Vets and covid.

[justasking111]

I am done with vets and covid. Managed to get an emergency appointment otherwise next week. Had to hand a 15 year old spaniel with an ear infection over at the door. The gentlest sweetest dog you could ever meet. There were three staff on their other practice is shut. So 1 vet, two assistants instead of 4 vets, 5 vet nurses, 6 nursing and reception team the vet that saw them was a locum. Many of them are shielding I was told. Furloughed more like. I sat in my car for over an hour before he was brought back. They had to muzzle him. MUZZLE!!! if I had been there he would have been absolutely fine, but no I am unclean. I could cry.

None of the vets are letting in the humans with their pets in my town. No idea about elsewhere though.

But perhaps swap vets if you think you can get a better service elsewhere?

I can see both sides.

My dog is always stressed going to the vets after several admissions so handing him over for a consultation due to covid guidelines once again left him clingy and afraid to get in the car again incase I took him back. If I had been with him it would have been less traumatic for him.

But you do get very close to the vet whilst holding your dog when they examine them and quite frankly a cloth mask isn't going to be very effective despite all the hype about them so I can understand why they prefer you to wait outside. The only time I think there should be some leeway is when someone is having their pet PTS as I think owners should always be there at the end.

@BiteyShark

I can see both sides.

My dog is always stressed going to the vets after several admissions so handing him over for a consultation due to covid guidelines once again left him clingy and afraid to get in the car again incase I took him back. If I had been with him it would have been less traumatic for him.

But you do get very close to the vet whilst holding your dog when they examine them and quite frankly a cloth mask isn't going to be very effective despite all the hype about them so I can understand why they prefer you to wait outside. The only time I think there should be some leeway is when someone is having their pet PTS as I think owners should always be there at the end.

Well I was up close and personal with my optician last week, ditto my dentist and hairdresser. I think my vet who is eyewateringly more expensive than all of them put together should chill out.

I am a vet. This year so far I've had 5 days annual leave. FIVE. I worked the whole way through Covid and did a stretch of 21 days straight so I could keep my practice open and provide a service for my patients. I don't let clients in the consult room. We see 200 cases a week. It's for my safety and my clients. I've been screamed at and threatened. I've had enough of clients like you OP. I feel sorry for your vets.

@BadEyeBri

Thank you.

I sent my 18 month old into nursery without going in with him.... they called me after 30 min as he was sad so I went outside try to call him down then left again.... understanding it’s for the safety of the children in there and the safety of the workers. You choose to use their service you choose to follow their rules

Well I was up close and personal with my optician last week, ditto my dentist and hairdresser. I think my vet who is eyewateringly more expensive than all of them put together should chill out.

I can't get a dentist appointment .

Anyway, don't get me wrong I am dreading needing any more consultations with the vet as the thought of not being with my dog is horrible.

Mine started doing non emergency appointments in the past month so I am hoping that soon the guidance will be relaxed again and we can go in with them.

OK, the reason vets are having to operate in this way is wider than pet dogs and cats. They are essential workers even in normal times, because they are responsible for animals entering the food chain. Maintaining the health of us all by proxy (yes I know, not vegans).

Many vets had their equipment requisitioned by the government when the pandemic began - ventilators etc.

Vets are also an emergency source if the shit really hits the fan and could be required to help with human health, although you'll be pleased to know it would take a zombie apocalypse for they to happen.

They do, however, have xray facilities etc which could be commandeered in future as well. They are private business, not a state resource, and yet they have an enormous part to play in the feeding and health of thing entire population.

Your dog probably needed a muzzle for a few minutes. Would you rather he bit someone?

People need to wake up a bit.

@BadEyeBri

I am a vet. This year so far I've had 5 days annual leave. FIVE. I worked the whole way through Covid and did a stretch of 21 days straight so I could keep my practice open and provide a service for my patients. I don't let clients in the consult room. We see 200 cases a week. It's for my safety and my clients. I've been screamed at and threatened. I've had enough of clients like you OP. I feel sorry for your vets.

