Frustrations of the Veterinary ER

D. Hinton

D. Hinton

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Had my rear end kicked two nights in a row. I completely understand prices are high and money is tight for most people …
Heck it hurts even with my professional discounts when I have to take my dog(s) to see a veterinary specialist (one has a bad heart ) and I am not insensitive to some of these costs

But I also didn’t encourage your kids and family to enter your dog in an all you can eat buffet of steak cut offs , garlic (toxic in itself) , pork skins, and Burger McKing cheeseburgers and give your pet Raging pancreatitis to the point it’s causing your dog to cause its liver and pancreas to start leaking fluid (really really bad for those of you that don’t know)
I am sorry but yes your dog really needs to be hospitalized because it’s pancreatic values and 1/3 liver values are borderline too high to read…if you want this dog and not “A” dog then she NEEDs the appropriate treatment .. if you want to roll the dice then roll the dice

Can’t she just get meds and go home ….. yes she can …. But it’s probably not going to work out very well for her. She’s teetering on the throws of developing DIC ( a really really really bad complication) .. but your dog hopefully didn’t read the text book and it’s a good thing most don’t


Also don’t blame me I can’t 100% guarantee your dog is going to be 100% normal after YOU left it in the hot car for 2 hours while you went to the Golden Corral and had a grand time while torturing your dog.

That is all for now
 
There is a reason that veterinarians have a high rate of depression and mental health issues:
They have to deal with people. And when it comes to pets, people can be incredibly horrible in one way or another, and you are on the receiving end.
Feel free to vent here anytime.
And don't be afraid to talk to someone, get help, see a counselor, etc...
 
Thanks @ Carl I’m ok as far as needing counselor. I do have a buddy that realistically needs to see one . Him and family have had a rough year plus dealing with all the BS that comes with working an ER (heck he owns one )

My biggest issue is finding a work life balance.
Plus the full moon really does bring out the crazies
 
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There are a lot of pet owners who should never own a pet. Unfortunately, in my experience, many of those think they are the best pet owners! I would not have your patience.
 
HenryHawthorne said:
There are a lot of pet owners ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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Yes, I purposely cut your sentence short.
In a nutshell,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, we don't, or at least I, don't have a pet. I adopted a new member of my family, when my puppy entered the scene. Not a pet, a member of the family.

In the above scenieo, would I leave my kid in the locked up car for two hours? Absolutely not, yet unfortunately this occurs all the time. Parents going into the casino and leaving kids/babies in the car to fend for themselves. Sad indeed.
 
@HenryHawthorne you are correct . We had a dog come in the other night… case was so bad I wound up calling animal control on those owners.
In 14 years of practice have only felt that need 5 or 6 times and this was one of the worst cases I’d seen. That one is still under investigation so no further comments on it except that clinic is in an affluent area.

But then on the flip side you have experiences that leaves your faith in humanity where it should be.
Had a guy that had 3 dachshunds all in at one time they had been harassing a timber rattler and paid the price.. one was essentially comatose , the second had a head the size of a watermelon and was essentially leaking what can only be described as strawberry jelly out his rectum and the third was a little less worse for wear but still needed antivenin.. needless to say that was a big treatment estimate before the days of insane bills.

Owner agreed to treat all 3 and as he was checking out .. there was clearly a homeless woman at the counter phoning people to try and get her dog fixed … he told the receptionist just to put it on his tab a few k more wouldn’t hurt .. I talked with the clinic owners and they agreed to treat the dachshunds at cost since he paid the homeless woman’s bill.. and all 3 dachshunds pulled through
 
D. Hinton said:
But I also didn’t encourage your kids and family to enter your dog in an all you can eat buffet of steak cut offs , garlic (toxic in itself) , pork skins, and Burger McKing cheeseburgers
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Reminds me of Maury Povich episode from thirty years ago about young children that weighed as much as adults. One of the mothers, said, "My baby eat what I eat; I eat a hoagie, my baby eat a hoagie."
Sad but still funny thirty years later.
RM
 
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I feel you. I'm a vet (LSU 2002) also and bailed from private practice to join the Army back in 2006. Until I separated from Active Duty in 2020, it was the best decision I even made. The Army Reserve has been less satisfying since. Right now I'm stuck in the Mideast really questioning my life choices.

Once home, I'm transitioning to the Retired Reserve and I'm going to have to start picking up shifts on weekends in addition to my day job. I don't want to go back to private practice for all the reasons you've touched on, especially not small animal, but I need to cover the looming gap in my budget. I keep trying to "imaginate" side gigs that pay what I need while being more enjoyable for me, but few things are as flexible as small animal private practice.

