Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Good Veterinarians are Hard to Come By...

I am blessed to say that my animals, overall, are in very good health. However, Lily has developed a bump on her spine which is slightly concerning and should probably be biopsied. I called my veterinarian's office yesterday to make an appointment but was surprised to find that my vet, Dr. L, is no longer there and hasn't been for some time.

I have taken Piper to Dr. L since she was a tiny, baby kitten, Lily since she was born, and Trudy since we adopted her. For myself and my "kids" this is the only animal doctor we have ever known. After some internet investigation, I found his email address and dropped him a note last night. He graciously responded and said that he is opening his own practice very soon.

This all seems to be copacetic but Hubby and I have a differing opinion as to what to do next:

I would like to continue taking the animals to Dr. L at his new practice when it opens.
Hubby would like to switch vets because he has a feeling that something strange is going on.

Hubby's concern is valid, I will admit! First and foremost, this is probably the 5th or 6th time Dr. L has moved locations in the last 9 years. It is Hubby's stance that there may be an illicit or insidious reason why Dr. L cannot or does not stay at any one location for very long. Secondly, I may be going out on a limb here but, I also get the impression that Hubby gets a weird vibe from him.

I, on the other hand, don't get that same vibe and Dr. L has been nothing but wonderful to me and my pets. I am having a hard time with the idea of leaving him after so many years of outstanding service and compassion. He once talked on the phone with me for over an hour discussing Piper's health and future prognosis. He also personally calls me with test results and updates me on my animals instead of passing it off to a technician. From my perspective, he is just a great vet...however, I trust my hubby and his instincts...

So, my question for all of you out there is: what would you do? Would you continue to go to what appears to be an outstanding vet who has a shadow of doubt hanging over him? Or would you take the chance on a new vet??

2 comments:

Tom said...

The 5 or 6 locations in less then 9 years would lead me to believe that there is something going on, maybe not something with the treatment of the animals but his inter-personal skills.

If it were my Doc after the third time in less then 5 years I would be looking for a new Doc.

~kk said...

If I were you, get recommendations from friends and find out exactly why they love their doc (how long they have gone there and if there have been any incidents). There may be another vet in Tucson you can trust who calls to check up on your kiddos once the appointment is over. Our vet does it here, so worst case scenario you can come to Phoenix! :) I know, not a realistic solution.

Know that you are doing the right thing to at least explore the option of a new vet.