DS: Why are so many dog owners so scared of "Vets" answer!?

You have asked a question that I have asked myself many times over as I have read some of the opinions here on vets.

I have had bad experiences with vets before, but never because they were trying to get a profit off of my dog's hardship. The bad experience I had was with a new vet that did not know me and did not know my dog. I had relocated, but was not so far away I could not drive back to the older and wiser vet who had cared for my pet since she came to me. She was diabetic and I knew something else was going on. I even knew what. She had advanced Cushings Disease. The office test did not show it but all the signs and symptoms were there. The vet that knew me well enough to trust me ran the more expensive test and we got her on the necessary treatment.

I always tell people, you know your dog better than anyone. If you know something is wrong, then find the answer. But if you go to a vet, at least have the courtesy to listen. If you do not trust his/her judgment, there are other vets. Get a second opinion. But make sure it is a vet if the animal is sick.

The next thing to do when you have a pet with a disease like diabetes or Cushings, or epilepsy... join a support group and there are many right here on Yahoo. These people are going through many of the same things you are and they can offer support when needed. They got me through some long nights on the kitchen floor with Karo syrup when Josie's glucose would plummet (back in the pre-Cushings diagnosis days). And they will always tell you to call YOUR vet when there is a problem. They can be there to listen and give advise, but none of them are vets and they will tell you that. Many times they may tell you to seek another opinion if you are feeling really lost or uncomfortable with something, and if your pet is not responding to treatment and the vet is not going any further.

As for self-medicating, that is a tough question. I run a rescue and my vet does trust me enough to cut me some slack. And there are a lot of people who are the same, with or without the rescue. But I have seen some harm done by people who thought they knew when they did not. I have seen people give their dog's coffee for reverse sneezing because they thought it was an asthma attack. I have seen them use inhalers on the dog... way too much for a little Chihuahua... and they would not listen to "That is dangerous" because they got away with it once, twice or three times.

My advice is always, call the vet to get the right dosage for your dog. If you are qualified to self-medicate, you WILL have a good relationship with your vet. Never give a dog a medication that your vet has not ok'd for that dog, especially if they are on other meds.

Now...in all fairness, I have a cabinet full of antibiotics and pain killers for dogs. I can set a leg and I can start an IV on a dog. I have the equipment and the knowledge to do it. If I had a respirator at home and the right meds (which I do not have meds strong enough for that) I could neuter a male dog or cat. I would not be comfortable with a spay yet as I have not assisted in that procedure enough. If you are competent, your vet is going to trust you enough to tell you a few secrets. I also have the Kansas Poison Control Number posted just below my vet's emergency number and I have a list of poisons that would cause me to run for the... well... Peroxide if I had nothing else to induce vomiting. I can do CPR on a dog or cat.

And I have been called some bad names for not instructing others online. I will gladly tell them to get an eyedropper or syringe and push some Pedialyte, to keep a dog immobile and warm... and to get the dog to a vet.

As you said... Know - How is the key and no one can learn online. It takes time and patience and usually time spent in the trenches.

There is a huge difference in experience and what I THINK I know. If it is something new, I want the professional touch.

GOOD QUESTION!

And the best advice I could offer anyone: KNOW YOUR PET AND KNOW YOUR VET. If you know something is wrong, inform yourself and do not hesitate to ask those who have been there. But DO ask a vet as well and the vet should be the first place to start, not the last.

Just like a Doctor can remove the wrong arm or leg does'nt mean they all know what they are doing.Vets are trhe same way..I had dogs into the Vet and they still were'nt getting better.I asked on here to see if others had the same syptoms at one time or heard about anything that was going around..I demand a lot from my Vet and demand that every test be done.In Oct.09 they had the dog flu but I was the first to come in with it.I made my Vet aware of the syptoms to where they printed up informartion to hand to every customer..I also do a lot of research on my own and over the many years of owning I feel I know as much if not more when it comes to my dogs..They don't force shots on me or the crap dog food.They know I'm holistic and natural when it comes to feeding and flea and tick prevention..One bad incident w/a medication can usually mean a recall as other dogs have suffered also and the way people find out is by talking to others..

Some people think they know everything, but sometimes vets are wrong. I had to second guess my vet once because he told me to moisten my dogs food. I asked why and he said "He is too old to handle eating hard food for every meal." I didn't understand until I went home and saw the backs of my dog's teeth... they looked really old and brittle- it was crazy how he looked where I wouldn't even think unless he said something.

