As many of you know I'm in the middle of nowhere Texas. Sure there are many cities here with thousands of people, plenty of choices, not so much here. To give you an idea we have one small grocery store in the entire county I live in.

When I left New York I left behind probably the best vet school in America, Cornell University, my experience with vets in that area was great because of Cornell.

When we left Florida I left behind one of the best Vet Dr's in the world, yes world. He was fantastic, wish I could have brought him with me. He often went for further studying at Cal State Davis, another top Vet school. So yes I have been spoiled by my vets in the past.

When I got here, our local vet clinic is 18 miles away. What I found was huge displays of Texas A&M , another great vet school. I was good with this. My husband was traumatized, city boy(NYC and Tampa), although where I lived most vets went to the cows, here the cows come to the vets. I tried to put my husband at ease.

So the ordeals of this clinic. There are four vets with as many if not more vet techs. All small animals, cats and dogs, are seen last. All live stock are seen first. It is not unusual to have an hour to 2 hour wait. It is chaos, reminds me of a mash unit in a foreign country at war.

For starters, I don't believe Miya had all her de worming meds on schedule, when I told them she had worms, saw them in her poop, she was 4 months old, they gave me meds and gave me no follow up info. She had Coccidia, one round of treatment only. Heartgard and Comfortis(which we were told was also a tic prevent med) was giving to her at her end weight dose, had argument with husband that we needed to give half dose and I still felt was too much. She got her rabie shot at 3 months, went back in at 4 months to start snake shot series and gave her another rabie shot. They insisted on spaying her at 5 months, when they did her second ovary hadn't formed yet and said bring her back we'll finish the spay. From 4 months to 5 months her weight was 45 pounds, then 65 pounds and then 50 pounds, in a 6 week span. Whenever I go to get her meds all three weights will show up depending on who gives us a receipt. Not one vet has seen her twice, because they don't like her. Honestly she is a charming, well mannered dog, the sounds and chaos makes her nervous. Then she had a Uti, if you read the Cold or warm water? thread, you'll know what happened. They placed her in a head harness, and she freaked. Head butted then right punched the vet. He went down, came back up with a fat lip and a black eye and told us he had to put her under and give her x-rays, after getting a urine sample, which is what I thought they needed to determine yes it's a Uti. Last straw was the tapeworm issue, I think she has had it all along, the worm she passed was 2-3 inches long, she has never had a good appetite. By this time I joined this forum, and did massive amounts of reading. I became a very informed husky owner and asked to switch from Heartgard plus to Iverheart Max. The poop hit the fan with the vet. I never said that they haven't done right by me and Miya, all I asked was to continue tapeworm prevention. I read a synopsis on Iverheart from the top vet schools in the country, those I mentioned earlier, they all said it was a safe and wise way to go. He threw a fit, charged me $15 to write a script and I vowed to myself never to go there again.

So choices, a small vet clinic 25 miles that only see cats and dogs and many rave reviews from other pet owners. My questions are. Is it wrong for me to feel they screwed Miya's care up completely? What things do I need to do to switch vets? Should I just go to the new vet? Have them deal with getting her screwed up file? Any help or comments are appreciated.

Renee

1: Identify a new vet you think you will like.

2: Call and make an appt.

3: Sign a release and have all records sent to new vet.

4: Optional - call or send a letter, stating your dissatisfaction and the reasons.

End of story.

You do not have to apologize for changing - if you are not comfortable with your current vet practise, that is sufficient reason to change. You are their employer - you pay their bills.

It does sound like their practice is more of a large animal practise than a pet practise.

Renee,
im so sorry to read that, it sounds like a nightmare! I request ALL the paper work on S&J when ever they are seen for major things like blood work and xrays so if i ever need a new vet im ready.
do not focus on if they did in fact screw things up, focus on the we need a new vet, i have had enough and move on. sounds like you should start from scratch and if the new vet needs old records they can call your old office and get the info. unless you walk into your current office and ask for everything right then and there and be done. you should have records for her major shots but if not thats one thing i would for sure get. even though the drive is farther sounds like it will make up for in it waiting to be seen time.
good luck

Renee, welcome to Texas ... what do you call something that's supposed to be funny and isn't ... that's what that was and I"m sorry.

