I had been visiting Countryside Veterinary Clinic for several months and had routinely seen one vet who seemed professional, polite, and thorough.in my husband, who had always helped me clean my dog's ears, had to take a job out of state, so I needed the help of a vet to clean my dog's ears, as he was suffering from mites. One day, I visited the clinic, and the vet asked me several questions about the dog, who was not letting me get near him to clean his ears. The vet decided that a muzzle would be prudent. I handed my dog to his technician, who took the dog into a back room while I waited in the first room, muzzled him, and hosed his ears. The dog came out relieved and happy.
The next time I visited this clinic for the same procedure (ear cleaning), I was led into a room where a woman whom I had never met before was standing. Never introducing herself, she simply told me to come into the back room and put my dog on the table. I was confused by the different circumstances surrounding this visit - different person (I didn't even know if she was a vet or not), my original vet nowhere to be seen, and "me" holding the dog, as opposed to an employee taking him from my arms into a back room, while I waited in a different room. She began to hose the dog's ears, and the dog nipped her hand.
I was stunned, apologetic, and extremely concerned about her welfare, asking if there was anything I could do to help. After running her hand under cold water and applying Peroxide, this woman stated very curtly that she would not continue the procedure unless the dog was sedated and told me that I should have let her know that he had been muzzled the last time. Of course I would have provided that information had I not been so confused about the different manner in which the procedure was being performed by someone whom I had never met and who never asked any questions or even introduced herself.
I left the clinic, feeling confused, embarrassed, and guilt-ridden, but decided to come back a few days later to have the procedure finished. The same woman opened the door, glared at me, and asked why I was there. I said that I would like to finish the ear cleaning, to which she responded, "Yes - sedated." I responded, "or muzzled." In a loud voice and in front of 2 other waiting customers, she said, "I was the one who did it last time, and I will NOT complete the procedure unless the dog is sedated." I then asked, "Well, where is the vet?" Then she yelled, "I am the vet, and I won't do this unless he is sedated!!!" This is the first time I was made aware of the fact that she was a vet, not a technician, but I had yet to even learn her name. She was nasty, curt, and unprofessional. I assumed that the first vet had probably retired and was leaving his practice in this new vet's hands, but I later learned that she is the second vet who works there.
Ear cleaning does not require sedation. Muzzles are made for this very situation. Many dogs will react when a hose is shooting water into the ear, and all dogs are unpredictable. I feel that this vet should have introduced herself, explained that she would be doing the procedure that day, and ask me the necessary questions that usually accompany such a procedure, such as "Does the dog need a muzzle?"
Perhaps she could have looked at his chart, where such information should have been written. I was made to feel as though my dog's reaction was "my" fault, and I sensed anger in this vet for not being told by me that he should have been muzzled. I feel that what happened was due to her own negligence. I would never stick a hose into a dog's ear without muzzling the dog first. I will never go back there again.
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