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Frustrated with the local vets

E

Erik Ks farmer

Well-known Member
Why is that I can not find a vet in the area ( 4 locally) who will attend in an emergency? Had a cow down in the lot this evening (5 pm)who is not due to calve for 3 months. Got her back up on her chest and treated her for pnemonia and propped her up with hay. Finally the vet who usually does our work agreed to come tomorrow at noon. Frustrates me that my loss seems meaning less.
 
Ah Eric that the attitude of either the entitled or someone that doesn't care about his business. They start thinking differently when it's their loss.
I have saying I quote to these people: "My business is your business to louse."
Then see who else is around, maybe you missed someone. Maybe someone who will now drive a little farther--times are tough now.
 
There is a nationwide shortage of large animal Vets. More money to be made and easier/cleaner work with dogs and cats.

Some Universities are offering scolarships for large animal Vet. students. Also, some are encouraging older large animal Vets. from retiring for a couple more years by assigning interns to help them.

It is going to be a bigger ang bigger problem for at least a while.
 
For the most part I have been dissatisfied with vets from day one. Only good thing I have to say is last year a dear cat of mine developed liver disease and had to put him down. The vet was the early 30's son of the senior vet and he really was a compassionate guy.

Mark
 
There is only one vet in this area who does cows or other large animals other than horses. There are a couple who do horses, but most are small animal only.
 
Where you at? I have a really good one out of Baldwin City KS. He's good, willing AND he has a good personality. Those three seem to be hard to find all wrapped in one.
 
I have an animal science degree, the year I graduated there was over a thousand applications to our Vet school with only 100 chairs, oh they eliminated 5 chairs two years before I graduated. So many new Vets only want to do small animal or can only afford to do small animal work, some are flat out afraid to deal with any large animal because they kick and bite. Vets end up with a lot of education without a lot of pay. Many of them are women and end up taking time away from practice to have a family, like the one in our church. More vets=less money per Vet (or that's the thinking by a lot of Vet schools) others get a little bit of an attitude when the client waits until the situation is an emergency. While in college a DVM/PHD gave a few lectures slanted to us as future vet customers, his PHD was in economics, one of the topics is how much are you going to spend on a production animal? It becomes a problem when the response the animal owner WANTS will COST more to provide then the animal is WORTH.
 
> So many new Vets only want to do small animal or can only afford to do small animal work

I think that's a real problem and it's only going to get worse over time. There's becoming a huge divide between livestock and pet medicine. Not the medicine part, but just how the service is structured. There's a LOT of money in treating cats and dogs and every young vet wants a piece of that action (why wouldn't they?!). If you can sweet talk a cat lady into spending $200 on a cat, why in the heck would you stand in the cold and get covered in manure for a couple bucks per calf. I worry that farm call prices are going to be drastically inflated soon as a result of pet medicine and the retirement of old-school vets.

Anyway, my local vet clinic has been outstanding. I work days during the week, so whenever I call them for an emergency it's usually after their business hours, but they're always there when I need them. Even as a very small operator, I can't think of any time I've ever written out a check to the vet and not considered it money saved, even when it was for a postmortem.
 
(quoted from post at 17:42:28 12/12/11) Why is that I can not find a vet in the area ( 4 locally) who will attend in an emergency? Had a cow down in the lot this evening (5 pm)who is not due to calve for 3 months. Got her back up on her chest and treated her for pnemonia and propped her up with hay. Finally the vet who usually does our work agreed to come tomorrow at noon. Frustrates me that my loss seems meaning less.
Click to expand...

Wife took classes for a little over 2 years for homeopathic vet medicine. Regardless of the treatment, diagnosing is the same. Saved us a pile of money...... We have more vets around than you can shake a stick at but few big animal ones. Got one 3 miles away that does large as a rule and small as a space filler that we stopped taking small animals to because the treatment left a lot to be desired and prices were high. Found a better small animal vet and they got thier feelings hurt and won't show up for the horses. We lost a foal because they refused to show up once....

She's got shelves full of vet school text books now on all the animals we have, a real good relationship with a small animal vet that gets her whatever we need for the horses and will show up in emergencies and help out if needed... His reason for not specializing in large animals is that farmers wait til the last minute to call and are too cheap to treat some problems that waiting caused. Animal dies and "Dr ______ is the one that treated it".... Doesn't do much for a reputation.....

Not easy I guess.......
 
Answer - smalls is where the big bucks is!
Nothing to spend 200 bucks on a dog visit.
Like all professions have good ones and so so ones.
 
Most all the vets in this area (North Central Texas) specialize in equine practices, embryo transfer, egg flushing, etc. One right up the road has 600 mares used for transplants: 300 out at customers and 300 wiating to be used. She does from 300-600 transplants per year and many AIs etc. Has 80to 10 full time employees etc. No money in driving out to a farm to treat a sick cow. Tom
 
It's longs since been the way around here that if you've got a sick cow/sheep/etc.... you make a judgement call on how much money you want to spend. A visit of any type is going tocost a couple hundred, particularly after hours. For something like that... we'd pump the Borgal to her and see what the response was first. Might just catch lead poisoning too. Too many times the vet bills have added up to more than the animal was worth or would ever produce.... so your vet not coming might be a blesing in disguise.
We have always found that they will come when called here and are quite good... but costs add up.