For starters, Texas A&M train some excellent vets, the problem - as you're finding out - is that most of them are large animal vets.  We're still a state where there are more horses and cattle than there are dogs and people.  It's natural, I guess, that since there are more cattle than people that most of the vets are large animal vets ...
When I lived in Houston, my best and favourite vet was one who had a dual practice and yes, there were times someone pulled into the parking lot with a horse bleeding for all it's worth (and horses can bleed!! and everything came to a screeching halt while Hester took care of the horse.  The flip side to that is that Hester was loved by all his small animal patients and their owners so it was always easy to wait.

I've bit my tongue a couple of times over your posts, mostly because once I get this started I'm not sure just where I'm going to go with it.  The vets you don't like - I don't care for them much either.  
Spaying a dog at 5 months is, imho, too early ... my preference is to let the animal reach maturity and then have them spayed.  (( I also acknowledge that there are abundant arguments that go both ways.  ))  
I've never heard of having to shave a dog for x-rays ... hair just isn't that solid!  Personally I think that tech got what he deserved - a good head butt should have helped change his attitude.
Okay, I'm done with that - I could go on and on but there's really no sense to it.

Ami gave some excellent advice; find yourself a good small animal vet, one you like and one Miya likes, and don't look back.  Most of the tests you've mentioned are very minimally invasive (anal sample for heart worms gets uncomfortably invasive but not harmful) and really shouldn't have been any big deal.

You're seeing what some of us already know about - a lot of vets just plain do not like Husky's - regrettably, unless the dog and vet get along, a Husky can be really unpredictable, so the vets do have reason.  Sadly, not many will take the time to build the dogs (and owners) confidence and that's a shame because working with a Husky shouldn't be that much more difficult than dealing with any other dog.

aljones wrote:

Ami gave some excellent advice;

OK, Al...Amy (a-mee) is the Mommy and Ami (ah-mee) is the doggy  

I'm lucky to live within an hour of michigan state, they have an amazing vet school. What city are you in? I'll do some research!

amymeme wrote:

aljones wrote:

Ami gave some excellent advice;

OK, Al...Amy (a-mee) is the Mommy and Ami (ah-mee) is the doggy  

Uh, Amy are you sure; really sure that it isn't the other way round??

(( oops, sorry!!! ))

aljones wrote:

amymeme wrote:

aljones wrote:

Ami gave some excellent advice;

OK, Al...Amy (a-mee) is the Mommy and Ami (ah-mee) is the doggy  

Uh, Amy are you sure;  really sure that it isn't the other way round??

(( oops, sorry!!! ))

Yup. I am sure  

We are not far from Cornell so most of our vets are very well trained. But here, the large animal vets come to the farm...my next door neighbors' vet comes once a year - everybody, dogs, cats, cattle, sheep etc get their shots, worming etc.

A vet, as with your personal doctors, should be on your wavelength - husband always tells me - if I am not comfortable with my physician - change. Most won't take it personally and sometimes the relationship just doesn't click. Also - you are your dog's advocate - if you are not comfortable about something - just say NO.

Just read your thread, so sorry for you and your 4 legs friends. Good luck on the move!

mbarnard0429 wrote:

I'm lucky to live within an hour of michigan state, they have an amazing vet school. What city are you in? I'll do some research!

She's up in Abilene which has two baccalaureate programs but nothing beyond that. The students would transfer to Texas A&M at College Station (a good distance away - app 300 miles) for post grad work.

My guess would be that the nearest Vet Schools would be either in DFW or San Antonio, both of which are about 200 miles out.

Wow, I do thank everyone for giving me info and understanding. Miya is my first dog as an adult. My mom took care of our animals. I grew up not too far from where Amy lives, there were small animal vets and the large animal vets went out to each farm. We also had old Doc Potter, that man would/could treat anything, answered his phone at any time, etc.

Florida was different, a small animal vet every 5 miles, yes there were quacks. we found one that was awesome. In the course of 16 years my husband and I had a total of 4 cats, our vet took the time with us, explained everything. He wasn't real fond of cats, he could treat them, but he admitted until he met our cats he didn't really care for them, he was a dog guy. He fell in love with ours and saved 3 out of the four from serious illnesses.

