Dog-vet interface problem - any ideas?
Discussion
Our rescue lurcher is about 7 years old now, and a couple of years ago she ruptured a cruciate ligament which required surgery. Not long after she was back to full fitness, she cut herself while on a mission and needed stitches, so she had to have another anaesthetic. And then, as the icing on the cake, one of the pins in her repair worked loose so she needed more surgery to fix that.
She's always had a few health problems on account of having been a starving stray when the Dogs Trust picked her up, and initially she enjoyed going to the vet's. But since the last run of surgery and check-ups, she's been terrified of going near the place.
As an example of how extreme her fear is, I took her in just to get her chip read a few weeks ago. Nothing exciting - go in, wait in waiting room for literally 1 minute, lady comes out with scanner, reads chip, we go away. Dog was fine going up to the door, but from the moment we went in she was screaming and fighting to get back outside. We weren't even going into a consulting room, it was just the act of going into the waiting room that set her off.
The problem is, she's now damaged her other leg and I suspect it's cruciate-related, so she needs to see a vet. But she may make her injury worse while trying to get away, and I really don't want her having a heart attack due to the stress.
Has anyone else encountered such a problem, and if so how did you get round it?
Here's the horrible hound in question. Feeling very sorry for herself!
She's always had a few health problems on account of having been a starving stray when the Dogs Trust picked her up, and initially she enjoyed going to the vet's. But since the last run of surgery and check-ups, she's been terrified of going near the place.
As an example of how extreme her fear is, I took her in just to get her chip read a few weeks ago. Nothing exciting - go in, wait in waiting room for literally 1 minute, lady comes out with scanner, reads chip, we go away. Dog was fine going up to the door, but from the moment we went in she was screaming and fighting to get back outside. We weren't even going into a consulting room, it was just the act of going into the waiting room that set her off.
The problem is, she's now damaged her other leg and I suspect it's cruciate-related, so she needs to see a vet. But she may make her injury worse while trying to get away, and I really don't want her having a heart attack due to the stress.
Has anyone else encountered such a problem, and if so how did you get round it?
Here's the horrible hound in question. Feeling very sorry for herself!
Most small animal vets don't like doing home visits, it's a hassle to them and takes them away from their comfort zone. If you find one prepared to offer this service then try it, there is still a fair bit of indefinable chemistry that needs to go on between vet and patient, some vet just are not pet people!! If you can't find a visiting vet then try a different practice as there may be some lovely vet/nurse combo that just feels different. Iremember before I stopped doing cats and dogs, a garage owner brought in his 2 rotties that just would not tolerate a different local practice and from the instant Claymore and Kobi walked in, they became some of our happiest patients, they made that choice before we could do anything. Just keep trying to find the right person for your pal.
We had similar only ours would start going ballistic in the car if we turned into the road leading to the vets road.
we tried to work it through with the vet to no avail... So changed vets.
She's still not particularly fond of vets and won't react well if one tries to take her temperature but our current vet knows that and doesn't even bother trying.
we tried to work it through with the vet to no avail... So changed vets.
She's still not particularly fond of vets and won't react well if one tries to take her temperature but our current vet knows that and doesn't even bother trying.
Thanks for the good ideas, everybody! 
As an update: we decided in the end to take her back to the vet who did her original cruciate surgery. Poppy enjoyed going to visit her before all this phobia thing started, so we hoped the simple change of scenery would help.
Well, it helped a bit. She was still trembly and scared when the vet was examining her, but there was no screaming (from either party...) and Poppy wasn't too bad while she was in the waiting room. There's still a lot of work to be done though. I used to take Caesar to just sit in the waiting room early on Saturdays when he was a tiny pup and the place was quiet, looks like I might have to do that with Poppy for a while now. I'll speak to them and see if they're amenable to the idea.
Anyway, the problem now is that the vet is 99% certain that the cruciate is the problem, so Dawg is booked in for an X-ray and probably surgery tomorrow morning.
Mind you, I'd take a ruptured cruciate over osteosarcoma any day!
As an update: we decided in the end to take her back to the vet who did her original cruciate surgery. Poppy enjoyed going to visit her before all this phobia thing started, so we hoped the simple change of scenery would help.
Well, it helped a bit. She was still trembly and scared when the vet was examining her, but there was no screaming (from either party...) and Poppy wasn't too bad while she was in the waiting room. There's still a lot of work to be done though. I used to take Caesar to just sit in the waiting room early on Saturdays when he was a tiny pup and the place was quiet, looks like I might have to do that with Poppy for a while now. I'll speak to them and see if they're amenable to the idea.
Anyway, the problem now is that the vet is 99% certain that the cruciate is the problem, so Dawg is booked in for an X-ray and probably surgery tomorrow morning.
Mind you, I'd take a ruptured cruciate over osteosarcoma any day!We take ours to tge vrt every month to gef weighed and say hello to the staff, get a tickle behind the ears, a bit of a fuss and away we go with a nice tasty snack. Mind you if the vet tries to take his temperature he gets feisty, doesn't like men fiddling around with his rear end. Can sympathise with him on that.
