I was an SC today...

[Retail Associate]

but it was my cat's fault!

Late Monday night my kitty threw up all over the house. He almost never throws up so I was scared. The only other time he did this was 3 yrs ago. It turned out he had a blockage in his intestines and went through several weeks of treatments/healing before he was well again. Not to mention a lot of $$.

I had to go out of town to my aunt's funeral on Tuesday and would be gone all day so I made an appointment with the vet for 11:00am today (Wed). When it came time to put kitty in his carrier and head out to the vet's office, I couldn't find him. (He's an indoor/outdoor cat.) He usually comes when I call him and I was out there calling him for 45 minutes...he just wouldn't come.

The SC part came in when I had to call the vet and tell them I wasn't going to make my appt and could I possibly bring him in later this afternoon. They were really nice about it but I felt like a jerk. And wouldn't you know it? About an hour later who comes strolling up to the window...darn cat.

So, I called the vet's office again, told them the little varmint had returned and asked if it would be better if I brought him in now rather than later in the day. They were rather busy at that time but she did move the appt up a bit earlier.

I apologized again when I arrived. The receptionist said it was okay and that at least I had called. She said most people just don't show up at all.

(For those interested, my kitty does have a rather big furball in his belly but doesn't appear to be blocked, thank gord. Lots of Laxatone for him for a few days.)

[JustaCashier]

I was an SC today...

Oh, I get it! In this case, SC stands for Sensible Customer!

I was reading this thread, waiting for the part where, perhaps, you ripped into one of the Vet office staff members, because they were going to charge a cancellation fee, and/or wouldn't let you in for the re-scheduled appt after Kitty showed up, and you were understandably upset what with the loss of your Aunt, and a sick cat.

What I see instead, is you were thoughtful enough to call and see if you could cancel, then call agian a little later, to un-cancel. Nothing sucky about either of those!

The staff probably appreciated the fact that you didn't just not show up without cancelling, and then, didn't show up or call after Kitty came back, expecting the Vet staff to work you in right away.

Mike

[iradney]

I'm not feeling the suck here, RA. I kept reading, wondering if you'd maybe trained your cat to attack the vet staff, or to poop copiously in the waiting room, but it just didn't happen.
JustACashier was right - you were considerate. You let em know the cat did a runner, and then called em back to say that he came back, could you still pop by?

[Catwoman2965]

no, you were not sucky at all, if i were working for the vet, i'd be happy that you called to let us know the situation. And if they were busy, it doesn't sound like you expected them to drop everything and see you now...you merely inquired if it woudl be better to bring him in now, rather than later, but were willing to work with THEIR schedule.

I'm sure they're used to their patients disappearing before its time to see the vet!

poor kitty; i hope he's better soon! we used to trick mine, but he knew, not being able to go out, or in the basement meant he was going to be put in the dreaded carrier! he had a short memory though; you'd get him in, and have to listen to his yowls of death, take him, get his shots or whatever, bring him home, and when ou let him out, he'd bolt. but not 10 minutes later he would be cuddling up to you like nothing had ever happened! he wasn't too swift, but very loveable!

[JustADude]

Me, I kept expecting the suck to come in the form of projectile kitty-vomit all over some unsuspecting victim. Dangit! You got my hopes up for nothing!

Ah well, I'll just amuse myself with the emoticons:

[Gabrielle Proctor]

That's nothing.

I have 4 kitties. Two girls and two boys. The two boy kitties are 14 and 11. One week I brought in Zeke, the 14 year old. While he was in the carrier, he crapped. I handed him over and apoligized. They said they would just hose it out after I offered to clean it.

The next week(after calling the vet's office 3 times in one day changing around the time because I couldn't find the cat), I brought in Bean, the 11 year old. He went nuts in the carrier! He tried to bite his way out! Then he crapped and ran circles in his own feces!

When I brought him in, I handed him over, apoligized and said, "I swear I don't train my cats to do this."

They already knew Bean would be a problem. All he needed was a treatment for the mites in his ears, but I asked if they could sedate him for it. He's usually so mellow, he lets me raspberry his tummy and everything. He just chills. Until, you make him do something he wants no part of. The vets had to leave him in his carrier in the kennel and while they were doing the treatment, turns out they didn't have to sedate him.

[Skandranon]

Speaking as an employee of vet hospitals, calling to cancel an appointment b/c you can't find the bloody cat is a legitimate reason. Good for you for calling ahead.

[myswtghst]

I'm with Skandranon (and pretty much everyone else) on this. Having worked with animals for most of my life, I know just how unpredictable they can be. It's a perfectly good reason to reschedule an appointment, and I'm sure they were just glad you called ahead!

[Retail Associate]

The reason I figured I was an SC is because, around here, it's rather hard to get your pet seen by a vet on a same-day basis. So, when I was able to get an appt on the day I wanted, I was very happy. Then, to not show up, well, that was pretty SCish of me. I was so glad they could get him in later that day, though.

I haven't been going to this veterinary clinic for very long. I had gone to a different vet for over 15 years. My kitty (now deceased) was one of his first patients. The vet was wonderful, kind, caring and always called a day or two after seeing my cat to check up on how he was doing. I loved that vet!

