Vets Advice vs EXPERIENCED owners advice?

[Carol~Anne]

No one here in Campbell River will even look at a chinchilla except this particular one and she has two of them in a huge cage in the back so apparently she is the one to see.

The few times I was there, I did try to educate her on the little bit I knew and honestly she looked at me like I was from outer space and I felt rather uncomfortable. You know, when they have their heads down looking at the animal and then you're talking in the background and saying what you think might be the problem or just babbling and they stop, look up and stare at you like you're an idiot? That is how I felt. I just put my chin back in the carrier, signed the Visa and then came home and got online.

I've had way more help with my chins from longtime pet owners as well as breeders that is for sure. I don't know any ranchers.

 

[Bethany]

I always do a search on here before I talk to the vet so I know what the ranchers do, and then I discuss that treatment with my vet.

 

[tunes]

Let's keep this on topic and not start dragging baggage from other threads here. This is a debate topic, not a rehash of threads that are already 20 pages long.

 

[starleomach]

I do a lot at home, I call other breeders and Ranchers. But I do have a vet here that doesn't know a lot about chinchillas but is very eager to learn. I feel comfortable with him.

 

[jags]

There is a time and a place for both vets and the people with years of experience. There is more than one way of doing things right and each person should be given or get good advise as to what their options are and then be left to do as they feel is best for them. No one no matter what their experience or education is right all the time. A person should not be looked down on for making the best decision they feel is right with the info they have no matter if in the end things turn out good or bad.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

There is a time and a place for both vets and the people with years of experience. There is more than one way of doing things right and each person should be given or get good advise as to what their options are and then be left to do as they feel is best for them. No one no matter what their experience or education is right all the time. A person should not be looked down on for making the best decision they feel is right with the info they have no matter if in the end things turn out good or bad.

Good thoughts.

 

[mishellyshel]

Forgive me for adding in another question to the melting pot but for interest & discussion ...........
Do any of you who have posted share information & knowledge with your vets in order to "educate" them?

YES! My vet always listens to me and asks me to share information I have gained thru other knowledgeable breeders/ranchers/pet owners. I told her of a medicine and before she prescribed it she did research it and made sure the dosage was correct.
I appreciated her trusting me.......which further enhances my trust of her.

 

[arf2184]

I take care of most things on my own, but vets are needed sometimes.

I don't trust vets or doctors to make decisions for me. They don't know everything and sometimes the most common treatment is not the right one for a specific case. Whether its me, a chinchilla, or a dog that needs care, I always research first (including getting opinions from those with more experience), consult with the doctor or vet, and then do what I feel is best. Fortunately we don't have many emergencies where there isn't time to research.

 

[JennyBug]

Most of the time, I come here first, post about what is going on, then make a decision from there. Fortunately, I haven't had many instances where I've had to take a chin to a vet, but my vet is very open to suggestions and learning about new thing. He was so excited about one of his new books once that he left it for us to look at! If at any time he doesn't feel comfortable with a situation, he recommends someone who can help us.

The bottom line is you shouldn't let anyone talk you into a treatment situation; you should look at your options and make an informed decision from there. Your chinchilla is exactly that: YOURS. You're the one who knows about your financial situation, and you're the one who knows how much you can handle.

I think a combination of both is advisable. If I have a pregnant chin, I'm much more likely to go to a breeder, since he or she would have seen just about every birth issue. If I have a pyometra and need a spay, I'm going to go to a vet. It all depends on the issue at hand.

 

[Sasha]

I always consult with experienced owners here first. I make a list of my concerns/possible treatments/diagnosis and take it to the vet. We collaborate in order to come up with a solution. I think that is key - being able to collaborate with the vet - bring both of your knowledge to the table and going from there.
I have been to vets before who will NOT listen to what I have brought or what experienced owners on this board have suggested. Needless to say, I stopped going to that vet....

 

[Anne-Lise]

I do both. I will talk with experienced people first, and if the situation still worries me, I'll go to the vet, then compare both answers. I will not take only one point of view as jags said. And that goes for basically everything in my life. I stay inform in order to make the best deicision. But I'm talking here about health problems that do not require surgery or anything like that. Most vets are not experienced with intestinal problems and complicated things like that, so I prefer to talk with people in order to arrive 'prepared' at the vet.

I've never had to visit a vet for a real emergency in 10 years, I am pretty lucky. Had a finger bitten off, skin problem, eye problems, bumblefoot, small things like that. Everything always went smoothly, routine visits, check ups. When I try to inform my vet I think she is skeptical at first. But the more she sees of me, the more she tends to believe me.

 

[kogia]

This should be a simple answer: the VET. They went and spent 4 years learning the intricacies of medicine + residences + years of experience practicing- claiming that chinchilla's are a "new species" to them is a cop-out. As an owner, it is YOUR responsibility to educate yourself to know when you're chinchilla is "off" (because, they wouldn't have a voice otherwise).

Knowing what to look out for (in terms of illness) is great, go to the vet armed with information and an open mind. It may not be what you self-diagnosed.

