh]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have called my vet about Boo’s urinalysis and asked for some more information so I could give some idea to the vet. Yesterday she tells me his PH levels were abnormal. Today she’s telling me his ph levels is at 6 which is acidic but normal. The only thing bad was he has some leukocyte (white blood cells), protein and blood in his urine. The blood being why I called to begin with.

I have called another vet about a second opinion and wont be able to get him in till March but was said to go ahead and continue with the way things are with my current vet until then. They gave me an estimate for the exam and if they have to do another urinalysis which was reasonable for me. I also asked if they would inform me of what they were going to do before actually doing it. Something my vet did not do with Oreo when he went in for an xray and ended up coming out with another urinalysis, blood work and fluids. Don’t get me wrong I would have agreed to these things in a heartbeat but I would have liked to be informed beforehand of what she would be doing instead of just being told he was just getting an xray. I know it’s not all about money when it comes to making sure our furrbabies are healthy. I want to be sure I can afford the appointment before taking them in and going over what I expect to pay and being unable to pay.

I also feel my current vet wasn’t very sure of Oreo’s condition for the first 2 months when he started straining and dropping blood and just continued with urinalysis along with prescribing more metacam and amoxidrops. I’ll admit i’m inexperienced about my own or in general a pets health. These are my childhood pets and growing up at the time I didn’t think anything of the actual responsibilities or money when it comes to making sure they stay healthy other than feeding them and cleaning their litter boxes. I’m still learning about what I should ask or do when it comes to the vet and sometime I feel I fail my pets because I might not be able to afford something or I can’t and don’t think of the right questions at the time. Later on spending the entire night saying I should have asked this or that.

When I do ask questions like when she said there was white blood cells found in Oreo’s urine and I would ask is this was normal because she wouldn’t tell me like I should know already or I would ask if the reasoning for this or him leaking while he sleeps is caused by kidney disease, she would only say “probably”. I know Kidney Disease is incurable and can only be treated to help them live comfortably. But since his diagnosis she has only said to bring Oreo in to get fluids when he gets “sick” again and doing nothing for the white blood cells that are still in his urine or as to why he started leaking when he sleeps. I made the choice of changing his diet to an all wet food diet when I called an out of town ER vet when he first started straining. Other than this she didn’t say anything of a prescribed diet and said to keep doing what I was doing. Oreo has been pretty good aside from having a bad day once a month that we have come to notice.

I want a vet who will not give me vague ideas and just prescribe medicine because she doesn’t know what’s wrong without sctually doing anything until something gets wrose. But it could also be on me for not being able to communicate more. Thank you for taking the time to read my long posts and letting me vent as well as giving me ideas how to go about things.

 

[fionasmom]

You seem like a very sweet, reasonable, polite person which is great and I would definitely say that you are not overreacting or being inconsiderate at all. However, I am with LTS3 in that I think you should just get the records and go....which is close to what you are doing anyway. You are assuming way too much of the burden of diagnosis in order to compensate for the lack of care that the vet is giving Oreo.

I change professional services at any time that I feel that I have not been treated appropriately. That includes vets. Both of my GSDs were removed from the care of their original vet; not for anything like malpractice but just because I knew that I needed someone with a little more gray matter.

 

[reba]

I switched vets three times at the outset. I like the one I have now, but I think my expectations are lower. I haven’t found a vet who is as vigilant as I would like them to be. I hated asking them to transfer records though, I let the vet handle it.

 

[sdavis]

I'm glad you're getting a second opinion and possibly trying out a different vet. I went through this, too, and was so happy to find a vet that was a much better fit. I happened to chat about this with my nephew who is a vet tech. He had comments that might help you, especially the last one

Vets are only human. Sometimes they have more experience with certain conditions than other vets and the best way to find out is to do just what you're doing. (Asking them doesn't help as much.)

Sometimes the vet and the pet's human don't communicate well, or their ability to communicate changes... it happens! Finding a new vet may be just the ticket.

We fret over this far more than the vets do! For them, clients and patients coming and going is normal. Let that worry go, for sure. And have the new vet request the records. This, too, is normal and the vets prefer it.