A few years ago he started getting new partners. First one, then another...both women. As soon as the new partners were in place, my vet worked fewer days per week and I could no longer get my cat in on a same-day basis. Nor could I schedule appts for after work like I always could before. Most of the time they would make me wait 3 days while my poor cat would suffer from whatever was ailing him.

The final straw came when my new kitty, the one I spoke of in my OP, became ill. I had only had him for a couple weeks so he'd never been to see my vet but had been vetted by his previous owners. He was about 6 months old. I came home from work on a Friday night to find that he was pretty sick. I stayed up with him all night and he seemed to get worse and worse as the night went on.

First thing Saturday morning I called my vet's office to get him in ASAP. They refused. Said, "Same-day appts are reserved for our regular patients." With disbelief I told them I'd been bringing my critters to that office for 15 years. How much more regular can you get? Well, they had never seen this cat before. I told them I had all his papers with his medical history from his previous vet and would bring them in with me. That wasn't good enough for them. The soonest they could get him in was Monday afternoon.

I was livid and so hurt at the same time. I couldn't believe they were going to make this poor kitty suffer for three days and I was so afraid he could possibly die in that time.

Imagine my relief when I called this new veterinary clinic and was able to get my kitty in within the hour!!! Not only had they never seen this cat before, I had never been there before with any of my critters.

After a few days I wrote my vet a letter. It wasn't nasty, I just told him how disappointed and hurt I was with the treatment we had received and that I would no longer be bringing my cats there.

[myswtghst]

I'm lucky. We've been going to the same vet for our pets since I was little. I actually worked for him while I was in high school. He's taken care of multiple dogs, and now my two cats as well, and the clerks there know our whole family on sight, and even get excited to see our crazy PITA 90+lb yellow lab.

[queenbb]

you not very sc, your cat on the other hand hehe.

i have had a cat who was a really bad sc, he did not like the hospotality at all over at the vets office.

he cried the whole time he was there (a few days actually) they said the only time they had any peace was when he was under for his surgery. we walked in and they had this exasperated look on their faces like get your horrid cat out of here.

[Retail Associate]

...get your horrid cat out of here.

LOL! My cat is very sweet, even at the vet's office. When I took him in that day I saw a vet we've never seen before. When I opened the pet carrier and urged kitty out the vet said, "Oh, what a handsome guy!"

Even as the vet stuck the thermometer up his bum, he didn't flinch. The vet then said, "Not only is he handsome, he has such a sweet personality."

I have, in the past, had a cat or two that the vet wasn't too thrilled about seeing, though. Also, a german shepherd who hated visiting the doc! Bit him a few times, he did!

[queenbb]

it must be nice to have a vet friendly kitty and dog.

im glad that kitty is doing well (i forgot to put that earlier)

i dont think that any of my animals like to go anywhere at all.

my dog, did have a lengthy stay at the vet because she was hit by a car (she only broke her leg, pretty tough ol' mutt i sware, she did get hit on the freeway)

the only reason that she was able to be treated was because my best friend was working there at the time, she would bite anyone else who came near her, they had to muzzle her if someone else took her out of her kennel.

i guess she was a pretty sucky customer lol.

[GingerBiscuit]

when our cat was alive, she was a terrible SC for vets.
Our old vet used to call her 'a character', which was vet speak for 'psycho'. He had permamnent scarring from her, but hey, we all did.
Luckily she never needed the vet much- we jsut had to get super strong flea remedy for her, as she got tough little bastards for fleas.

When she had the fit before she died our vet at the time was lovely. He couldn't see her, cause she'd fitted and fallen down the staris and couldn't be moved, but gave advice over the phone to us, told us to ring the emergency surgery if there was any change and bring her in in the morning if she was still trying to get up and walk around (tough little psycho, if you had a fit and fell that far, would you be trying to walk afterwards?)
He didn't charge us for anything, and was really lovely.
Despite how evil she was, every vet we had loved her.

[queenbb]

that was nice of your vet, i think that our vet for the cat i first told you about, you see he was going to die, because of the infection in his chest (it was a burr that went in to his skin, on top of it we think that he had fip) well they wouldnt release him to us so he could die at home till we paid our bill in full instead of letting us make payments like he normally would. i think he did it because of the annoyance of him yowling the whole time, we paid the bill in full and he died at home a few days later.

we did have a horse that was an excellent costumer, the vet loved him because he would let him do any shot he could, he would give us the shots that would normally cost 50$ per (for a numb block and other interesting things) for 5$ per because he was such a good boy through the whole thing, the vet got to do shots that he normally didnt get to do, so he would come and visit and practice his shots on poor ol' greedy. it was pretty funny people would be all whats wrong with him now (he had a club foot and reslulting lameness because of it and thats why we had to give him so many shots to see what we could do to get him sound) i would just say oh the vets just practicing on him cause hes a good boy for shots.

meanwhile in the other stall the other horses are all ahhhhhhhhh and running around cause they just know that the vet is gonna come and give them shots next,