Most important thing you wish your vet would understand...

[Little Cow]

What is your experience with vets? Are the newbies right out of school any good? What are your pet peeves about the vets in your area or things you wish they would understand about raising cattle? Are your local vets cattlemen (cattlewomen)? If so, what type of cattle do they raise (commercial, seedstock, dairy)? Are there any more crusty ol' rancher vets out there, or are they all horse vets that dabble in cattle?

Thank you for your responses!

 

[sizmic]

They're all hamster vets up here. I can't blame them though. It has been my experience that the large animal doc's are some of the best you will ever deal with around here, there aren't that many. Most of the new ones I have dealt with learn pretty quickly, and they are trying to build a client list, so they treat you right. They aren't afraid to listen either, some of the older ones are kinda set in their ways. Even if they do something different than what the norm is I wouldn't know the difference sometimes, but they did listen to me.

Sizmic

 

[Victoria]

We have one vet that has been with the family for over 40 years now. He is an amazing man, an encyclopedia of cow knowledge (used to own his own commercial herd, doesn't anymore) and is there day or night. We love him. He now has another vet in his clinic who has great potential. He knows his book learning and is good with the cattle. Just needs more hands on experience. He tries hard and is also there 24/7 and that is what counts. He grew up on a dairy farm. Give him 40 years and he'll be amazing too.

We are very blessed by our vets. I read about some of the vet problems on here and am just amazed.

 

[Little Cow]

Hamster vet! :lol:

 

[rockridgecattle]

i think in the beginning our vet just being out of school had a poor bedside manner. or rather a tough love approach to animal health.
but she has mellowed some and is a hard worker and a great vet.
No serious problems.
for example one of the nice things she does is when she does the breeding soundess evaluations of our bulls she brings along the stuff for the anual vaccines for the cats and dogs as well as the heatworm and tic stuff we use. Saves us a trip to the vet with 3 cats and two dogs (big dogs) in a small SUV

 

[I luv herfrds]

Our old vet retired and sold the practice. The vet they brought in came from a cattle background. No nonsense when working, but willing to take a joke and visit with you on any subject. Head of the clinic screwed him around and he quit. Lots of people begged him to stay. He has and is doing a ton of work out of his home.
Couldn't reach him one day and was forced to call the new vet they hired. Got nothing nice to say about him. Comes across as rude and uncaring. Won't be calling them again.

 

[angie1]

I can't say a bad thing about our vets. They come as soon as they can whether its 2:00 pm or 3:00 am and are as prompt as they need to be. Last summer was our last year of raising bottle babies, was a bad year. Had been working close with both vets, both were very helpful and bent over backwards to work us through the resp funk taking calves out like flies. Vet was out when I lost like the 5th or 6th one and I had a minor breakdown in the barn. He was very sympathetic and mailed me a sympathy card out that same day stating he appreciated how hard we workled to take good care of our animals and he was sorry about the situation. Also did this when I lost one of my goats. Meant a lot. One has commercial cattle herd. They are both great.
Small animal vets not so great. They want to stick you for things you don't need (Would you like a monitoring system on your cat while we clean her teeth? I.V. fluids?) and imply that if you don't agree with what they think your animal needs that you don't really care about your animal anyhow. I think they guilt a lot of people into unnecessary procedures and tests.

 

[KNERSIE]

I use two vets in the area, although one is really a horse specialist he is always available and will always give advise over the phone. Will also sell drugs to me that he should really administer himself.

The other is great, the most helpful person I have ever met, an encyclopedia of knowledge, great service, the only problem is that he is nearing retirement age.

Vets are just too expensive in my opinion.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I use two vets in the area, although one is really a horse specialist he is always available and will always give advise over the phone. Will also sell drugs to me that he should really administer himself.

The other is great, the most helpful person I have ever met, an encyclopedia of knowledge, great service, the only problem is that he is nearing retirement age.

• Vets are just too expensive in my opinion

.

well considering all the schooling they have to endure ,equal to a MD. the equipment the conditions they work in.. they seem to get a raw deal at times . id bet they would disagree with you on that one

 

[Vicky the vet]

Small animal vets not so great. They want to stick you for things you don't need (Would you like a monitoring system on your cat while we clean her teeth? I.V. fluids?) and imply that if you don't agree with what they think your animal needs that you don't really care about your animal anyhow. I think they guilt a lot of people into unnecessary procedures and tests.

Well, to be honest, IV fluids are something which makes the anesthesia safer, and how would you like to have an anesthesia without monitoring? Small animal clients are generally unwilling to accept the risks of this, and will sue the tuckus off the vet because Fluffy had problems post op, or didn't make it. And seeing as there are some 40 law schools in the US teaching lawyers how to sue vets, what exactly do you want the vets to do? Bringing on guilt isn't productive, but bringing all variables to your attention may be considered by some to be inducing guilt. Just the other side of the coin...

 

[C HOLLAND]

I use two vets in the area, although one is really a horse specialist he is always available and will always give advise over the phone. Will also sell drugs to me that he should really administer himself.

The other is great, the most helpful person I have ever met, an encyclopedia of knowledge, great service, the only problem is that he is nearing retirement age.

