Dolittler

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Comments

My vet lets me restrain all my animals. I worked with her for 5 years and she's been my vet for well over 10 years so the question of whether she trusts me or not is not an issue.

In the weird cases where I have to bring my animals to another vet for whatever reason, I hand my animals over to whomever without any grief. My Jack Russell likes to bite people if I'm near by, so I back off giving whoever is going to be handling him a warning that yes he does and will bite if he decides he doesn't like something done to him.

It's kind of weird though. I tell these people to muzzle him and they don't. They understand that he's just being a jerk and acting as though he has to protect me so they treat him accordingly. To date nobody has be bit so I don't force the muzzle issue. Should he decide to lash out for whatever reason one of these days, nobody can tell me they weren't warned.

Have a good weekend!

# Posted By Stacy | 1/6/07 3:33 PM

Part of my desire to restrain my own pet is that it calms my pet more to have me holding it (for most of them). Tom for instance (my former feral cat) is better off with me holding him, and if it's something that I can't hold him for, he has to be muzzled and bagged. When he needed his anal sacs expressed, he definitely had to be bagged. I didn't know the vet's office could be liable- that does explain why the vet was so insistant on taking care of minor scratches given while I held him for his first examination (when he still didn't trust/know me that well). Now we know each other better and I can hold him better than they can for many small things.

My Kenya dog is definitely more stressed if I don't hold her and she will bite. For anything that happens with her, the vet and I discuss it first before we decide if we need a tech to hold her or if I can do the job better. Any injection? Oh she's an angel. Any serious groping or a journey to the Back Room, and she's a terrified snapping mess.

Sassy Fat Cat the diabetic and Rascal the Basset can have anyone hold them and do anything you want. It very much varies.

# Posted By Georg | 1/6/07 4:56 PM

Our old cat Pyewacket, the terror of vets in three states (until the last one hit on the technique of gassing him with sedative before even taking him out of the carrier) once held at bay two techs wearing body armor. I'd left the exam room, but everyone in the building could hear the yowling from inside. This went on for quite a while, until one of the techs -- who looked like an Imperial Stormtrooper -- stuck his head out the exam-room door and motioned at me to come over.

Pye had wedged himself into the examining-room sink, and was fighting off anyone who got near him. "We don't know what to do," the tech said. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I dunno. Run water on him, maybe?"

"We can't get close enough!"

They finally dragged him out with a noose attached to a long pole; that must have been a miserable experience for him, and certainly didn't increase his fondness for vets, but I understood 100% why they did it. I NEVER would have tried to restrain him myself!

The first vet we took him to, when he was still a kitten, put three green dots on his file. When I asked what they meant, the vet looked at me and said, "One green dot means be careful. Two green dots mean be very careful. Three green dots mean that you take your life in your hands if you go anywhere near this animal."

The cat we had at the same time, Belphoebe, was so mellow that she'd hold still for x-rays without sedatives. Cats certainly have different personalities!

# Posted By Susan | 1/6/07 7:03 PM

I am perfectly happy letting anyone take over handling my pets, I've been very lucky in that only one of my dogs (rescue dane) has ever taken offense at going to the vet, and that one was muzzled as soon as he walked in the door. I later had to return him to the rescue as he decided anyone he saw was someone to take offense at.
I too worked at vet offices in my past, but that's how I know that the attendents are the experts in how this particular vet works and what is best for the job at hand. If I feel that someone is abusing my animal - then its time to find a new vet, not offer to take over.

# Posted By Carla | 1/8/07 9:57 AM

Lets not forget the first lesson of vet techs everywhere- most animals at a veterinary office behave badly when owners are present, and behave perfectly when they are not.

# Posted By Margaret | 1/8/07 11:09 AM

Heh- I restrain SOME of my pets at my vet's office- but I used to work with that vet. But I draw the line, myself, and sometimes will ask him to take one of the crew to the 'back' to get their vaccines (and definitely microchips- I NEVER liked assisting vets when they were injecting microchips! UGH!).

As far as the pet never biting... My Himmie cat, from so long ago, had a UTI. The vet wanted to collect urine from him and therefore ran a catheter up his wee parts and pulled out some urine (don't ask me why they didn't just wait for him to piddle in a box- this was back when I was in high school). The vet left the room, left my Qui with me, and Qui dashed under the chair in the exam room.

Silly me, I went to pick Qui up, where he immediately eliminated the rest of his bladder on the floor, and then latched his teeth THROUGH my Letterman's jacket sleeve (those are thick sleeves!) and bruised my arm!

And this was my baby? ACK! So I definitely agree with you- sometimes, the procedures bring out the worse in our pets. I never blamed Qui- it was my own stupidity that made me think he'd want to be cuddled so soon after being violated!

# Posted By Trish | 1/8/07 12:09 PM

Interesting topic! The head vet/owner of the clinic we go to expects me to restrain my own pets when she does procedures. I think she's testing me to see if she wants to hire me :) The other vets all have their own techs, so I just stand back and watch.

# Posted By Leigh-Ann | 1/9/07 7:03 AM

I've held my Persian thru all sorts of procedures. Many quite painful. I know I'm going to be the gentlest, yet firmest. I've always taken the UTMOST care to protect the vet at all costs. Although he's (the cat, not the vet) has NEVER bitten ever, nor scratched, of course I realize any animal will bite. He does seem calmest when I'm around him. I'm grateful my vet trusts me enough to do this, I never realized how big a deal this really is. THANK you for this post.

# Posted By DivaMinerva | 1/14/07 6:44 PM

I hold my own dogs when I go to the vet, even when they do injections or whatever else.
I honestly never knew it was an option or that somebody else would do it; it certainly was never offered.
My dogs, however, are small yorkies, but really, trying to hold on to them when they do not want to be held onto is quite a feat!

# Posted By m | 3/11/07 3:00 AM

I restrain my standard poodle, Agadore. But he's the world's biggest baby. Yes, I know he's a dog and he is capable of biting.
When he was neutered, he had a reaction of some kind...where he used to have cojones, was swollen up the size of an orange. I took him in to the vet, I restrained him, they lanced his fruit. I took him home, and kept frozen peas on him for the next two days. Got to where when I would start to cook supper, and take anything out of the freezer, he'd flip onto his back and spread his legs.....no I'm not making this up. When I first got him as a pup, I took offa wee kto bond with him. He thinks I am either his momma or his alpha.
My rescued pitbull is another matter. He seems oblivious to shots and proddings, but just because I don't have the benefit of knowing him from birth, I would not even offer to restrain him. When I trim his toenails, he snaps at the clippers. This is as far as it goes, and I can live with that. But I would not even try to restrain him if he was hurt or in need of treatment. I raised Agadore I know him. I know Beaner,too, but not like I raised him from a pup. And the fact that he was abused previously...I know my limitations.

# Posted By Agadore's momma | 3/24/07 4:24 AM

I do not restrain my own pets. I worked in a vets office during college. Owners are much more emotional and can let the haert take ove. I have a husky mixright now (80 pounds). She had hip surgery 3 weeks ago. She did awesome...and I did not hold her for any procedure. I wanted her to hate the dr, not me...she's doing very well...we al;so have a cat who hates the carrier...there is NO WAY I would get him to the vet and take him out, much less hold him for a procedure. He lives on our laps when he not going to the vet...

# Posted By K Bell | 4/3/08 8:50 AM

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