20/20 expose on vet care!!

[Yorkiemom1]

Gosh....I hope many pet owners were watching 20/20 this evening....lots of information covered on consumer scams....and vets were included in the scam. They covered unnecessary testing, dental health/cleanings that actually were not needed, anesthesia risks for unnecessary procedures, the "C" diagnosis that terrifies pet owners, over vaccinating,.....it was very good and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt5, pet owners must be educated on procedures that actually ARE needed, and the imp[ortance of second opinions. I alsway get second opinions from vetrs I know, NOT vets recommended by the vet I am seeing....too easy for "good ole boy club" activities.... Excellent show this evening.....An educated consumer is a dangerous thing for some of these scammers!

[ladyjane]

I did not see it. All I can say is that we must be educated consumers for our own care and that of our pups.

I am so thankful to have wonderful vets who do not do unecessary testing or procedures. Of that I am very sure. I do know that others do though...I remember one of our foster pups just last year went to a vet who said she needed both knees and hips operated on and he was going to give YHR a deal. The price was not bad BUT we had the foster mom take the pup to the specialist we used and found out that she needed NO surgery...not on her hips or her knees. Either the vet was a dumba$$ or a money grubber. Scary.

[sasha2334829]

I watched this as well. I can't believe vets would do that. Smh.

[ladyjane]

What I will say though is that I find more vets who don't realize when a pup needs a dental ... more of that happening than the other way around. Most yorkies need them almost yearly. Many other small breeds are the same. I don't know what the special said, but I wish I had seen it.

[MauiGirl]

I wish I had seen it too, sounds interesting. I wonder if it will be available to view later on the internet?

As always it's a buyer beware situation. People should always get quotes up front, and feel free to question the purpose and necessity of any test or procedure, and of course consult another vet if there is any question.

Just like car mechanics, appliance repairmen, etc. there is room to "pad" any work order. Exposing a few bad ones on shows like 20/20 just makes consumers more aware of what to look out for.

[Lovetodream88]

I saw it and thought it was pretty good. I guess I am lucky I have a great vet. When I was worried about Callie's growing bump I asked my vet straight out could it be cancer and she looked really good at it and said it really does not look like it and ever aspirated it free and looked at it under the microscope. She said it needs to be removed but is not a thing we need to rush and get done that we can wait until the holiday season is over and or until she needs her teeth clean. They also found the cheapest way for me to get Callie's thyroid tested with her yearly blood work, they said just added it on to the yearly one she was gonna get would cost more and that it would cost less to just get the senior wellness one and it would even check for more stuff then the other one but a thyroid test was part of it. Because Callie seems to go to the vet a lot most of the time they charge us the recheck price for the regular vet visit.

[OwnedByJezebel]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

What I will say though is that I find more vets who don't realize when a pup needs a dental ... more of that happening than the other way around. Most yorkies need them almost yearly. Many other small breeds are the same. I don't know what the special said, but I wish I had seen it.

What they said about dentals is that if there is a little tartar build-up, it isn't needed. If there is gingivitis, then a dental is necessary. This is consistent with what we found on my two during their last annual exam. Their vet said that Jez didn't need a dental, but Chuy had a little gingivitis so he had to get one.

During the next annual, I'm going to ask the vet to show me how gingivitis differs from normal pink healthy gums so that I know what to look for. They could conceivably go a whole year -- until their next annual --- without a vet visit, and a lot can happen inside those little mouths in a year's time.

[Ellie May]

20/20 (11.22.13) | Video - ABC News

Starts at 9:45 mark.

Yes, some vets recommend unnecessary things and some don't. Another thing to pay attention to is if the vet is also the practice owner. Some bosses insist on certain protocols. Veys either follow them or lose their job. But these vets can give their own ooinion/recommendation if specifically asked.

I wouldn't take my dogs to a vet who pushes annal vaccines. Dentistry is a bit more of a grey area. You really can't know for sure if there is a problem until the dog is asleep. Gingivitis is a good reason for a cleaning, but not the only reason.

[IDPiper]

I didn't see it but I have a friend that's a vet in another state and she was furious!!! Thanks for the link Ellie May, I'm going to have to watch it now.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by IDPiper

I didn't see it but I have a friend that's a vet in another state and she was furious!!! Thanks for the link Ellie May, I'm going to have to watch it now.

why was she mad?

[katy-yorkie]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

What I will say though is that I find more vets who don't realize when a pup needs a dental ... more of that happening than the other way around. Most yorkies need them almost yearly. Many other small breeds are the same. I don't know what the special said, but I wish I had seen it.

