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Post by Sonia and Diva on Aug 29, 2012 21:09:56 GMT -5
Hi everyone, i want to introduce myself. My name is Sonia and I am a proud owner of a beautiful Doberich dobe named Diva. I live in Richmond Hill and was wondering if anyone lives in my area or Aurora or Newmarket who can recommend a reputable vet. I would really appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks Sonia B. and Diva
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Post by dobermoms on Aug 29, 2012 21:22:22 GMT -5
Hi.....welcome to the forum, and to the Dobereich family. We have 2 Dobereich dogs, Dante and Kazi. Unfortunately, we live in London and would gladly have recommended our vet here......no doubt you will find your answer.
Welcome again, and we look forward to meeting you.
Barbara
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Post by junosbionictale on Aug 29, 2012 22:54:42 GMT -5
Hi Sonia and Diva,
I find myself in the same situation as Kerrie and Barb in that I could recommend a great vet in kitchener, but am unable to assist in your your area. I would however, recommend that the deciding factor in your choice not simply be a vet who doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Our vet is not cheap, but I would trust her almost as much as I would Monica. I have numerous friends here who say they have great vets and yet on numerous occasions I have had opportunity to go with them to their vet (something I highly recommend) and found just a person who smiles, touches your pet and recommends you pay for more meds and maybe a different food that they happen to carry. Even in severe cases Their great vets have been simply clinical and dry, not offering advice or providing storys of similar injuries and there treatrment.
Our vet has given us advice, good advice, Monica type advice, numerous times. For instance in taking on our rescue Sophie, she advized us against it, because of the troubles we had had with our previous rescue dog and because of the potential that she might not be able to be rehabilitated. She was right. But we did it anyway, and it was only because we had a remarkable dobe in Isi that we had success in teaching her to be a dog.
Find a park where dogs gather, ask the owners there who their vet is, visit that vet if you can with them. Go with a friend to their vet that they think is amazing. It is easy to tell which vets have that Monica like rapport with their patients and their owners. In my case I need to feel that my vet loves animals and my dogs nearly as much as I do. Ours does, I wish she was cheaper, but I know that I am not a 5 minute in and out patient to her, she has spent over an hour with us, asking questions, making observations and dispensing advice.
Not every vet is like her. I've been to many and when my wife first took us to her because that's always where she went I only saw the cost, that I wasn't used to paying. It didn't take long however to see how much she loved animals though. I may have initially resented paying to go there, but I don't anymore. She has done remarkable things for us, offered to come to the house to put one of our dogs down, and then when she got there and said dog was livelier and better than she had been in weeks understood and agreed when I decided not to do it, it only gave me two more weeks with my beloved dog, but it was the most amazing 2 weeks and when I brought her in at the end of those two weeks because she was in distress again, there wasn't a dry eye in the building. She came and picked up Isi from the house when she died and I was in hospital and Steph was supposed to be on her way to surgery. They came quickly and left quickly and quietly. I know she and her staff would go the extra mile, because they have. Every dog we have lost she and the staff have sent a hand written card and flowers and made a donation in that dog's name to the guelph vetrinary college and they are always beautifully written and unique to the dog.
These vets are not easy to find. If you want a good vet that knows dogs, that's not too difficult to find. Word of mouth is a good starting place, but nothing is better than seeing it in action. You have to look.
Our friend one time was driving me to our vet to pick up ashes of our dog. She was surprised when the vet herself came out and handed them over offering condolences and hugging me. She asked if our vet was always like that, because as we left she passed me a card as well, because when her dog died that she loved so well the secretary dropped the urn with the ashes on the counter unwilling to even touch it outside the bag and wouldn't let her touch it till she paid the bill. No condolence, hugs, or cards, no one even acknowledging her own tears. She couldn't imagine her vet ever doing what ours had. I'd already told her before however that I wouldn't have her vet on a bet, because the 2 times I had been with her he'd spent more time looking at the computer and in the back getting meds, than he had talking to her or examining her dog. She still sticks with him however because he is cheap. To her he is a good vet. To me ... well I expect more.
Such a long rant. Sonia, you will find a good vet. Don't take other people's word that a vet is good. If you don't trust them or feel right going there look elsewhere, sticking with a vet in those instances won't find you a better vet and your idea of a good vet might be just around the corner.
Martin (who rambles insessently it seems)
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Post by dobermoms on Aug 30, 2012 5:13:59 GMT -5
Well said Martin. Your stories are always beautifully written, and worth reading. I want to also recommend pet insurance for your puppy. They really do help to "ease" the financial "decision" of treatment for your pet. There are many different plans and companies, so please research these companies as well. We had pet insurance when Dante suffered a severe pad injury, and it was only after 18 hours or taking him to the emergency clinic, transporting him to our vet....at the end of the day it was 11pm and I looked at Kerrie and realized NOT ONCE thru out the day did the mention of $$ for any treatment come up. It was simply, do whatever you have to do. Period. We highly recommend pet insurance.
