Horrible Vet Experience - what now?

[BirdsRoundandRound]

Please be gentle as I'm feeling very upset right now and genuinely want to do the right thing.

DDog is 5 month old cocker, lovely temperament usually. We've been working with a trainer and she is coming on well with recall and other training. She was a bit bitey in play for a while but her teeth are falling out and this is calming down, we've redirected her to toys and she now tends to come to us with toys tail wagging instead of biting my ankles!

Anyway, she's been v ill in the last few days, vomiting up food, diarrhoea, she didn't keep anything down for over 24 hours which was worrying so obviously took her to the vets. In the waiting area she vomited and was clear she has worms, which is the cause. Because of covid, the vet situation is difficult and requires the dog going up some stairs to the vet without the owner. She's been a few times before and been carried up no problem. I've also taken her to the pet shop below as a positive experience, but clearly haven't been able to desensitise her to the whole process as we can't go up with her.

Apparently (DH was there with her) this time she was not happy to be picked up and was wriggling away, so the vet pulled her up the stairs on her leash, she was clearly terrified. She then had an abdominal exam which I assume hurt because it was so swollen.

Today (2 days later) we took her back for a checkup and she was very nervous going in. She wagged and lay on her back with the vet came down and petted her, but when she took the lead to try and take her up she became aggressive and snapped at her. In the end I had to hold her and she was examined downstairs, she was shaking the whole time.

The vet said the behaviour was an issue and to see a behaviourialist, as she's becoming reactive in new environments. I was very upset as never seen her react aggressively ever before.

We have a trainer who I'm trying to get hold of, but spoke to another behavourialist on the phone when I got back who said the treatment at the vet sounded awful, to get a new vet, and she must have been terrified to react in such an extreme way, but obviously we need to have her observed in other circumstances to make sure we are not missing cues that mean it might happen in different situations.

Just wanted to hear some kind words on this - clearly we will do what it takes now, but surely if she was scared and in pain and the vet was making no effort to alleviate this then it's not surprising she had a fear reaction? How worried do we need to be that this is going to manifest itself in an ongoing way?

Change vets, that sounds awful. Our vet is using the system AuntyPanda describes and our dog was scared to go in on the second visit & resisted (tried to run then dug her heels in). They didn't drag her though, that's completely unacceptable, they coaxed her in with strokes & treats.

Hi all, thanks for input. Spoke to my trainer and have a recommendation for a new vet who does desensitisation and sounds very good, so hopefully they can fit us in. We need to have a check up next week but no way am I taking her back there.

My trainer was also very reassuring, obviously she knows DDog, and we will focus our next training around some general handling work that will hopefully help in future if she needs to be handled by unfamiliar people.

RE: the worming treatment, YES she is on a treatment plan! We use a service where we have all the medication and they text us when you take the next tablet (same with fleas and ticks). We were 2 weeks off the next dose, so no idea how she ended up with such an awful infection. I will be speaking to the next vet about whether we need to put her on a different ongoing plan.

Switch vets. From the sounds of things, it hasn't been a reaction to new environments. It's much more likely to be because she had a bad experience last time.

Also, not liking a vet doesn't mean that a dog has behavioural/social problems. A lot of animals are scared of the vet. They don't understand that veterinary procedures are to make them feel better. All they know is that it is scary and sometimes hurts. It must be even more frightening when their owner's aren't there. I know a few dogs who are friendly with everyone else but need to be muzzled when they see the vet because they snap (out of fear and self defence, not aggression). Hopefully your's will overcome her nerves. If you get a new vet, make sure to mention that she has had a bad experience so they can try to make any appointments a bit less of an ordeal by having treats/toy etc.

When they’re puppies the worming regime is so frequent that it’s hard to see how it got so bad so quickly. If yours is a forager you might want to see how frequently you can worm them. After the series of ones at x weeks I kept mine on monthly worming until 6 months. She’s nearly 6 years old now and still finds vile things to eat when out on walks.

The best vets practice I’ve used encouraged me to bring my dog in just for treats and pets a few times after they’d started to associate the vets with pain (anal gland issues.) They even took them to see the staff in the back room bit for a couple of minutes. When this lockdown stuff finally ends it might be worth asking your new vet if they’d do that.

I had a very similar experience.. my puppy was a gentle but nervous of strangers (as are most of her breed dog) but fine at the vets until she hurt her leg in July..and the vet basically dragged her in from the car park. I was so upset.
I changed vets because she is now a terrified barking growling mess, and scared of everyone in scrubs mask or apron.
BUT the new vet is marvellous with her.. he knows she is just scared and he is so patient and gentle . She was spayed this week and while yes she barked etc..once inside with him she stopped and it was fine. We have a check up in 30 mins and while she won't be happy, I know they will be gentle and kind.
Once we can go inside again we are going to work on desensitising her again from scratch.

I'm resurrecting this post as really need some advice.