I do give my vet credit for recognizing the importance of the dental. I don't get all of the vaccinations that he recommends but I do get the dental every year. Buster and Maggie do not like having their teeth brushed even though I've been "brushing" their teeth since they were puppies.

[Wylie's Mom]

I saw it and thought it was pretty good. Was happy to see that the majority of vets were on the up-and-up. And of course, there will always be less ethical vets too, as there are less ethical people in all professions.

It was interesting to see how WAY more cautious it was recommended to be with dentals...ie, that we shouldn't do a dental unless it's truly necessary/needed due to the obvious add'l risks of anesthesia.

[Britster]

That was interesting. I do find that a lot of vets are the opposite -- and don't recommend dentals enough! However, I definitely think it's more of a small dog problem than a big dog problem. The 2 dogs featured on the special didn't look like they needed them, based upon simply viewing them from my eye.

The vaccine thing is definitely scary. Some vets just don't want to give up the money they make from annual vaccinations.

I love our vet. They are maybe a bit too pricey, but it's worth my peace of mind. They've never really pushed anything on me, and always been realistic, and ASKED me rather than just.... telling me.

I feel, looking back in hindsight, I was ripped off by a different vet... when Jax had his stomach issue, and he had been up all night throwing up, and later turned into a bit of blood, of course it was a Sunday... I decided to try a vet that was open on Sundays, not the ER, to "Avoid the Emergency fees"... At this point, I was just scared... my dog was throwing up blood, he was clearly not feeling well, I was upset (vet could see this), and young, I know looking back he took advantage of me. He spent the night overnight, and now looking back, I don't think it was necessary to put him through it. He came home so scared and traumitized, his butt was disgustingly smelly from anal glands expressing out of fright. I think he would've been fine being sent home with meds and subq fluids. They kept doing blood tests over and over again through the week in house, all kept supposedly coming back with high lipase levels so they thought pancreatitis by that. But they never did the CPL test until 3 days later after 3 blood tests in house, which ended up coming back negative. They were giving him subq fluids every day for like a week. They kept recommending he stay another night, and get more, etc, and finally I was like no.. sorry, don't have the money, he's acting perfectly fine at home, he's eating, drinking, pooping normally, etc. I know my dog well and I know when he's feeling bad. He was almost 100% back to normal the night he got home. Yet I was stupid and kept following their recommendations and bringing him day after day. The doc was just very 'cold' IMO and also looked at me like I was an idiot when I said no I don't want any vaccines, he had them 2 years ago, and he had this shocked look on his face, he was trying to push annual (first of all, like I'm gonna give me sick dog vaccines right now ) I still feel terrible over it, as I know now I could've done things differently, live and learn. It was a $1500 mistake. When I later went to my regular vet and explained everything and showed her paperwork, etc, she kind of just shook her head and said he probably just had a GI upset and definitely shouldn't have needed to stay overnight.

This place was def a vet I would say was unethical from what I experienced, and I've heard lots of real life complaints about them too, and read things online.

But I would say more vets than not are ethical... and they play such a vital role in our pets well-being, and go to a lot of school to get to that point, so their opinion should be respected. But yes I think always questioning and always doing your own research, etc, is important .

[gemy]

I actually thought there would be more to it than what the show outlined.

The marketplace special here in Canada outlined a lot of other serious issues, starting from a perfectly well dog, being ddx'd with this or that or potential illness.

Over vaccination finally seems to be getting into the public awareness, and the more educated the public from authoritative sources the better the health care they will demand from their vets.

Dentals I am a couple of minds about, I do wonder about the repetitive long term affect of putting under a general anaesthesia for the toy breeds, and for senior dogs.
I would like to see more studies researching this aspect. For senior dogs, just what impact does anaesthesia have on cognitive faculties, and how often are their complications from anaesthesia on elderly dogs?

And of course a prime question in my mind is; Yorkies are notorious for bad teeth; why is this so? And is this something that breeders should seriously take into consideration prior to breeding dog a/b or c?

In some breeds bite/teeth are so important that we have DQ's on any other bite than a scissor one, and also DQ's on missing teeth. Why do so many Yorkies have to have baby teeth pulled? Does the holding on of a significant number of baby teeth impact the adult teeth negatively - say at the root level. Or does the constant rubbing of the baby tooth against the permanent tooth wear the enamel very quicly on a new adult tooth?

Those are interesting questions that I personally don't know the answer too.

[IDPiper]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

why was she mad?

Her sentiment.....

"Thank you 20/20 for attempting to make the veterinary profession look like a bunch of thieves. You failed. What you showed with your hidden camera was that most veterinarians are honest and ethical. We are some of the best and brightest that chose our career not for the status or for the money, but for love of what we do. Better luck next time."