When i moved to Texas I knew things were different. Like electric poles were still above ground, lol. I knew we were moving to a rural area. I equated it to rural central NY, if you want a lot of choices you're going to be driving. I get it, I understood it. The town I grew up in didn't have a main stream anything until 1993 when Burger King was built. What I found with this vet clinic is lack of compassion and the need for the almighty dollar, that to me was shocking. I truly never expected that. I misunderstood their practice, with 4 vets I thought a couple specialized in small pets and the others large. The fact is on any given day there is one, sometimes two vets there. Funny thing is the town is divided, some praise this clinic others despise them. Btw, one vet swore Miya's top weight as a husky would be 100 pounds, another said 80 pounds, clearly they are not aware of the different breeds. I should have known.

The only good experience I had was when Miya needed her yearly snake bite shot, I thought I would be wise and asked for the last appointment of the day, 4:30. We got there and 2 llamas had arrived minutes before us, told us we had to wait only one vet on duty. So we walked Miya around, and finally at 5:25 the vet gave us a yell, instead of going inside he had us go over to the large animal area, he sat down and talked to Miya and loved on her, and poof shot was given and he told her what a good girl she was. That was what I had been looking for, and I know it would not happen again.

Al curious here as to why you have read some of my posts and bit your tongue? Because of the treatment we have received? Prior to Miya's spay my husband took care of all her vet visits, when I lost my mind with her spay, I took over. I'm sure that our vets were happy to see my big, go with the flow hubby. And very unhappy when they met me the one who has knowledge and am not afraid to say so. I'm sure I bug the daylights out of them, and they don't have the time that I want from them. I'm a questioner, I will ask a ton of questions, I will say what I know and then hope to find common ground. Quite frankly I'm not going to be pushed around because I'm a woman here. I'm not going to be status quo here.

Without this forum I would have lost my mind. Every issue a husky can have, Miya has had. Most of those issues I dealt with on my own, until I found this place. Each and everyone of you have been a life saver to me. A sounding board when I feel isolated. The compassion and the laughs keep me coming back everyday. THANK YOU!!

Renee

Forgot to mention, Thank you Jennifer and Amy on giving me specifics as to how I go changing vets.
Al thank you for the leg work with Megan.
Megan thank you, I'll let you know if this new vet I found is terrible and need further assistance. Al gave you accurate info, I'm 65 miles from Abilene, the largest, closets city near me. Everything else is a minimum of 200 miles.
Al and the rest who gave me your sympathies, thank you. We moved to Texas about 4 years ago, somethings I have acclimated myself quite well to and other things I just can't let go of my east coast heritage and east coast expectations.
Renee

Have you considered a holistic veterinarian? A good holistic vet is worth a long drive!

Megan if you know of someone that's not too far, yes. I looked on the web for one and couldn't find one. I treat myself using holistic methods. I broke down and have gone to a real dr. twice in 20 years for antibiotics because I had a cold, otherwise once a year for my women's health check. So if you know of anyone please send me the info. My old vet in Florida was a regular vet, but he understood my feelings towards a holistic approach for my Kitana, he never tried to persuade me to do things his way. So I don't have any experience with one. Are there any threads here on the holistic vet and how they do things differently?

Renee, sorry, I've been doing other things today.
The reason I've bitten my tongue is not anything you've done but the way the vets (mis)treated Miya.  
Okay, I know this is Texas and most animals out here are either food or working animals (or bleeding nuisances!)  Dogs tend to be guard dogs or herding dog; the idea of a companion animal is moving out from the eastern part of the state but vets for working animals is still the norm, I think.
I really have my choice of two vets; Sam is a retired large animal vet who takes care of all the animals down here on the river while Mary is up in Alpine (80 miles).
Sam can do most things, but since he's not really in formal practice anymore, his office & surgery tend be a bit rough.  Sam is our "everday" vet
Mary's is mostly small animal for the "city" and the college kids at Sul Ross University.  Mary has all the latest gadgets with the bells and whistles so she's our stop for the unusual.

Both of the vets are good with dogs and I use both of them as the need applies. Stopping in Alpine with a possibly poisoned Sasha was a no brainer, I knew she had the expertise and would probably have the Vit K I needed.

There's no good reason, short of the one you mentioned ( the almighty dollar ) for any vet to have an attitude with any dog (or cat or horse or .... )   I bit my tongue because there are times where I have a habit of saying whats on my mine - and in this case it wouldn't have been "sweetness and light".

