Challenges facing vets in practice

Purple said:
Your second link tells us that they kill a minimum of 27 million birds in the UK each year but the true number could be much higher. It then goes on the speculate that those birds would have died anyway. What a strange and baseless thing to say.

Yep, empty-nesters have all the money and see no moral problem spending thousands on their pets while people go hungry in the world. Each to their own I suppose.

Yes, I'd be aa terrible vet. If people brought in a sick cat, bird, lizard, snake, spider etc I'd find it hard to resist saying "Sure just get a new one, it's only a cat, bird, lizard, snake, spider etc".
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The basis for the claim is the fact that cats (and most predators) will go for weakest target, the sick or injured target.

I haven't seen any glut of empty nesters in my visits to the vet. Quite the reverse, very often families with kids, who have visible bonds with their pets. Most of the people spending thousands at the vets are those who paid a tenner a month for pet insurance, to avoid the trauma of having to decide whether they can afford to provide the best treatment for their dog or cat or whatever. It seems like a strange target to pick for 'thousands going hungry in the world'. Why not pick on those who spend on nice cars or nice food or nice holidays or nice houses or whatever?
deanpark said:
A pattern I have noticed in the past decade is the increasing remote-ness and lack of access to the vet themselves in suburban practices - they use the vet nurses and reception staff to do a lot of the work & face off to the customers that they used to do and ration their own time with customers/ pets but still charge the same old prices or more. Basically the vet practices have professionalised but with a loss of the nicer side of care and attention and empathy that was there in the past
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That certainly wouldn't be my experience in our local vet or at the specialist referral vets. There was certainly limits with face to face time during Covid, but there was plenty of direct engagement with the vets before and after, even if only by phone. The referral vets tended to use one of the more junior vets to take the case history or updates up front, while the senior vet gave the feedback and answered questions after seeing the animal. Might be time to shop around for a better vets?
 
@RetirementPlan , I also like dogs and spent a fortune on heart medication for my last one when she was old. I just have a problem with people who think pets are people.
 
RetirementPlan said:
The basis for the claim is the fact that cats (and most predators) will go for weakest target, the sick or injured target.

I haven't seen any glut of empty nesters in my visits to the vet. Quite the reverse, very often families with kids, who have visible bonds with their pets. Most of the people spending thousands at the vets are those who paid a tenner a month for pet insurance, to avoid the trauma of having to decide whether they can afford to provide the best treatment for their dog or cat or whatever. It seems like a strange target to pick for 'thousands going hungry in the world'. Why not pick on those who spend on nice cars or nice food or nice holidays or nice houses or whatever?


That certainly wouldn't be my experience in our local vet or at the specialist referral vets. There was certainly limits with face to face time during Covid, but there was plenty of direct engagement with the vets before and after, even if only by phone. The referral vets tended to use one of the more junior vets to take the case history or updates up front, while the senior vet gave the feedback and answered questions after seeing the animal. Might be time to shop around for a better vets?
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I can only go on my own experience - they're competent but the service is not friendly or empathetic. I can't be bothered changing vets for the limited amount of time I need to interact with them.
 
deanpark said:
I can only go on my own experience - they're competent but the service is not friendly or empathetic. I can't be bothered changing vets for the limited amount of time I need to interact with them.
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I'm sure the patient doesn't mind either way.
 
Back to the OP's question, perhaps one issue facing vets is the ban on corporate ownership of veterinary practices and future relaxation of that ban.
 
My area is overrun with feral cats - systematically killing birds, breeding out of control, caterwauling all night, defecating everywhere.

Local authorities should encourage a mass cull
 
ATC110 said:
My area is overrun with feral cats - systematically killing birds, breeding out of control, caterwauling all night, defecating everywhere.

Local authorities should encourage a mass cull
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A good pair of welders gloves and a goalkeepers Hurley will do the job.
 
ATC110 - there are lots of TNR (Trap, Neuter & Return) groups throughout the country, who will trap feral cats and have them neutered.
If you search for TNR you will likely find some TNR volunteers in your area and a quick message to them may solve all your problems.
This would also be doing a great service for the poor animals left, through no fault of their own, to fend for themselves.
 
grenzgebiet said:
ATC110 - there are lots of TNR (Trap, Neuter & Return) groups throughout the country, who will trap feral cats and have them neutered.
If you search for TNR you will likely find some TNR volunteers in your area and a quick message to them may solve all your problems.
This would also be doing a great service for the poor animals left, through no fault of their own, to fend for themselves.
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Are they really letting feral cats back into the wild?
 
Purple said:
Are they really letting feral cats back into the wild?
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Yes. That way you have a resident population that are sterilised, so the numbers are not growing. Releasing them is a better option. If you remove them, a new load will move in and start breeding.
 
Seagull said:
Yes. That way you have a resident population that are sterilised, so the numbers are not growing. Releasing them is a better option. If you remove them, a new load will move in and start breeding.
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It's a pity cat owners can't just take responsibility for their pets.
Does this show that cats are really just wild animals that choose to live where there is a food source and it's warm but will leave if there's a better option?
 
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