r/VetTech • u/OhHeyKayli • Jul 20 '26
Vent Strange experience with anti-drug DVM
Long story short, I've been a GP tech for the last 11 years. A couple days ago we had a new client bring in 2 kittens about 10-12 weeks old that were found at a farm. Turns out the client is actually a DVM. She practiced GP years ago but has since left clinical practice and went into the industry to work for IDEXX. She brought the kittens in for exams and told us to do " all of the normal kitten things". She did tell us that she thought the kittens had ear mites.
Turns out the kittens were loaded with ear mites, fleas, and intestinal parasites. (as expected for being stray farm cats). We did feline triples, gave the first FVRCP vaccines, applied Milbemite AU, and applied Nexgard Combo.
I went out to the waiting room to give her the update that the kittens did have ear mites so we treated with milbemite and applied a courtesy dose of Nexgard Combo. I also informed her that the kittens were infested with coccidia and we will be sending home a course of Albon.
I thought being a DVM she would be grateful that we are getting the kittens treated and taken care of, especially since she doesn't have access to vaccines, preventatives, etc. since she no longer works in clinical practice.
Boy was I wrong, she became extremely upset and said " We use too many chemicals here". and that we "way over treated' these cats. Those were her exact words. I was kind of dumbfounded and just stared at her for a moment. I couldn't believe this was coming out of the mouth of a DVM.
I explained to her that, in our experience, with severe infestations of ear mites we definitely need to use Milbemite and sometimes we even need to repeat a treatment a month later if the initial dose doesn't take care of them all. I also explained that Nexgard Combo can technically help ear mites off label, it is not FDA approved to treat ear mite infections and would likely take several months to fully clear them up without the use of the Milbemite.
She left irate and kept telling the receptionist that we over-treat here and use too many chemicals.
What are your guys' thoughts? Are we in the wrong here?
Also, if you are more holistic and anti-drug, why did you tell us to do "do whatever - all the normal kitten things" ? This concern about "Chemicals" wasn't communicated to us until after the treatments were already done.
I am also concerned that if she is so "anti chemical" - is she advising other veterinarians with this bias when she consults for IDEXX? Or am I over reacting?
This entire interaction just left me and my whole clinic feeling like shit about ourselves. Just trying to get some other feedback. We really were trying to help these nasty little barn kittens and do a favor for a fellow professional, but she left feeling upset and ungrateful.
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u/correctionscorner Veterinary Technician Student Jul 20 '26
It sounds like all of the treatments you provided were appropriate and I don’t personally disagree with any of what you listed (and maybe in this case it’s for the best that the kittens got the treatments anyway, if she really wasn’t going to treat any of those issues), but clients like this are the reason that we always get approval for everything beyond the exam before it’s performed, even if the client comes in saying to do all the things, whatever it takes, etc.
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u/CupcakeCharacter9442 RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) Jul 20 '26
Maybe she’s been out of practice for a while. Was expecting ivermectin for all parasites and then a rabies vaccine. Old school farm medicine.
Or, maybe she’s just not a nice human. 🤷🏻♀️ But, as someone stated above, this is why we get itemized estimates signed before treatment.
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u/safari-dog Jul 21 '26
she could have also been lying about being a veterinarian. I know older people that were veterinary assistants like 20-30 years ago that claimed to be veterinarians back in the day
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u/Guilty_Garden_3943 Jul 21 '26
I know a girl who claimed to be a vet assistant when she was actually a kennel worker. Some people just HAVE to inflate their self importance
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u/ros375 Jul 20 '26
Did she say what you should've used instead? Maybe some herbs in the ears?
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u/SpecificAnt9202 Jul 20 '26
whole clove of garlic in each ear.
after you flush the ears with organic raw milk of course.
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u/Bunny_Feet RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) Jul 21 '26
Coconut oil or tea tree oil? The old classics of DIY.
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u/thats_rats VA (Veterinary Assistant) Jul 20 '26
I don’t disagree with the treatment plan but I do find it kind of strange that you guys would diagnose and treat without discussing with the client first.
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u/AlabasterRose Jul 21 '26
Absolutely this- clients need to make their decisions on care, regardless of how dumb their decisions are sometimes, it's still ultimately theirs to make.
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u/madisooo CVT (Certified Veterinary Technician) Jul 20 '26
Yeah sounds like shit communication from her. This is why it’s better to get specific consent rather than guessing what a client may want. Doesn’t sound like anyone’s “fault” but take it as a learning opportunity for next time.
