Animal professionals and bedside manner - what do we expect?

Sorry, rambling post...

The vet we have here in Southampton is the only one within the city boundary that has an 'Exotics' commendation, so we take Bertie there. Generally they are very good with him, but I'm aware that they also need to top up their info on a couple of things that are now considered outdated practices.

After a couple of problems initially (given unsavvy bunny vets), we now have a lovely guy looking after Bertie who makes you feel at ease, is very open to answering any questions, discussing treatment in detail, and that makes us feel like we are in good hands. That said, Bertie was undiagnosed with a recurring problem that eventually needed to be seen and treated by a rabbit specialist.

Things then couldn't have been more different really. The specialist was very direct, slighly abrasive, told us what was going to happen, disempowered us completely by whisking Bertie off to stay the night for X-rays in the morning without even asking us if that was Ok. It was not really Ok to question what was being said either.
I had looked at the specialists qulaifications before the visit, and had a recommendation from a member here, so I knew that technically, Bertie was in the best hands in the southern half of the country, but both Paul and I left the surgery feeling very 'mowed over'. The experience was disarming, and I felt frustrated that I hadn't been involved at any point in the process of what happened to Berts. The specialist was very confident, and with those qualifications, had every right to be, so we placed an uneasy trust and went home.
Collected him the next day, and he had a diagnosis, correct medication, and is now a different bun

The initial consultation, which lasted less than 5 minutes, was nearly £100 This seemed quite a shock at the time, but has paid dividends so far. I have had a call from the specialist every week to discuss mediaction dosage, and I have a line to them whanever I need it. The X-rays and a full report with recommendations for treatment has been sent to my vet., which I only discovered on Friday.

I am still unable to question things comfortably, and there have been a couple of stand-offs re: treatment support with alternative remedies, but that said, I have now come to realise that the eyes of a specialist are the ones that Bertie needed and we paid for. The person looking at those X-rays needed to be able to see something that a vet may not pick up.

5 weeks down the line, my concerns about the bedside manner have gone, because getting Bertie well was why we were there, and we have now graciously accepted that the difference in approach towards people that our vet and specilaist have is really not important, or indicative of either practice. Yes, it's helpful to be made to feel part of what's going on with your bun, but actually, it's reassuring to have someone tell you, take control, and get it fixed. and obviously we learn from that.

Psychologically, as a customer, people like this can really rub you up the wrong way, but I have no reason to doubt the care for animals that is our specialists TOP priority, the poeple who look after them are really not important to them, just as long as thay can look after the bunny properly.

I wondered if any of you have similar experiences and how you view them?

Personally, and possibly controversially, I see absolutely no reason why a complete belief in your own skills and ability means you need to be blunt and closed to discussion. When you use a vet you are a client paying for a service and you should ultimately have the right to ask why something is so, not only does it put you at ease but if it helps you understand your animals condition that can only be beneficial in your future handling of the situation.

If any of my three vets, and one is more than qualified to specialise but chooses not to, were not open with me about discussing treatment options and seeking referals and information....even on alternative and herbal therapies....Juno would certainly not be here and Mack & Lexie would have died a while ago. I have never been dicatated too by my vets and because of their faith in my own ability to not only care for my rabbits but to treat them objectively it reinforces my faith in the vets ability to treat them compassionately and within the realms of reason.

Vets are not infallable, I have heard stories from them of cases they regret from earlier in their career and what is frankly the most disturbing aspect of those stories is when a vet becomes so caught up in proving themselves that the welfare of the animal is left behind, and sadly it is iften only in hindsight that they realise what has happened. Specialists are usually behind pioneering treatments and surgeries and there is a risk when using them that your rabbit could be come something of a guinea pig (pardon the pun), occasionally in the attempt to progress they see sacrifices to be made. However the only person who should be deciding the sacrifice is the owner, and if they feel unable to discuss or even broach the matter with the vet then how can they reach a balanced and reasoned decision. Disempowerment is a dangerous thing and as such can be abused.

That all makes complete sense Sooz, uncontraversially, and I agree with what you say. We've had to address the challenges that the specialist has presented, but in this case, I didn't get the feeling that Bertie was being used, but more that we were there, so we must want the specialist to diagnose the bun, and treat him, so that's what he did.

Interestingly, if I were ignorant about my bun, haden't read anything, joined here etc, I doubtless would feel different about it, and wouldn't be any the wiser. but because I knew some things, I felt empowered, which then lent itself to feeling disempowered...if that makes sense.

I will say that i have'nt gotten all the answers I wanted, so I still feel somewhat frustrated, and my opinion about what happened with Bertie has taken time to settle. I'm still very glad we went

I'm not sure how I would react with a vet like that My vet has amazing bedside manner with my buns. She very clearly loves them and gets just as concerned with their well-being as I do. She has buns of her own so is very keen on the little things that owners notice with regards to changes in behavior that maybe a vet wouldn't pick up on and is very good at really listening to what I have to say.

It is quite obviously that I don't have near the experience that Sooz or Jay do when it comes to bun health. If I thought something was amiss with what the vet was saying I don't know that I would trust my own knowledge to say something contrary. However, I do think I would feel completely at ease questioning my vet if the occasion called for it.

I haven't had any bad experiences with the vets (yet) so can't really comment as such. However from growing up with dogs and obviously making regular trips to vets, to me, they should be cheerful, polite, friendly, even when delivering good news or having to disagree with you about your pet. After all, if they chose that career path, surely it was for a love of animals, big and small???

Those that are anything but polite, friendly, gentle, subtle etc to me aren't 100% animal lovers. Just my view though x

It's interesting, for me, at no point do I think that the lack of human bedside manner translates into lack of care for the animal. I wonder if that's projecting what we would like for ourselves onto our pet?

My vet has all the bedside manner you could extract, and cares bout the animals, but he didn't offer us this X-ray, he offered a barium one to look at the guts, the specialist, as soon he held Bertie, said 'lower spine, there's some pain, we need to find out what it is'. which he duly did

my OP was a bit rambly, but I think this is the point I was trying to make, in my usual round-about way

I see what you are saying - probably me not saying it right lol. I meant those that are more brusque obviously like to care for the animals and have their health in mind but perhaps don't feel as much as a connection with them as perhaps other vets??? I appreciate that brusque or not, the care never drops (unless you get a dodgy vet!).

Soz... not good with words at mo!

Maybe the fact that they have decided to become specialists, means that they are very focused on treatment and animals and sometimes don't connect as well with people as they should do.

It sounds like he is a very perceptive person and although he did kind of get on with the task and you didn't feel as involved as with your usual vet, at least you can see that that level of scrutiny certainly paid dividends.

Absolutely Nickie I hope it hasen't seemed like I'm unsure about taking him there because I'm not, at all

ditto nickie...

i just adore that photo of bertie so much .. jay - i think i want it as my wallpaper lol lol

Here's the original Clicky