I am completely disgruntled with my vet!!

[cocoincanada]

My husband just took our dog to the vet for his annual check-up and needles. While there, she checked his urine concentration, because he had that nasty UTI for 2 months before xmas, and since then (even though we have him on a cranberry supplement and are feeding him plain yogurt), his urine is still VERY concentrated. She checked it and said it was the most concentrated she's ever seen in her life!!!

So, my husband told me that her recommendation for this was to start feeding him CANNED food. We don't want to do this, and asked what other recommendations she had...and she said nothing. That was her ONLY recommendation. She also was trying to push the weight-loss formula they sell, because our dog needs to lose 5 lbs apparently. I know vets are constantly pushing food....but the ONLY solution she had for my dog's concentrated urine was CANNED FOOD? Ugh! I'm so angry and sad at the same time. A pet doctor should be able to provide a better medical solution than this.

To top it off, after recommending the canned food, she checked the calorie content and then said "Ohhhhhh, maybe you should only feed him 1/5 of a can per day, and reduce his kibble by quite a bit, because this stuff is VERY high in calories". I am completely appalled. I feel she should have been able to recommend something that did not involve food, especially after we said we didn't want to go this route. I am thinking of looking into a holistic vet, to see if they would have better options.

Sorry for the rant -- I just feel like fellow doodle owners would understand me :) Thanks for listening. Does anyone here have a holistic vet?

[cocoincanada]

He's been drinking lots of water. Several bowls full every day. His water intake has increased a lot since Christmas, when we gave him a much bigger water bowl. But his urine is still incredibly concentrated. Every thing I look up online says that it could point to "kidney failure" but if that were the case, my vet should not send us on our way with a can of food and not investigate further.

I'm very interested in hearing more about holistic vets, but I just don't know anyone who has one. I'd like to hear some comparisons.

[Jenn&Bruce]

I feel your pain! I also have totally become disgruntled with my vets (I have been to three in the past 10 months, all at the same clinic) Although I am not dealing with the same medical issues as you with your doodle. (Bruce has what seems to be an allergy) My vet has offered me no alternative food options other than a vegetarian Medi Cal Diet. I was very annoyed at them pushing a lower grade food then I was currently feeding, just so that that could make a quick dollar. I feel as though these "doctors" are failing many of us regularly for the sake of making more money in the long run. what concerns me most, is that when I call to ask a question at my local clinic, I am told every time that "The vet's don't take phone calls, and if you have a concern, you must book an appointment" so every question would cost me $60.00 or more.
since when was veterinary medicine purely about the profit, and no longer about the health and happiness of our beloved animals???
it makes me sad.

[Linda and Murphy]

Sorry for your experience. You said he has been drinking lots of water. Did she do any blood work? (BUN and creatinine would indicate kidney function. .Glucose level...if his glucose is high he will be thirsty, and glucose in the urine will increase the sp. gr.) Just some thoughts. I am not a vet. I appreciate your frustration.

My son went to graduate school last year at Purdue. He was homesick and got a kitten. 4 days after the the kitten was neutered at 4months (incompetent immune system combined with stress of surgery) he began having head /neck pain, would sit in Jordan's closet in the dark screaming, neck stiff and straight out. The vet gave him anti inflammatory drugs and steriods because he may have a pulled muscle!
He eventually ended up at Purdue Vet School after I talked to my vet here. It was classic signs of toxoplasmosis and he should have been treated for that. This, of course, was during finals and Christmas so Pascal the cat spent Christmas at LSU Vet School. They did a spinal tap at Purdue and saw intracellular parasites in the spinal fluid ( YOu never see anything in the spinal fluid except maybe cells) We treated him over the holidays until Jordan went back to school 4 weeks of gastric tube and antibiotics and pain meds. Pascal still has neurological problems but is the only cat to ever survive Sarcocystis (very similar to Toxo, and is carried by opposums. It causes equine encephalitis.) (the drug for toxo would have worked). The only other diagnosed case in a cat was at necropsy...and also followed being neutered.
Jordan's $6000 kitten!

[Linda and Murphy]

It was traumatic for all of us. It seemed simple enough at first. When I emailed my vet here, she immediately sent an email saying " NO! ANYTHING neurological in a kitten assume Toxo and treat." Jordan went to his vet with this email and she still did not budge.
I told him to take Pascal to the vet school at that point. They put him on the right treatment without having a complete diagnosis, but it was almost too late. 2 days later they did the spinal tap and saw the organisms (in cats, it is a very difficult procedure so it is done only rarely.)
I work at Tulane's Primate Center. The Pathologist I had been questioning at work was sent a "What do you think this is?" posting from Purdue Vet School. It was pictures of the CSF stain on Pascal.
They eventually did PCR and confirmed the diagnosis of Sarcocystis neurona.
The bill kinda crept up slowly. And it was difficult, because he was so far away from home. It wasn't a "This is gonna be $6000." It was over 8 weeks and 2 vet schools.

I told Jordan WE should be on that paper.

