OK,
Most vets secretaries are great and are really helpful but one made me cry today, she was so officious and mean and very condescending and made me feel very unhappy.

To fill you in (part 1), I had to change vets a while ago as my usual vet was charging me way way way over the top for the consultation fees and also in comparison to other vets in the area he was charging me three times the general rate for blood tests etc. and this was costing a fortune.
One blood test and one 10 minute consultation cost me 92 pounds.
Although the vet was OK, I never felt happy to chat as he always seemed so busy and was obviously trying to squeeze as many people in as possible (to rake in the cash I expect).

So I moved Minky to a new vet at the PDSA Animla Hospital about 3 weeks ago and the new vet is lovely. If needed she will spend as much time as necessary expalining everything, she is great, and as the hospital is a charity they are not driven by profit, but do it for the love of the work and the animals instead. So anyway she stabalised Minkys kidney problem and he is now doing really well and his appetite is back to normal and he has stopped drinking so much water. But..... since the kidney problems began he started licking coal and in fact trying to eat it!
My nice new vet was mystified and gave him a mineral supplement, but the coal licking continues. = my vet is mystified even more.
I think Minnky knows what his body needs and so although I try not to let him do it too much I worry that it is damaging the kidneys further.

Part 2 The Mean Secretary.

So I phone about 10 other vet surgeries and ask for general advice. Most were really nice secretaries and said they would pass on the message to the vet and ring me back if they had heard of any other cases. Great, these secretaries were really kind and helpful but did also seem as mystified about the coal licking as I was.

Then I get the secretary from your worst nightmare.
She was so mean and refused to even let me explain anything, saying it's not their policy to listen to stories and that I have to bring the cat in before they will even speak to me. I was trying to explain that I would do this IF the vet at that particular practice could have useful advice for me, as dragging the cat to yet another appointment and for that vet to take yet more blood and generally stress my poor boy out was not what I wanted.

She started saying things like you really are very irresponsible if you don't bring the cat and was just being very condesending saying that it was out of order for me to phone and expect an anwser just like that with out paying and that I really was breaking rules(?) by going behind my own vets back!!!!!!!!!! I got all shaky mainly with anger at her manner and then broke down in tears as I love my cat so much and would do anything to help him, and she has no idea of how I care for him and........I am perfectly happy with my current vet, it's just that this behviour is very unusual and we need to find answers.

She was a really meany and all I wanted was to know if they had ever had a similar case at their surgery.
Well that's my rant and I feel better now, so I am hoping one of the other nice vets may phone back later with an idea. I have searched the web, but there is very little on this behaviour (coal licking in cats, not bad mouthed secretaries!!!!)

I really hope she falls down a big hole on her way home.
:evilbun:

I don't blame you for being so angry. Under no circustances should she treat anyone that way!! :angry: I do hope you find the answers you are looking for. Did you vet indicate that coal licking would do harm to you cat? Maybe he just likes the taste of it. :dunno: good luck in getting to the bottom of this. :)

Aww! :hug: What a horrible woman!? I'd tell her that if she wants to keep her job, she'd better shut her miserable, poison filled mouth or you'll be complaining to her boss in writing! Horrible old baggage! :angry:
I'm sorry I don't know much about cats so I can't help... I wish Kate was around, she's treating her cats for feline HIV and leukaemia using homeopathy. :( So maybe she could help.

:lol: Sorry but I had to laugh at her falling down a hole! Lets hope it's filled with rotten eggs or something... come on everyone... put your minds into it ... everyone chant "fall down a hole!"... you never know, Uri Geller's made thousands out of this kind of thing. :P

I hate vets, docs, etc., like that. What on Earth is a person like that doing in a medical/veterinary office is beyond me.

