Finding your vet

It's taken me until now to find my vet; the search can seem daunting at times. But like your own physician you want a vet that you feel comfortable with, a vet you trust. There are lots of good vets out there but finding one that you really click with can be tough. I've left alot of vets; some just because we didn't quite hit it off; others for good reasons.

I remember my very first vet telling me that there was no difference in generic grocery store dog food vs. the premium more expensive stuff. He didn't see why you should pay the extra money. But it was the day I brought my airedale in for a particular ailment that I left him. He wouldn't look at something else on her that was troubling at that same appointment; I had to make another appointment for the other problem with her. Same dog, just a different question about her.

There was the vet that I brought Tilley to when we first moved here; the one that let a vet tech take her out back and let her go. She was panicked and running across busy streets, finally ending up in our backyard somehow after only living here 2 weeks. The vet I saw that day never called me, never apologized but the vet who owned the facility called and sent me a coupon for my next visit..............Uh not likely.

I left one vets because I simply couldn't afford them. A simple visit for a regular check up, no tests, no shots was up near 500.00. The facility was new and improved, very high tech but too high tech for regular visits and my wallet.

Then there was the one I visited from a recommendation; they were great. Small and personal; I liked the main vet who owned the place alot. But alas; as luck would have it he was retiring. The new vets and I didn't mesh quite as well and one of them asked me what I was going to do about my fat poodle? Tilley was in full coat at the time and looks rather round but he had just taken her weight at 47lbs and given her a physical examine; but for some reason couldn't get past the full coat chubby look. He also gave her a clean bill of health after a urine analysis I had asked for because she had blood in her urine. Which lead us to the next vet.

Again a recommendation; they found that Tilley indeed had a severe infection, more crystals than they had ever seen in a dog and was put on several rounds of antibiotics. But it was the lack of personal touch, no connection that bothered me. And the fact that after dealing with Tilley's huge mystery gapping wound on her tail; a couple of months before they had no memory or her or I. Both vets had told me they had never seen anything like this before; we were there alot and the vet had wanted to amputate her tail. Don't you think you would remember that? Even after attempting to jog his memory; nothing. That gave me a weird feeling.

All this was leading to the fact that Tilley is off to the vet this morning. I don't stress about it like I do with Luke. Tilley is an angel; yes she gets upset and tries to crawl inside my body but she will let anyone do anything to her. She definitely has something going on with her bladder again, hopefully it will be fixed soon so that I can get a goodnights sleep. I'm exhausted.