So we changed vets, and then worked with a behaviourist who was amazing and really helped with her nervousness. We also worked with taking her into the vet and making sure it was an exciting and not scary experience. She showed nervousness initially with the new vet but is fine now (and recently had to spend a whole day in with no issue).

The problem is when we put into claim for the behaviouralist treatment. Our insurer contacted our original vet for medical history, and because they had said she snapped at them and they recommended a muzzle, they won't insure her any more.

She is fine now, well socialises, goes to daycare, goes with a dog Walker, has stayed with friends and is super happy and friendly to everyone she meets (dogs and people). But it seems that because in her notes was this episode (which in my opinion was caused by cruel behaviour from the vet) we now will have real trouble insuring her, which is obviously a massive issue.

Does anyone have any advice, particularly those who have had a similar experience? She's such a lovely dog 😔

Change your vet firstly. It's your money you are paying for a service. If you see your vet doing that what don't you see ?

Which insurer are/were you with, OP?

It's definately worth talking to the ones with good reputations - assuming this isn't one of them and explaining the situation. Talk to PetPlan and BoughtByMany. They may ask for a copy of the behaviour report that was (probably) done by your behaviourist after the first consultation. Maybe also a report on progress.

It might be that the new insurer won't cover you for behavioural issues, or put a time limit on it such as no behaviour cover for the first 2 years, but I'd be amazed if they rejected you outright.

It was bought by many. And we changed vet immediately after the incident, just unfortunately the Insurers requested records from the original vet which included the comments from the vet that (imo) mistreated her and led to her snapping in fear.

I have contacted Pet Plan who, as you mentioned, asked for a copy of the vet report and it will probably lead to an exclusion on the policy. I've also got a quote from Agria who don't seem to have any wording in the policy, or questions in the application, about behaviour or previous episodes.

But I am actually shocked at how many policies (from my research over the last few days) say if there are any incidents of aggressive behaviour the policy is invalidated. Probably worth knowing as I think fear aggression at vets is not that uncommon and if it appears in the notes then Insurers with the above clause may reduce to pay/cancel the policy (as we've found out).

Can your new vet write them a letter to say they've had no issues with handling and behaviourist report to say aren't aggressive?

I've heard others losing cover as say use a muzzle when out, although why not just lose 3rd party rather than vet fees?
It's stupid they seem to think pet dogs are no longer animals with normal behaviours i.e have they ever shown any aggression to any other animal? Well likely all will at some time doesn't mean they actually savaged anything or will have opportunity to.

I'm guessing it's the 3rd party liability that they are worried about. Might it also be an option to not have this as part of the medical policy and seek it elsewhere (e.g. Dogs Trist do just that bit, I think)?

i.e. have 2 policies. One for medical and one for 3rd party/legal.

Change vets. I can go into mine.
He hates it. Shakes and panics but it bloody hurts so I get that. I’m with him.

Speak to the brhaviourist and see if they'd be willing to write a report on what they observed and progress that's been made. Then offer that to insurer.
I'd also be tempted to go back to original vet and complain. It's clear from what you've said they didn't "listen" to your pup when she displayed fearful/in pain behaviour and that's what's led to this situation. I don't know if they could add a note/amendment to her record?

I had an issue with one vet whom at first I honestly thought was either newly qualified or had just recently moved to the UK. Her language, social skills and general approach was so bad I could not believe it when we found out she was the owner of the practice.

The final straw and where we parted company was when my eldest dog (border collie) had a really sore, nasty looking abscess on one of her paws. She never bothered about the vets before and usually went over to the reception desk all tail wagging and arse wiggling knowing there's usually treats tucked behind somewhere (it was a Vets4Pets practice inside Pets at Home)

Vet came out, sighed and went “Oh God not another! I'm gonna be seeing black and white in my sleep tonight!” cos she'd seen several collies that day. I went in, popped dog up on the table and was expecting the vet to ask if she'd let me touch and lift up her paw to let her look at it which she would – I'm probably the only person she will allow every privilege albeit with some stink eye.

Unbelievably she just picked up and pressed the paw like a car key fob, grabbed and properly pushed down hard on the top which unsurprisingly got her a side swipe. Dog instantly felt bad, put her head down and looked at me all “Sorry.. sorry I didn't mean to but she really hurt”

She didn't actually catch her she just side swipe and snapped air but vet immediately went “For future consults she will need to wear a muzzle all dogs that show aggression must be muzzled vet safety is paramount”

I just went “There is no way – no way I'm going down the route of having her muzzled because one vet lacked absolute basic common sense. If you'd done that to me I'd have walloped you what possessed to touch never mind press down hard like that?”

I am by no means saying vet staff safety is paramount of course it is but if I'd agreed to muzzle her for future consults, she'd have quickly picked up and got stressed from just seeing the muzzle. A lot of dogs get so anxious and fight tooth and nail to prevent owners fitting a muzzle they can need sedation just to get them calm enough to put on the muzzle and then take them to the vets.

Won't do it because of one dickhead

We switched vets, dogs have never so much as given stink eye to them and the vet surgery owned by that pillock closed down within a year.