Medical check first for dog behaviour change

Youtube audio link:
​ https://youtu.be/3rwjMKYKUWQ?si=w3jA61jMBJkQd6Cr
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Within this blog as quite rightly raised by one of the fantastic guardians and followers of this page, it is all well and good that behaviourists as professionals recommend a veterinary check first, but what happens when you don't have a good relationship?

This is an important question, we also want integrative and open minded but knowledgeable vets and we want vets who actively listen to us and take time with their patient, our beloved dog or other animal members of the family.

This is not the first time I have blogged on this subject, however following my own negative experiences and those of others who have bravely shared their experiences, this topic must be talked about more candidly.

Here is the link to the previous blog: https://www.facebook.com/share/2wLxtoZQdg5wq1mX/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Many dog guardians feel that they are not taken seriously by their vets, they feel or have been told that they are essentially hypochondriac dog parents or words to that effect to keep anonymity.

I'm not the only professional invested in this research, a 2019 German study titled: Being nice is not enough - exploring relationship centred veterinary care with structural equation modelling. A quantitative study on German pet owners perception. (Küper and Merle, 2019)

One of the main takeaways is that both we in the role of guardian and the vets feel that there is a power struggle. We need a medical model as we understand it from a human perspective and vets not wanting a paternalistic role and seeing the relationship as more transactional. (Krones and Richter, 2008).

There is also a recognition as I always disclose to dog guardians that if you don't feel heard or supported by your vet to seek out a canine chiropractor, canine physiotherapist, hydrotherapist or alternative practitioner. Within the study it was found that these professionals were sought in order to receive an empathetic and caring approach over vets. (www.tierheilpraktiker.de, 2018).

This is an international problem, working with dog guardians internationally, I have worked with those who have sought out professionals through universities, animal teaching hospitals, holistic vets, fear free vets and clinics.

This is because of the dire need to be heard and to be understood, what needs to be respected is not only is this animal that a Vet as a professional has no attachment to this person's family member but also the animal's guardian is their voice.

If information was not gate kept and guardians were empowered to learn, they could. Instead of leaving appointments feeling discouraged and as though they couldn't have their questions answered or their need for an understanding of alternative therapies which could be available within their choices as a dog parent of the paths available to them to choose for their dogs best welfare and medical options. (Brown,2018).

So if we step away from academic papers and have a glance over the news articles within the UK, which I warn everyone to treat with a pinch of salt due to journalists being so unscrupulous.

Vets claimed in one guardian article, they have never felt so abused since 2020 and cannot cope with the influx of new patients, that they have to focus on payment plans over medicine, that they would rather purchase someone's dog and pay the fees and then give the dog to a charity than euthanasia and many feel they want to leave the industry due to having to negotiate with guardians at 1am over prices. (amp.theguardian.com, 2022)

You don't have to go far to see this and similar in many news articles, I also see it from the dog guardians perspective and recognise how guardians feel with interactions with vets. Which is far less glamorised or of interest to British newspapers.
I am really lucky to have the vets that I have now changed over to as of last year. They listen, they truly care about the patient, acknowledge the patient and focus on the medical appointment first.

Both pre, during and post covid, I have heard horror experiences of dogs literally hanging between life and death and vets refusing to touch the dog until they had ran a bank or credit card through their machine first.
These experiences for me as a professional don't just make me incredibly sad and frustrated for the dog and the guardian but also angry.

Vets have mental health support due to the problems they say that they experience due to their work.

However for professionals like myself and other alternative practitioners it becomes emotionally draining to hear of these experiences and to also fight vets on behalf of a guardian in order for information sharing or consent of the practice.

I fully support guardians who use websites such as viovets and request the prescription from the vet rather than paying the crazy inflated prices at the surgery.

I also fully support guardians who seek alternative therapies and or use traditional vets.

I do however sympathise with guardians with the cost of the vets, especially as a dog professional who not only recognises the cost of qualifications etc, but also that I undercharge in comparison to my colleagues due to the area that I am in. Which does not reflect within the veterinary industry.

