RANT HERE thread

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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LetItSnow said:
This is all KINDA my point with that case - in gold standard medicine, rads would have been taken early on and the problem would have been identified quickly. In the REAL world, you frequently don't get to do that, so you need to be able to use the data you have to make good decisions. In this case, the information was there - right smack in the CBC. You didn't actually need imaging to arrive at a very short differential list.

(But it also brings up a pet peeve of mine about corporate medicine and policies. I think it's absurd that we require a radiologist - absolutely no offense intended - to interpret every placement radiograph. I'm perfectly capable of interpreting a feeding tube placement rad. Making the owner pay $100 for a radiologist to tell me it's in the esophagus and extending to whatever point I want is frustrating given how high costs have risen. But because somewhere once some clinician botched it now there's a policy effecting every owner whose pet gets an NE/NG tube. It's dumb. On the other hand, it protects my license when some DACVR signature says it's appropriately placed and I can play dumb and say "gee, I dunno, the radiologist said it was fine." So *shrug*)
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Blah blah blah, gold standard. We get vets calling us back quite frequently with "owner can't afford what you recommended, what do we do?" My answer is always the same "the best you can within the owner's budget." I will go over what parts we consider "more important" based on whatever the toxin is but sometimes, there really isn't a ranking of importance, especially when it comes to toxicity.

We just always have to remember we can only do the best we can with what we are allowed to work with. Don't beat yourself up about it, do the best you can, explain the consequences of not doing everything and move forward.
 
Oh, also, my favorite saying I heard from somewhere recently.

"We do the best we can with the information we have. If you didn't know something, you can't act on that, so having guilt over information you didn't even have, doesn't help anyone."
 
My very first case in the teaching hospital was a zinc toxicosis where the pennies were in the GI for 3 weeks prior to removal. Also the first patient I lost. Doggo was sweet, owners were sweet. Definitely never going to forget that dog
 
batsenecal said:
My very first case in the teaching hospital was a zinc toxicosis where the pennies were in the GI for 3 weeks prior to removal. Also the first patient I lost. Doggo was sweet, owners were sweet. Definitely never going to forget that dog
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My first patient on clinics sold decals of her pup (he had a decent sized instagram following) as a fundraiser for her bills.

I used mod podge and clay to make it permanent and I hang Churchill up on my tree every year. Some don't leave you.
 
Trilt said:
My first patient on clinics sold decals of her pup (he had a decent sized instagram following) as a fundraiser for her bills.

I used mod podge and clay to make it permanent and I hang Churchill up on my tree every year. Some don't leave you.
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We had a dachshund puppy come in on stat call today after a trauma incident. It responded extremely well to our initial stabilization and then we discovered the owners had no money. It was the first time in my (young) career that I said to myself, "I will take on this puppy if the owners surrender it." We were all prepared to chip in money to give this guy a chance. The owners would not surrender. We euthanized. As you said, some don't leave you.
 
I had a hospitalized lily ingestion cat Christmas eve that we were propofol'ing down any time it needed to be handled because it was absolutely unapproachable. One of those cats you get every so often that is at the extreme end of fractious.

My staff came out of the cat ward after doing its daily recheck bloodwork to let me know its weight was 6.66kg.

Figures.
 
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LetItSnow said:
I had a hospitalized lily ingestion cat Christmas eve that we were propofol'ing down any time it needed to be handled because it was absolutely unapproachable. One of those cats you get every so often that is at the extreme end of fractious.

My staff came out of the cat ward after doing its daily recheck bloodwork to let me know its weight was 6.66kg.

Figures.
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These were always my blocked cats. Evil devils, every one, and nary a rabies vaccine amongst them.
 
LetItSnow said:
(But it also brings up a pet peeve of mine about corporate medicine and policies. I think it's absurd that we require a radiologist - absolutely no offense intended - to interpret every placement radiograph. I'm perfectly capable of interpreting a feeding tube placement rad. Making the owner pay $100 for a radiologist to tell me it's in the esophagus and extending to whatever point I want is frustrating given how high costs have risen. But because somewhere once some clinician botched it now there's a policy effecting every owner whose pet gets an NE/NG tube. It's dumb. On the other hand, it protects my license when some DACVR signature says it's appropriately placed and I can play dumb and say "gee, I dunno, the radiologist said it was fine." So *shrug*)
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When I worked for VCA I always had the option of single view bladder and placement rads that did not require rad review. 🤷‍♀️

but I mean... yeah... I have to shake my head at the $450 2-view nonsedated rads... even with review... by gosh. I would tell people to just go get their tplo rads with the specialist at the vet school because it’ll be cheaper. Cause like if it weren’t a cruciate which I’m pretty sure it is, either they’ll be happy they saw the specialist, and also even with the surgery consult the cost will even out with the ridiculous cost of my xrays.
 