I go back and forth on my vet too. I love the techs at my vet office but the actual vet I have mixed feelings about. He's been good with her but definitely hasn't dealt a lot with huskies and often says things concerning her that is somewhat contradictory to the breed specific research that I've done, but he's always done well by her just perhaps not by me. There are 3 vets at our office (2 small animal and 1 large animal) and I really like the other vet but he isn't technically MY vet. He dealt with all of Kenzi's x-ray stuff when we first found her spay to be less than correct and was super informative and I wish I could just switch to him. He explains why something happens, the other guy just says take these and let us know if it continues. I don't even want to leave the office, just switch the vet in the office and am coming up at a loss how to do it. I'm glad you brought this up.

Jenn, there has to be a lead vet in the office; the fellow whose name is on the lease for a lack of a better way to phrase it.
If you can talk to him and explain your relationship (hate that word) with the two vets and ask that "the other" vet be your primary vet, I'd be willing to bet that he'll acceded to your request.  No mater how good the vet's are - at the bottom line, it is a business - and the customers concerns have to be considered.
I'm bad about always having a story, but I've got a few years to draw on so ... As I said else where, Hester (my vet in Houston) was great.  As he was thinking about retiring he brought another vet on board who was not so good with either people or animals as he was.  In most cases, my visits didn't require a vet, just a good vet tech - and he had one who was excellent.  I expressed my concerns and desires to Hester and from that point on, I either saw the vet tech *I* thought was good or Hester himself.
It never hurts to say something ... what's the worst that can happen, you'll go looking for a new vet?

Al thank you you're quite helpful, and I figured the biting of your tongue meant that, just wanted to make sure.
Jenn, That is part of the problem here, you have at least clear cut 2 small animal vet and 1 large, you know who the vets are. I only know one by face and name, one I've never seen, one if he's not hostile(the last time I was there, they swore they were busy, only saw one dog waiting, and 2 leaving with same owner) phone was ringing and I hear him screaming Some one pick up the G.D. phone, umm ok, and lastly the female vet I've never met as well and the last 3 times I picked up meds and the prescription I thought she was the vet and come to find out she's a tech( I had to spell prescription for her). We started talking about Miya's spay and I said, Well you did her spay and she responded No that's dr. so and so. They don't wear any type of name tag or introduce themselves. It's a cluster fudge.
Had to chuckle a little on the last line of yours Al, look for a new vet, if I don't like the one 25 miles away I still have 2 more options 30 miles away. Then it's off to bigger pastures. I still have hope though. My greatest concern is a medical emergency, I hated the 18 mile drive if I had one, with going farther away, it concerns me. with the rattle snake shot, I believe it only buys me more time to get her medical treatment, it won't save her. Al are you or anyone else familiar with it?

Renee, probably not the answer you're looking for but here's my take on the RattleSnake shot.

While we do have rattlers out here, only one is seriously dangerous - the Mojave - and all the snakes tend to be rare.  I've seen a few and they want away from me and mine as quickly as they can get away.

Since the anti-venom is specific only the Western Diamondback which does live in our areas it's a possible solution to the one (out of the ten) species of rattle that live out here.

I'm going to point you to some web pages just so you can look for yourself, then I'll give my take on it.
Rattlers in Texas and notes
Field & Stream article on rattler vaccine
Pro vaccine site

I'm going to do an aside here - several times I've heard the comment that "we don't have rattlers where *I* live".  Folks, there is no place in the continental United States that doesn't have some form of rattler.  I've seen timber rattlers in New York state, I've seen Mojave's in Los Angeles (mostly in / around the concrete "rivers") and obviously the western mountains have their share.  The Blue Mountains also have timber rattlers and eastern diamondbacks.

Back on topic.  
Depending on the size of your dog, with the exception of the mojave, a rattle snake bite isn't much more dangerous than a copperhead.  A small dog or pup receiving a bite where most of the snakes venom is released has a small chance of recovery, however a full grown Sibe (and most humans) who is in good health will normally, with care, survive with little long term effect.

My solution to any snake bite is a quick dose of benadryl (caplet form), which reduces the swelling and relaxes the dog (or human).  
If the swelling appears to be interfering with the dogs ability to breathe then a trip to the vet is immediate.  Of course, Benadryl is one of the ingredients in my "doggy first aid kit".

I do not have my dogs given the anit-venom and though I know I have Western Diamondbacks in the area I probably won't be getting them "the shot".  Why?  My dogs are almost always on lead, if they see something that attracts their attention and I can't see what it is, they're "reeled in".  Only three of the rattlers are aggressive - most just want away, they aren't going to come chasing the dog!

