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telling your vet their job?

missFloppyears

Warren Veteran
Ok so i must be a wimp, but when it comes to my bunnies going to the vet i let the vets tell me what needs doing.
Do you not feel cheeky for telling them what to do?
:?:oops:
 
I feel like a :censored: to be honest! But I've encountered so many rubbish vets over the years, I feel that I have to tell them every detail just in case. I don't trust them to do things correctly anymore :(
 
I tell all to Ian...he asks questions.

Hes a very good listener then starts to tell me what we could do ranging from smallest test to largest.or whatever we can do.
Hes a good teacher..explains stuff in laymans terms but I do have a nursing background so that helps.

His dog wasnt well....I suggested pyloricstenosis...it was more behavioral but worth a try to stun Ian with my medical knowledge.**snorts and chuckles**
 
I dont tell my Vets how to do their job. We have discussions about treatment options and my Vets are very willing to listen to any suggestions I may put forward. They will also contact various colleagues who may have more experience/ may specialise in a specific issue.

There is nothing wrong with asking questions and having a good relationship with your Vet means that this is perfectly possible.
 
See i see Molly as and when i can get in to see her, but sometimes its one of her exotics colleagues instead, they always seem to talk over me:?
I want to suggest tests for Poppets snuffles because as is theyre just dosing her with Baytril and want to re evaluate today.
I dont know how i can approach it without sounding like im telling her her job:oops:
 
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With our regular vet we discuss treatment options. He respects that I know a lot about my animals and work in a senior scientific role within the medicines agency and we discuss as peers.
With some rubbish locums and vet nurses I have disagreed and come close to arguing with their suggestions i.e. when they said my rat was bruxing because he's happy when he had an abcess in his throat!
Their job is to provide veterinary treatment for my animals, if I have reason to believe that treatment is substandard then I tell them that.
 
I dont tell my Vets how to do their job. We have discussions about treatment options and my Vets are very willing to listen to any suggestions I may put forward. They will also contact various colleagues who may have more experience/ may specialise in a specific issue.

There is nothing wrong with asking questions and having a good relationship with your Vet means that this is perfectly possible.

I totally agree with this. In my experience it takes teamwork to treat bunnies and that involves us and the vet and any decent vet should want to work as a team.
 
My vet is happy for me to make suggestions and has actually asked me to check on here about the dosage of tramadol as he didn't know. He thinks the forum is a good source of knowledge.

I don't think he is that bunny savvy but he looks things up in FHB's book or consults with a colleague if he is unsure and he always takes my views into account. He treats me as an equal and I have learned a lot from him.
 
Luckily, my vet has a special interest in rabbits, so his knowledge is superb. I have total trust and faith in his judgement and he has not let me down yet!
 
I say things like 'I was wondering about (insert appropriate words). What do you think?'

I find it very draining to have to actually make suggestions, though, although I will if I need to. The best vet I ever had was great with the animals, but also really started to trust me that I knew when something was wrong with my pets. ie that I didn't always know exactly what was wrong, but that I was good at picking up when something was.
 
I totally agree with this. In my experience it takes teamwork to treat bunnies and that involves us and the vet and any decent vet should want to work as a team.

I think ill suggest to the nurse dealing with Poppet keeps intouch with Molly over this, Mollys only available on set days, so the day i had to take poppet in we had a vet nurse who put Poppet on 1 week of 1.5ml Baytril along with an antibiotic injection and a metacam pain relief.

But shes still sneezing and i think we will need Tests to find out more about the cause of the sneezing.
But i dont want to just say "can we do tests" and make her feel inadeqaute?
Or maybe i just over think it.?
:oops::oops:
 
See i see Molly as and when i can get in to see her, but sometimes its one of her exotics colleagues instead, they always seem to talk over me:?
I want to suggest tests for Poppets snuffles because as is theyre just dosing her with Baytril and want to re evaluate today.
I dont know how i can approach it without sounding like im telling her her job:oops:

You are the customer, as well as medical professionals they also run a business - one that you choose to use. Ask if there's any benefit in doing tests. Say you're worried and you would be greatly reassured by tests. They may give a good explanation as to why giving it a few weeks with Baytril before going down that route would be better and you will come away feeling the treatment is appropriate - or you could just say you are willing to pay for tests whether they are strictly necessary or not.

I'm a pain at my local vets now when I use them. I do actually feel I know more about rabbit-specific issues than they do :oops::oops: Thankfully they have been very good at listening and haven't (yet) told me to shut up. They do know that I know my stuff (stuff that I venture an opinion on, at any rate) and have learnt much of it off the most renowned rabbit vet, so they let me spout!

I'm also quite willing to raise anything with FHB and she is happy to listen and discuss. She knows I gain information from 'knowledgeable people on the internet' and she has respect for the value of this. She will be happy to tell me why she wants to follow a particular course of action but wouldn't be offended by me asking 'why' and 'what if'.