Minnerbelle said:
When I worked for VCA I always had the option of single view bladder and placement rads that did not require rad review. 🤷‍♀️

but I mean... yeah... I have to shake my head at the $450 2-view nonsedated rads... even with review... by gosh. I would tell people to just go get their tplo rads with the specialist at the vet school because it’ll be cheaper. Cause like if it weren’t a cruciate which I’m pretty sure it is, either they’ll be happy they saw the specialist, and also even with the surgery consult the cost will even out with the ridiculous cost of my xrays.
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That is insane.
 
allygator13 said:
That is insane.
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Sure was. As was the $90 Lyme booster... ($50 vaccine, $40 abbreviated booster visit).

seriously if a client came in and ran senior labs for a wellness on a healthy 10 year old dog, got a few vaccines, and a years worth of preventatives it was easily >$1000. But you know... worth it for the free nail trim/anal gland expression included in the exam? Also even more insane might be the tech appt nail trim and anal gland expression cost $79. And people paid that regularly.

I used to puke a lil inside thinking about it... so I had to make it a habit not to. Clinic catered to affluent clientele, and the clients didn’t seem to care a lot of the time, so I had to learn not to either. Pretty scary what high cost of living areas means as far as cost of vet care goes.
 
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Minnerbelle said:
Sure was. As was the $90 Lyme booster... ($50 vaccine, $40 abbreviated booster visit).

seriously if a client came in and ran senior labs for a wellness on a healthy 10 year old dog, got a few vaccines, and a years worth of preventatives it was easily >$1000. But you know... worth it for the free nail trim/anal gland expression included in the exam? Also even more insane might be the tech appt nail trim and anal gland expression cost $79. And people paid that regularly.

I used to puke a lil inside thinking about it... so I had to make it a habit not to. Clinic catered to affluent clientele, and the clients didn’t seem to care a lot of the time, so I had to learn not to either. Pretty scary what high cost of living areas means as far as cost of vet care goes.
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Oh gosh. The clinic I worked atthat senior visit would be ~350. The toe nail trim and anal glands $22.

That is crazy indeed...
 
Campus clinic sent new clinic records from years ago even though I indicated which records I needed to have sent on the form. They did not send those records.

Meanwhile, called new clinic about some new symptoms / expressed some concern about anemia, they scheduled me for an appointment tomorrow, but then called me back and said they want me to go to the ER right now.

Yay. #day31
 
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A petty rant about something I have pent up angst about lol: So my dad has been seeing this lady for about a year now, started seeing her about a month after my mom passed away. A couple months ago they decided to sell their houses and move in together, which was awkward for me but whatever. Over Christmas we did a Zoom call together and my dad tells me about how he bought her a "ring with seven diamonds on it" "but it's not an engagement ring!" "it's just a.... hello! ring" WTF does that even mean Dad :smack: I guess they are now living their best 14 year old lives where promise rings are a thing again :laugh: Just super frustrating cause my dad was always the "don't spend money on anything frivolous ever" type and now this... lol. Oh and she got him a Burberry scarf and a Rolex watch. So I guess they're high rollers now while I live off my graduate student stipend, eating ramen to support my 4 horses that he left me high and dry with when he decided he wasn't taking care of them anymore lol. Not my monkeys, not my circus 🐒 But I am little bitter and very angsty :laugh:
 
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Petty rant. I wish I could tell clients to calm the **** down without losing my job. The holidays are making everyone so impatient and demanding.

Earlier this week, we had one client call four times and email twice while we were closed for the night asking what food he should change his new puppy onto. We told him at his appointment the day before, but he "couldn't find it" and was in a full-blown panic (he still had a couple weeks' worth of the other food left 🙄).

Yesterday, a client called over and over to schedule her cat's spay. She kept requesting Jan 7th (obviously not gonna happen with how we're booked) and then getting POed and insisting to speak to the manager when I said no. Every time the manager didn't call her back within an hour, she called again. I would have been happy to put her on the surgery schedule some time later but nooooo. Spaying a healthy kitten is an emergency, obviously.

The only positive in this situation is that unlike my last job, I'm not getting yelled at for telling clients no when it's an unreasonable request.
 
Aprilthearab said:
Petty rant. I wish I could tell clients to calm the **** down without losing my job. The holidays are making everyone so impatient and demanding.

Earlier this week, we had one client call four times and email twice while we were closed for the night asking what food he should change his new puppy onto. We told him at his appointment the day before, but he "couldn't find it" and was in a full-blown panic (he still had a couple weeks' worth of the other food left 🙄).

