Just a rant at my vets now petition!

[Angiew]

I've just been talking to someone from the PDSA for the last 30mins. I said I thought it ironic that the PDSA who stood for helping people to care for their pets allowed vets now to operate out of their clinics.

He basically said it was good for the pdsa in that it allowed their clients to get emergency treatment for their animals as per normal hours. PDSA clients phone the normal pdsa phone number and its seemless for them, they get the animal in its clinic with its medical records etc.

I asked if he did not feel that there was something immoral about the pdsa supporting the vets now outfit (ie by having them at the surgery) and he said he could not speak in general terms on why the decision to do this was made and has suggested that if I put it to him in writing he will pass it on up. I told him as a supporter of larger animal charities and their campaigning and policy making/educatinig etc, I felt that this was not a right thing to do.

Basically his line was good for their clients, pet owners should be able to afford pet care, must be good for the public else these clinics wouldn't thrive and that people could walk with thier feet and move vets if they were upset about it.
oh well!

I shall put something in writing this week or next. If any of you want to have a contribution to it, please email / pm.
There must be a way of fighting this!

[Mark]

That's what happened though

I think our vet charges £70 for OOH - but still cheaper than Vets Now and your sick animal won't get evicted at 8am 



Jesiri - now safe with Sharon's brother 


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[Ela]

not even painkillers

That is against the law

[Desley (booktigger)]

That isn't good, I am glad that my vets dont use VetNow for their OOH, but my OOH vet is £70.50 for a consult, and if you see your normal vet and they have to refer you (Say like it is a Sat morning and they need hospitalising), you have to pay £35 (this is on top of what you have already paid your vet!!). They were really good to us with Blossom though, and he came up with an alternative to save us money cos we are a rescue (£120 rather than the £500 we had been told on the phone) - you have to pay before you leave though, as they cover for 10 vets, so it isn't someone that knows you.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

My vets who are great use Veys Now but recently they have started opening for an hour on Sunday morning.

However befor Chrismas Sasa was hurt and could hardly walk and this was about 1130 on Sat morning so rang my vets cos knew they were open but because I have to trap her and no idea how long that will take I could not guarentee that I could be there before they closed cos also have 25 miles to drive.

I was told I would have to go to Vets Now and I told them I had no intention of doing that so what did I do..........Look for a new vet?

She said to hang on while she spoke to someone and then came back with the name and number of another vet who has 24/7 cover. I rang them and they said to bring Sasa in but to let them know when I had caught her but they would not charge me emergency rates.

We went there and I was asked how I got their name and they said that the vets have an unwritten agreement not to poach each others patients without permission of the normal vet because the normal vet is paying to have the Vet Now service.

Sooooooo this shower not only rip us off but also charge the vets too!

This new vet that Sasa saw was fantastic and I have to decide which vet she goes to for boosters now cos she is registered at both practices now.

[Zenith (Liz)]

Just signed the petition

[Mark]

I think another 24 hour vet might see animals that aren't on their books but I would assume they would charge a premium and they wouldn't be as high priority as their own customers?

My vet is also open on Sunday mornings for consultations - which was handy when one of mine had bloody poo on Sunday morning. They put my mind at rest 

[Kate]

Hmm maybe I should switch vets too, I have assumed that if I called another 24 hour local vet they would see me after all money is money. hate to be in a position of using vets now especially as ET's troubles aren't covered by her insurance.

[Mark]

I moved from my expensive but good vet as he uses them. I now use a vet 6 miles away that is open 24/7. I even have a vet next door to me but they use vets now as well    There was  a case last year where an RTA cat was kept in for a week with a broken pelvis and jaw without any treatment whatsoever, not even painkillers  . The reason was that there was nobody to pay the bill. This is Jesiri who when Sharon found out about him was given all the treatment he needed at a good vet partly funded by an appeal on purrs. He is now living the life of Riley in rural Kent 

[Kate]

Vets now are horrid, i still have not forgiven them for wanting £500 to put my poor little Rosie to sleep in her own home. They are my out-of-hours provider according to my vets but there is no way I would use them. Have you seen their website for recruiting vets? Just goes on about how much money they will earn....honestly I know vets have to make a living but so much of a living?????

[Ela]

How do they expect us to pay them if they don't bill us

The bills come from one place, not the individual clinic, our worst problem with the bills is that we receive them for cats we have not taken to the vets in the first place, and they are proper to other Cats Protection branches. Not too long ago they sent us a statement and some of the invoices were over a year old and not proper to us in any case.

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

Angie, I'm not surprised your blood was boiling, they really don't have a clue do they     

vets now have caused us loads of problems lately. They wouldn't let one of our volunteers take an emergency case in because they said we had an outstanding bill but they have never sent us the bill so how can we pay it. The volunteer had to pay over £150 herself before they would see the cat and now needless to say we are waiting for the bill before we can pay for the latest case  How do they expect us to pay them if they don't bill us 

Some vets really are a joke    I have to say both the surgeries I use don't have a problem with me owing money which is a good job really    If you use a vet regularly, you would have thought the fact the cat was an emergency, they would have sorted the finances out afterwards   

[Ann Clarke (Tabby cat)]

vets now have caused us loads of problems lately. They wouldn't let one of our volunteers take an emergency case in because they said we had an outstanding bill but they have never sent us the bill so how can we pay it. The volunteer had to pay over £150 herself before they would see the cat and now needless to say we are waiting for the bill before we can pay for the latest case  How do they expect us to pay them if they don't bill us 

[Millys Mum]

Maybe they would like to fund a vet per rescue 

[Angiew]

Ah so when a cat is found half dead in the middle of night you should leave him there because you cant operate on him at the rescue. Thats where everyones going wrong, helping emergency cats 
First in line to throttle her please   

I have just emailed the head office and mentioned that scenario to them, asked them to comment on some of the comments and invited them to attend the next group meeting or Coventry animal welfare forum meeting to tell us how we can work better with them

for them to accept   

[Millys Mum]

Ah so when a cat is found half dead in the middle of night you should leave him there because you cant operate on him at the rescue. Thats where everyones going wrong, helping emergency cats 
First in line to throttle her please   

[Gillian Harvey]

One lovely lady has commented ".....I would also suggest Rescue Centre have an obligation to only take on cases that they can effectively care for - i.e. you should be able to provide vet care for the animals in your centres. If you are struggling then don't take the extra animal into the centre....."

and priceless ! "You people only have yourselves to blame when you have to travel so far for treatment... "

 

Thats awful Angie!  what an attitude! I could feel my blood pressure rising just reading that - and I'm not even involved in rescue!

[Angiew]

Its been hijacked by vet people again!!!
One lovely lady has commented ".....I would also suggest Rescue Centre have an obligation to only take on cases that they can effectively care for - i.e. you should be able to provide vet care for the animals in your centres. If you are struggling then don't take the extra animal into the centre....."

and priceless ! "You people only have yourselves to blame when you have to travel so far for treatment... "

 
Couldn't find the one for blood pressure through the roof!