I no longer have a vet and have a sick horse!

[jodiTowne]

I posted info on the health forum and need advice on my anorexic horse.

I called my vet this AM to receive advice and was told they can not come out and were no longer servicing equines! I was just there last week to pick up my pergolide script and nothing was said. Thankfully they did all vaccines except the flu.

I am livid!! In is inappropriate to just close a practice with no warning!! I knew they lost a provider, but that was months ago. Nice of them to wait untill spring vaccine, foal, colic and founder season to close!!!! I will be writing a nasty gram to them and to the veterinary society. Then they gie me # for other vets , one of which is a quack! :evil:

Well, thats my vent for today. I was supposed to have a day off to enjoy the sunshine, go for a ride and just enjoy. :cry:

Wish me luck on my vet search and on Valedor feeling beter.

[Terry Wallace]

I feel your pain...!
Sorry you have to go through this...BUT...always a but huh?
The facts are...there are not enough equine vets (or any other vets) to service all the animals we keep these days. Nor are there enough students coming into veterinary practice due to the extreme high cost to do so. Hate to tell you this,...but its gonna get worse before it gets better....

Its the main reason I always have two equine vets "on retainer" that I am a client of. If one is not available..I call the other...its just a bit of vet "insurance". I use them fairly equally so they remember me, each gets roughly half my business on a regualr basis.

It would be well advised to at least get yourself a copy of "First Aid For Horses" (I think its by Elanore Kellon) to put into your vet kit. In a situation like you have now...it would be a MUST to keep 1 syringe Banamine, 1 syringe bute and probably at least 50 TPS antibiotic pills.
So you can at least "buy time" to get a vet there from a longer distance.
Believe me...that little first aid book..covers a whole lot of symptoms, is easy to use, is small in size, and will fit in your "vet" tool box... (a portable tool box is what I use for my vet supplies) and be the first thing you reach for when you open the lid... JMO!

[britzlove]

I'm hoping you are able to resolve this soon. I haven't had vet problems but I have been without a farrier for awhile and I can't do my own.

Sorry...I'm sure it's tough. I'll check out the other message but I'll be wishing for luck and better days!

Britz

[jodiTowne]

Terry....do have a book (think its the same one), just got banamine, have bute, syringes and luckily some knowledge (prior vet tech and current nurse practitioner). Luckily now have a trailer so can always truck somewhere.

If there is going to be a vet shortage they need to relax laws a little (let us get some stuff OTC) .

Well, maybe I'll find an awesome vet out of this......

[Moniece Dickerson]

I'd be very upset too!Like Terry I have two vets now but if either were to abruptly stop seeing equine i'd be upset but to stop and not even notify you is just unexcusable.Sorry this happened to you.Your friend,Moniece

[Pam M]

It would be nice to be able to have two vets to choose from. We only have one around here that will make farm calls and that is less than an hour's drive. I live in fear that he'll get sick or hurt! The poor man is so overworked it's ridiculous.

[Terri]

Wow, Jodi, I never thought about what it would be like not to be able to get a vet. We have lots of them around here. That would be scary. Living so close to a big city full of Universities I guess I just take for granted that I can always find a vet, baby Dr, or any specialist I want. Perhaps if a group of local horse owners wrote to some of the vet schools about your need, some aspiring vet would see it as an opportunity to begin a thriving practice in an area that needs one.

[CarolU]

My normal vet has a partner, they rotate call. And there are two other vets in town, I have also used, one of which I've known for 30 years. I feel I am very lucky.

My vet's son is in vet school in Missouri. Joe has gone months before waiting on new partners getting out of school...so he had his own (so to speak). They had a h@ll of a time getting him accepted into a school, not because of the cost, but because so few schools offer the program and most positions are set for within-state students. They only offer a limited number of out-of-state students.

They don't graduate enough vets ON PURPOSE!!! To keep the numbers low and the prices up. I can't tell you how many pre-vet students end up in MD school because it is easier to get in.

You can't really blame a vet for closing their doors to large animals. Our State vet used to own the large animal practice here. He was cornered by a mule burned in a fire and almost kicked to death. After he recovered he sold the practice and went into Administration. Nice to have the State vet as a friend too (I can always get the straight scoop early!), but you can certainly understand why he made the change. He's the vet who saved Tina from tetnus, will always be near and dear to my heart.

I feel for you. Shopping for new vets is a bad as farriers. I've just been VERY lucky.

[jodiTowne]

Asked around and found an office that was recommended and they took my info quickly. Vet called me back within 15 min. and discussed my horses symptoms. I feel better knowing I have another vet available. Also they have 4-5 vets on rotating call. My first vet around here once called me back from Colorado after I called her for an emergency!! Don't want a one man vet service again!

Terri....you are lucky. The nearest "true" equine vet is an 1 1/2 hour drive and goes to Florida in the winter (follows the race horses)! Then we have Cornell, but that has to be around 2-3 hours from here.

Thanks for listening!!

[Linda Y]

We only have one local large animal vet, too. The other one was killed a couple years ago in a wreck on his way to a horse show. You would think that new vets would see the possibilities and move into these areas. Same with farriers. We lost a lot of them...not that there were many to begin with...after Katrina.

[Pam M]

It's so bad here that my husband offered to send me to vet school! Unfortunately, I can make more money with what I'm currently doing. I try to be very appreciative of both my vet and farrier - they're both overworked and underpaid.

My vet showed up 2 hours late a couple of weeks ago and he was in a pretty foul mood because we were only appointment 2 out of 18 scheduled that day! :shock: We put off everything we could so he could get out of here fast. I really do feel for the man. I can't even imagine a life where I didn't have to think of my vet's welfare as much as my horses!