I won't second guess my vet unless I am 100% percent sure I am right. If my dog was dying on a table and my vet said "He'll be fine." I would definitely second guess that. If I am unsure I won't run and find a stranger's opinion, I'll get a second opinion from another vet.

I won't stop giving my dog his hip medication because some dog died from it. My dog has been taking his new meds for 6 months and he has had no hip pain. The dog that died probably took too much or had a bad allergic reaction the FIRST time he took it. If your dog is fine on the medicine... why would you take a away???

What do I think of self medicating? Fine if you know what you are doing, what dose to give, and what to do in case he gets worse. Even if you have some doubts you should call a vet and make sure. Better to be safe than sorry.

I`m not scared of the vets answer.Sometimes skeptical of it.I own two pit bull type dogs.reno my male has had skin problems since a little while after I adopted him.I have seen three different vets and went through three different treatments Each time I was assured that (I know exactly what is wrong).cortisone shots,prednisone pills,high doses of program.try ed different foods grain free,duck and potato. well with diet change tw food and little bit of raw meat and may twice a year prednisone for about three days.It`s under control.After completing there treatments and hearing some dogs are just that way.I question instead of going in blindly.

I have also have positive things to say about vets.When my girl Zena was bitten by a coyote on a Saturday night I cleaned her wound then took her to a 24 hour vet hospital near me.They cleaned her wound and came to the same conclusion I did glue it shut since it was a soft tissue injury.minimal antibiotics.Rabies vaccination was current.that place was cleaner then any vet i ever went to and the people acted professionally.

I was raised on a farm as a child.I have owned dogs all 48 years of my life.I spare no expense to make sure that my animals are healthy and happy.

Bottom line if you have doubts get a second or even a third opinion !'

I can speak for all people, most that ask medical questions around here are clueless and do it because they don't want to spend money.

I'll share my experience of why I might ask a medical question is because either the vets don't know or I'm interested in other people experience dealing with a pup with that dogs condition. Dogs that have come through my life have stumped many a DVM. Supplemented with internet and journal research, Y!A has provided the spark and answer that was needed during the differential diagnosis of atleast one of my dogs. I presented the idea to my DVM and the dog was able to start Lyme Disease treatment, DVM was going with congenital causes of the osteoarthritis/ osteoporosis in my 18m/o foster. A DVMs job is to continuously learn from each dog, the more information an owner can give to a trusted vet the better off the dog and owner/vet relationship will be. It's OK to do your own research and share experiences or guesses but it is NOT OK and illegal to diagnose, prognose or prescribe without a license, whether it is your own dog or anyone elses dog-especially over the internet.

My vet trusted me with my pharmacy bag too, often I'll run doses and if medications are appropriate by my vet. I've administered medications and fluids IV, IM, subQ with vets permission and guidance to my intensive care rescues.

There was an ongoing joke when I was working on the ambulance that relates here; A doctors job is to "practice" medicine, would I trust them practicing on me? I have seen docs who practiced and picked it up well, I've seen many people get killed by doctors, our best ER doc in the county EMS director lost his medical license after his 5th DUI. Find a doc/vet that you truly trust and stick with them.

Having experienced some truly dreadful vets since we moved to a completely different part of the UK some years ago now, I find myself second-guessing vets where there's no way I would in the past. And I have even been forced to take a second opinion - something I've never ever considered before. I had a super, trusted vet of 13 years where we used to live. She knew if I felt there was something wrong with my hounds, even if I didn't know what (after how many years in my breed), there WAS something wrong. I trusted her to find what it was, and would never ever have though to query her diagnosis.

What has happened to me and two of my beloved hounds since our move has been horrendous - verging on the 'Sue the B astards', to be honest. Although I just voted with my feet. I think I have found a good 'un now, thankfully.

So what I'm saying is it surely doesn't hurt to share problems around here - much as what's said here is often very wrong, and often dangerous advice. It's more a matter of having the ability to sift through what's written, take a consensus based on the experiences of others, and make up your own mind.

For the most part, self-medicating a sick dog isn't a great idea!!

Add - One of the best vet-client relationships I ever had was with an excellent vet out in Canada. I totally respected him for his medical knowledge, ability with the knife, and what drugs/dose to give etc. But here's the difference between him and some vets I've come across lately - he respected me for my knowledge of my breed specifically, and had enough intelligence to realise that as his patients couldn't speak for themselves, listening to an (experienced) owner actually was an aid, to him.

