Vets

[ChamOh]

I have no good herp vets in my area. In fact, I have about 20 vets in the area and only one even takes Herps!

And they have a policy of making you bring your chameleon in before they will do a fecal... seems ridiculous to stress the animal for no reason--so the vet can make an extra buck.

i'm kind of torn on what to do as going would just be a preventative type visit to get a fecal...

 

[gpmo]

In many states the vet is required by law to examine an animal to establish a veterinary client/patient relationship before they can prescribe any medications. The vet is just trying to protect their license. Human doctors are required to do the same thing.

gpmo (her)

 

[jannb]

Once you take your chameleon in a few times and build a relationship with your vet then they will usually work with you on meds and fecals then. I know mine does.

 

[Carlton]

I have no good herp vets in my area. In fact, I have about 20 vets in the area and only one even takes Herps!

And they have a policy of making you bring your chameleon in before they will do a fecal... seems ridiculous to stress the animal for no reason--so the vet can make an extra buck.

i'm kind of torn on what to do as going would just be a preventative type visit to get a fecal...

Well, they have to get their pound of flesh like every other business. Unless you have some special access to an independent lab for testing you may not have a choice. Probably a lot of reasons for this...they want to establish some history on your pet when it is supposedly healthy (a very good thing), they want the office visit $ (unavoidable), they want to make sure you don't misunderstand any results from a fecal and then blame them if the cham ends up with undiagnosed health issues (the CYA mentality), and frankly, they may be curious to meet a cham and learn more about it from you (why not?). I don't object to bringing the cham in to a new vet to establish a good working relationship. In a future crisis it could be very valuable. Your cham isn't going to die from the stress of one vet visit. Pick the vet you think you want to cultivate and go for it. A good vet relationship can save a life down the road.

 

[ChamOh]

all good points. i think i'm just sick of all the red tape everywhere. ideally it would be one's choice whether or not they want to build a relationship, potential save their pets life down the road etc etc (of course this is a good thing--but it should be a choice not a law) oh well what's another hoop!

and i'm pretty sure they are going to simply look at my chameleon and say his eyes don't look sunken--he must be well hydrated, his weight is okay, skeletal structure is good, make your check of 65 dollars payable to me for an office visit and 35 for fecal : ) and what do i get as the customer? i get to put undue stress on my exotic pet and I get to pay 100 $ for a fecal screening essentially, which is all i wanted.

i shouldn't complain, i fully knew this going into the hobby and it's something i'm willing to put up with. a guess this thread is just a big shrug of the shoulders. Oh Vell!

 

[gpmo]

I am sure that 8 years of schooling and $150,000.00 in tuition are set just to be annoying to customers and most vets obviously care nothing of your animals and just want the cash to cover said $150,000.00 in tuition. ( SARCASM ) ( oh and eight years for base medical degree add 3-4 more for specializing in your field, unless your are my wife who is doing it in 7 years plus 3-4 more)

Or maybe there are some liability reasons that have to be addressed in todays sue happy world. And possibly because the vet needs/wants to do their job and cover all health bases and not just run random fecals for people off the street.

Smile and be happy you have a vet that sees herps in your area.

Gpmo (him)

Poking fun smile