I hope your pup is on the mend? Last week I went to a seminar by Amber Batson (Vet Behaviourist Specialist) on this very subject + first aid for anxious dogs. There is actually loads you can do to help your fearful dog. Especially if you have a good vet 
They might let you do very short 3 minute visits to the waiting room at random times with no treatment and loads of rewards (mine does)
They may let you have the last appointment of each surgery and let you leave your dog in car until the last patient has left and then call you in (mine does this)
Do a pet first aid course so you know the basics and avoid unnecessary visits
Prepare yourself with a piece of 'vet bed' smelling of home and a stuffed kong full of treats so the dog is comfortable and occupied (overshadowing doesn't always work but can for some dogs)
Ask your vet about natural calming remedies that can help (such as Adaptil Express or Valerian drops)
Find a vet that will do home visits (obviously not appropriate for any kind of surgery)
That's just some stuff that might help good luck x
They might let you do very short 3 minute visits to the waiting room at random times with no treatment and loads of rewards (mine does)
They may let you have the last appointment of each surgery and let you leave your dog in car until the last patient has left and then call you in (mine does this)
Do a pet first aid course so you know the basics and avoid unnecessary visits
Prepare yourself with a piece of 'vet bed' smelling of home and a stuffed kong full of treats so the dog is comfortable and occupied (overshadowing doesn't always work but can for some dogs)
Ask your vet about natural calming remedies that can help (such as Adaptil Express or Valerian drops)
Find a vet that will do home visits (obviously not appropriate for any kind of surgery)
That's just some stuff that might help
good luck x Some good ideas there - thank you!
Our vets are quite amenable to the idea of letting us just turn up at random times and hang around for a couple of minutes if they're quiet, but I'm waiting with that particular plan until Poppy's leg is better. What we've been doing is popping into the vet's when we arrive and then leaving the dog in the car until we're called - she still gets stressed about it, but she doesn't have time to get too worked up before she's being examined, and the vet is very good so she lets us take the dog back to the car and then chats to us about what we need to do next. I'm reluctant to try home visits because Poppy feels safe at home, I don't want her to be scared that the vet is coming to get her in her safe place.
The leg was healing nicely until two weekends ago, but she's been hobbling on three legs since - the vet says it's normal and she'll get better soon, but I'm not seeing much evidence of that at the moment. She's still on anti-inflammatories, might have to go back to the vet's next week if she doesn't start to improve soon.
Our vets are quite amenable to the idea of letting us just turn up at random times and hang around for a couple of minutes if they're quiet, but I'm waiting with that particular plan until Poppy's leg is better. What we've been doing is popping into the vet's when we arrive and then leaving the dog in the car until we're called - she still gets stressed about it, but she doesn't have time to get too worked up before she's being examined, and the vet is very good so she lets us take the dog back to the car and then chats to us about what we need to do next. I'm reluctant to try home visits because Poppy feels safe at home, I don't want her to be scared that the vet is coming to get her in her safe place.
The leg was healing nicely until two weekends ago, but she's been hobbling on three legs since - the vet says it's normal and she'll get better soon, but I'm not seeing much evidence of that at the moment. She's still on anti-inflammatories, might have to go back to the vet's next week if she doesn't start to improve soon.
Oh poor thing, its such an ordeal for them isn't it. I wish we could explain everything is ok
I have a highly anxious, fearful and reactive dog, but he's had a long term residual pain from an acute shoulder tendonitis which has made things a lot worse as he is extremely guardy around any movement on his right field of vision.
It sounds like your vet is very supportive and yes, I would agree with not having things 'done' in her safe home if you can manage it.
By the way, might be worth asking about laser treatment for cruciate? My pup cant have surgery on his tendon so we have to treat with cortisone injections/ pain relief and laser - the laser has been amazing - it has really improved things!
I have a highly anxious, fearful and reactive dog, but he's had a long term residual pain from an acute shoulder tendonitis which has made things a lot worse as he is extremely guardy around any movement on his right field of vision.
It sounds like your vet is very supportive and yes, I would agree with not having things 'done' in her safe home if you can manage it.
By the way, might be worth asking about laser treatment for cruciate? My pup cant have surgery on his tendon so we have to treat with cortisone injections/ pain relief and laser - the laser has been amazing - it has really improved things!
The laser treatment thing is a really good idea - thanks! I've got to ring the vet this week, I'll ask her about it then.
The surgery has already been done to repair the rupture, but now the recovery seems to be taking a lot of time. All was well for about three weeks - Poppy was happy, using the leg, etc. - but then she took a turn for the worse for no apparent reason (she's not been allowed to run around or use the stairs or anything). We're now about five weeks post-op and she's still on three legs.
Still. On the upside, her previous cruciate repair job is holding up splendidly to the additional wear and tear.
The surgery has already been done to repair the rupture, but now the recovery seems to be taking a lot of time. All was well for about three weeks - Poppy was happy, using the leg, etc. - but then she took a turn for the worse for no apparent reason (she's not been allowed to run around or use the stairs or anything). We're now about five weeks post-op and she's still on three legs.
Still. On the upside, her previous cruciate repair job is holding up splendidly to the additional wear and tear.
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