Yesterday, a client called over and over to schedule her cat's spay. She kept requesting Jan 7th (obviously not gonna happen with how we're booked) and then getting POed and insisting to speak to the manager when I said no. Every time the manager didn't call her back within an hour, she called again. I would have been happy to put her on the surgery schedule some time later but nooooo. Spaying a healthy kitten is an emergency, obviously.

The only positive in this situation is that unlike my last job, I'm not getting yelled at for telling clients no when it's an unreasonable request.
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I'm very happy I finally started vet school this year because if I had had to deal with another second of client-pandemic behavior like this, I just might have been burnt out from the field entirely. Hang in there, your frustration is totally valid.
(obviously some clients act like this all the time but we all know Covid has made it worse across the board)
 
Aprilthearab said:
Yesterday, a client called over and over to schedule her cat's spay. She kept requesting Jan 7th (obviously not gonna happen with how we're booked) and then getting POed and insisting to speak to the manager when I said no. Every time the manager didn't call her back within an hour, she called again. I would have been happy to put her on the surgery schedule some time later but nooooo. Spaying a healthy kitten is an emergency, obviously.
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On a funnier note, this lady didn't know what a spay was but was told by the rescue she got the kitten from that she needed to have it done. We explained what it was, and so every call after that was started with "Hi, I'm calling to have my cat's uterus removed." 🤣
 
Aprilthearab said:
On a funnier note, this lady didn't know what a spay was but was told by the rescue she got the kitten from that she needed to have it done. We explained what it was, and so every call after that was started with "Hi, I'm calling to have my cat's uterus removed." 🤣
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Ah, did she forget about the ovaries? 😛
 
llamasandcows said:
I'm very happy I finally started vet school this year because if I had had to deal with another second of client-pandemic behavior like this, I just might have been burnt out from the field entirely. Hang in there, your frustration is totally valid.
(obviously some clients act like this all the time but we all know Covid has made it worse across the board)
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A new client called to schedule an appointment the other day but then very quickly and vehemently declined when she found out we were doing curbside. She said "Oh lord, my dog just can't go inside without me, she's going to have a heart attack and then seizure and die! Unless you let me in, I'm going to have to bring my business somewhere else that's more accommodating! You'll make an exception for me, right?" I was very quick to say "Good luck finding a place that lets you in. Bye!" I know it's rude of me but I hope she never found a place that would let her in.
 
Aprilthearab said:
A new client called to schedule an appointment the other day but then very quickly and vehemently declined when she found out we were doing curbside. She said "Oh lord, my dog just can't go inside without me, she's going to have a heart attack and then seizure and die! Unless you let me in, I'm going to have to bring my business somewhere else that's more accommodating! You'll make an exception for me, right?" I was very quick to say "Good luck finding a place that lets you in. Bye!" I know it's rude of me but I hope she never found a place that would let her in.
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Her dog sounds incompatible with life.

Ya know... if any of that were true.
 
Oh, reminds me. Yesterday we closed early at noon to have a new year party. A guy called at 11 asking if we could sign a health certificate for his dog. We said sure, as long as you get here before noon. He rolled around at 1:30 in his mustang and parked like a total idiot taking up two spots. Called twice, we didn't pick up. Came up and pounded on the door. The manager took the paper and said bye. He asked if the vet was going to sign it. "Yup, you can come pick it up on Monday." "But you're all here right now, why can't you just do it?" "We told you we'd be closed, sir, you should be happy we're opening the door for you. See you on Monday." My manager doesn't tolerate bull**** and I love her so much.
 
I’m annoyed.

For rent, I pay the full amount to our landlord and my roommate pays me back their half monthly.

My roommate couldn’t afford rent this month. They neglected to tell me this. I have already sent in the full rent, and they know I have sent in full rent. Not only am I now out a month’s rent until they repay me, they STILL have not said a word to me about not having the money.

I only know about this because my roommate randomly texted the landlord (who they haven’t spoken to since moving in) that they couldn’t pay rent. Since I had already paid the full amount, our landlord emailed me concerned that I wouldn’t be able to make ends meet through the month.

Now, times are rough and paying rent can be hard. However, my roommate has been unemployed by choice for the last 2 months. We even had a conversation about it where I let them know I didn’t care what they did but they had to be able to pay rent.
 
I was out of town so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that they didn’t want to talk about this over text or phone. However if they haven’t brought up the conversation by the end of tomorrow I’m going to have to start it and I’ll be even more pissed off.

I know the reason they don’t want to bring it up is because this is completely their own doing and is the one thing I told them not to do. They are super conflict avoidant and would be worried about me being mad. The thing is, I’m not at all unreasonable. I wouldn’t be pleased but we would have discussed options, when they could get me money, etc. I’m far less thrilled that I found out from someone else.
 
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