I hate the receptionists... this is really Dan's rant... but since he's not here.. there are 6 receptionists at our doctors...
one to ignore you whilst pretending to look at bits of paper and prescriptions,
another to stare at the computer rolling the mouse wheel up and down in an attempt at looking busy,
one that walks past about 3 times in 1 minute,
one that's on a stool looking at the filing,
another to help the person wheeling the mouse wheel to 'look for something'
and the other to ignore the phone ringing and you whilst chatting to the nurse about the other nurse who's off with flu. <_<

There are less doctors (2) than receptionists!!

If it is important to you, I think I would notify the vet about the bad treatment you received from the secretary. I took my outdoor rabbits to a vet where the secretary was a member of the HRS. She treated me like I was an abuser, but the vet caught her doing it. The secretary had to make the follow up calls to me on my rabbit's condition, and tell me that I was giving "wonderful" care to my rabbit.

LOL I'm just off to get my typhoid and hep A vaccines for Fiji, maybe I shouldn't be so nasty until after the injections! :huh:

Hmm glad I'm not the only one with angst for such people! I know what you mean about doctors receptioists too, and also dental receptionist, there always seems to be about 4 receptionists to every practising dentist and I have no idea how they fill their time (no offence if anyone here is a dental receptionist).

BUT THE WORST IN THE WORLD are the guys that work at timber yards. I often set myself a little woodwork challenge and to date have made a a pine blanket box, a book shelf a coffee table (made from an old door and inlaid with Morrocan tiles), fitted out my own kitchen and also made a complete extention to the garden shed (which is actually the bunny room during the winter), and recently made a picnic table and so as you can see I am a regular vistor to the timber yard.

But when I arrive there the lads that work there look straight through m as if I am invisible, whistle to themselves, and usually shuffle off to the tea room (in fact the other day they saw me pull up in my car and the whole lot of them dived into the tea shed and refused to come and sort out my wood for 20 minutes. (Am I really that scarey :lol: )

And this is every time. Yet if a bloke walks in they will serve him. It is down right discrimination coz I'm a woman and they don't think a woman can do woodwork.
It is annoying but it does make me laugh as they are just so predictable.

The boss is the only one that is friendly but he does all the paperwork and is never in the yard.
Time to plot another plan i think to deal with these naughty boys :evilbun: :evilbun: :evilbun: :evilbun:

Delph I didn't know you were going to Fiji ...LOVELY :dance:
Hope your arm is not too painful after the injections

If I were you, I'd definitely complain to the vet. Whatever their policy is, I'm sure that secretary's boss wouldn't appreciate her driving away potential customers like that. That's just rude.

I really hate it when receptionists at the vet's office try to give me advice about my animals. I'm there to see the VET, not be lectured by someone who thinks they know it all. :rolleyes: I don't get why they don't just do their jobs and leave it at that.

That was rude... It has happened to me before also... Im glad you feel better and I hope you find an answer to the puzzuling question!! There is some one who says that I abuse and neglect my animals because one is not neutered and they don't currently have their yearly shots because we cant afford them.
We did not say that we were not going to get them just that we had to wait intill we could afford it, which would be when we get payed next weekend. It made me very sad that someone would think I neglect my animals. I spend hours and hundreds of dollars on them all the time!! :(

Maybe you should move to Canada. :innocent:

Lots of women are getting into home improvements and we have HUGE hardware stores (Revy and HomeDepot) that cater to all their needs.

My receptionists at the Vet shop was super nice and very helpful. The first time I went there, was when I was looking for rabbit savy Vet because I was thinking about getting a bunny. She told me that they just rescued a bunny, and spoke to the Vet that I was looking for a bunny. The Vet came out and showed me around and took me into the back where they kept the bunny and it turned out to be PEBBLES. :lol:

You should go to the boss at the lumber yard and just casually mention that all of his employes are on break and that they are every time you show up and that you will be going to a different lumber yard(if there is one) or tell him it is hard to spend your money at his lumber yard if they keep avoiding you :lol: that might light a fire under them. :P I find that if the mention of not spending money at someplace because of poor service always seems to improve that service. :lol:

:blink:

I'm glad you found a vet that's more concerned about the animals than the money.

That receptionist should be ashamed of herself!!