Hostility towards veterinarians

[Strutter769]

Originally Posted by insignia100

You know, when I graduate I won't get a diploma that says "dog and cat doctor", it will say doctor of veterinary medicine, which includes ALL animals (even if that means you have to look something up in a text book and play the trial and error game sometimes).

Great attitude to have! I commend you for that. There's one reptile vet in the area that I know of and he's great. Then I have a more economical vet for my more domesticated pets. He's an odd one! Super strange. He will talk to you for as long as you let him, about the CRAZIEST stuff, but he's very thorough strangest of all is his OBVIOUS fear of dogs. All dogs.

Not sure who we'd see for a sick chicken if needed.

[Rogue628]

Originally Posted by insignia100

Either back home in WV, Tennessee, or possibly Virginia... but honestly, it will probably be wherever I can find a job (with the option of moving later).

I meant what are your plans as a vet? Just strictly domestics or are you going to try to do some reptile specialization as well?

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by insignia100

So, maybe I'm going to make an *** out of myself for this post, but I've noticed a hostility towards the veterinary profession by a lot of people (not this forum... just in general, mainly dog and cat owners since that is who I have dealt with the most). I was just curious if you all could give me some insight on why this hostility might exist?

as far as hostility re dog and cat owners,i can't explain, but.....

imo,there is some hostility in the reptile keeping world towards some vets

i've seen a lot of people say they took reptiles to a vet,for the vet to TRY and treat it,even though he has NO reptile experience.

this has resuted in snakes getting worse or even dieng

imo,its a case of the snake keeper thinking.....

why could the vet not have just said " i have no reptile experience,so would rather you found a more suitable reptile vet ",or they could even reccomend another vet if they know one

but to just plod on using educated guess work,having had no experience with the animal in question,imo is wrong and can lead to anomosity towards some vets

as said i've read a few horror storys regards vetenary treatments from reptile inexperienced/unqualified vets

re cats and dogs
i've never had any problems regards vets,when i kept dogs (most of my life)

cheers shaun

[Snakefood]

Originally Posted by Strutter769

Not sure who we'd see for a sick chicken if needed.

The axe!!!!!!

[insignia100]

Originally Posted by Rogue628

I meant what are your plans as a vet? Just strictly domestics or are you going to try to do some reptile specialization as well?

Oh, I'm definitely planning on doing as much reptile work as I can.

[millertime89]

You suck! I want a milkshake now...
Shaun hit the nail on the head from what I've read. I would rather be told by the vet "this is out of my area of expertise, here's the number for a herp vet" and have to drive out of my way than hear "I think its this, lets try this" and end up with a dead animal.

[KORBIN5895]

. You know, when I graduate I won't get a diploma that says "dog and cat doctor", it will say doctor of veterinary medicine, which includes ALL animals (even if that means you have to look something up in a text book and play the trial and error game sometimes).

@Kyle
You don't feel this is acceptable?

[insignia100]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

@Kyle
You don't feel this is acceptable?

I feel it is acceptable under certain circumstances. For instance, back home there are NO reptile vets. If someone brought in a snake, a doctor would either have to turn them down outright or tell them that they can try their best even though they don't know a whole lot about reptiles (which I am in full agreement with you all on this one). I really don't think it is acceptable to treat an animal you don't know much about without full disclosure... you wouldn't/shouldn't see a small animal vet treating a horse without telling the owner the last time they touched a horse was in vet school.

[Will0W783]

My veterinarian is an amazing doctor. He attends conferences on reptile medicine, and is up-to-date on the latest care. He once even repaired a broken wing on a queen bee (dont' ask me how he did it, but he has pictures of a tiny tiny sling on the wing). I have been to reptile vets in the past that were a joke, but I trust my current vet completely.

Honestly, it is rare to find a vet that is skilled in treating reptiles, but if you can find a good one, keep that vet.

[infernalis]

I too love my vets... My herp vet is top notch, and my dog/cat vet is too.