I came to Texas 30+ years ago, most of that time I've lived in "snake country" and never had a dog seriously bit ... nothing that 24 hours and Benadryl won't take care of.

The best solution to the snake problem, imho?  
Keep a clear area around any place the dogs live.  My sand yard is the perfect solution there, I can see snake tracks but have never seen a snake of any kind in the yard.  
Walk your dog on roads / trails where you (and they) can see what's ahead of them.
Have your dog take part in a snake avoidance program.  Of all possible solutions, this is IMHO the most effective.  It teaches the dog to ignore or move away from any snake.

One final note, My Dog Got Bit is a good web site that talks about what one owner went through when their Shiba got bit.

Whew!!!!!

Al, you just had to give me a site with pics of huskies, lol. I did read everything and thank you. Some people here get the shot, some don't. I know of a pitt that was struck by a rattler, it was not a pretty site and he did not get the shot and he survived. We see tracks when walking, but yes you're right they don't want to bother us. We had a dead snake in the yard at spring time, husband insisted it wasn't a rattler, but I did train Miya to leave it. The only time I have concern is when she goes bird hunting, dove season is coming up. So my only question then is, do rattlers frequent water areas? I've also heard that smaller ones are more venomous than larger ones, is that true? Remember I'm only about 70 miles east of Sweetwater, which is rattle snake capitol of the US.

MiyasMomma wrote:

So choices, a small vet clinic 25 miles that only see cats and dogs and many rave reviews from other pet owners. My questions are. Is it wrong for me to feel they screwed Miya's care up completely? What things do I need to do to switch vets? Should I just go to the new vet? Have them deal with getting her screwed up file? Any help or comments are appreciated.
Renee

Sorry I'm a bit late but I just wanted to pin-point on this. You just go to a new vet. Test them out per suggestions here, see if you like them, see if you can get the proper care. I've been to four vets - I never told the first three I was leaving them or anything, but on my pups microchip information and paperwork my 4th and final vet is the Vet Contact. You can ask the old vet to transfer paperwork to the new vet, once you've decided on one, if you'd like, and you can also just go and give the new vet all the paperwork you have and ask them to help decipher it. I know my paperwork was a MESS when I took my four dogs to my current and favorite vet - never been there before and had a pile of paperwork. We just went through it together and I pointed out where rabies certificates were and annual shots, etc. I will say though after the appointment I did take the time to organize their paperwork into a binder to have it for next time, so that's also one option to have all the paperwork organized ahead of time, although its not as necessary with one dog as it is when you have four dogs mixed in with each other.

Indeed Megan, way easier. Maybe our old vet did this on purpose, but our receipts contain very little info, The only actual info they give is her rabies certs. I've kept all her receipts. I was reading reviews on line, and this new vet got rave review from someone who had an emergency, went to our current vet(which was the reviewers current vet) they wanted an up front emergency fee of $250, just to open the doors. They called the new vet and she raced in and ended up charging a hundred for everything(treatment, no emergency up front fee for an unknown dog). Sounds like she cares for animals.

Miya is not due for a vet visit until early November when she turns 2. Should I set up things now vs waiting a little longer?

MiyasMomma wrote:

Miya is not due for a vet visit until early November when she turns 2. Should I set up things now vs waiting a little longer?

Well that's honestly up to you. I've wasted money on basic exams to test vets out that way when it came time for the actual appointment, I had a vet that I liked and wanted. You can always call them up, tell them the situation, and see if you can get your current vet to transfer the paperwork. Also - I'm one who gets uncomfortable with people asking me 'why', so you can tell the old vet you're moving and the new vet is way closer if you'd like, which is usually a better explanation than 'you suck!'. But my boyfriend would certainly be one of those people not afraid to just say 'you suck' to the old vet LOL.

My husband would tell them they sucked too, lol. I'll be more diplomatic yet honest and say they just don't have the time to build the rapport I'm looking for. Most people here think I'm a spoiled, rich, city girl so it wouldn't be a surprise for anyone, how wrong they are, my husband is the spoiled, rich, city boy( and rich is a very long stretch, but I'll let them think what they want, ha). I think giving her a call, and see if we could have a meet up visit would be a good thing to start with. Thanks Megan.

Absolutely my pleasure! Let me know how it goes, I know how stressful it was finding a new vet and now I happily drive the 40min for mine since theyre not complete idiots.