Losing faith in our vet

[CathyA]

We changed vets in our small town about 17 years ago, when 2 of the vets there let our dog die after doing surgery on him. (Didn't take care of him properly). Fortunately, there was another vet in town, so we started going there. He's semi-retired now, but his daughter just graduated from vet school and is working there. Until recently, we've been okay with them.

We have an 8 and 1/2 year old mutt. I started noticing that she was sleeping alot more and just seemed sort of dull. Also, she gains weight without eating that much. (me too....)
Anyhow, I talked this Vet into drawing thyroid hormones. She tried to talk me out of it saying our dog didn't have any symptoms and just needed to lose more weight and get more exercise.
Well, the labs came back and were obviously looking like hypothyroidism, but the older doc (only in his 50's) said the labs didn't make alot of sense to him.........."This is strange...one value was high and the other one low."
DUHHHHH!!!! That's what happens with hypothyroidism!
So we waited about 6 weeks and took our dog back for a repeat test yesterday. Once again, the girl Vet said "she's just borderline"................even though one of the values was 5 times higher than normal, and the other 2 were lower than normal.
(The pituitary puts out TSH to stimulate the thyroid to make thyroid hormones. If the dog is hypothyroid, the thyroid doesn't respond by making hormones. But the pituitary keeps trying harder and harder to stimulate the thyroid, by putting out more and more TSH......while the thryoid hormone levels are dropping even more. So the TSH levels go up and the thyroid hormone levels go low).
Vets should know this.
I guess I'm just venting. But geeze.........a vet should know this. And they're sort of treating DH and I like we don't know what we're talking about. DH is an M.D. and I'm an R.N.. (Although we haven't told them that yet........maybe we should). I just don't want to have to travel to another town, in hopes of finding a more knowledgeable vet. But we might have to.
Also, our dog goes absolutely nuts in the car on the way to the vets. I'm afraid she's going to have a heart attack. I asked the vet if maybe a mild sedative would be in order and he said "For who......you? hahaha" and said not to worry about her going so crazy. >:(

[domestic goddess]

CathyA, I have run across several vets that don't seem to have the knowledge (or elst they don't really care, and I hate to think that), or are maybe just too lazy to look up what they don't know. Then, it seems that you have no choick but to switch, which is not always easy or possible in a small town. I, like you apparently, don't throw around the fact that I am an RN, but sometimes it helps. Then people know they can't feed me just any story and I'll believe it. It is really disheartening when this happens, and I don't understand why some vets just will not look farther than the tips of their noses when a pet has an illness a little off the beaten path. I hope you have some alternatives where you are, Good Luck.

[sweetana3]

With the internet and some basic research, a lot can be understood about basic animal diseases. I always check symptoms and research while waiting on our vet appointment and have been right the last three times. Of course, we have had the same vet for 30 years and he almost gives more info than necessary.

I would suggest being more forceful with the vet or go to another one. Was it the older vet or his daughter making the diagnosis?

[Florence]

Is there any other vets within reasonable driving distance. I am so batty about my cats that I'd go a long way to a vet that I really trusted.

[lmerullo]

My first reaction would probably be the same as yours, but after thinking a bit, I would ask if this is the only problem. If the only reason you want to switch is that they are less informed about thyroid levels and diagnosing hypothyroidism, then perhaps this would be the time to try to educate them. A simple google search should be able to provide you with the necessary ammo, and you don't even have to blow your "cover" as MD and RN. Just print off the info, and ask the vet(s) to review. If you still get push-back, then definitely seek another vet.

The whole situation of trying to laugh off the sedative - well, sometimes people should get a pass. Let it go. Additionally, I find my animals will react in a similar manner to me - if I am anxious, they seem to be as well. So, the sedative comment could be valid, and you may come off as slightly more nervous than the average client.