What a lovely thread. So nice for vets that go that extra mile to be really appreciated.

I've had good & not so good experiences but as this is an appreciation thread I'll give a good experience. I practice as a feline behaviourist so sometimes work closely with referring vets on certain cases. One case involved recurring bouts of cystitis in a relatively young cat for which there was no obvious cause. The vet asked for my help in case there were behavioural causes. When I went to see this client I found that the elderly owner was a "cat collector" by which I mean a well-intentioned person who seems to gather up all the local feline waifs & strays & then finds that she has about 20 odd cats living with her.

When I went to visit the owner & see what could be done to help the cat, I was completely horrified by the state of the owner's house, the state of the owner herself & the poor condition of many of the cats. Sorting this lot out would have involved a lot more than my normal 1 to 2 hour consultation, but I felt I couldn't just walk away. I made an excuse to go back to my car so I could phone the vet to ask for help/advice. The vet was on her lunch break so she jumped in her car & arrived at the owner's house within 5 mins. She was absolutely brilliant. The vet had a list of contact numbers so she called social services to get help for the owner, she managed to contact the owner's GP (the owner had what looked like a nasty ulcerated wound on her leg) & arrange a visit. The vet then called the CPL & arranged for the more healthy-looking cats to be collected. Meanwhile the 3 cats that didn't look too good were taken back to the surgery for the vet to treat.

I was so impressed by the way the vet handled everything so efficiently, so calmly & so quickly but at the same time, she was extremely kind & understanding to the elderly owner. I, on the other hand, felt completely overwhelmed & useless!! But I did end up making friends with the owner & I fostered the 3 cats that the vet took in until the owner came out of hospital. After that I took the 3 cats back to the owner, explained what she needed to do for them, & made her promise not to take in any more cats!! I also spoke to her GP & her neighbours, & they are under strict instructions to contact me if they see any more cats hanging around. I still pop by sometimes for a quick cuppa (& just to check that there are still only 3 cats living there!!!).

I got to know my vet quite well with my last GSD - we spent a lot of time there in the last 6 months of his life what with a couple of ops and complications.
They were fab, and when the dreaded end arrived they were lovely and sent me a card and some flowers (I like to think that had nothing to do with the amount of money I spent!).
I still use them now with Stone even though I have moved a bit further away, and they are not the cheapest by a long shot, but they have been good to me.

!8 years ago when I had just started going to a new vet one of my dogs became very ill at the age of only 2 . My vet couldn't have done more for her or been nicer . I never got the impression money was an issue because he could have made a lot more money out of me and never did even though he didn't know me . He saw my dog ever Monday at 4pm and never charged me a penny for all these consultations .
Since then over the years he has been wonderful and I have trusted him implicitly If only I could find a Doctor who was so good

Thanks everyone , it is great to hear your good experiences xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The senior vets at our practice are very good! The trainees....hmmm not so....

We always ask For Miss Smith or Mr Chadwick as theya re the best there. Whenever China goes in which , thank god is not often, they are always happy to discuss my concerns and if i ask about different treatments or natural remedies, they are very clued up.

I asked a trainee vet about the need for annual vaccinations as china has bad reactions to them and she was adamant it was VITAL it had to be done evry year. She refused to ackowledge that titre testing could be done.

Roll on Mr Chadwick, who not only said of course they can be, he was happy to as he doesnt agree with them every year unless necessary! Turned out that China had more than enough immunity even after 5 years of not having her jabs!

Not only that but China doesnt get snappy with them as they are confident in handling dogs, better than the others there. (China is always muzzled at the vets, she loves them to bits but when they start prodding she freezes and starts air snapping!)

I'll start off with the appreciation of my wonderful equine vet, who saved my horse from colic/twisted gut many years ago. I never want to live through that morning ever again, and if it wasn't for this superb vet of mine, I don't think he would have made it, they rarely do with a twisted gut, let alone colic, so he'd be my first.

Then there was another lovely vet who saved my darling Cassie when she ate some poisoned bait. From the minute he saw her, he knelt down on the floor, gave me a horrible stare and said "this is a very sick dog" in his lovely, soft Irish accent, then he rushed her off to his surgery without hesitation. There she stayed for 5 whole days on a drip, fighting for her life, and each morning when I rang, he said to me "the dog should be dead, the dog should be dead" and that's all he ever said, which didn't give me much hope of course, but finally, she pulled through, just like Kaliska did for you!

Then there was another lovely young man (he was gay, but I like gayboys!), and he was the only vet who took the trouble to investigate Cassie's irritable bowels, and he took the trouble to send off a blood test and found out she had EPI, and yet 3 other vets had never thought to take this route, but he did, so I thank him for that, at least we then knew what we were dealing with, but sadly he moved away to Barcelona (well, I did say he was gay lol!)

I'm afraid I have no praise for any of the vets who treated Zena throughout the whole of last year, they were total rubbish, and I'd hate to have been in a position with her as I was on other occasions above, because quite honestly, I don't think any of them would have put in either the time or the trouble to have saved her is she was, but thankfully, I've changed from that awful practice now, I've found a good vet again!. Give me the old school, dedicated variety with a good bedside manner instead of these modern day vets that I've seen in the RCVS hospital who do it all so differently and are so unapproachable imo!

I have had the same vet for over 25 years, first meeting up with him when he came to find some redundant X-ray equipment. He was just starting out on his own and was so proud of his surgery. He showed me round and he was so enthusiastic and his manner so sincere I decided I wanted him as my vet. Since then I can honestly say he has never let me or my dogs down - some things have been difficult, with heartbreaking decisions, but I have always trusted his good judgement, honesty and integrity. We have a very good relationship and he is one of the nicest men I have ever known.

I once had a brilliant South African vet too, nothing was too much trouble, once you were in his surgery you were there for the duration (so I always booked the first appointment! ). If I had questions, he would look on Pub Med for me and go into great depths of explaining whatever I wanted to know, he never once tried to rush me out of the door! Another thing with this man, it usually took 3 nurses and one vet to cut my old dog's claws, and yet he bent down to her one day, she was sitting in the corner, and as he was casually chatting to me, he snipped away at every single claw, job done, then she wailed and cried, and he looked at me and laughed and said "she's a LIAR"!!!!! Lovely, lovely man, but sadly he's gone back to Africa, but he sure knew his stuff, I trusted him explicitly, unlike some of them I've come across since!

Glad to hear people do appreicate their vet. Glad your dog is okay as well. Andrew Wills in Faversham, Penny the vet did a great job on my dogs elbow which was shattered. It might have cost a lot, it might have taken a long time but it was well worth it in the end. She not only saved the leg but he is now back racing and showing. So thank you Penny.

I dont have a problem with my vets at all. When I brought Flynn home from the breeder it became apparant within 3 days that he was on deaths door. If I hadnt of rushed him in on the third day, I dont believe he would be with me now. They put him in isolation on a drip and what they did worked.

The practice i'm registered with is a hospital too and have all the facilities and specialists there so I dont have to wait several days for blood results etc, it's all done in house.

I know the receptionists from my courier days (delivered there each day so got to know them) and one is actually my neighbour. The dogs always get made a fuss of and it's evident the vet nurses actually care deeply for the animals.

As far as i'm concerned, my vets are brilliant and perhaps my only gripe is that they always try to convince me I shouldnt feed raw.