Don't be steamrollered into irreversible decisions
Whilst abroad we received a message from our daughter that our dog was off colour and had been taken to petmedics. Later we spoke to a vet, who recommended, after just a pre-assessment, that, given that the dog (a poodle) was 15, he be put to sleep. We refused and requested an assessment, while we made arrangements to return to the UK. Later, a second vet informed my daughter that the dog had had fluids and was doing better, and would be kept overnight. On arrival in the UK the following day our daughter told us petmedics said we could pick him up that afternoon. When we did, a 3rd vet, Sally, outlined a long term plan, involving checking the ratio of good to bad days, to inform what the next steps should be. Since, he has had 58 good days and zero bad ones. The point of this review is to demonstrate the complete difference of opinion between the 2 vets in the same practice. We could have made a terribly, fatally wrong decision if we had agreed with initial recommendation, which appears at best premature, at worst dismissive. I feel strongly that if this had occurred on a week day, our regular vet would have given him medication and advised us to keep an eye on him, rather than swiftly suggesting euthanasia. The outrageous expense of what are, first and foremost, commercial businesses, is rightly being investigated by the CMA. But that is another issue.