On May 27, 8:44=A0pm, "Dale Atkin" <labrad...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "tension_on_the_wire" <tension_at_h...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:5b3780af-3b52-4ec4-95e6-d80fce0ca47b@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> >I am curious to know what is happening out there in other veterinary
> > clinics than our cat's. =A0When it is time for a simple invasive
> > procedure to be done in your clinic, such as a blood draw, or a
> > bladder puncture, are cat owners/parents permitted in the room with
> > the cat or is the pet taken away by the staff and brought back to you
> > later. =A0Have any of you been denied your request to be in the room
> > with a particularly sensitive cat?
>
> > Thanks in advance
>
> > --tension
>
> Depends on the animal, the vet, the owner and the proceedure. Some
things
> owners are allowed to be there for, others not. In some cases, the
animals=
> will behave better without Mom/Dad there, vs with them there. Also,
there =
is
> the concern of how the owner will behave with 'Fluffy' undergoing the
> proceedure (its one more thing for the staff to have to worry about). I
re=
ad
> a re****t from a vet once where someone snatched their animal away from
the=
> needle while the animal was being euthanized, causing great distress to
th=
e
> animal, the owner and vet. That vet no longer allows family present
during=
> euthanasias. Other less extreme examples are things like hightened
stress
> levels in the room, which can be passed on to the animal.
>
> Sometimes staff just get the feeling that having the owner around might
no=
t
> be the best idea, and so may ask the owners to leave the room.
>
> None of this is to say that the owner in the room can't be a benefit,
but
> just that sometimes having family there may not be the best thing for
the
> animal.
>
> If you've been denied your request to be in the room with your pet, by
all=
> means, I'd encourage you to ask why, but be prepared to listen to the
> possible reasons, and accept that the staff might possibly be right.
>
> Dale
Yes I am well aware of those issues and have already discussed it in
detail with our vet. I too have never been denied access to my
animals during procedures until my current vet, primarily because most
clinics were comfortable with the idea that there is no procedure they
ever do on a cat that I have not had to do on a child or newborn baby
(pediatric intensive care doc) and therefore had a professional
armamentarium of my own to deal with a squirming feline which was at
least as competent as any clinic staff.
The current vet, however, who is excellent in all other respects, has
had to plead helplessness to change the policy of a clinic that he
does not own and is not a partner of and can therefore not change the
policy on that matter. We came to an amicable agreement that I would
search elsewhere for this reason with the understanding that it was
not a reflection upon my opinion of his own performance and all is
fine. However, we are having difficulty with finding an acceptable
replacement, and the cat in question is on twice daily methimazole for
severe hyperthyroidism, we are running out of meds and we are feeling
rather abandoned.
The last visit to vet was last July during which visit they took her
away, again against my wishes, and took her blood, with my permission,
and then proceeded to tap her bladder despite my very explicit request
that they did not do that to her. The tech blithely and cavalierly
handed her back to me telling me what she had done because she could
palpate a full bladder anyway and thought she should. The result of
that was that my cat, who had run with another feral cat of mine
outdoors for five years and was extremely sensitive, ran and was lost
to physical handling by me for almost the whole of the last year.
During that time, she had so lost trust in me over that incident that
my 15-year-old cat whom I had raised from kittenhood bit clear through
the joint of my big toe causing Pasteurella multocida deep-tissue
cellulitis that left me almost bedridden for two months. I am only
just now beginning to earn her trust again and it is feeling as if I
were taming a feral cat from scratch which she never was.
So my original post was to test out the waters as far as other
people's experiences, in trying to decide whether I should go back and
attempt once again to negotiate with the office manager or actual
partners of the clinic.
Thanks for the input.
--tension
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