[Linda and Murphy]

NOW he is treated free of charge! LOL

[2zw8n9vphfrc6]

he is located in CT however homeopathy can be done through phone consults. He was wonderful. Dr Feinman www.homevet.com

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

I'm wanting to ask concentrated with what? Exactly what urinalysis has been done? Exactly what blood work? What is the blood sugar level? I'd be finding another vet pdq and getting proper tests done.I would not get a vet that works only by phone consults. I'd be going to the dog park & asking everyone & anyone for their recomendations, why, & stories of their experiences. Take a note book. Dog food change doesn't sit right wi me. I'm a breeder rescuer for 30 years that I will admit to. PUppy love from Joy & furry folk

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

You may have an interest in looking up Azmira, they have several holistic animal care formulas. We have used Kidni Kare and Kidni Biotic. They do have aI very informative booklet available at many premium pet food retailers and I imagine it may be available online as well.

You are right to trust your gut. I too had been less than thrilled with ours over the last year, recently we were put in a very bad situation that could have been life or death had I not acted on my own hunch and the advice of my fellow breeders. I am currently interviewing new prospects to be certain that their scenario matches my expectations. Best of luck to you!

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

I should add that booklet at our food store was a freebie, I do not think it carries a cost. Also IF your dood is not getting enough fluid you may consider giving a bit of low sodium chicken broth as it still carries enough sodium that it will increase thirst and make them drink more.

A good thing for any of us to keep in mind when interviewing potential veterinary clinics is to ask questions of anyone you would have cause to have contact with in any situation. Make sure you feel as comfortable with the person who takes your call as with the one who will administer the care and those assisting. If you like the vet but do not have a good relationship with someone else in the clinic it could present a problem down the road. Ask questions about how different scenarios will be handled, ie. if it is an emergency during office hours, after hours, do they have an in house lab, if not what is the turn around time for important tests that must be sent out ~ esp. on the weekend? Ask what their position is on vaccines and the whole 9 yards. Those of us who have been on the side of disgruntled become aware in hindsight a larger spectrum of scenarios than we may have previously thought.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

You are entitled to your rant. Good Grief!! Get a new vet pronto! Concentrated? What does that mean? Canned Food, that she did not know the calrie count of? Goofy? A urinealysis at the least . Almost certainly blood work if she were really concerned. No competent vet would just say concentrated, without an explanation. If the urine was just very yellow, the only possible fit to the highly technical "too concentrated", you should have been encouraged to get your dog to drink more. How did they get the urine? With a catheter? How much was there? Maybe he had just peed before he got there. Urine should have at least been checked under a microscope for bacteria and then if bacteria were present for red blood cells with the previous history of UTI -- AND then the vet should have reported no bacteria.

[cocoincanada]

Thanks for all the comments! Here is a brief history of our situation. Last week of October, our dog was not eating and not drinking and was completely lethargic. We took him in and it turns out he had a really bad UTI. They did a urinalysis and in his sample they found that he had more than 25 white blood cells. They told us that anything above two, in a sample that size, was considered significant, and he had more than 25! Anyhow, went on antibiotics for 2 weeks, and after a week, did another urinalysis and he now had 5 white blood cells. Two more weeks of antibiotics, then a week later another urinalysis and the infection had cleared. This brought us to Christmas. We were told to get him drinking more water, and we did. We gave him a gigantic water bowl and he's been drinking tons.

Before Christmas, the vet said that once we came in for the yearly check-up in January, she would just look at his urine concentration to see if it was better, because he would be drinking more water now. She told us that with his urine being concentrated, he had a good chance of crystals forming, so we needed to monitor it. So, I put him on a cranberry supplement to help prevent the crystals from forming and promote good urinary tract health. We have also been giving him plain pro-biotic yogurt.

So, fastforward to yesterday. Went for the yearly check-up, and we brought in a urine sample for her to check the concentration, and she said it was very concentrated (not sure with what) and that it was probably the worse she had ever seen in his life.

My first red flag was before Christmas. I started investigating and realize that there is controversy with high-protein food and kidney function. In some dogs, in can overwork their kidneys and this could have been a reason why his urine was so concentrated. I asked my vet if the fact that he was eating high-protein food could have anything to do with the concentrated urine, and if it could be making his kidneys work overtime...and she said "I really don't know if there is any link between those two". It honestly P***** me off to think that vets know SO little about pet nutrition. If I go see my family doctor, she can subscribe medication, but she can also tell me "If you eat too much of this, or too little of that, it will make your situation worse".

The vet did not do another urinalysis, did not do any bloodwork, and did not mention anything about his kidneys or their function. She just sent us on our way with a can of Medical Urinary SO, which the first 4 ingredients are: water, meat by-products, corn grits, chicken by-products. I stopped reading after that. He is NOT eating that, and I am going to look for a new vet pronto!

From what I can tell in my research, there are only 2-3 holistic vets here in my city, but I don't know anyone who sees any of them. I am going to start asking around...but meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out how to get my dog to drink even MORE water or to somehow make his urine less concentrated. If it does have something to do with the high-protein food, I will have to look into feeding him a non-grain-free again to see if it makes a difference.

Oops! I just realized this isn't BRIEF at all! Sorry! :)

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

May I inquire what type of food you are currently on? Also wonder if you have considered placing him on a straight probiotic/enzyme formula rather than that in the yogurt? Wholistic pet makes one we really like a lot. Last here is a link to the Azmira website I referenced earlier. Will be watching to see how you make out. http://www.azmira.com/Products.htm