Rod
 
You gotta learn to doctor on cattle yourself as the vet bill will be more than the cow is worth anyway.After a couple "I'll give her a shot of antibiotics and see how she does" for a couple hundred bucks I can give her a shot and 'see how she does'BTW give her a mixture of Black Strap Molasses and water gets them going quicker than anything I know,plus if it doesn't work you can still butcher here without any drug residue.
 
It's hard to find a good large animal vet. There's more money in small animal, and the customers come to the vet. Best bet is to talk to neighboring farmers, and strike up a relation with their vet. It sometimes takes time, but you can't go wrong. My gdad was a large animal vet, and it takes alot of time and mileage to cover the ground that some of these guys do. I find that what I know can be of help in the realm of "first aid" to an animal, but I also have to know when I'm in over my head, and call the vet in. It sometimes costs some money, but I'd rather spend $100 and have a live animal half the time than to have two dead ones all the time. Over the years, I've had three vets, due to retirements, and, while not always right, they've saved me a lot of money and grief.
 
pretty much that way everywhere now I think. Old vet around here wont even come out anymore,pretty much have to haul them in. had one out on heifer having problems calving a couple of years ago,should have just shot her in the head for the money it cost. I think he made his whole months salary on that one call!
 
Ya know, you guys are all so quick to pounce on the vet and convict him of being lazy and uncaring...

What if maybe, just maybe, he's up to his elbows in other emergencies that called before you, and noon tomorrow is the earliest he can possibly come?

Do you think the vet just sits around waiting on YOU to call? You're his only customer?

I get the same deal at work. Everybody's project is the most important and they're my only customer. I got nothing better to do than drop everything and take care of their request. Doesn't matter I'm neck-deep in a problem that's costing the company millions of dollars for every hour the system is down... It drives me CRAZY and makes me want to give it all up and live in the woods as a hermit.
 
To the OP,I suggest you to get educated and DIY,it ain't rocket science,no matter how they want you to believe that.

Many years ago when i was working in the feedlots i paid attention and learned as much as i could on cow diseases and treatment.
When i started ranching on my own later on i made good use of that as i only needed a vet for a C-section,all other stuff i could handle myself.
I would rather put a cow or calf out of its misery if it costed close to what the animal was worth,than have a vet fleece me.

Now with the Bison i don't need a vet 'period'. :wink:
 
part of the wifes education was working a week with 2 vets... office for the small animals and on the road for the other.... the large animal vet told her that you never leave an animal untreated. If you don't know what it is, note all the symptoms, nod your head, give it a shot of sterile or IV water and come back in ____ days for a followup. By then, you can read up and give the correct treatment.
 
(quoted from post at 22:59:11 12/12/11) > So many new Vets only want to do small animal or can only afford to do small animal work

I think that's a real problem and it's only going to get worse over time. There's becoming a huge divide between livestock and pet medicine. Not the medicine part, but just how the service is structured. There's a LOT of money in treating cats and dogs and every young vet wants a piece of that action (why wouldn't they?!). If you can sweet talk a cat lady into spending $200 on a cat, why in the heck would you stand in the cold and get covered in manure for a couple bucks per calf. I worry that farm call prices are going to be drastically inflated soon as a result of pet medicine and the retirement of old-school vets.

Anyway, my local vet clinic has been outstanding. I work days during the week, so whenever I call them for an emergency it's usually after their business hours, but they're always there when I need them. Even as a very small operator, I can't think of any time I've ever written out a check to the vet and not considered it money saved, even when it was for a postmortem.
Click to expand...

$200 for a cat would be pretty minor. My wife has a pet grooming biz, and we know a lot of folks who spend major $$ on their dogs and cats. One cat that comes in regularly had over 12K in vet bills. Her owner, a lawyer, found the cat more or less dead on the side of the road.
 
(quoted from post at 19:48:24 12/13/11)
(quoted from post at 22:59:11 12/12/11) > So many new Vets only want to do small animal or can only afford to do small animal work

I think that's a real problem and it's only going to get worse over time. There's becoming a huge divide between livestock and pet medicine. Not the medicine part, but just how the service is structured. There's a LOT of money in treating cats and dogs and every young vet wants a piece of that action (why wouldn't they?!). If you can sweet talk a cat lady into spending $200 on a cat, why in the heck would you stand in the cold and get covered in manure for a couple bucks per calf. I worry that farm call prices are going to be drastically inflated soon as a result of pet medicine and the retirement of old-school vets.

Anyway, my local vet clinic has been outstanding. I work days during the week, so whenever I call them for an emergency it's usually after their business hours, but they're always there when I need them. Even as a very small operator, I can't think of any time I've ever written out a check to the vet and not considered it money saved, even when it was for a postmortem.
Click to expand...

$200 for a cat would be pretty minor. My wife has a pet grooming biz, and we know a lot of folks who spend major $$ on their dogs and cats. [b:abf5aca8c6] One cat that comes in regularly had over 12K in vet bills. Her owner, a lawyer[/b:abf5aca8c6], found the cat more or less dead on the side of the road.
Click to expand...
rob wasn't his money anyway.the sucker most likely fleeced it from some poor dude needing some letter wrote.
:roll:
 
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