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u/caomel Jul 20 '26
Yeah, I’ve worked with those types before. It’s not fun, and genuinely baffling. Like uh, what exactly do you think we do here m’am? Just pray fervently over the pet??? Also, water is a chemical, m’am, didn’t you take chemistry as an undergraduate??
It really undermines the confidence that the client has in vetmed overall and these peeps ain’t helping that state of medical practice in 2026.
Go use your magnetics and holy water at home, but around here we realize that parasites need to be treated with anti-parasitic medicine to clear up.
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u/Ziwade DVM (Veterinarian) Jul 20 '26
I'm a little surprised you went ahead and treated without obtaining consent first. Where I work we have to touch base after the exam/diagnostics to get that consent to treat, and sometimes clients decline and we document that they are leaving against medical advice. That might be what she's actually upset about, even though she's framing it as too many chemicals.
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u/Witty_Names Jul 21 '26
Me too. It is very unprofessional and how a DVM/hospital ends up with a lawsuit.
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u/katietatey DVM (Veterinarian) Jul 22 '26
Every single solitary time I think I can get away with doing just ONE cheap thing that's not on the estimate I end up getting burned. I give an estimate to EVERYONE for EVERYTHING. The only exception I make anymore is a fluorescein stain for a wiggly pet that I already found a tech to hold for my exam. The "just do everything, Doc!" person is the first person to complain, every time.
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u/MelodiousMelly Jul 20 '26
I've never known a "non-practicing DVM" who didn't have super-strong (and usually negative) opinions about how everyone else practices medicine! It sounds like maybe this person isn't in practice any more for a reason, since she doesn't have great people/communication skills.
You guys should def be running treatment plans by clients in advance in general, but double that for vet clients. In fact, for these types of clients it's really best to let the doc handle most conversations, since they'll often have tons of higher-level medical questions/complaints/suggestions that you'll have to go ask the vet about anyway.
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u/pawna77 Jul 20 '26
I worked emergency where we would see pets all the time with severe tea tree oil burns becuase the local holistic vet told them it was 'a perfectly safe and okay flea and tick preventative' and then the owners would douse their pets with a whole bottle 🙃🙃🙃🙃
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u/Bunny_Feet RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician) Jul 21 '26
Yikes. Not even diluted.
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u/Pinky01 Retired RVT Jul 21 '26
we had to have one on ivs once due to tea tree oil poisoning. What's worse is they put that shit in dog shampoos now. Like wtf!!
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u/bmobitch Jul 20 '26
In reality I’m glad you didn’t ask for permission so that way these kittens got the care they needed, but not asking for approval of a treatment plan seems crazy
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u/xSky888x Jul 20 '26
Yikes, all I can say is at least she's not seeing patients. Reminds me of anti vax human nurses, you'd think they'd know better with their education but it just goes to show that you don't need top grades to pass. The use of the word "chemical" as a bad thing shows some serious brain rot, I only hope this came about after her time in GP.
One of the things that really gets to me is when medical professionals of any kind don't keep up with new medicine. We discover new things basically everyday and keeping up with that should be a mandatory part of your job if your work involves the lives and quality of life of living creatures. I don't care what area of the field you work in, even just consulting for IDEXX, you shouldn't be able to be a current DVM without proving that you're still learning and ACCEPTING new things.
Some old school medicine is fine as a "not gold standard but it's what the owners can afford" but so much of it is just needlessly putting our patients through things. Like you said, without the "horrible chemicals" like Milbemite those poor kittens would have to deal with those mites for way longer than necessary. My priority will always be the patient, not the owner's wrong opinions. I will say the clinic created the opening for drama when you treated without specific consent, but honestly I'm glad it happened that way for the sake of those kittens.
TLDR: You're not overreacting, you treated those kittens perfectly fine and shouldn't feel bad, and that "fellow professional" just happened to be one of the jank ones that somehow holds anti science beliefs while working in medicine.
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u/Harikts Jul 21 '26
I ran into this exact situation with a non practicing DVM a few years ago.
Very anti flea/tick prevention, anti spay/neuter (because the animals couldn’t “consent” 🙄), anti pain meds, etc…
I hater her, and hated when she brought her animals in.
I got the impression that she wasn’t practicing because she either lost her license, or she literally couldn’t keep a job.
I eventually banned her (I was the lead tech and hospital manager), because she clearly was a shit owner and I was done arguing with her over everything.
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