Oh, just get me started on this. The last place I lived, I went through 9 vets in 3 years. Stupid is not a strong enough word. It really depends on where you live, and if you are lucky to live someplace where you actually have a vet with a brain, bake them some cookies and take them in to the office and say thank you. I would have settled for a vet with 1/4 a brain. Some states do not require vet techs to be licensed or certified or to even know how to spell the word dog. I have shelties, so I expect to have to know about MDR1 Gene and what could happen to my dogs if I get stuck with an idiot vet or an idiot vets staff. I shouldn't have to have a training class on shots before I schedule an appointment. I used to have a good vet, but then I moved and I got stuck with the most horrifying stupidity I could have imagined. I found vets that had never heard of a 3 year rabies shot, so naturally I must have been making that up. I spent 20 minutes with one nut before I finally convinced her my dog weighed 30 pounds and the liquid metacam I was giving him was dosed on the weight of the dog. After 20 minutes she opened the box and found out I was right. I have found vets that still think you should give a dog corona, probably because they don't know what corona is. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH just get me started. Wait, did I tell you about the idiot that tried to convince me that Rimadyl was candy for my puppy and that I should give my puppy, (who was not diagnosed with anything) rimadyl as a vitamin supplement. I could go on and on, but y/a limits the space we have to answer. I have earned my right to be paranoid, and educating myself has saved my dogs lives more than once. If you have a great vet, consider yourself lucky, and make sure that person knows you appreciate them.

I'm not exactly sure i understand what you are on about.

I'm not scared of my vet, but i am very conscious of their limitations.

If i even get a whiff of a vet not being sure, i disregard everything they say.

Say my pet stopped eating and they vet was going on about "it might be this, it might be that, maybe try this, maybe try that" I'd much rather go away and take the advice of someone who claims to have been through a similar thing than listen to the vet.

Of course i process it through my brain first and apply some common sense, but i wouldn't even give what the vet suggested a second thought.

Once i had a pet, not a dog, that stopped eating. I told the vet that something was seriously wrong with my pet and he didn't believe me.

He weighed him. His weight was fine.

He did blood tests. Nothing.

He did X-rays. Nothing.

He did x-ray fluorescence tests. A little weird, but can't be significant because all the other tests are clear.

All that was left was surgery and the vet said there was no need based on the other tests.

During these weeks i was feeding it a liquid diet and he said the pet was just being fussy and to feed solids.

Immediately i saw my pet seem to react badly to solids. I told the vet and he repeated the pet was being fussy.

The next day the pet was dead and i was heartbroken, angry and £700 worse off.

I had sent the x-rays to a regular street Joe, but he had been on holiday, and the reply i got was "OMG he needs to have surgery" but it was too late.

I do not believe my vet or anyone else implicitly, nor will I ever.

Experience has taught me never to take the word of any vet at face value & to take the information I am given & carry out independent research.

A vet advised me that histopathology was unnecessary on a lump removed as they were sure it was benign. Three months he developed a large mass, was referred to a canine oncologist, who informed me that the vet had misdiagnosed a cancerous mass & failed to remove it with wide margins, so it had continued to spread. Without treatment he would have been dead within six weeks.

Thereafter I NEVER took the word of a vet at face value again.

When a vet advised me that a small suspicious mass on another Dobe's leg was probably harmless & we should "wait & see", my reply was NO we will not & I want it removed. The result came back as a low grade cancerous tumor, which never returned because it was removed with wide margins.

I will use the dog section as a secondary source of information for a dog that has been diagnosed with an illness, but make my decisions about treatment based on my independent research & the information provided by a local &/or specialist vet.

Some people are simply surfing for a cheap option, while others may want to know if anyone has had a dog diagnosed with the same condition, what treatment it was given & how the dog responded.

With regard to medicating your own dog, fine if you have the knowledge to do it safely, otherwise leave it to a vet.

I think it is just human nature not to trust what someone says. That being said i always take the advice of my vet (who is also my boss). I agree that vets are people too and sometimes are not right but they do know more about animal health that just your average joe on yahooanswers. Self medicating can be fine if you have already been to a vet for the issue before and have meds that you know are safe for your animal and you are well educated on everything relating to the medication