Posted on 09/16/2024 7:57:01 PM PDT by OldGoatCPO
What is going on with veterinarians?
Good luck, and I hope it’s not hemangiosarcoma.
In 2020, our Fiona was obviously not well — lethargic, couldn’t get into the litter box, and in distress. Our regular vet who we loved was out that day, so we took an emergency appointment with a new vet in the practice. A new vet ... period — just out of school.
It was Saturday. The chick said to change her food, which we did.
She didn’t improve; we watched her decline. Tuesday we took her to her regular vet. Kitty was full of cancer, and was euthanized that day. The bitch said to CHANGE HER FOOD!
I’m not saying that she would have lived, because we know she wouldn’t have. But she obviously suffered for those days between.
Any time we called for an appointment and they wanted to assign her to the new vet, we declined and said we’d take her to a different practice. Then they managed to find a time with someone else.
Vets are as incompetent as doctors for humans are, I think.
Hey FRiend, I’m so sorry.
Wherever you live, hop on a local Facebook page if you can and ask about good and better vets in your area. Hopefully one or more will be available to help you sooner than a few weeks.
Good luck, God speed, and keep us posted.
We have one of the best a couple hours away. If I get no help from my clinic, I will go there Wednesday.
Absolutely!
Look for old school independent vets.
I ‘m with you, FRiend. Prayers for both you and your Pup that you will get the care you need.
I’ve noticed a difference recently in veteranary care.
My previous vet (three dogs in succession) was an older man, very loving to my animals, and emphasized a happy, healthy lifestyle for my pets. He loved each of my pets as if they were his own, and sent me sympathy cards (with a kind personal letter inserted!) when they passed. He retired last year, and his patients were referred to a new vet, a young woman, who fat-shamed Tippy, tried to get me to pump her full of a bunch of unusual vaccines, and recommended an expensive dog food only available from the vet.
I said “No Thank You”, and just decresed Tippy’s kibble a bit and increased our walks.
I think that Vet School has become woke and in cahoots with Big Pharma, just like the human med schools.
Just my humble opinion.
Where do you live?
Get that boy on Ivermectin and Panacur C. Good luck, Goat.
Got any horse vets in your area? Many see small animals, as well. The only issue is they don’t have all the fancy gadgetry that small animal vets have but I’ve always had my dogs cared for by my horse vet. Even when it came to my Lab’s cancer. Honest opinions that were 100% accurate. Sorry you’re going through this.
Email me and I will let you know.
The same thing that has happened to Big Med has happened to veterinary medicine.
Our local clinic got eaten, lost access to the vet we’d had for decades because there was reportedly a non-compete involved. Pet owners weren’t told any of this when the clinic was sold. And we found out about the vet the hard way.
As for care...
Let’s just say the Big Vet likes to run up bills as much as Big Med does.
Also found that out the hard way.
Not because we couldn’t afford the bill, but because we could afford the bill I allowed my beloved pet to be put through hell before I grew a brain and realized what was going on.
I will NEVER do that again.
I can’t give you any advice, but I will keep you and your dear dog in my prayers, OldGoat. :-)
I pray for better, but we are at a stage where he may head downhill. If it is in the spleen, as I suspect, I will have the spleen removed. It could buy him some time. If it is as the vet suspects a tumor between the spleen and pancreas, we will go from there. I can help slow the progression with his diet, exercise, and medication, but we are just buying time. I will have the spleen removed if there are no signs of any other large tumors. It will buy him a month, maybe two. At his age, in dog years, that is a lot more time than it is to us.
AGREED
I did move my dogs to a different vet, but, when in a similar place with them as you are now, I had grown reluctant to put either of them through the treatments the specialists offered. “Been there, done that” with my last two dogs and I didn’t what to put them or me through it again.
I regret that. I should have let them remove my girl’s spleen when they wanted to. The cancer that formed there soon after quickly spread to her liver and took her life.
I think maybe she would have had more time and perhaps better quality time, too, than how it turned out.
I was also reluctant to put my boy through whatever they might have wanted to do to him when he was showing symptoms of what took him. I regret that, too.
My hindsight guilt and the “what ifs”, the “if only I had” and the “I should have” regrets for those decisions still hurt and haunt me now a year after my boy passed last October.
I tell you these things, because I would not wish these sorts of regret on anyone. They had fun, good lives, but all I remember and feel lately are these regrets. They say that puppy breath is the cure for this kind of a broken heart, but I’m not ready.
May God bless you and your boy and all who care for him.
Bingo. people hospitals are no different.
I can’t advise much on the dog, but have no idea on your question. We have two midsized dogs (65 and 80 lb) after the wife’s tiny dog died several months ago.
Just regular vet visits for two of them came out to $6-700! And only $250 of that was the heartworm pills. (a mere six months worth..)
People used to joke about taking sick/injured kids to the vet to save money.. Nowadays it’s the other way around!
Happy, there is no mass. The mass they saw may have been a pocket of gas, which we thoroughly enjoyed on the 1.5-hour drive to the hospital. It is also possible the vet clinic's x-ray equipment is subpar. I am happy that his spleen and pancreas are fine. His tummy was no longer distended after he expelled the gas. However, it was still sagging, common in older female Dobermans but not as much in males. I started to suggest that he identified as a female Doberman, and Mrs. Goat cut me off before I could get that out.
Still worried. There was no explanation for the sagging abdomen except to say there were no tumors or fluid build-up in the stomach area. Probably weakening abdominal muscles due to age. The liver was slightly large but not so much as to be an issue. My wife, the nurse, suggested it may be from the steroid shot the other day. (?) They will not say 100% for sure there are no liver issues unless we do a CAT Scan. They found fluid around the lungs, which is why he has been breathing funny since April. They removed the fluid and sent some out for testing. They X-rayed the lungs after the fluid was removed. There were no tumors, and the lungs were clear. The heart was good, and the lymph nodes were normal. The fluid was sent out to test for microcancer cells. They cannot explain the fluid, so we are not out of the woods yet.
I'm angry because of our vet clinic. They claimed the lungs, surrounded by fluid, were fine. The vet clinic told us there was a mass that did not exist and ignored my complaints that his breathing was odd. I am angry at myself for not saying the heck with it and demanding an ultrasound back in June. It was not an issue of money; I trusted the vet. Angry at what I paid out to the vet clinic for three visits that were damn near useless.
All your prayers helped, but please add one that the fluid test comes back nonspecific for cancer. Realistically, our boy has a year, give or take, a few months, before he reaches the average age of a Doberman. I do not want to put him through radiation to kill the microcells at his age. Thank you so much for all the prayers!
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