Questions about Vets.

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mollyandmeme

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My vet has unlicensed workers reading the labwork.
Would you be comfortable with this practice?
I had much rather the vet read the labs.

Until recently he had a Tech working there and i have just found out he has
the unlicensed workers doing many things. One of the workers told me they all
have to learn how to do the labwork, give medications and Tech work in general.

I live in a small town and i have changed vets many many times. I did have a very good reason for changing each time but i won't go into that now.

I have been seeing this vet at least 2years. My cat Meme has Renal problems and i
have taken her in to this vet many times. He gives her gas to make her sleep before he draws blood or any procedure.
Each time she comes home she is feeling so well just like nothing ever happened to her.
When other vets have seen her she doesn't do as well.
She had her teeth cleaned 2 years ago by a vet and when she got home she didn't eat for 20 hours. They also hurt her leg because she limped real bad for days.
I have read how the gas is not good for an older cats kidneys and heart so that worries me. Meme is 16 years old.

I will have to say that i just love this vet.
I can ask him anything i want to ask, disagree with him on something and tell him why, and he doesn't get mad(other vets do get mad. real mad)
Clients can go back and ask him a question or ask for medication and he doesn't charge for that.
When Meme has been sick he called me every day before he left the clinic if he hadn't heard from me that day. I can e-mail him any time with questions and he answers.
I do know that i cannot let the fact that i like him so much get in the way of good care for Meme.
I suppose i could request that he read the labwork or what ever else the unlicensed
people down there do but i don't think he would do that .

Is this practice widespread?
Do your vets do this? How do you know who is reading the labs or any other procedure at the clinics?
Just wanting to know...
 
One thing you might try is that when you go in to get the results of the labs, and you're talking to the vet, ask him to go over them with you so you can better understand them. If he hasn't read them, this would make him read them. He might also discover that somebody else read them incorrectly. You can ask if you can get a copy of the results too. Many members here could tell you what specific numbers and tests mean.
I don't know who reads them at the clinic I go to. But I discuss them face to face with Bob's vet each time. The clinic is pretty large though, at least for this area. I think there are 5 vets, and 8-10 techs, plus the 4 or 5 ladies who work the front desk.

Carl
 
I forgot to mention that
the unlicensed person looks through the microscope at the urine spec.
Dang. I don't trust him to know about crystals and all that goes along with
urinalysis problems.
Thanks Carl for your suggestion.
 
Why don't you talk with him first before leaving? I would be seriously concerned about the untrained workers, but it sounds like he is a great vet so maybe there is a solution.
 
I would talk to the vet. I would also check with your state board. It may be that vet techs aren't licensed in your state. There are techs to are trained in the office and others who go a formal educational program. I know I would prefer the latter but it may not be easy to find techs who have been through a training program if you live in a more rural area. There are a lot of people who can look through a microscope and count cells. There are many people here who are not vet techs who, from their experience with their cat, can look at labs and do a reasonable job of interpreting the results. No one would claim the expertise of a vet and by all means, you can call or ask to review the results with a vet. From a medical perspective, the vet should be initialling the labs to indicate whether he's reviewed the results. Ask to see your cat's file and see if the results are initialed.
 
I wouldn't necessarily equate unlicensed to unskilled (and conversely I've seen licensed with little skills, or at least little sense!). Voice your concerns to the vet, ask if he is going over the labs too, find out the qualifications of the person doing the lab work. You may decide to go elsewhere, but make informed decisions otherwise you might swith vets just to find out you are at a new office you don't like with the same situation.
 
Thanks Jen, Sienne and Gabby and Melanie and Smokey.

I need to also ask this Vet if he will keep my cats warm when they are anesthetized
and monitor them;
and if he himself will intubate them. I took it for granted this was being done. I think it will be at this point that he gets mad but he didn't get mad when i told him i had never heard of intubations being done by anyone other than a Vet
(well, he didn't show it if he was angry with me)

My cat has been injured twice at two different clinics. One caught ringworm.
Another time my kitty was stuck 15 different times(i counted the holes. they train
Techs and my Kitty was gentle so they practiced on him :-x
He had 3 shaved areas on his body where they stuck him)
so much for the rambling here.

Thanks so much for your replies.
 
um ... did they say they used your cat for training or are you assuming this? Sometimes, it can be very difficult to get a vein for a blood draw - the vein rolls or collapses, the animal moves, etc. If they told you that was the case, you may state your cat is not to be used for training, or limit the number of 'trainees' allowed to work on your pet.

You might make a list of things you want to happen when you bring your cat in, more than 1 or 2 things can be forgotten easily otherwise.
 
I'd talk to the vet about it before jumping ship. Especially if you are happy with them otherwise.

Explain that your cat has been physically harmed in the past so you are very pro-active and cautious now. Let the vet know that you have been very happy with them so far but that you are concerned about the situation. Ask what the unlicensed employees do and what type of training and supervision they get. Ask if he/she double checks the results of tests. If you want only the vet to do certain things, ask for that. Be non-confrontational but direct.

My vet has 5 assistants, only one is a vet tech. The others have been working with her for years. My vet has a large and small animal practice and all her employees are, as she puts it, "farm wives" with a lot of animal experience. They run tests, but my vet reads the results. I'd bet they assist on operations too.
 
Thanks BJM. A list for the Vet is in order.
I assumed they practiced on my kitty since there were 15 sticks but maybe they were trying to find a vein. But at any rate i never want them to stick that many times. Someone i believe just didn't know what they were doing.

Debby, thanks. You gave some good advice. I can ask all those questions.
I will talk to him. He knows a lot about what has happened in the past with my
little cat. I just want her to be safe.

Another good thing my vet does is if i call the clinic and ask him to call me,
he always calls back and there have been times when something would happen and i had to leave my house before he returned my call and several times he has called
three times trying to reach me(leaving a message)he calls until he gets me. I ain't
never seen a Vet do that . Sometimes he gives me medicine for my cats and
doesn't charge me. He has given me syringes and needles for injections and said,
"just put them in your purse." (because he knows what the woman at the desk would charge me) He has gone to the car and brought my kitty into the clinic for me (because at that time i couldn't lift)
I'm rambling again...
 
It does sound like you like your vet, there are just some things that have made you uncomfortable so I really do think that you should talk them over with the vet. Find out if what you think happened is true, if it is let him know how much it bothers you and find out what he can do to assure you it won't happen again.

As far as intubating - I know at least one of our techs specializes in anesthesia. Quite frankly someone who is trained and specialized might be better at it then a general practitioner who know a little about a lot instead of a lot about a little. One of those areas that you want to express you concerns.

My relationship with my vets office is extremely good. Until Smokey was diagnosed we really didn't go all that often. After her diabetes all sht hit the fan around our house and we are there quite often since then. We've always expressed our concerns and it has made our vets see us, not as problem clients (I think ;-P), but as good pet parents always putting our cats first. You should have seen this angry momma when Smokey came home from a vet appt with a hoarse voice! The vet got defensive at first, but understood that all we wanted is to find out what was wrong and if something went wrong then someone needed to say so so that we knew what needed to be done to help her.
 
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