Hello everyone, it's been a long time since I've been on Purrs, but just HAD to let off steam!
For the past few years, I've been going to one particular vet surgery because it has an excellent vet, and I always ask for him by name. But . . . my cats HATE going there. I know, cats don't like going to the vet anyway, but they really hate this.
My former vet, when I lived in a different area, had separate cat and dog waiting areas, and you were allowed to put the carriers on the chairs. However, the current surgery has one large room in which both cats and dogs wait, and there are big signs on the walls telling you not to put cages on chairs. I ignored this initially, and got reprimanded by the receptionist
On numerous occasions I've mentioned this problem to the vets, but they don't seem interested. I've even contacted them via their Facebook page, again they're not interested, claiming that they can't do this at the moment. It would be simple to set up a free-standing opaque screen to separate the waiting room, or even a set of cat-sized pigeon-hole shelves in the centre of the room, allowing a three foot space for people to walk around. I've seen lots of alternatives on this site:
https://catfriendlyclinic.org/vets-nurses/the-waiting-room/Click on the pic in the middle of the page to see the alternatives.
Nothing I've said to the surgery has made any difference. I notice that there are rarely cats in the waiting room. I wonder if other cat-people are voting with their feet.
The last straw came on friday. I was waiting for a taxi in the (usually quiet) dispensary area. I had Cydric in a carrying cage. We were sitting quietly when a big black dog lunged at Cyd's cage! I shouted, "Can't you keep your dog under control?!" at the dog's owners (a middle-aged couple who should have known better) and they stupidly retorted, "you keep your cat under control!" I pointed out that Cydric was in a cage. They seemed amused by their dog's behaviour.
I have an appointment for Victoria tomorrow. That will probably be the last time I go to that vet as I've found one with separate waiting rooms and hospital facilities about the same distance. It has the Cat Friendly Clinic's Silver rating.
Has anyone else had this problem with vets being dogcentric? What have you done about it? Especially if the surgery has a particularly good vet?
Thanks for letting me rant!
