any vets out there?

[crisgal]

my little dog has not been himself and so i took him to our local vets and as she pressed his tummy, he jumped round and "went for her" as it were. he's never done that EVER to any of my three kids or their friends in his life (he's 10) so I knew it had really hurt him. She said he should have a blood test to see if anything showed up. That meant dropping him off, shaving his neck a bit and taking blood, sending off to the lab and phoning me with the results. All in all �80 worth!! Today they've rang to say the bloods were NAD and so now I have to try and get a urine sample - at a cost of..... �6.58. Now why on earth don't they do the cheaper test first? I asked them why they didn't and was told "well, it doesn't always work like that" At �80 a throw, I bet it bloody doesn't. Grrrrrr (pardon the pun) I'm really mad!

[eyebrows]

revolt!

[crisgal]

how, eyebrows how?

[Noweia]

It can be quite expensive to send bloods off for a full biochemistry and haematology panel. Usually companies offer a basic price for a full screen (anything from �30 to �50), then charge extras for further tests e.g. for pancreatic function or for specific hormones.

There's a list from one such lab here:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_66367_en.pdf

The urinalysis might not show anything specific. It might show you a bit about kidney disease, but you need the bloods done too to make any decisions.

[wildwood]

While I do sympathise with you, vets have a difficult job diagnosing ailments and have my greatest respect (mostly). When you go to the doctor you can tell where it hurts, how you feel, sleep, vacate, and any info the doc needs to make an informed guess at where/how to examine you.

The vet has none of these great advantages and needs to watch for reactions to certain pressures. Also, vet are not govt subsidised so have to charge the full fee.

[crisgal]

i completly agree wth you, windwood. My moan really was that they tried the more expensive test first. It would have been more "owner - friendly" if they'd have suggested the cheap urine test first. I would have had more respect for them and as it is now, I'm a bit suspicious!
It has made me really worry about treatment as my dog gets older.