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Post by Andreina on Aug 30, 2012 9:34:36 GMT -5
First off, Martin you have to stop making me tear up with your stories lol. Are you a writer because you tell stories well . and Sonia, I can possibly help you out with a vet recommendation. I live in Oshawa, so somewhat close to your area. Our vet is in Brooklin (north whitby) and we chose her because of referrals from others, and the fact that she is a long time dobe owner herself. I know it is still a little bit of a drive to you, but hey, sometimes the best doctors, dentists, and even dog training are not close to home right . As martin described in his story, its refreshing to have a vet to go to that is not looking to pull every dime from you, but again is worth every penny you spend there. Our vet always takes the time to answer questions, chat about whatever our concerns are, and even returns calls to me personally when I have a health question. I remember the countless calls I made to her when Scarlet was a puppy and caught her first case of Giardia... They knew us by name after that LOL. Calls about eye drops, ointments, shampoos, testing. She even did a couple of extra tests for us for free, mind you they were worth only like 20$ but thats not the point. I would have paid the 20$ but the fact that she said called me at home said don't worry about it, and told me to just come pick up the prescription meant a lot and showed me what kind of vet she is. I am not saying they are cheap, nor are they expensive. They charge fair prices, you get what you pay for and really do care about their clients. I've never had issues getting appointments and of course if you are stuck they always leave spots for people to come in for an emergency appointment. Oh and one more thing, when their office closes for the night, they pass on their phone lines to the animal overnight emergency hospital. Someone is always on the other end to answer any questions or assist you. Now, I haven't seen our primary vet I am referring to in a couple of months as she was on maternity leave, but I think she should be back by now. Here is the info if you want to check it out: Brooklin Veterinary Hospital 450 Winchester Road East, Whitby, ON L1M 1C8 (905) 655-3336 Our vet is Melissa Andrews, but while she's been away we saw Jody Mokler who is also very good.
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Post by Sonia and Diva on Aug 30, 2012 15:26:53 GMT -5
Hi everyone, I actually met you Barbara and i met Kerrie and Andreina at Monica's hike and barbecue get together. I was their with my daughter, Heidi and husband, Sean. We had fun. It was really nice meeting you all. I was originally going to get the U litter (Cajun and Rhody) but then decided on the S litter (Rogun and Cynder) and have a beautiful female dobe that we name Diva. She is so beautiful and well behaved. I remember your beautiful boy Dante and your beautiful female, Kazi and Andreina i remember your beautiful dobe, Scarlett. I haven't met you Martin but i am sure one day i will. Thank you for your well written message. Barb's right you stories are beautiful. Finding a good vet is sometimes hard but we just have to keep looking. I had a very good vet in Brampton (when i used to live in Mississauga. He was passionate and truly caring vet. He went above and beyond for all my three dobes). When we moved to Richmond Hill we still went to him for awhile until i had those emergencies. Since then i realized that I needed a closer vet. I will be getting insurance this time around. The expense of my past 3 dobes was alot and it was all worth it but i wish i had insurance it would have helped me financially. I am actually looking at getting insurance from Trupanion. A co-worker suggested i look into them because she has insurance with them and she is very happy with their service. They cover the same illness multiple times You just have to pay the deductible each time and your cost is dependent on how much your decide to pay your deductible. I want to thank you for all your replys in searching for a vet. Andreina i would look into your vet but I am hoping to find a nearby vet just in case for emergencies like bloat. i want to be near my vet for an emergency. I remember one of my previous dobes was choking on a rib bone and i rushed her to my vet which was 5-10 mins away and that can be a situation of life or death situation or when she had bloat i was there within mins. Having a vet within close proximity's is very important to me. There are many vets in my area so i will look into them i used to go to Abbotsford. They are the ones that did the surgery on Nikita for her rib bone choking and for her bloat. They are also the ones that gave Nikita the latest drugs for her heart. She was on 13 pills a day but they extended her life for another year and she was a happy dobe right till the end. They were always advanced With technology and have Ekg machines, ultrasound machines and x-rays. There are 3 vets there that i like. They only thing that bothered me was that when my dog Nikita died i was hoping to have a long chat with the doctors but they were busy which bothered me after i had been in there almost every week for Nikita for an entire year. I couldn't understand why Nikita's bloat came back after a year when they did the surgery and told me that it was successful. And because she developed DCM she was not going to make the anesthesia with her heart problem so they couldn't do the surgery again for her bloat so i had to put her down. I was very distraught. I would have liked the vet to sit and chat with me to explain why it had happened again. Instead the vet tech talked to me and consoled me. it was a very hard time for me. I brought her to an after hours emergency clinic in Rutherford to put her down. It was about 1:30 am. It's strange how things always happen after hours. But i have to say that they did however make a donation to the University of Guelph in honour of Nikita for her heart when they were notified by the after hours clinic that she passed away. Another thing that bothered me was that everytime i went there their quotes were much less than their actual costs and they would always make you spend more money than was necessary and of course I did. They did not believe in holistic food and infact suggested that the holistic food I was giving Nikita may have caused her bloat and so i ended up buying they prescription food in fear that I may be contributing to her bloat. So having said all that i will have to see the pros and cons to see if i will go back. Okay thanks again guys. Talk to you soon. Sonia and Diva
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Post by Andreina on Aug 31, 2012 11:36:19 GMT -5
Oh Sonia! Didn't realize it was the same person lol. Of course I remember meeting you guys, Congrats on your new pup!! we love photos around here.... That is very exciting... Hope to see you next Sunday
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