I think I'm Finding a New Vet

[Meeps83]

So Maverick has this chronic yucky ear thing. He's seen the vet for it a few times over the past few months. It was never severe and I never really had an issue with waiting a day or two to get in.

Fast forward to last night when I got home from work at around 9pm. I was loving the dogs because that's the highlight of the day. I got to Maverick's ears and one of them was HOT and felt like it had a hematoma starting. I lifted up his ear and the inside was all swollen and red. Uh oh, serious ear infection!

I woke up early this morning and called right when the vet opened. I said that Maverick had an ear infection and needed to come in. The vet tech told me they were booked up for today and didn't have an opening until tomorrow afternoon! Tomorrow afternoon? Really? No emergency slots? She then offered my a number of different Saturday options. I told her no thanks and that's not acceptable. I told her I'd be going to the E-vet. She then changed her story and said I could bring him in at 3. I told her that no, I work at noon and want this taken care of ASAP. She then offered to let me drop him off, but I'd be charged for a day of boarding and possibly a night. I told her no thanks, he needs to come home tonight. Then she told me that they had an emergency slot open at 9:45 if I wanted to come in. What? I did not call to haggle over getting my sick dog into the vet! If you have an emergency you should be able to get in to your vet. Period!

I've been going to my vet....well my parents took all of their dogs there, so I've been going to that vet in numerous capacities since the mid 1980's. I even worked there for 5 years when i was younger. I'm just shocked at how unaccommodating they were. If I had enough sense to push what do other people do? Even people doctors schedule "same day" slots for emergency appointments. Ugh, stupid people!

[beth101509]

Do ear infections ever just clear themselves up or do you have to get something to put in them to make it go away?

[Annette47]

It sounds like they did have at least one "emergency" slot, but they may not have understood that this was an emergency. If I were to call and say my dog had an ear infection, most of the time that would not constitute an emergency - did you explain the additional symptoms? Not saying that you shouldn't switch, but this may have been more of a miscommunication than a lack of preparedness on their part.

We've only rarely had to bring ours in as emergencies (Jolie's vestibular incident where I thought she was having a stroke) and Chloe when she severed the tendon in her foot and was gushing blood, but both times they were seen ASAP, although people with regular appointments were made to wait (I did apologize to the people in the waiting room and they were all very understanding).

[Annette47]

Do ear infections ever just clear themselves up or do you have to get something to put in them to make it go away?

If it's a bad ear infection, then they usually need antibiotic or antifungal (or combination) drops depending on what is going on in the ear. Sometimes, if the ear is just a little bit pink, we've found that cleaning twice daily with diluted vinegar has been able to clear it up, but usually we use the drops. We have a standing order for them and don't actually have to bring the dogs in each time (Chloe rarely gets them, but Mulder used to a lot if he'd been swimming).

[Laura]

Frustrating, to say the least. I would probably talk to the vet about it, because he may not even know what his front office staff is doing. Last Saturday, I called my vet's office at 10:24AM, asking for Theo to be seen that day for a new onset conjunctivitis. I knew that they closed at noon and that it would take me a good 50 minutes to get there. They did not have any openings, but the tech went back and talked to the vet himself. They said bring him right in, and they would make sure he was seen. My vet may be unusually accommodating, as he had given me his person email and cell number when Jake was not doing well with instructions to call at any time.

[voodoo]

when i had a couple emergencies with chili i just showed up. my vet both times looked at chili within an hour wait. i paid for it tho. maybe the person on the phone was new, had a bad day, didnt know what to do, etc... I doubt the person on the phone was the vet. maybe letting the vet know your disappointment will smooth things over...or maybe it is time for a new vet.

[POPTOP]

So sorry about the ear infection. My vet is fairly accommodating. However, my two always seem to have emergencies when her office is closed so the only choice is the e-vet.

You might want to consider a specialist with this being an ongoing problem.

[JenC]

Look up yeast issues, or see if you can find a holistic vet.