It is INCREDIBLY obnoxious (and embarrassing on the client's behalf) when you enter the vet's office with a know-it-all attitude. I've dealt with these people before, and the animals suffer because of it.

 

[tunes]

Kogia - and this is purely a question out of curiosity - everything your vet says is right? If you have a chin with a piece of fur missing, you go to the vet? If your chin gets a little cut on it's ear, you go to your vet? If your chin has one piece of loose poop, you go to the vet? Or, conversely, one piece of tiny poop, you would also go to the vet? Do you do that with your dogs and cats too (if you have them)?

These are all things that are very easily treatable at home, but your post would make it seem as though everyone should rush off to the vet for every little thing. IMO, that would be incredibly expensive, stressful, and a waste of time. If my dog gets a booboo, I treat it. If my horse gets a cut on the fence, I take care of it at home. If my cat has a scrape, I also take care of that.

I just want to also point out, it's incredibly obnoxious from everybody's point of view to have a vet tech, vet student, or even a vet who claims to know everything and refuses to learn a better method or consider a different diagnosis when they don't have a clue what they are talking about. We've all been there. It's great that you have such unshakeable faith in all vets everywhere to know that everything they say is correct, but not everyone is going to feel that way. Some people are going to trust people who actually know what they are talking about from having dealt with it over seeing a picture in a book once during the week they spent on exotics during vet school. That's a direct quote from a vet, by the way, about the week spent on exotics. Up until recently, nobody even bothered.

JennyBug - It's pretty obvious to me that people would turn to a vet for an emergency C-section, spaying, castration, amputation, etc. I think the question was geared to a lot simpler problems than major life-threatening surgery.

 

[Claire D]

This should be a simple answer: the VET. They went and spent 4 years learning the intricacies of medicine + residences + years of experience practicing

No, the answer is not simple - vets get little or no training on chinchillas & there is very little good information available to them in veterinary text books beyond the very basics - you'll also find that many vet books use information garnered from "old fashioned" ranching practices.
Lack of good veterinary information is a constant frustration to both vets and owners alike.

It is INCREDIBLY obnoxious (and embarrassing on the client's behalf) when you enter the vet's office with a know-it-all attitude. I've dealt with these people before, and the animals suffer because of it.

LOL This just perpetuates the myth & is unnecessarily divisive. It perpetuates the "them and us" mentality. With that kind of attitude, what would be the point in trying to share information in either direction?
One could throw the same accusations at vets who hide their ignorance of chinchillas behind the "I am a vet & I am right. You are an owner & know nothing".
Neither arrogance on the part of the owner nor on the part of the vet helps the animal needing treatment & care.


I have masses of respect for all the vets who work in my local veterinary practice - they trained many years to become vets but they are like GPs (local doctors - not sure what you guys call them?) & cannot know everything about every species of animal. Even the specialists get stumped by chinchillas at times.


What is being discussed in this thread is sharing of information, experiences, & knowledge between a professional vet & an experienced species specific owner. It is (should be) based on mutual respect for each other as has been discussed already.

 

[Megan]

Kogia: Have you been to vet school? It is my understanding that vets only get a few pages on chinchilla and exotic care. They do not get any real experience with chinchillas, unless they are lucky enough to get into a practice on their clinical trials that HAVE chinchilla experience.

I've owned chinchillas for 9 years. I've bred them for about 5-6. I think I may know just a wee bit more about my animals, then a vet who has read a few pages on them while in school.

I've got three vets in the area. Two i'll use if I absolutely have to, ONLY. They are an "exotics" vet who have a know-it-all attitude. They've tried to tell me countless times I need to give my chinchillas fresh fruit and veggies daily(no, thats a Guinea Pig), wanted to prescribe non-safe medications.

The vet i'll use if I have to- She takes my advice, and has ADMITTED to me she doesn't know much at all about chinchillas. Told me the only experience she has was in a text book, and just a few pages--and saw one or two while on clinicals. HOWEVER, when I walk in she'll ask me whats wrong. I'll tell her what I believe it to be, and she'll do her job--and we've always came out with the same answer. I'll use her, because she listens to me, takes my advice--and is willing to learn. However, she is not my first stop when it comes to my chins. My mentor is. If it's something we cannot fix, I'll call them.

 

[Jen and the Hooligans]

My experiences with the vets so far have been so so. I keep an account at 2,..just in case. The first vet I saw did an OK job with me, but the second vet I saw will treat an emergency after hours, so I pay more for a visit but my bases are covered if I wake up to something dire at 3 am. After seeing 2 vets I searched high and low for I can say they are both seriously lacking in one area or other. A perfect example is my asking if they are equipped to do x-rays to check for teeth issues. The vet asked why on earth I would want to do that? I said to check for root elongation, ..she snorted and said that was highly unlikely to happen. Am I going to discount every painful story I have heard about a chin dying of teeth issues,..no way,.. I would be a fool. The most revered exotics clinic in the city also tried to sell me Oxbow Cavy Cuisine instead of Chinchilla deluxe,...insisting it was Chin food. I walked out. The best exotics clinic in the city and they can't tell the little creature on the bag is a guinea pig not a chin????
I have faith that the vet can recognize simple problems like ear infection, but I also realize that those simple problems can turn ugly as I have experienced on the downward Baytril spiral, and I turned to the educated people online to help me work my way back up. Basically my opinion is we need the vet to prescribe the drugs,..but we need the online community to help us manage the care of our animals on the drugs. I have never had to deal with a surgery thank goodness. From what I have read the same type of thing happens with those. The vet does the surgery, the community gives advice on how to get the chin recovered.