No vet should be offended if you ask in an appropriate way. Don't be afraid to get the service you want - they are only in business because of your custom.
 
I think there are ways of saying things. You can say 'are there not any tests we can do?' And then say you want them done after they talk about them, etc.
 
You are the customer, as well as medical professionals they also run a business - one that you choose to use. Ask if there's any benefit in doing tests. Say you're worried and you would be greatly reassured by tests. They may give a good explanation as to why giving it a few weeks with Baytril before going down that route would be better and you will come away feeling the treatment is appropriate - or you could just say you are willing to pay for tests whether they are strictly necessary or not.

I'm a pain at my local vets now when I use them. I do actually feel I know more about rabbit-specific issues than they do :oops::oops: Thankfully they have been very good at listening and haven't (yet) told me to shut up. They do know that I know my stuff (stuff that I venture an opinion on, at any rate) and have learnt much of it off the most renowned rabbit vet, so they let me spout!

I'm also quite willing to raise anything with FHB and she is happy to listen and discuss. She knows I gain information from 'knowledgeable people on the internet' and she has respect for the value of this. She will be happy to tell me why she wants to follow a particular course of action but wouldn't be offended by me asking 'why' and 'what if'.

No vet should be offended if you ask in an appropriate way. Don't be afraid to get the service you want - they are only in business because of your custom.

thankyou this has helped alot i hadnt thought of it that way!

I think ill write down the suggestions i have had in Poppets thread and see if she thinks it seems a good idea x
 
I definitely think there is a skill in asking questions (that are actually suggestions), so you make it sound like the vet is actually coming up with the advice, but actually it is you! :lol:

Mind you, I saw a really terrible vet a few months ago, with a hamster. She just looked at him in his carrier (didn't even get him out), and just said 'I don't really know. What do you think?' :shock: :lol:
 
While I agree with everything that has been said, once I had to tell a vet what to do, poppy had pretty bad stasis and the vet, not my usual vet, wanted to give me liquid parrafin and send me home! But rather than say what you should do is... I said what William (my usual vet) would do is...
I was a bit blunt and I know he wasn't too happy, bug he listened, if he had done what he suggested I'm sure Poppy wouldn't have made it, so sometimes I think you have to not care what they think of you and do what you think is in the rabbits best interest.
In you case I don't think any vet would be offended by you asking if their are tests they can do.
 
While I agree with everything that has been said, once I had to tell a vet what to do, poppy had pretty bad stasis and the vet, not my usual vet, wanted to give me liquid parrafin and send me home! But rather than say what you should do is... I said what William (my usual vet) would do is...
I was a bit blunt and I know he wasn't too happy, bug he listened, if he had done what he suggested I'm sure Poppy wouldn't have made it, so sometimes I think you have to not care what they think of you and do what you think is in the rabbits best interest.

I totally agree. You really can't take any risks in an emergency situation, and it's better to offend a vet (who will probably have learned something from the experience anyway), than risk losing the animal.
 
While I agree with everything that has been said, once I had to tell a vet what to do, poppy had pretty bad stasis and the vet, not my usual vet, wanted to give me liquid parrafin and send me home! But rather than say what you should do is... I said what William (my usual vet) would do is...
I was a bit blunt and I know he wasn't too happy, bug he listened, if he had done what he suggested I'm sure Poppy wouldn't have made it, so sometimes I think you have to not care what they think of you and do what you think is in the rabbits best interest.
In you case I don't think any vet would be offended by you asking if their are tests they can do.

You have taken the words out of my mouth!! This exact scenario happened to my friends rabbit and I had gone with her. We saw a Vets Now Vet and he asked me to explain why we didnt want liquid paraffin! I then went on to explain the treatment we normally receive!

ETA the last vet I needed help from was useless so I made another apointment with a vet I knew would listen and ahead of the meeting I e-mailed him all the information I had gathered regarding the problem, which included potential investigations etc He was quite happy with this and I dont care if he thinks Im a looney rabbit lady I just want the best treatment for my fur babies :D
 
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I trust my vet 100% but it doesn't mean I don't ask questions, although usually he talks through all treatment options with me thoroughly so I often don't need to ask questions. I often ask him questions about things unrelated to treatment, usually hypothetical scientific questions which he's always more than happy to answer too. Last time I took Buckley to the vet it took him about 5 mins to diagnose and decide on a treatment plan and we chatted about neuroendocrinology for a good 20 mins while Buckley ran around investigating the room (and his shoes).

It's always a good idea to build up a rapport with your vet as, I think, it makes you feel more comfortable about asking questions. I also think it helps the animal feel more comfortable around the vet, they can sense when you trust a person and feel comfortable around a person.

Obviously if your vet is appalling and doesn't know a rabbits bum from it's elbow then it's slightly different!
 
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