Totally Annoyed With Vet

[SunDance]

Sunnie had a dental appointment last week. The surgery paperwork states that if anything unforeseen comes up (and increases the estimated amount), owners will be called during surgery before proceeding. My reaction is, "do whatever is necessary....I've got plastic". I'm sure that's mostly so that people don't say..."it's not in my estimate, I'm not required to pay". When the tech took Sunnie back, she said her bit about the phone call and I said, "just do whatever is necessary....I'm good for it".

We've really only had to deal with neuterings and dentals for the most part....and only dentals have resulted in calls. Many of our crew have required extractions and some just get done....one dog and one cat in the past prompted calls. The dog had an extraction and the cat got referred to a vet dentist because the tooth in question was a canine.

So....

Sunnie has her cleaning and is back in the kennel and alert when I get my first call....just letting me know she's OK and that the vet would be calling later. Same ol', same ol'.

The vet calls. Sunnie has a suspicious tooth and she's going to send the x-rays and a few smartphone pictures to the vet dentist...she also emailed us the photos the next day (since she was in a hurry to leave and the tech who discharged Sunnie couldn't find the photos to show us while we were there). Suspicious tooth. Ya think? It is 1/2 mauve colored, has a lesion on the gum next to it, and is split down the middle from back to front (too bad it wasn't a tooth closer to the front for me to have noticed during tooth cleaning). She said the vet dentist might recommend extraction or possibly root canal/crown or just wait and see. A dying tooth with a lesion (indicating infection) and a split is maybe gonna be "wait and see"? A tooth like that in a 12 year old dog is maybe gonna get a root canal and crown? Seriously?

Where was my phone call during surgery to ask if I had an opinion/preference? You tell me those symptoms and I'm gonna say "extract". It's that big lower molar that Sunnie doesn't really need anyhow...and gosh knows there's no cosmetic factor. I even said to Bob on the way home that "I wish she had just extracted the darn thing"....and that was before we saw the photos which show a really obvious problem.

Predictably, the vet dentist said "extract".

So now Sunnie needs another dose of anesthesia. And I need (!) to get her another bloodwork to make sure the first anesthesia didn't already compromise her system. I am really annoyed about this. Oh yes....and I get to pay for another full-charge surgery instead of whatever charges would have been pertinent to only the extraction during the initial procedure.

I'm picking up a prescription for Clindomyecin (sp? It's an antibiotic.) at 4:20 this afternoon and bringing Sunnie with me since 4:15 will be a 12-hour fast for her (liver values best checked with fasting bloodwork...she's had elevated enzymes in the past for an unidentified reason that cleared up after a course of Denamarin). I guess I should also be wondering why the vet didn't suggest the bloodwork herself.

I get to call tomorrow when the surgery staff will be there to schedule the appt.....and I'm going to stipulate that I want it with whichever doc has the most experience with molar extraction. And I'm going to talk to the office manager and find out why I wouldn't have been called so that all of this could have been avoided. And see if I get a break on the upcoming bill because of this.....that would be a nice gesture (this is a Vee Cee Aaa practice....I'm not holding my breath).

Oh yes...and the vet had suggested that we have the vet dentist take care of the extraction although "we could do it". She didn't sound enthused. But the vet dentist's two locations are each a two-hour round-trip...the morning one needing to be made during rush hour on major highways (because of drop-off timing)...so there's at least fours hours out of the day spent in traffic as opposed to 20 minutes total max for two trips to this vet. Let's see....which am I gonna choose??? As I said, I'm going to go with whichever vet has the most experience....there's one man there who's done dentals for us in the past and he's the one who's been there the longest, so I presume he might be the one. I've also been contemplating seeing him again since we no longer have Charlie (the cat who hated men)....we'd been seeing him before we got Charlie and switched to our favorite, a woman, at that time.

I'd go elsewhere...I've thought about leaving this franchise practice for years...but there's nowhere else close that I feel that confident in either because of stories I've heard from others or reviews I've seen on the Internet....or because I question how up-to-date the facility is. The vet we've been seeing since our favorite one left practice is always in a rush (which I don't like...to the extent that she feels the need to comment on how busy she is all the time...and I feel as if she's distracted sometimes) (we chose her when the other one left because she physically resembles the one who left and, sure enough, Charlie loved (!!!) her...and I was impressed with what I overheard in the waiting room when she'd been speaking with other clients) and the only other vet there that I really would consider is the man I just mentioned (who has a bit of an arrogance problem but is otherwise really nice).

