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Vets and overnight medical care (involves the story of my cat dying) [sad]

25 replies

KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 15:06

Our cat got run over a couple of weeks ago and we had to have him put to sleep. We're completely devastated about it, we'd had him for 15 years, he was a lovely cat. Sad

I wanted to mention something I learnt from this experience in case it could help someone else.

Our cat had internal bleeding and one option was to operate to find the source of the bleeding and try to repair it. When the vet spoke to us she said that if we went for this option our cat would have to be transferred to their linked veterinary surgery half an hour's drive away, reason being that our local vet (town location) doesn't offer the overnight medical care that he would need when recovering from the surgery.

By the time we spoke to the vet he was really unwell and she said he was too unwell to transfer. We followed her advice and had him put to sleep.

I just wanted to highlight for anyone who didn't know (like me), that not all vets provide the overnight medical care that your cat might need one day. I don't know if the outcome would have been any different, but if I had known about this I think I would have registered him somewhere else.

OP posts:
Want2beme · 04/07/2017 16:02

So sorry OP. That's an awful thing to happen. It's so hard when they're in such a dire situation and you have to make a very difficult decision. I hope you'll be ok.

Thank you for letting us know.

Hoppinggreen · 04/07/2017 16:09

I very sorry for your loss
I changed vet because ours didn't have OOH and when DDog developed post op complications at 10 at night I was expected to drive for 40 minutes to an associated vets - which would charge the same call out as if I wasn't registered with Vet number 1.
A lot of people don't realise that smaller vets can't offer all the services that larger ones can sometimes

Wolfiefan · 04/07/2017 16:12

I am so so sorry OP. Our local vet is a hospital so we have 24/7 cover. But in case of an awful emergency our pet may have to be moved to a specialist I suppose.
You took advice. You did the right thing. But I am so sorry. Flowers

KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 16:26

Thanks very much everyone. DH and I just buried him in the garden this afternoon. It happened a couple of weeks ago and I think we've cried every day since. Sad

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LowGravity · 04/07/2017 16:38

Sorry about your cat Sad
It's very unusual for vets to do their own out of hours these days, particularly in cities. In my home town there are 2 hospitals that have dedicated emergency staff and all the other vets pay them to cover their clients out of hours needs. It's actually a much better service than a lone vet popping in a few times a night and then being exhausted at the start of a busy working day. The patients get constant nursing and veterinary care and emergency staff are specially trained and usually have extensive experience in dealing with critically ill patients. Sorry it didn't work out for you but in general it provides a much better service for patients.

gandalfspants · 04/07/2017 16:59

So sorry for your loss OP. Flowers

Our area does consolidated care run by a special OOH team, but they run it from our surgery, so though we do have 'handover' costs we don't have transport worries.

I would definitely recommend everyone finding out what arrangements are in your specific area and possibly changing vets if it's best for your pet.

KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 17:08

That's interesting low. Is out of hours the same as overnight medical care? He was brought in to the vets in the morning and the operation could have been done in the day but it was the post op care overnight that they couldn't offer. I suppose it's the same thing. I imagined a veterinary nurse would work overnight to care for any pets.

I can see what you're saying about the benefits of pooling the overnight care. It sounds like my cat's situation is one of the unfortunate downsides.

Had I known, I would want to be registered directly with the vets that offer the out of hours care in house (the one that the other vets use for out of hours care).

OP posts:
KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 17:12

X-post with you gandalf : yours is the situation I was trying to describe, I'd want to be registered with that surgery. All too late for me now sadly.

OP posts:
KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 17:21

I've just looked and there are at least three vets in my town that offer their own in-house out of hours service. The vets I was registered with use a branch of a national chain of emergency vets which is 23 miles away.

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Toddlerteaplease · 04/07/2017 18:03

Sorry to hear this, one of mine spent two days at the emergency vet critically ill. I checked with my vet and they didn't do overnight care. So I was recommended to a local vet hospital who did do 24 hour emergency care. I now have both of my cats registered with my usual vet and the hospital. I cannot fault the emergency vets care of the hospital. They both saved her life and their care was first class.

LowGravity · 04/07/2017 19:33

Yes it's the same, so if you go to your vets during normal surgery hours and your pet needs overnight care they would be transported for overnight care at the emergency cover vets, sometimes the vet will transport and sometimes they'll expect owners to do it. Depending on the condition/ailment the animal may well stay at the emergency vets for continued care rather than transport back. Most small practices do not employ night staff and the nurses will have been working all day.
Again I'm really sorry for your loss, it's devastating.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 04/07/2017 19:34

I'm so sorry about your boy OP.

This has made me think. Harry's vet is lovely but I have no idea what their out of hours cover is like now. When he had to stay in after breaking his jaw the nurse went into him a couple of times during the night. I wasn't entirely comfortable about that but I couldn't fault the way he was looked after.

KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 19:59

Thanks for all the kind words. I didn't think anyone would reply and it's been really interesting to read your experiences.

Flowers
OP posts:
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 04/07/2017 20:52

DH had to stop me from offering to sleep at the vets with Harry as I didn't like the idea of him being on his own! Thank you for this post, I'm going to do some research about out of hours care Flowers

KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 21:16

You're most welcome pink. Harry is a lucky boy to have you!

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Wolfiefan · 04/07/2017 21:17

Bless you. You're such a lovely cat slave! Our vets is a hospital with 24/7 care. We're lucky.

