How well do you like your vet?
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
September 5, 2012 7:26pm CST
We do not have a regular vet anymore. Over the past few years money has been tight, so my cats would only go to a vet when there was a dire need. They got fixed and got their shots and low cost clinics. I buy their flea meds online or at a pet store. I once had to take a cat to an emergency care vet after hours due to it getting into a fight with another animal. Other than that we don't see vets often.
Well the other day I noticed one of my cats was peeing blood. We couldn't afford an emergency vet, so we started calling local vet offices to see who we could bring him to.
The problem is, we spent all of our money last weekend finishing up our school shopping (before we found out the cat had a problem), so we weren't going to have money again until Friday. We really didn't want to wait that long, and hoped we could find a vet who'd let us write a post dated check or something.
Every vet we called told us that because we weren't a regular client they wouldn't try to work with us.
Finally one place my husband called said we could leave them our credit card info and they'd run the card on Friday when we had the money. They made my cat an appointment for today.
We were really impressed with how nice everyone was there. You could tell the people that worked there really loved animals, and weren't just in it for the money like some places. They took great care of my cat, and even cleaned out his carrier after we arrived because he'd gotten sick in the car on the way over.
We had to leave him there for the day so they could catch a urine sample to test it to see what's going on with him. Thankfully it wasn't anything too serious. Just a bad UTI caused by bacteria. She said these things are most commonly a hygeine issue and considering my cat is super fuzzy, it's probably that he just can't clean himself as well as he should. To ensure it doesn't happen again we just need to keep the litter boxes cleaner.
My husband is so impressed with the treatment we got from this vet office, he's actually considering paying the extra money to bring our youngest cat there to be fixed instead of bringing him to the low cost clinic. Looks like we've found ourselves a regular vet!
Have you ever had a really good experience with a vet?
4 people like this
12 responses
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
6 Sep 12
You really lucked out and I am glad that all will be well with your cat. I don't have a vet as currently I do not have any animals but I have a friend who is a vet and he is a very nice man
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
6 Sep 12
Me too. I was very concerned about him.
1 person likes this
@deazil (4730)
• United States
6 Sep 12
Vets are very expensive these days. I had to change vets a few years ago and I really like my new vet a lot. You can tell he doesn't do it for the money. He's less expensive and really cares about animals. In an emergency he will meet us at his office whenever. Two days a week he's not in because he goes out to a lot of the farms near here. He doesn't do unnecessary tests (which cost a fortune) unless there's really no choice. When it was time to say goodbye to my last cat that passed away, Hamilton, we brought him in off-hours. He had told me to call him when I thought it was time and he would meet us at his office. Afterwards he asked if we minded if he said a prayer over him. I thought that was really nice. Then he left us alone with Hamilton for a while. But he is great and we really like him a lot. He also believes in homeopathic medicine for his patients that prefer it.
@Jshean20 (14348)
• Canada
7 Sep 12
I think that's exceptional service, the fact that they were willing to work with you to make it work is rare to find these days. Smart businesses need to realize that a little act of kindness goes a long way and will probably bring returning customers. We really like the vet that our dog goes to, he just seems really compassionate, gentle and honest and our dog is comfortable with him which is the main thing.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
7 Sep 12
I agree. The best way to be a successful business is to show that you care about your customers.
@ElicBxn (63643)
• United States
6 Sep 12
I have a couple of vets.
One is the low cost vet that can handle normal stuff. In fact, I today took my client's cat there to make sure her diabetes hadn't come back. I'm on a first name basis with them. Well, also because I can't remember their last names...
Then there is the high cost vet that I go to for more specialized things. That is where I've had my cat's teeth done. I'm on a first name basis with her too... but that's because I've known her since she was 3.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137781)
• India
6 Sep 12
"it's probably that he just can't clean himself as well as he should."Its a 'he' after all! My fellow never cleaned his eyes and I did it for him every single day!
I have a wonderful vet. He is genuinely fond of animals and I get to talk to him on the phone whenever I need to. He visits me whenever I want him to.
1 person likes this
@dainy1313 (2370)
• Leon, Mexico
6 Sep 12
Ohhhhhhhh katsmeow, what wonderful experience you had with this vet!
I used to visit a vet that was very experienced and famous in this area. Til my cat got her leg broken. I ran with my kitty up to the vet office and I ran away crying with my kitty, because we wanted to make her a surgery but wanted the money of my whole rent of the month. I felt so desperate!!
Then my husband suggested me to visit a small vet office that has always been in the same place for years. OMG I found a true lovely vet. He told me not to worry about my kitty. He made her a plaster boot, which she carried for three weeks, and I just spent the 10% of my rent. God bless good vets!!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
8 Sep 12
I absolutely love our vet. We didn't have a regular vet either, but then a couple years ago my kitten got an infected spot on her skin and I was really concerned about it. I called around to vets that were close to our house and found one and took the kitten there. It turns out that she was actually also the PTA president at my daughter's school. She charged just $35 for the visit and it was pretty much a walk in visit. Then after she decided that Buttercup needed some medication, she actually personally dropped off a sample bottle from her other office at our house.
I don't think that I will ever change vets.
@mikyung (2232)
• Philippines
6 Sep 12
My pug was so sickly and I had several problems in his maintenance not until I met this vet just a few months. We became friends and my dog gain some weight and went back to his old self, active and huggable one. Thanks to my vet who I can tap anytime of the day,24/7.
@wanlichangcheng (4)
• China
6 Sep 12
Oh my god,you and your husband are full of love in both of your heart.It is difficult for me to image a person will take his or her pets to see vet without money.Your couple took all your effort
to take care of your pets ,even if you have some difficulty.I think the pet you raised is so lucky.Now,i don`t have any pets,but i will love them as you someday ,when i raise one.