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| - I took my dogs elsewhere about a year ago after becoming frustrated with the treatment I received when my original veterinarian left the practice (who was communicative and showed a real desire to manage expenses and include me in the decisionmaking), and we started seeing Dr. Walker.
My older dog has a long term, chronic illness that this clinic was unable to identify. He was placed on several expensive medications and food that totalled several thousand dollars a year, including a medication for dogs with insufficient pancreas function. When I tried to discuss options for long term care to maintain quality of life while decreasing expenses, the response that I got from Dr. Walker was essentially that she knew best and then she questioned whether I wanted what was best for my dog. The final visit, she ordered bloodwork but did not even bother to check his pancreas values. I took him to a new vet, and when he went through my dog's paperwork, he could not find evidence that my dog needed the pancreas medication. He checked his pancreas values to be safe. His lipase values were normal the only time he was tested by Bartles and Busack. His lipase values are normal currently. We took him off that specific medication and his stool improved, and I am spending $1000 less a year. So my dog was on expensive medication for no defensible reason.
Then there was the time I asked for a refill of his pain medication and she acted like I was a drug addict. The prior doctor had told me to give him 2-3 pills a day and I was under the impression that this was a permanent medication regimen because I had been told his condition is very painful. I had one refill left on the prescription and at the time I was traveling for work with my dogs, so I would make sure I had more than enough of everything that they needed. Instead of calmly explaining that I was supposed to be weaning him off of the pain medication she yelled at me about it being a controlled substance (how am I supposed to know that?) and how I couldn't possibly need a refill even after I had been upfront with how many pills I had left and my travel situation.
Then there was the time that she acted like I abuse my other dog because I brought him in wearing a sweater in winter (I'd just shaved him, he is a terrier, and he gets cold). She told me she doesn't like it when they come in because usually the owners are trying to hide something. Because there is no way the vet would take off the sweater. If you were trying to hide something, wouldn't most people be smart enough to cancel the appointment?
Finally, The American heartworm association recommends testing your dog once a year. They are requiring testing twice a year to be able to purchase the medication needed to prevent heartworm. If I remember properly, they were charging $40 for this test. There is no scientificly supported reason for their required testing frequency and when I tried to talk to them about this, I got the same "don't you want what is best for your pet?" Non-response. There is a reason that testing frequency is established based on scientific data: every test has a false positive rate (that can lead to unneeded followups and expose the patient to unnecessary risk) - the established rate weighs the benefits with the potential risks based on statistics.
The funniest thing is that when I finally got my complete records (surprise surprise, they didnt give me my dog's blood work originally with the rest of the packet) and read the notes about why I left, the office supervisor made me seem like I am anti-vaccine (how she got 'vaccine' from 'overtesting and putting my dog on unnecessary medications' is beyond me...) and did not make note of any of my real concerns. Let me be blunt: a woman who feels strongly about scientific evidence is pro-vaccine.
I feel strongly that your veterinarian (and your doctor) should having honest conversations about quality of life and cost of care. I did not have this relationship at Bartles and Busack after my original veterinarian left their practice.
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