Vinorosso74 · 04/07/2017 21:32

I'm sorry you lost your cat especially in such a tragic way Flowers
Our vets is a small group of 3 practises plus cattery (I have really liked all the vets who have cared for Vinocat) who don't have put of hours care tho they all have weekend opening.
I assumed all vets were transparent about their ours of care/cover. Ours clearly state the out of hours care provider both in the surgery and on the website including contact details which is provided by a larger group of vets. In fact the staff are quite upfront that they don't provide 24 hour care themselves but I wouldn't switch because of this. I think it depends where you live depends on provision

cat234 · 04/07/2017 21:43

Just to explain a little bit more about OOH care. Overnight care/emergency vets etc is all pretty much the same thing.

Years ago, vet practices would all do their own 'OOH', the expectation from owners was lower, case load often lower, ability to do things was lower - so it was manageable. You generally ended up with a vet working the day, on call at night, hopefully not many call outs, and working the next day. Not many patients would be hospitalised overnight, or they would get a couple of overnight checks.

Nowadays expectations, demands and needs are much higher, and a lot of practices can't cope with covering night as well as days.

Some practices will have an OOH provider that they contract do (might be 'vetsnow' or something similar), this will be a dedicated emergency and OOH clinic. If you had a emergency at night (or sometimes weekends and BHs as well), you would do there, rather than your regular practice. Any in patients would often be transported there as well (and often then back to their day practice in the morning). This transporting around may be arranged by the owner, or the practice.

Some practices will have their own OOH. This can be done in lots of different ways - and don't assume they are all the same. Some practices still run the 'old way', with a vet on call, and working the previous and/or next day, therefore something is likely to end up lacking if people are working 36 hours or so straight. In patient care can be very variable - some places animals left on their own overnight, some on their own with a vet or nurse popping in during the night to check them, some just having a nurse, or trainee nurse in overnight.

Some places do have a true 'hospital' and a vet and nurse working out of hours - even this varies though. Some, such as one I worked at before had several branches, but the smaller branches were about 30-45 mins drive from the hospital branch - so a long way for a middle of the night emergency.

In all cases there will be an increase in cost for OOH care - consults out of hours are expensive - having a vet and nurse on site, or even on call, is expensive.

I can see reasons for all the above ways practices work - and some of the ones that don't seem ideal can work very well, and give excellent care, sometimes hospitals sound great, but can fall short, and everything in between. Don't let the OOH arrangements put you off a great practice, and don't join a practice just based on their OOH arrangements.

Fiona1984 · 04/07/2017 22:07

Sorry for you loss, it's hard I know. I lost one of mine to a road accident 2 months ago. Still wish she was here, that the vets could have done something for her. But I was told it was hopeless.
My remaining cat fell ill last week, with a blocked bladder. Managed to get him to the local vets, who told me it was an emergency and to take him to their 24 hour centre, which is a 20 minute drive away.
Fortunately he's all better now, but I don't know what would have happened if he'd been too ill to travel.
I would also say make sure you have insurance. If I hadn't, I might not still have him, it's not worth thinking about :(

KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 22:29

Thank you vino

Just on your point on transparency. I was at the vets today to pick up my cat and I saw that they have a sign in the window saying that their out of hours care is provided by VetsNow and giving a phone number. Is that the sort of transparency you mean?

The problem is I would never have understood from that sign that it would mean they wouldn't be able to provide overnight post-operative care for my pet at the surgery, or that my pet might be too sick to transfer to the out of hours provider or that the out of hours provider was 25 miles away.

When the vet told me he needed an operation to survive, that they couldn't do it because they had no overnight care and that he was too sick to transfer I felt that I had let my cat down by registering him somewhere that couldn't care for him. I couldn't even pick him up and take him to another vets because I was away on holiday and my cat sitter had found him Sad

It might have made no difference but I will always wonder if he would have survived if he'd gone somewhere that offered overnight care.

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 04/07/2017 22:30

One of the reasons mine are registered with two vets is because I had to visit her at the OOH vets at really awkward times and she was babysat by the PDSA during the day who weren't overly communicative.

KimKardashiansArse · 04/07/2017 22:35

Flowers fiona I'm so sorry about your cats. I didn't ever have to use the out of hours service at our vets but can imagine it would have been awful to find out how far away it was in an emergency. Glad your survivor is better.

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PinkSparklyPussyCat · 04/07/2017 22:39

Kim, I think my vet used VetsNow (they didn't when Harry had to stay in) and I wouldn't really understand the implications but it's definitely something I will look into, even if it means registering with two vets like Toddler as we do have a good relationship with our vet.

Toddlerteaplease · 05/07/2017 14:08

I couldn't fault the care Vets Now gave Snorg. Fortunately for me they are just behind the hospital I work at and very close to my house. When Fatty needed the emergency vet I took her to the hospital five miles away as it was logistically easier. Could pick her up at more reasonable times. Also they knew both me and her well by that stage!

KittyLover91 · 05/07/2017 15:42

So so sorry for you loss i cant begin to imagine how you feel Flowers xxxx

A few weeks ago my cat got hit while i was at work, luckily my mum was home and found him as he managed to get back home. He was taken to our vet and treated for shock and given x-rays but then as you did we found out he needed to be transferred to RVC near London as he needed 24hr care which our vet didnt offer.

Thankfully he got away with a fractured jaw and eye socket and no surgery was needed as he could still eat and his eye was ok, our garden has now been cat proofed as we basically live on a roundabout in the town centre surrounded by traffic and he has maxed out his insurance and none of us could cope with the stress and worry!

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