We recently adopted a great dane puppy, who is the love of our life. I spent nearly a week researching different clinics in the area and looking at reviews to try and find the very best place to care... Read More
We recently adopted a great dane puppy, who is the love of our life. I spent nearly a week researching different clinics in the area and looking at reviews to try and find the very best place to care for our little guy, especially since great danes are a very high maintenance breed. This clinic had excellent reviews and a website/Facebook page that impressed me. They were one of my top three choices, and happened to be the only one of those three that could get him in in time to satisfy our contract with the breeder (requiring us to have him in within 5 days of ownership). When I took him to the vet the first time, staff was pleasant for the most part. The problem was, I felt like I really wasn€t given much information to answer some of the questions I had. It did not seem this vet was at all familiar with great danes as a breed and some of the issues they can have (such as uneven growth patterns, issues with vaccines, etc). It was in our breeder€s contract not to over-vaccinate, something that can be lethal to many dogs, but great danes more particularly. I made this very clear from the get-go. I was told that we should €sneak in€ another vaccine due to him being a large animal, which, if I had no background in health common sense, I would have believed. I felt a mild amount of pressure from this vet to give him every vaccine available, and while all of these things were thrown at us, I left feeling no more informed than I was when I walked in. Nonetheless, I scheduled as directed for another exam and distemper combo along with lepto and lymes vaccines (3 vaccines IN ONE APPOINTMENT). Feeling uneasy, I contacted my breeder and a couple others that are well known and got the same answer. He does not need an extra distemper combo, and certainly not lymes on the same day.
In between these appointments, our dane had a scary episode of buckling over at the knees, a condition dane puppies can get from uneven or too rapid growth patterns. This can be from vaccines, diets (including too much protein/fat or too much food in a feeding), stress, etc. I called this vet and explained what was happening, hoping they could get him in because it was truly freaking me out. He could barely support his weight on his front legs. They would not see him until late the next week, and the receptionist acted like she had no idea. She called back later, stating that the vet said she really wasn€t worried about it. This, obviously unknown to her, is the first sign of HOD, a seriously developmental issue in danes that can kill them. Luckily, I changed his diet and he quickly improved.
We went back to the clinic as scheduled for his second exam. This time, clinic staff was different and very rude. The tech that day seemed very uneducated, which was only a small prefix for what was to come. Believing I would see the same vet that we were familiar with from the first visit, I was surprised when a different one walked in. I asked about what happened with regard to his legs, and the vet said he was €born with it€. She advised me to feed him more, despite the issue we had with his growth. She advised to use a large breed puppy formula for him (which is higher protein and fat than he already had the issues with). She then questioned why I was not agreeing with lymes vaccine, to which I explained that I would not subject him to over-vaccinating, especially too many in one day. She brought up this vaccine 3 times that day, despite my clear decision against it. She then told me about a 5th distemper combo, which I told her I would also not due for the same reason. I€m not sure what their protocol is, but in the human world, if a family ever told me they were opting to not vaccinate their child, there would be no questions asked.
I told the receptionist I would call back to schedule the next appointment for ANOTHER exam (after the first two had been worthless to my money) and ANOTHER distemper combo, probably with ANOTHER new vet. Needless to say, they will not be getting that phone call. Read Less