Best time to get FIRST wellness checkup & boosters??

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by enchilila

Yes, for researching and for taking my cat to a feline specialist, and he even had to refer me!! That is what the vet tech told me.

Actually, he did me a HUGE favor because now I have this fantastic vet. I only wish that I had known about his practice for the past 30 years. He is much more informed about everything! AND, he used to raise Yorkies and knows quite a bit about their needs. The only thing I can't figure out is why he did the Lepto and Corona vacs. $$$ ??? But, now that I'm more informed about vacs, I will call the shots! No pun intended!!

You go girl

ever heard of KICK BACKS in a profession? we do not have to get referrals here thank goodness. But let me tell you a little what i learned. I called a dentist as i consulted two and picked the best one i was on the same page with. The first one when i called she said so did a vet refer you and i said no and asked how much - she said the consult was $50 if i came on my own or $150 if i was referred by a vet. Now why was that? hmmmmm i thought -- did not end up using this dentist but boy did i learn something that day. Also when dd hurt her leg i called a friend of ours who is the chief radiologist of a surgical center to get a recommendation for ortho and when i called the vet back who wanted to do the surgery in 2 weeks with a DENTAL scary and wanted to do LP and check for acl when ortho said rest for 2 months the vet proceeded to say well since you found him i will not put in a referral to him -hmmmmm now WHY? Has me thinking KICK BACKS.

[enchilila]

Originally Posted by dwerten

I do annual blood work, fecal and urine in all three of mine. Dee Dee gets it done semi-annually as she is on medication so i am extra cautious with her. I do not do yearly bats on dd and she is mvd as once they are high they are high. We had 3 to confirm it so we know she has it and it has gone down since being on low protein no need to redo.

I also do titers at the same time when blood is pulled to be safe. I know it is controversial but all of mine have had high titers for years now

I walk in to the vets office with my bottles of urine and fecal labeled by name.

How do you collect a urine sample? Betty Boop goes outside most of the time, but she is also pad trained. I could try to place something under her when she goes potty outside, but it will disturb her and she will move quickly.

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by enchilila

I always spend more money than I need to.

don't we all

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by enchilila

How do you collect a urine sample? Betty Boop goes outside most of the time, but she is also pad trained. I could try to place something under her when she goes potty outside, but it will disturb her and she will move quickly.

i had to collect a urine sample from Morgan a few weeks ago. she goes outside too and won't use a pee pad. She's a low squatter so i had to find a container that was under an inch high to stick underneath her. I ended up taking a paper cup and ripping the sides down until it was short enough to get under her. Then i leashed her up and took her into the yard. without the leash she would run away when i got too near . so i waited for her to squat and i tried to be sneaky and quick to stick it underneath her. it took 5 attempted squats until i finally got it. LOL

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by enchilila

How do you collect a urine sample? Betty Boop goes outside most of the time, but she is also pad trained. I could try to place something under her when she goes potty outside, but it will disturb her and she will move quickly.

i always get first urine sample of the day as it has sat in the bladder all night. Mine are trained to wee wee pads so i flip it over and set them on it and they pee. Then i have a sterile syringe and sterile bottle i suck it up put in bottle and seal then put in fridge until our appointment. I get the sterile bottle and syringe from vets office and i always keep a spare back up in case something is not right and i have to take in a fecal or a urine sample. I do not like needles in my dogs bladder so i do this as i feel it is safer and no chance of any complication. Others are comfortable with it and i am not and could care less if there is a little extra bacteria. I discussed it with internal medicine specialist in detail and she agrees so i am 100% confident in it as i trust her 100% as she saved my dog from dying after being under a vets care with pancreatitis. Vet told me he had a tumor and was going to die. He is 6 years old now and fine

[dwerten]

I also keep fecals in fridge until appt as well and get the first fecal of morning as mine are pretty regular. I was told by specialty hospital to put in fridge for both and that is what the vets offices do before sending out to lab

[dwerten]

also i have all fecal, urine and blood work sent to a lab as i do not like inhouse stuff done because if vets office does not calibrate their machines regularly they can be inaccurate so prefer antech or idexx to do the work ups and more than willing to pay extra for that. The only time i did inhouse was when demi had blood in stool then i wanted to know right then wth was going on but turned out to be colitis as inhouse, lab and culture all came up negative. It was a $300 colitis diagnosis but it did not look like the same type of colitis poop dd had so i wanted to be safe. It has never happened again either odd. She is so healthy too so it was totally out of character so why i jumped on it so fast

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by dwerten

i always get first urine sample of the day as it has sat in the bladder all night. Mine are trained to wee wee pads so i flip it over and set them on it and they pee. Then i have a sterile syringe and sterile bottle i suck it up put in bottle and seal then put in fridge until our appointment. I get the sterile bottle and syringe from vets office and i always keep a spare back up in case something is not right and i have to take in a fecal or a urine sample. I do not like needles in my dogs bladder so i do this as i feel it is safer and no chance of any complication. Others are comfortable with it and i am not and could care less if there is a little extra bacteria. I discussed it with internal medicine specialist in detail and she agrees so i am 100% confident in it as i trust her 100% as she saved my dog from dying after being under a vets care with pancreatitis. Vet told me he had a tumor and was going to die. He is 6 years old now and fine