Only hostility I have ever seen is toward non herp vets taking on herps and causing more harm than good.

[Jay]

I am Limited to vets who specialize in my area. The last Vet I took a young iguana showing early sings of mbd, he said I should get him on a stable diet of collard greens, broccoli, spinach carrots and strawberry. Lucky enough I called a local reptile store and they directed me to a vet in ottowa who specializes in herps. He was so kind and knowledgable we talked on the phone for an hour, no charge.

[BarelyBreathing]

Originally Posted by millertime89

You suck! I want a milkshake now...

I was totally drinking a chocolate milk shake when I read that. I put it down. Lol.


It's one thing when a vet who sees mammals all the time takes a look at a reptile, say's they aren't sure, and looks it up, makes a few phone calls, and legitimately puts effort into doing it right. It's a totally different story when they treat a leopard gecko like a cat without even checking to see if those medications can be given to a reptile.

[KORBIN5895]

My local herp "specialist " didn't even know what I meant when I asked if they could probe my snake. The vet told me to come in and when I called back to set an appointment he wasn't there so the secretary asked a the assistant how long a probing procedure was and the vet tech said they didn't probe. When they finally figured it all out they told me they couldn't do it.

[Skumbo]

I certainly believe its more the vet trying to treat the animal and the person trusting them because they're a vet, then turn out it was the wrong thing and the pet dies or gets worse because of the misdiagnosis. Theres a thread going right now about someone who had their vet tell them to inject into the tail of the snake (i didn't know this, but someone explained why that wont do anything good for the snake) The fact that the vet TRIED to do something other than saying "oh i don't know about this, let me refer you to reptile vet" is HORRIBLE and they should have their licence taken away.

Working as a personal trainer, if somebody comes to me and admits they have recently had a heart attack and wanted "to get in shape" I will refer them to a physical therapist because despite me knowing how MI's affect the body physiologically, that isn't my specialty and I may miss something little that I'm not used to dealing with.


edit: I'm happy I live only 2 hours north of boston, If i ever have an issue (my brother live in boston so i can just stay there) I can go down to Angell Animal Center, it looks like a freaking 5 star hotel with how clean it is, and they have different vets for each type of animal (avian doctors, snake/lizard doctors, etc etc) I wish human hospitals were that well run

[Wolfus_305]

Hmmm Well my mom and I have never been hostile towards the vet or the staff but we have had discussions amongst ourselves on the long car ride home.

I think it's because my mom has been going to the same vet since she was 18, he was very good, very dedicated and knowledgeable and he would really try to help you out with expensive surgeries etc

He retired a couple years ago, only does major surgeries now and he sold his practice. since then the other 2 vets that we liked have left and the quality of reception service has gone way down. We were seeing another vet but really didn't agree with some of the things he was saying. he was very academically smart but he was not a very good listener and that's what we really needed. He was fixated on one thing that we didn't think at all was related to the other symptom and two days later we had to put the cat down. it was very hard on all of us since it was so sudden and it was made worse when we got home from the vet as dad was getting home from work and he said "where's the cat?". Then my sister's kitten had gooey looking eyes so when he went for shots mom asked a different vet there specifically about his eyes, said there was nothing wrong with them. Later when he saw the retired vet (to be fixed as he is a special needs kitty) the retired vet took 1 look at his eyes and immediately (without prompting from mom) said he had an infection and prescribed medicine.

We tried going to other practices that are closer to our house but never like them. our german shepherd was limping and when it wasn't getting better we took him to a nearby vet since we didn't want to go 2 hours to find out he just sprained something and it'll get better. anyways this vet said it was some big huge issue with his knee and he'd need 8 xrays and he doesn't work on big dogs so he would have to bring in a specialist to do the surgery and it would be like $6000 which we cannot afford. Then we went for a second opinion at our far away vet and he had just sprained something and got prescribed aspirin of some kind.

I think it is more frustration than hostility, people care for their animals and when they can't get answers or are sent running all over or spending thousands of dollars unnecessarily it doesn't go over well