• Vets are just too expensive in my opinion

.

well considering all the schooling they have to endure ,equal to a MD. the equipment the conditions they work in.. they seem to get a raw deal at times . id bet they would disagree with you on that one

I would agree with you on this one Alabama, where can you get a Dr to come to your house on Sunday and give you an IV and talk to you about what to watch for, spend 1 hour at you place and charge you only $70.00

I think that is a steal and wonder how they make a living just dealing with cattle only. I think the real money for vets is in the horse business, because you know if I paid 25K for my horse I will spend a few hundred to get him fixed up.

I am proud to pay that small bill I get from mine, but I will be quiet because someone may tell all the vets and they may join forces and raise their price. :lol: :lol:

 

[Victoria]

I would agree with you on this one Alabama, where can you get a Dr to come to your house on Sunday and give you an IV and talk to you about what to watch for, spend 1 hour at you place and charge you only $70.00

I think that is a steal and wonder how they make a living just dealing with cattle only. I think the real money for vets is in the horse business, because you know if I paid 25K for my horse I will spend a few hundred to get him fixed up.

I am proud to pay that small bill I get from mine, but I will be quiet because someone may tell all the vets and they may join forces and raise their price. :lol: :lol:

Very true!! I wish my health care was half as good as the vet care my dog gets!!

 

[Herefordcross]

I wish our vet would not carry tales from farm to farm

 

[angie1]

Small animal vets not so great. They want to stick you for things you don't need (Would you like a monitoring system on your cat while we clean her teeth? I.V. fluids?) and imply that if you don't agree with what they think your animal needs that you don't really care about your animal anyhow. I think they guilt a lot of people into unnecessary procedures and tests.

Well, to be honest, IV fluids are something which makes the anesthesia safer, and how would you like to have an anesthesia without monitoring? Small animal clients are generally unwilling to accept the risks of this, and will sue the tuckus off the vet because Fluffy had problems post op, or didn't make it. And seeing as there are some 40 law schools in the US teaching lawyers how to sue vets, what exactly do you want the vets to do? Bringing on guilt isn't productive, but bringing all variables to your attention may be considered by some to be inducing guilt. Just the other side of the coin...

I don't care what those vets do. I drive mine far away to some place thats not walking all over people. Local vet clinic will not sell wormer w/o a stool sample. Old lady came in while I was paying lrg animal bill. She wanted eye ointment for her barn kitties, had snotty eyes. Vet would NOT sell it to her. Said she had to bring them in for testing for a variety of diseases and, of course, before they can test they are required to perform an exam and give rabies shot. Old lady says, "We can't pay for that, my husband would never let me bring them in." So ~ old lady leaves w/o eye ointment. I asked the vet to call me at her convenience and had discussion with her regarding this, so I know all potentional arguments. Doesn't matter to me. IMO it was wrong. These are 2 more examples, I can keep going.

 

[angie1]

I wish our vet would not carry tales from farm to farm

How awful! You would think that s/he would say something to the wrong person and be very sorry. That will bite them if it hasn't already.

 

[Little Cow]

Great responses.

Sounds like most folks are satisfied. It is a lot to ask someone to drop everything and come out in the heat/cold/yuck/early morning/late night etc... Why is it that the worst illness or injury always happens on a Sunday? At 11:00 at night? Or just as the vet is sitting down to Easter dinner. Yep, had to do that to a vet once. I HATED to have to call him out. Wasn't even grumpy. Maybe the in-laws were over. :lol:

You know, I wonder why some small animal vets list a bunch of different little options when your animal has surgery. What if they just decided what the best, least expensive option was and sold it as a package deal? Maybe a low cost package deal for tighter budgets with the bare minimum that the vet would accept as ethical? I've heard vets gripe that a client didn't opt for something. Well, then don't make it an option, if you think it's not in the animal's best interest. Just my opinion, though. Not sure how the lawyers would play into that one.

Dang, gossiping vets, Herefordcross? Bad news there.

 

[milkmaid]

I have a great large animal vet... besides the fact that he knows an incredible amount, he's also willing to talk and answer any questions I have. If I were to come up with something that I wish he'd do differently or know, it'd be that I wish he'd always tell me everything I need to know about a disease or situation. Not only can I handle knowing all the little details, but I want to know everything. There's a couple instances I can think of where he told me a lot of important information, but didn't tell me some really, really important little details, and as my signature line says... your decisions are only as good as the information you base them on. Otherwise, he's the best.

 

[Little Cow]

Angie, I can see where you are coming from. What if the vet sold the old lady an ointment for the most common cause of goopy eyes in cats and asked her to call back if it didn't work in X number of days? What would be the harm in that? Then, the animals might get better. Instead, no chance unless they fight it off themselves and that old lady probably feels like she is on her own. There needs to be a bit more trust, I think.

 

[FlaAngus]

We use two vets. Our prefferred vet is a "Rolling" vet and is excellent. He will be anywhere anytime unless he's working at the sale barn on Mon. The other was a large animal doc but decided there was more money in clipping poodle's toenails. He's a pain but when you use enough bad words he'll give in and give you the meds you need or "see if he can get around to you". Seeing that my gramps started him out in business he usually gets to us fairly quickly.

 

[msscamp]

Angie, I can see where you are coming from. What if the vet sold the old lady an ointment for the most common cause of goopy eyes in cats and asked her to call back if it didn't work in X number of days? What would be the harm in that?

What if the vet did that and the cats eyes got worse? Or maybe the cat went blind because the wrong thing was being treated, and the ointment given made it worse? What do you suppose the repercussions of that would be?