I sympathise with guardians who are not heard by the vets, who don't do full investigations, who glance at a dog in a cramped room, charge for an anti-inflammatory for a limp and then say if it's no better in 10 days to consider an x-ray, but they can't see or feel anything that's wrong.

I also sympathise with guardians who are raw feeders and are in my opinion nutritional buffs concerning their individual dogs diet and are scoffed at by the vets and are told to consider their prescription diet food.

I absolutely sympathise with any guardian attempting to communicate with the vets concerning their dogs behaviour, asking for a pain trial and an exploratory examination and tests to see if the behaviour is due to a medical discomfort.

All of the above I have not only been told by guardians but have experienced first hand myself. Being told such things as “A pain trial? What's that, there's no such thing!”

“You can't do a blood test for bad behaviour, no such blood test exists.”

“A urinalysis for bad behaviour?”

“Exploration of the gut, liver and pancreas, why???”

This was said to me by several vets during covid. As a behaviourist there was no professional relationship, instead it was a I'm so bored attitude and we know better because we are medical experts.

This is so far from the truth, unless a vet is a veterinary behaviourist, nutritionist or a specialist within a field, they are very much a surgeon and a GP role and not an expert on individual categories.

The new vets not only listened carefully and respectfully at no initial charge on the phone, but also assigned their best vet they felt fit the role of the needs of my dog, followed up out of hours in their own time on their own mobile and also supported us through every step of the recovery process.

The only way to complain against a Vet surgery is to complain against an individual vet, no good if the surgery never assigns you the same vet which is typical of many practices as patient centred care is not at the forefront as the German study highlights. So you can only complain about a Vet surgery to the Watchdog and hope that they care enough to ask for more information. The RCVS which guardians believe to be the regulator for the vet industry isn't and is also on the whole hugely inaccessible which you will know if you have had the misfortune of having to use.

Just like any profession there are good and bad. But when it comes to our dogs and animal members of the family it simply isn't good enough. Guardians don't need to be scoffed at, spoken down to or have information dangled at the cost of a credit card.
Guardians need patient centred care from the vets, for vets to give an appointment which is not hurried, is empathetic, listening and active on the communication. Guardians need a kind and friendly approach and a sense of an understanding of their dog's diagnosis and the different options available to them either within the surgery or via different therapies.

Information also needs an overhaul, if as found in the German study vets want dog guardians to do their own research, there has to be an information regulated website with accurate information for guardians to search and learn from.

Diminishing guardians ability to learn, understand and process information is a gross and disgusting attitude to have. Guardians become their own experts in their dogs' health and well being, especially when they don't feel heard, sourcing the information from different countries like myself if needed.

This is why a holistic approach is needed, to work together, to be integrative as professional practitioners over profit and gatekeeping. For patient centred and patient centric care for a happy patient and a happy patient guardian.

References

Küper, A.M. and Merle, R. (2019). Being Nice Is Not Enough-Exploring Relationship-Centered Veterinary Care With Structural Equation Modeling. A Quantitative Study on German Pet Owners’ Perception. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, [online] 6. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2019.00056
Krones, T. and Richter, G. (2008). Ärztliche Verantwortung: das Arzt-Patient-Verhältnis. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz, 51(, pp.818–826. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-008-0601-y.
Verband Deutscher Tierheilpraktiker Statistics of Members, German National Association of Complementary Animal Practitioners (2018) Available from: https://www.tierheilpraktiker.de/mitg.../mitglieder-map.html
Brown, B. (2018). The Dimensions of Pet-Owner Loyalty and the Relationship with Communication, Trust, Commitment and Perceived Value. Veterinary Sciences, 5(4), p.95. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci5040095.
amp.theguardian.com. (2022). ‘Relentless calls and constant abuse’: why Britain’s vets are in crisis | Pets | The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://amp.theguardian.com/.../we-are-exhausted-and...

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