Do you trust your vet?

Yes, but I also know a lot of vets are totally full of it. I'm lucky.

I've dealt with the brunt of veterinary malpractice so many times that I realize it is a rampant problem.

So many false diagnoses, lies, cash grabs, cheats.

A lot of vets are ignorant fools and greedy sociopaths.

Don't tell me my dog has "terminal cancer and should be put down" and make me spend a ton of money at another vet only to find out the "cancer" you saw was an artifact from your faulty x-ray machine. Yes, this actually happened.

>>2273871
>vet1.jpg
>not chefwithstethoscope.jpg

For some things, sure. For other things, absolutely not.

Like, say my dog has acute bloat. I'd trust them to do a gastropexy. That's fine.

If I leave him in for the day for observation because he's got gastroenteritis, I don't trust them not to feed him something that will make him sicker and I don't trust them not to forget the medication he absolutely must have every time he eats something. Largely because the last time he spent the day because he had gastroenteritis, they gave him wildly inappropriate food considering preexisting health complications, and gave him no meds with it. And then, predictably, he was worse.

>>2273875
Ohhh this. I have a story.

>have an 8 month old golden retriever
>take him to vet because he developed a small bump on his chest
>she takes a sample from it
>two weeks later, she calls back with results
>by this point the lump is gone so I assumed it was a bruise from rough housing or something
>she claims it "might" be a spindle cell tumour
>gives me 2 options
>option 1: perform removal surgery at her office. it would cost $3500 but she couldn't guarantee they could remove the whole thing
>option 2: go to their partner hospital, pay $4000 + another $1000 for consultation and definitely remove the entire thing
>talk about it with family, we all agree it's sketchy
>vet wasn't positive about anything, lump had shrunk, dog was showing no other signs of malaise at all, cancer is rare in puppies anyway
>decide to get a second opinion
>new vet observes dog, does a physical, and touches the lump
>he refuses to even waste our time and money on testing it because he's certain our dog doesn't have cancer
>2 years later, lump is gone and dog is still as active and healthy as ever

It's just sickening to me that these people will play on a pet owner's emotions just to pull a profit

>>2273901
>Vet only sees something that is possibly cancer
>Just to be safe, there are a few viable options to proceed
>Vet gives you a hard decision to make
>It is now the vets fault because your dog has a lump
Ok there buddy

Aww shit

Are vets like mechanics in this? I don't have a pet yet (money) but will own a dog and horses one day hopefully.

I've known some dodgy as fuck mechanics.

Also, a well-respected vet once told my mum to put down a certain ex-racehorse with a bad leg injury.

~ 10 years later and she's riding him. I'm so happy for them both, he's a great horse.

>>2273920
Bad leg injuries, especially if bone is broken, are almost always a death sentence for horses and if they aren't euthanized, it's chronic pain and practically zero chance at recovery. Totally understandable why the vet said that.

>>2273905
Did you read the whole post? The lump went away after less than two weeks, the dog has never been sick, and the vet wasn't sure about anything.

Wouldn't it make more sense to do another test if it only "might be" a tumour rather than advising me to drop $3500 asap to have something partially removed?

That particular vet office is a money grab. I've spoken with other dog owners in the area and they've all said the same thing - the doctors are clueless and only care for getting paid. Apparently they're great with cats though

>>2274044
You know how you do a test on a mass? You remove it and biopsy it at a lab retard. That's how you test it. Second vet gave you a riskier option of leaving it alone and it turned out to be OK, but if it was cancer you'd be slandering him too for killing your pet. There would be no winning with you

>>2273884
ferryboatsflappyhands?

>>2273920
Its a decent parallel but not perfect. Prices and levels of service can vary a lot in an area. That being said, they have a doctorate, have to maintain a state license, and have to answer to a licensing board like doctors, so there is at least a minimum level of care there.

Finding a good vet is an important part of owning animals.

i love her but she moves around all the time so i'm always changing clinics

>>2274069
I beg your pardon?

>>2273920
Vets = mechanics is a good analogy. It's really becoming that way. So many are in it just to make a buck and will try to upsell you tests and medicines your animal doesn't really need.

I had a vet that said it was absolutely critical my cat get a fructosamine test for $100. I go online and research it and pretty much everything says the information you get from it is iffy at best and it doesn't tell you anything vital. I called back and cancelled the apt. with the receptionist. Not 5 minutes later the vet herself called me back clamoring how it is a life or death matter and how I have to reconsider. 4 years later and I never got that test and my new vet actually discouraged me from getting it saying basically what the internet said, it's just one tool to get some info but will not tell a whole lot on its own.

You really got to search around for a quality vet these days. I wouldn't trust any franchised clinic that hires multiple vets and they just book tons of animals and process them like cattle. I got an vet now who owns her own practice and I get an hour office visit each time and she's really nice. More often than not she tells me straight out X test will not be worth it and says not to get it. Last time she laid out $700 worth of tests that could be done but didn't pressure me to get any and just stated it's the options, so that was fair.

My mom's had cats for over 30 years and I've just heard too many cases of vets trying to screw her out of extra money. Gotta stay vigilant.

>>2273938
This desu, it's usually for quality of life and less so of whether the horse will make it through.

>>2273920
There are definitely different vets who do different practices. Some vets are better with cats than dogs or vice versa. When I had Guinea pigs I had to go to a completely different vet for them because other vets just weren't used to handling small animals. You also have your cheap vets; they generally try to skate away with doing as little as possible, which people generally like because it means less costs, but may affect the animal's health. Then you have your thorough vets, who want to do everything for your animal to make sure it's healthy which can cost a ton. Most vets you find will lean more towards the latter, because vets tend to love animals and want to take the best care for them. But just like doctors there are mistakes and medical anomalies

Now I actually keep 2 vets; one is a cheap vet, the one i use for general check up so every wart he finds he won't suggest to get biopsy or suggest heart surgery when he hears a moderate to severe heart murmur. My emergency vet though, is the worry wart because that's when I need the thorough albeit expensive vet. Got hit by a car and you want to do an x-ray and ultrasound before surgery to make sure you fix everything on the first try and have no surprises? That's fine as long as it's done right.

>>2274090
Vet caring about your animal =/= bad vet. Many many many vets are over the top with their care, especially the young ones whose souls haven't been killed yet. If that is not your thing that is fine, find a vet that doesn't care as much. But don't blame the vet because they genuinely care about your animal. The fact that your vet called you up personally is something most vets don't give enough of a fuck to do.

>Vet cost more money therefore they are bad!
Sounds underage desu

I love my vet and totally trust them. They've helped me through so many crises from week one of adopting my puppy (fleas/tapeworms/giardia/coccidia all at once; and from June through January he always had SOMETHING). They got to know me pretty well and discourage me from doing unnecessary tests or meds. They also worry about my finances when they know something is going to be expensive (nothing has ever been, but a twenty-something with a rescue will never look like she has enough money) so they always make sure that I am ok with doing something before they do it and make sure I know about alternatives.

And, I'll admit it, my dog is very popular there (and not just because he's come in enough to buy them a new wing) and we always feel special when we go in. He enjoys going to the vet.

>>2274092
>they genuinely care about your animal

Mine does now. The previous one cared about getting that $100 very urgently.

Yep, first used them when I came home and discovered that my cat knocked down a picture and cut his leg on the glass after hours. They were a close 24 hour vet and they didn't charge me an arm and a leg for putting him under to fix his tendon and stitch up the wound. I've been going there ever since for all my pets.