Back in the days of lore, vets were on call 24/7.
The days of lore sucked.
With the advent of modern medicine, so came the establishment of the Big Specialty Hospital and/or Shiny University Hospital right down the road. Huzzah! said the vet. Now, the 2 am blocked cat can make a 10 minute trip to one of finest veterinary hospitals in the nation and receive top-notch care while I sleep soundly away, said the vet. Everyone wins, you see - the cat gets prompt care and delicious drugs, the vet gets sleep and a nicely written summary of the case on the fax machine in the morning, and the owner gets a bill the size of Russia.
Ok, so maybe not everyone wins. Somewhere around 8:02 am, the owner (and proud recipient of a saurian-esque bill) calls Yours Truly to express his/her equally-sized outrage that we, THE VET, were not available at 2 am, forcing him/her to voyage to the other side of the street to a facility where "NO ONE CARED".
"I WANT THE VET'S NUMBER", exclaims the owner. Ya'know, for future emergencies of this nature.
Here's why the answer is an unequivocal NO:
1.) A single vet would be hard-pressed to treat a sick animal in need of hospitalization all by him/herself. It can be done, with the aid of anesthesia and good technique, but it's not a good idea from a "standard of care" point of view. Take this cat, for example - who's going to restrain/hold off while the IV cath is placed? Who's going to monitor anesthesia while the urinary cath is inserted and sewn in? Who's going hold for a jugular stick?
2.) The quality of the animal's care is not reduced by the referral to a different hospital. In fact, it is improved. Instead of a general practitioner and a tech or two, you now have board-certified specialists handling the case and whole boatload of techs providing 24 hour care.
I understand that it costs a lot...in part because you insisted on showing me your bill. Multiple times. However, the difference in the price between the veterinary ER and after-hours care at our practice (with a lone vet) is not comparable to the difference in the quality of care.
When we're open, come on in. When we're closed...we're closed, and it's for your cat's own good.
P.S. - As to "NO ONE CARED": Dude, they're an EMERGENCY HOSPITAL. They don't want to talk to you unless it involves a history or an ok for treatment. They don't want to have a conversation about how your cat likes to sleep in the sink or eat parmesan cheese when there's a GDV in the back and two HBCs coming in.
P.P.S. - Sporadic posting? Yes. Honestly, I've just been too busy lately, and with the economy sucking like it does, our practice has slowed down = not as many good stories, more stress.
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3 comments:
I just don't get that! I mean, yeah, I hate paying extra for the emergency vet, who doesn't. But when I discovered that my dog had eaten one or more small strong magnets sometime in the recent past at 11:30 pm on New Year's Eve, was I thrilled to be able to just drive in to somewhere where wide awake, relatively happy and sober people could look at me and say "Yep, he needs an X-ray and then we'll figure out what we have to do"?
Maybe it's because I work in a profession where we are often on 24/7 call and I can tell you what crap work I sometimes do at 3am when I'm on day shift. But I figure it's my cat or dog's fault for not doing whatever stupid thing they did this time when their vet is actually in the office, no my vet for actually sleeping, eating and going home to their own dogs and families.
Thanks for still reading! :)
In 35 years -- that takes me back to 10 years old -- I never remember having the vets home number. Back then, they had a tiny, central emergency facility with local veterinarians who took rotating call. And you paid a hefty extra for emergency care. Get a grip, people!
And they were pretty caring when they couldn't revive my old Golden at the fancy new ER. Even though I was a complete dumb##s about it. I wasn't thinking like an M.D. or a scientist, I admit to my chagrin now. I was a complete emotional nutcase.
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