Well you are the exception if you have worked ours are not working just one locum after another. One friend who works in the practice as a nurse receptionist has worked through, she says the others needed to shield she was told or were furloughed.

My vets is treating in the car park for routine check ups which was so much better, ddog was too interested in sniffing the lamppost to realise the vet vaccinated him and used the evil stethoscope (it's worthy of full blown attack!). They haven't shut at all and apparently the vets are being certified to give covid vaccines to humans according to the receptionist.

The optician has to get close to examine you because you are the patient. Therefore a necessary risk. In this instance you are not the patient, nor is your child. It’s a dog, not a child and you aren’t their parent, however much you might feel like it. Therefore getting close to you is an unnecessary risk. Human safety comes above mild and momentary distress to animal I’m afraid.

I still don’t understand what lack of staff has to do with anything (how would more staff allow you to accompany your dog?) but if you’re that unhappy then just change vets.

Your dog will get over it (faster than you will)

Just be grateful you didn't have to have a very beloved pet PTS without being able to be there with them. Truly shit.

YABU.

Actual locums generally cost ££££ more for the practice than permanent staff, so if it's been a succession of locums it's not for fun!

I'd have doubts about a practice that was constantly recruiting replacement staff, probably some management or pay issues there...

Just taking Covid precautions wouldn't be an issue for me, constantly changing staff would.

Oh bugger just done a companies house search on the company that took over from my vets. The results are truly bad. The main director has 342 director ships as does a woman whose name appears. The other directors have fallen by the wayside. It kind of looks like a pyramid scheme. They bought out 15 practices in 2020, Bought out over 300 in September 2019. The owner is a property developer. (head in hands)

If it was my child I would expect to be there and what are we as pet owners but parents

Give it a rest! You are not their parent!

1. Locums usually cost more than regular staff so I doubt it’s all about the money.
2. Is you have a dog, you are a dog owner not a parent.
3. A muzzle is not harmful to the dog, it does not hurt, it will already be forgotten by the dog
4. If you have other local vets (as per local FB page) go to one of those instead of getting yourself all worked up.

Not one of the "big" corporates I'd guess then (IVC and CVS). They're huge, although I'm not sure how many directorships are involved though. Mostly existing practices' corporate structures disappear.

Vet partners generally get a decent reputation from the vet side, also Linaeus.

Local corporate mergers vary depending on the component practices!

Anyone who is surprised and scathing about vets' services costing more than dentists and hairdressers hasn't the remotest idea. The equipment, facilities and staff that are required are far more numerous and specialised than a few sinks and scissors.

Twenty years ago when I was a vet nurse, I remember our practice manager saying that just to open the door each day as a fully staffed, insured, equipped, suitable, warm and functioning practice, we needed to make a minimum of 1k per day. That was without ANY extras or profit. That's the bare minimum for it to function. Twenty years ago. This was a modest city centre practice with a great reputation.

I imagine the OP would also be the first to moan if they couldn't see her dog because the practice had to totally close because a member of staff went down with covid, forcing all staff to isolate for 14 days. It's impossible for vet staff to maintain social distancing. You can't be 2m apart whilst taking a blood sample from a cat, or being on opposite sides of an operating table.

Let's think about it.

In my practice we do 10 minute appointments. One vet will consult with the owners holding their own animal, whilst the nurses do their own job.

With covid, everything takes 2 or 3+ times as long. The vet has to walk outside to see you, discuss the history, take the animal inside, examine with a nurse holding every patient meaning that nurse can't do their own job, someone else has to do it. They then have to bring the animal back to you and discuss what they've found, treatment options etc. then go back inside, prescribe and dispense the medication and bring it back outside to you again. This takes up 2-3 of the usual 10 minute appointments.

No vets are working in this way to make money or make their lives easier, it is quite the opposite going on.

OP,I still don't see why you think the vet would be limiting staff (thereby reducing the number of cases that can be treated each day) and preventing owners in to take advantage and make more money. There is no connection at all. It makes zero sense.