Nate
 
My oldest daughter thought she wanted to be a Vet her entire childhood. While in college, she worked at a few Vets clinics. One day she finally came home and said she couldn't take the humans (pet owners) anymore, and would no longer be pursuing a degree in the Vet practices. Having heard a laundry list of stories over the past couple years, I never even considered trying to change her mind. She loves animals so much, but is much happier now that she got away from seeing what people do to their pets.

Side note: Thank you to all the veterinarians who have to deal with dumbasses on a daily basis!
 
My daughter has wanted to be a vet since she was in 3rd grade.
She has volunteered since 9th grade at the local Humane Society and has worked at a Vets office.
She took care of our pup her entire life, incuding in her last weeks with us.
So she's seen the hard parts of being a vet.
Now in her first year of college and she is on the fence.
Between the incredible competition to get into vet school (its much harder than medical or law school to get a slot), the additional debt, and the stress of dealing with pet owners, she's leaning more and more towards environmental sciences, like her old man.
 
I was a large animal doc at first, but I'm a lab animal vet now. If you find a way to achieve work-life balance, vet medicine is a great life. Sadly, many areas of vet medicine make that really hard. Urban small animal practices are finding ways to make it work, but rural large animal and mixed animal practices generally don't have the cash flow to allow for the staffing levels necessary to spread the load across a bigger team.

However, whatever your emphasis, you must love people to be a good vet. If people irritate you, you'll burn out fast. Also, the critters don't schedule the appointment or pay the bill.

Nate
 
^^^This is hard^^^, but over time you begin to understand that being in the right place at the right time to end their life with dignity and respect is one of the greatest things we can do for both our patients and clients. It a responsibility that we learn to bear for the privilege of knowing them in life. I know burnt out vets who are callous about euthanasia, but the best vets try to make it the most peaceful process possible and take some small comfort in doing it well.

Nate
 
My vet is wanting to retire but has been unable to find anyone to take over the thriving business. Its a pain to drive 3+ hours for an appointment but thats what its getting to be and emergency care is even further.
 
when I got my small mounsterlnder the kennel started meds I finished by getting meds from lion county, then got ivermectin from farmers supply
and permithern from amazon only vet fee was trading goose decoy to have her fixed
 
Nate Hoyt said:
^^^This is hard^^^, but over time you begin to understand that being in the right place at the right time to end their life with dignity and respect is one of the greatest things we can do for both our patients and clients. It a responsibility that we learn to bear for the privilege of knowing them in life. I know burnt out vets who are callous about euthanasia, but the best vets try to make it the most peaceful process possible and take some small comfort in doing it well.

Nate
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You are correct Nate. As frustrated as I get with people I still have the perspective that no matter what situation is in front of me it’s usually the owner’s fault and not the pets.. and the pets are the reason I am doing this.
I genuinely try to make euthansias as peaceful as possible for all parties involved and most of the time that happens but then there are a very few owners that are just idiots
About two weeks ago I had a cat in kidney failure 12 or 13 years old.. Owner understandably wanted to euthanize. The disconnect came when it was time to place the IV Cather … she didn’t want to go through all that she just wanted the medications injected straight in the heart like her last vet used to.
Informed her that was not standard of care by any means.. there was no “extra” fee for the IV nor discount for not placing one. It ensures we have a clean stick and a guaranteed line of medication administration so her pet is first sedated then euthanized. She started throwing her purse and the Kleenex boxes that her cat was not going to be tortured and if I wasn’t going to put the medicine straight in the heart to give it back to her.

I gave her her cat back unfortunately.

Also Nate as you talk about burnout I have one clinic where 99% of the staff are just mentally done including technicians. I dont often get on to them.. but two nights ago we had a meeting of the minds… I’m trying to discuss euthanasia with an owner in an exam room and they are in the back blaring “in da club” by 50cent and you can clearly hear it in the lobby. At the end of the “conversation “ the radio got ripped out of the wall
 
Josh Jenson said:
My vet is wanting to retire but has been unable to find anyone to take over the thriving business. Its a pain to drive 3+ hours for an appointment but thats what its getting to be and emergency care is even further.
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Josh .. it is indeed hard. Most of the newer veterians don’t have the capital resources to afford a clinic and most older practitioners are unfortunately valuing their businesses outside of actual costs. I understand why .. they’ve put their life’s work into it and what they sell it for is expected to last the rest of their life . But sadly those numbers don’t often match up.

Three years out of school I was working with a guy and had fully intended to purchase the practice. But financially it just wasn’t feasible. The building would barely pass code it was I such neglect. He didn’t realize I was in the office eating one day and overheard him talking with a contractor… well don’t point that out , the new guy can figure it out multiple times … which essentially killed the deal on my end because the price wasn’t going down…
And looking at his expenses he had $750,000 in outstanding client invoices that were allowed to charge monthly he was wanting to enroll in that purchase price… needless to say I passed and moved on elsewhere.

I know that’s not always the norm but it happens enough that newer grads are scared of what kind of mess they are getting into
 
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