I really don't know what I'm going to do.... This is the first major issue I've had with her but now I'm wondering about her judgement/adherence to their protocol for phone call/client input....part of me wants to make my feelings known, see what she has to say, and go from there....either stay with her or switch back to that other man. The other part of me says go through the routine of trying to find another practice altogether since there are compelling reasons for that.

Do we have an icon for "blowing raspberries"? I need one..... (that's close)

[Maggie's Mom]

I would be annoyed too. That is annoying for you and awful for the dog, i would be pretty mad about extra sedation for an older dog. I was offered a root canal for my twelve year old dog to attempt to "save the tooth" (back molar). Do people really do this? I was told the root canal may work, or the tooth may break as a result, etc. Fortunately, they called when he was out still in my case and I told them to pull.

[SunDance]

I guess folks with dogs that show or engage in work with the public where a gap might disqualify or look scary might opt for root canal or root canal/crown. I wouldn't consider it. Yes, the tooth could eventually break (gosh knows it happens with humans). I just don't think it's necessary....especially in an older dog.

My one cat ended up with all but 3 of her teeth being pulled during her last dental (lesions below the gumline that had escaped detection despite numerous dentals/cleanings) and the vet said that he'd seen animals with no teeth still do just fine eating kibble (Thea was refusing food, hence the conversation....ended up getting a lot of roast beef from her favorite beef carry-out).

I doubt that Sunnie is going to miss this tooth.

[Maggie's Mom]

That makes sense about showing. A root canal on a 12 year old dog just seemed unkind to me when the offered it! Hope all goes well with the extraction, my dog did not miss his tooth at all.

[POPTOP]

Sounds like they totally disregarded their own protocol. Throughout the years with the older dogs plenty of teeth have had to be pulled, mostly molars. Potion was the only one who had a root canal, a canine, and it went beautifully.

Like you, I would definitely talk with the office manager to find out why there was no call and the tooth was not pulled. One good thing about my vet, if it's out of her comfort zone (she is a general vet by herself) she does not hesitate to make a referral. Actually, when Potion had her root canal done, a traveling doggy dentist came to her office to do the procedure.

[janedoe]

I would be concerned and seriously consider changing, especially since you have to start over. I have never encountered a vet who was willing to put a dog under for a cleaning but wasn't comfortable with doing an extraction. We left the same franchise when the vet left, we asked for our records so that we could go to a different office and they refused to give us the records. I had to call their main office in California. They asked why we wanted to change vets. I actually had to tell them, "Because you don't have one!" And they hadn't had one for months. Who runs a vet practice without an actual vet?? These guys aren't particularly bright.

All good thoughts for Sunnie.

[Maxx&Emma]

I would be extremely annoyed and you have every right to be so.

[ZRabbits]

Definitely would have heard from me and not in a good way. Putting your baby through another procedure when all it would have taken was a phone call.

Poor Sunnie. Sending good thoughts Sunnie's way.

KAZ

[JenC]

I'd be annoyed too. I wouldn't even care if the tooth showed, I won't spend the $$ on a root canal for a dog. Pull it. Be done with it. Sorry you have to go through this. I have heard of this before too.

[Snowshoe]

Poor Sunnie. Another anaesthetic so soon probably won't bother her, we're pretty advanced with that stuff these days. It's the other associated things, like no breakfast and a visit to the Vet and white coats and poking by relative strangers that I think bother dogs (and us) more, repeated that is most concerning.

Maybe they just screwed up? Got that metaphorical phone call that interrupted the thinking? I know for me the more good experiences I have with a place the more likely I am to forgive them a screw up. I agree though, heck, if it was my own molar way in back I think extract would be the way to go.

Another idea: Who actually did the cleaning? A Vet Tech maybe, not allowed to make that decision? Or to take it out right away would mean more anaesthetic immediately and it wasn't possible to judge how much when she'd already had some, better to start over another day? Whatever, trust all will go well and Sunnie is fine.