Would Like To Suggest A New Forum Be Added

[mej_1]

Sorry, I'm not sure where to post this.

I was wondering if the moderators would consider adding a new forum to the board to deal with issues and grievances at/with veterinarians and clinics. I'm sure we've all had our share of issues from minor screwups to major things like malpractice. I think it would be helpful if there was a forum that dealt specifically with these issues so that we could talk about our problems and learn how to deal with them.

In my case, I'm so fed up with the ignorance of so many veterinarians that I sometimes think it isn't worth having pets. I have to rely on veterinarians when my pets get really sick and need veterinary care. But I don't trust any veterinarian anymore based on my horrible experiences with every veterinarian I have ever gone to. I could write a big thick 500+ page book about all my horrible experiences in over 15+ years. But I could barely get out a 10 page paper on my good experiences. Even then, that would be limited to free services I received as opposed to actual veterinary care and medicine. There must be others who know what I'm talking about. It would be great to have a forum where we can talk about our experiences and how to resolve conflicts at the vet clinic.

Some of the issues we would talk about are things like:

• malpractice
• a veterinarians's refusal to perform necessary tests
• veterinarians who insist on prescribing dangerous medications
• veterinarians who aren't willing to work with and listen to their clients about a patient/pet
• veterinarians with ego trips (they don't like to be questioned)
• veterinarians who lie (are they trying to make money? are they trying to cover their own butt? are they trying to protect you from pain?)
• veterinarians who won't give you the time of day but have no problem taking your money (are they overworked or just greedy?)
• assistants who go around claiming they are (licensed) techs and doing things they shouldn't be doing
• office staff who don't know what they are doing (how did they get their job?)
• uncaring and callous attitudes

The list goes on and on.

So how about it? Can we get this new forum, please?

 

[Anne]

Thank you for your suggestion. It's something that we've been thinking about for  a while now, as I agree, it can be a challenge to find a good vet. What we're probably going to do down the road is start a section for veterinarians in the reviews section, similar to what we have now for shelters and rescue organizations. My idea at this point is to add cat vets, i.e. veterinarians who declare themselves to be feline specialists or have cat-only clinics. I realize most members use the services of regular vets and I need to give some thought as to how we list those. What I wouldn't want to see happening is the section becoming nothing but grievances and complaints. I think we can all benefit from good reviews and recommendations for good vets too.

That is all in the future though, hopefully this year, but no promises. I think a review form is much better-suited for addressing specific service providers (or products) then a forum thread which could easily escalate into nothing short of defamation and badmouthing. That said, you are more than welcome to discuss many of the issues you mentioned in the health forums, as long as no names are mentioned. As issues, they are very worthy of discussion, IMO. They happen everywhere and we could all benefit from learning about other people's experiences and how to deal with them. These threads often have constructive results, such as the member being encouraged to try a new vet. The reason for the "no names" policy at this point, is that such threads can easily escalate and we end up with a potentially libelous thread which will have to be either removed or heavily edited. The best way to vent, discuss and seek advice, is by not mentioning any names in threads. Reviews are different in nature, where you are asked to provide both good and bad aspects and while others can comment, it doesn't turn into a full-blown discussion.

Again, I really appreciate the time and effort put into this detailed suggestion. It's definitely something we need, but probably not as a forum at this point.