Which Vet?

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Spinal

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Unfortunately, I needed a vet last night at short notice...

Ended up going to my local Goddard branch, which charged £180 for the consultation and another £16 for the shot.

I'm not complaining about the cost, but I do need to make an informed decision.

We have an appointment today with a local vet that the pet-store owner recomended, but their out-of-hours cover is a mobile number for the vet as a pose to "real" ooh cover.

The three near me that have made my shortlist:
- Goddard Veterinary
- Medivet
- My Vet 24-7 (not real 24/7 cover, but recomended by pet store lady)

Medivet seem to have a very bad reputation online... but then again, so do goddard...

Any ideas/advice? (Worf's booked in with My Vet today for his chip/shots... assuming he feels well enough)

M.
 
Out of hours cover is expensive from any vet, and the quality of service will depend entirely on who's on call that night.

If you haven't got insurance yet then you might want to think about it. A friend of ours ended up paying £14k (yes you read that right) when his dog was hit by a car. As an absolute minimum you need 3rd party cover as you are legally liable for what your dog does. So if he runs into the road and causes a crash in which somebody gets killed or crippled you could be sued for millions ...

Cheapest way to get 3rd party only cover is probably to join the 'Dogs Trust' (what used to be called the National Canine Defence League) for £25 a year:

Dogs Trust - Dogs Trust Membership

As an aside, you get a free 24 hour veterinary advice line too.
 
Insurance isn't a problem - I was planning on going with a larger insurance company with lifetime cover... I was just waiting until he got chipped as they all ask for a chip number...

The issue is finding a vet I can trust... looking online will obviously just bring up horrro stories, so I was hoping someone here used one of the three and was happy with them :)

M.
 
Always best to get recommendations from pet owning friends and neighbours.
 
Insurance is a whole new can of worms ... check very carefully what you're getting.

The most fundamental thing is that some companies limit claims for any one 'condition' to a specific period of time (as well as a monetary limit), and others don't. Excesses vary a lot too, they are often based on the age of the dog. It's also a very competitive market and companies change their policy terms quite frequently!

Incidentally I don't recall ever being asked to provide chip numbers, but I can see how this would be relevant if your cover includes recovery costs if the dog is lost or stolen.
 
I used to live in Chesham many moons ago and we used to take our cats to the Wheelhouse Vet in Chesham, and I knew of other people taking their animals there - highly recommended.

Might be too far for you but they have two other branches in Amersham and Little Chalfont.

Worse-case, maybe they could recommend a good vet nearer you?
 
Not Knocking your asking on the wrong forum for info about a vet?

Our young Lab fractured it's spine a few weeks ago.
Our local vet who is one of these vet franchise vets was unable to find the problem.
The wanted to refer us to a specialist who was miles away.
I joined a Labrador forum and asked for help and soon got info the led me to a specialist orthopedic surgeon only a few mile away.
Also in direct competition to our current vet

my advice is to ask on a forum for your breed of animal and they might even come up with an option your vet wouldn't consider.

Good luck and I hope your pet recovers soon

Steve
 
The pup is a crossbreed - not a purebreed... he's been "rescued" from a tough situation, which is why we were a little unprepared for his arrival...

Don't know of any Rusky forums :p Google brings out billions of dog forums... but don't know who to trust on a new forum... here I trust most people :)

M.
 
If you can give me a little more info on the situation and location i will ask the people who helped me.


regards

Steve
 
Yhpm :)
 

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