My bet is on experience.

 

[beanjelly]

It is INCREDIBLY obnoxious (and embarrassing on the client's behalf) when you enter the vet's office with a know-it-all attitude. I've dealt with these people before, and the animals suffer because of it.

So does that mean you would never question your doctor, either? Never ask him/her questions or show them research or information you had heard or found? That goes against everything I have heard regarding a safe and healthy doctor/patient relationship and I don't see why a vet/client relationship should be any different.

 

[kogia]

I love how people on this particular thread selectively read.

Knowing what to look out for (in terms of illness) is great, go to the vet armed with information and an open mind.

Perhaps people didn't quite understand what what I was hinting at- I was alluding to educating yourself. I guess I assumed wrongly that readers would pick up on that.

Kogia - and this is purely a question out of curiosity - everything your vet says is right? If you have a chin with a piece of fur missing, you go to the vet? If your chin gets a little cut on it's ear, you go to your vet? If your chin has one piece of loose poop, you go to the vet? Or, conversely, one piece of tiny poop, you would also go to the vet? Do you do that with your dogs and cats too (if you have them)?

I can't help but read very thick sarcasm between these lines. But beyond that, being an educated owner would prevent such behavior (of overreacting over the smallest deviation from the norm). I myself use this forum and other sources to understand what is normal.


For those who want to know, I have worked in a vet office, I have many friends who are vets and some friends currently in vet school. I have several friends specializing in exotic and pocket pet medicine. I'm no expert on chin health care from simply being friends, but have a very strong respect and confidence in them- I've seen the best totally screw up, and they're not afraid to admit it and adapt their practice accordingly. In tough cases, they are quick to call others with more expertise, search the literature, etc.

I understand that there are definite duds in practice. It happens everywhere. Once again, if you educate yourself, you could conceivably "weed out" the incompetent vets.

Also, in regards to the veterinary medicine education system: It depends on the particular veterinary school vets attend, some schools do not allow their students to "track" and require them to get versed in all aspects of veterinary medicine. The students are given opportunities to take electives to specialize. (This is the case at Cornell).

 

[RDZCRanch]

Cait...I can see the point you are trying to make but in all honesty the vast majority of veterinary schools out there do not offer what Cornell does. There is also the problem that veterinary science is in the process of catching up with the exotic species that are becoming readily available on the pet market. There is a lot of information on chinchillas out there but there has not been a ton of research on chinchillas specifically. My vet knows a TON about chinchillas and has been treating them since they first hit the pet market which was NOT that long ago. They started out as animals for the pelt industry and stayed as such for a long time...so they've been around but not on the pet market for a long period of time.

I've worked at a vet office for a few years and have met and talked at length with multiple exotic vets in my area. They all told me they had to do general veterinary and then go back to become an exotic specialist. It may be that your friends are getting these good choices now and that veterinary science schools are catching up, but that does not mean the veterinarians practicing now had the same schooling. Especially not the vets that have been in the field for 20yrs or more.

No one on here said we do not appreciate our vets. I would never presume to tell my vet what was wrong with my chin...the only time I did the chin had an open fracture and I'm not sure that can be "misdiagnosed." He has told me it was not always easy to be an exotic specialists and it was even true that they didn't have specialists at one point in time. Heck...I got to meet the first ever veterinary radiologist expert and he's still practicing so specialties have not been around quite that long either.

 

[tunes]

I can't help but read very thick sarcasm between these lines. But beyond that, being an educated owner would prevent such behavior (of overreacting over the smallest deviation from the norm). I myself use this forum and other sources to understand what is normal.

If I had meant it sarcastically, trust me, you would have known it. I asked a question, and even clarified by saying it was simple curiosity. That's all it meant. Don't read more into it than is there.

I think you're misunderstanding the original post and possibly the answers that followed. This isn't an anti-vet rant. I love my vets. I think they are awesome. They are willing to talk with me, not AT me, about my animals, and are willing to look things up if I have questions or if I say "I would like to try this." I'm not a vet hater by any means. I just think there is too much of a rush to GO TO THE VET when it isn't always necessary. So many people seem to equate good or bad pet ownership by how many Porche's you are willing to finance for your vet, i.e., "I must be a good pet owner. I spent a bazillion dollars at the vets." Sometimes rushing off to the vets just isn't necessary. With a little research and questions being asked of someone who is experienced with chins, you can take care of a lot of minor stuff at home.