A New Vet

There's a lot of ways that I learn about things. I like hands on experimentation, but when that's not possible or I want some supplemental information I'm the type of person who actual reads user manuals. So it may go without saying that when we first got Gabby's diagnosis I not only found those Yahoo groups and other websites, I read a lot of the information they provided. And reading that information led to additional questions.

First I need to say that I liked the vet we had. He was very personable and very, very good with Gabby. I also need to say that I'm sure that there are a number of people out there who become "desk chair" doctors, veterinarians, etc., looking up everything on the internet and thinking they know as much as their dr or vet, but that's not me. What is me is trying to understand as much as I can and learning as best I can as a lay person how everything fits together. There were a lot of things that weren't clear, especially around the supplements and homemade diet. There were also things that don't fit into what I've read, like the steady increase of her BUN and Creatinine levels. There was also the rather severe trembling that didn't fit the stage of kidney failure she is in. So I asked questions. But somewhere along the way I think I asked too many questions. Maybe it was just me and my elevated sensitivity, but I thought there was a bit of an annoyed vibe coming from him the last visit. This impacted my comfort level with asking questions and I need to be able to ask questions.

Then Gabby had additional blood tests run on January 27th. The results came back the next day (his day off). We got a call from one of the other vets at the office to give us the results. He said to increase her fluids to every other day and gave us a new scrip for the vomitting. He told us her numbers went up 75% from where they were and mentioned that this wasn't typical...so we thought we'd actually here from our regular vet to follow up, but we didn't hear anything. I made the decision on Monday to go to a new vet (although I should note that it is now a week later and we still haven't heard from our first vet).

One of the things that held me back was knowing that the likelihood is there that we will have to make the decision to end her suffering. I had Cori ask our now previous vet if he would come to the house. Gabby has always been a nervous dog when it comes to strange places and I cannot allow her last moments to be in fear at the vet. He said for us he would. So it was critical that any new vet we go to be willing to do this. All I could stammer out when talking to the new vet, was "If we have to, uh...can you..."
She cut me off..."Make housecalls? Yes."

If you are ever in this position, I would encourage you to find someone you are comfortable with. It's ok to ask questions. For some I know this isn't an easy thing to do, it wasn't easy for me at all, but I feel better now that I have. This is difficult enough, don't make it moreso.