There would be no need for sterile anything if you are taking a sample from a non sterile area such as a pee pad. You are making things much too difficult on yourself. In order for your specimen to not be contaminated you would need to pull from the bladder. Taking a sample that is on a contaminated pee pad and putting it into a sterile syringe and then into a sterile container is just overkill.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

There would be no need for sterile anything if you are taking a sample from a non sterile area such as a pee pad. You are making things much too difficult on yourself. In order for your specimen to not be contaminated you would need to pull from the bladder. Taking a sample that is on a contaminated pee pad and putting it into a sterile syringe and then into a sterile container is just overkill.

Free containers from vets office so i take it lol it works has for 6 years- not doing needles in my dogs bladder no way

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by dwerten

Free containers from vets office so i take it lol it works has for 6 years- not doing needles in my dogs bladder no way

i don't know why your so opposed to a cysto. its perfectly safe and its the only way to get a sterile urine sample quickly and with the least amount of discomfort.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by kalina82

i don't know why your so opposed to a cysto. its perfectly safe and its the only way to get a sterile urine sample quickly and with the least amount of discomfort.

least amount of discomfort is a free catch. There are risks in putting a needle in a bladder unlike free catch and the only thing different is a little extra bacteria big deal never been a problem in 3 dogs for 6 years. Nothing more a cysto is going to tell me than a free catch so why take the risk. A vet will tell you there can be complications they cannot guarantee no complications and i have discussed this with internal medicine specialist as well and Jean Dodds who i trust and both said cysto is not necessary

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by kalina82

i don't know why your so opposed to a cysto. its perfectly safe and its the only way to get a sterile urine sample quickly and with the least amount of discomfort.

A cysto would be the only way for a sterile urine sample........no matter how many sterile cups and syringes that you use it is still not sterile. If a true sterile sample was needed a cysto would be the ONLY way to obtain a sample.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

A cysto would be the only way for a sterile urine sample........no matter how many sterile cups and syringes that you use it is still not sterile. If a true sterile sample was needed a cysto would be the ONLY way to obtain a sample.

only difference is a little less bacteria BIG DEAL nothing else you will see on a cysto than a free catch so not worth the risk and when they did blood work for demi's dental the first dentist did the blood work wanted to do cysto and i asked about risk and she said she had seen one incident where the bladder was damaged and said NO THANK YOU done we will continue with free catch. This is when i called jean and ims and both said not really necessary to do cysto. I am 100% comfortable with my decision. Feel free to do it with your dogs not happening with mine.

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by dwerten

only difference is a little less bacteria BIG DEAL nothing else you will see on a cysto than a free catch so not worth the risk and when they did blood work for demi's dental the first dentist did the blood work wanted to do cysto and i asked about risk and she said she had seen one incident where the bladder was damaged and said NO THANK YOU done we will continue with free catch. This is when i called jean and ims and both said not really necessary to do cysto. I am 100% comfortable with my decision. Feel free to do it with your dogs not happening with mine.

You are not understanding what I am trying to say to you. Then entire process that you are going through to catch a little urine is just overkill. Do you not understand sterile technique? There is NOTHING sterile with the way that you are doing you collection. You could take the syringe and rinse it out and toss it into the draw and it would make a difference. It is total over kill.

Of course a doctor would tell you about risk. It is part of a consent to have the knowledge of all that could happen. That is medicine. When you have any procedure that is always a risk and you need be made aware of the possible risks. You should be told of ALL risks prior to make an INFORMED decision. Have you ever read your consent prior to any surgery? I'm talking human not animal. You could be having a hang nail removed and one of the risk could be death.

You way of thinking about thing that have to do with the medical profession is skewed. What you are just does not make sense to me.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

You are not understanding what I am trying to say to you. Then entire process that you are going through to catch a little urine is just overkill. Do you not understand sterile technique? There is NOTHING sterile with the way that you are doing you collection. You could take the syringe and rinse it out and toss it into the draw and it would make a difference. It is total over kill.

Of course a doctor would tell you about risk. It is part of a consent to have the knowledge of all that could happen. That is medicine. When you have any procedure that is always a risk and you need be made aware of the possible risks. You should be told of ALL risks prior to make an INFORMED decision. Have you ever read your consent prior to any surgery? I'm talking human not animal. You could be having a hang nail removed and one of the risk could be death.

You way of thinking about thing that have to do with the medical profession is skewed. What you are just does not make sense to me.

Yep I have had surgery before not an idiot.

Why just because i do not agree with your way of thinking? What you do is working for you and what i do is working for me doesn't mean either is right or wrong. Your dogs are yours and my dogs are mine so feel free to do what you want to with yours and I will with mine.

You are not reading what i wrote. I get FREE SYRINGES AND BOTTLES FROM THE VET AND THEY ARE STERILE. Key word FREE.