Veterinarian Recommendations Brantford to Norfolk County

Hello,

Its a strange first post, I know.

We have a 2 year old GSP family/hunting dog and live between Brantford and Simcoe.

We recently had a scare with bladder stones that went undetected. He was peeing blood about a month ago and our vet just threw antibiotics at it without doing or suggesting a urine test. In the end, it resulted in a fully blocked urethra and emergency surgery with a total bill of $3000. (In the current economic climate, we almost had to consider whether we could afford to save him.)

Needless to say, we are thinking about changing vets and figured you all would be a great source to go to for recommendations on an affordable vet with high quality care. Don’t mind driving a bit to get there.

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Overall I'm not a huge fan of vets just because of events like that. Not that there aren't good ones out there as well, it's kind of like mechanics, just because they have a license doesn't mean they're good. Or sometimes they want to charge you a fortune for work that's not needed. Last summer my neighbour's Golden developed a gimp so he brought him into the local vets. Well they said he had a torn ACL and wanted to do expensive surgery. Something seemed off for Jimmy so he said no thanks and took the dog home. Well after three days of rest Jake was going on short walks again and within a week was completely back to normal.

I am curious if you said anything to the vet? I know I would have been furious and would have screamed bloody murder loud enough to make sure that I got a break on the bill. Good luck finding a new one.

Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smitty55

Overall I'm not a huge fan of vets just because of events like that. Not that there aren't good ones out there as well, it's kind of like mechanics, just because they have a license doesn't mean they're good. Or sometimes they want to charge you a fortune for work that's not needed. Last summer my neighbour's Golden developed a gimp so he brought him into the local vets. Well they said he had a torn ACL and wanted to do expensive surgery. Something seemed off for Jimmy so he said no thanks and took the dog home. Well after three days of rest Jake was going on short walks again and within a week was completely back to normal.

I am curious if you said anything to the vet? I know I would have been furious and would have screamed bloody murder loud enough to make sure that I got a break on the bill. Good luck finding a new one.

Cheers

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Absolutely,

We definitely mentioned it and asked for a break on the bill.
I totally get your analogy. I run an auto service and parts department for a living at a dealership and the value of honesty and skill cannot be overstated.

At the same time, I know how these things can be handled by those who are less than ethical and so I didn’t want to play total hardball and risk even further escalating pricing and nonsense from the vet.

Often I find the best approach is to just move on to better things and places.

We've been going to Queensway Veterinary Clinic in Simcoe and so far we are very satisfied. We have a 9 year old lab now but we've had Springers before that. They seem to be very caring and don't seem to "nickle and dime" us. TC

Hank and I go to West Brant. I played hockey with the old owner and vet Kevin Harkness. He is still in clinic though for the time being. Right now they are in lockdown and only taking emergency cases from clients.

I think its important to make it clear to a Vet what your expectations are. So many people today think of their dogs like furry children and expect the Vet to treat them as such. The Vets kind of get in that mode as well unless you make it clear that is not what you expect. No one enjoys their dogs more than I do and I take very good care of them however I am not overly sentimental about them and when facing care decisions money and practicality are important to me. I have been going to Shellard Lane in Brantford since they opened. They know how I feel and respect what I want but you do need to set the ground rules.