Vet

Sorry I forgot to post last night. I'm not doing very good at this posting every day in April thing, huh.

Anyway. I took Gracie to the vet yesterday, so very hopeful that she would get her cast off. She didn't, but she's really close. The vet wanted the radiologist to look at the new x-ray and see if she thought it was there, or if Gracie needed more time just to make sure. So she's wearing it at least until Tuesday, because the radiologist is only in on Monday afternoons (apparently there aren't many animal radiologists around, because this one travels from one vet clinic to another, only spending part of one day per week in mine).

So I was disappointed to take her home with her cast still on, but I can live with waiting until next week, I guess. And I got to see the x-rays - this one and the one from her last visit - so I got to see the new bone filling in around the break. And there is one dark line in the middle that seems to be a weak spot to me, so if the radiologist says we should wait a few more weeks, as sad as it'll make me to keep her in the crate that much longer, I'll accept it. I don't want her leg to just break again the first time she jumps down onto it.

Anyway, so the visit went pretty well, and Gracie was really good - she loved getting attention from the vet and me, and just made friends with everyone there. But then the visit was over, and I walked out to the lobby.

Now, when I first had to take Gracie in for this, I arranged to pay them over time, because I just didn't have the money to afford paying the whole bill in one shot. J was kind enough to offer to lend it to me if they wouldn't do a payment plan, but they did, so it was okay. I could get Gracie taken care of, and not have to worry. And I'd have them paid off by July, latest, anyway. And that's been working great so far. I go in with her, I pay my $50 payment, and they have me fill out new payment agreements for the new total of my bill. It worked great, that is, until yesterday.

For some reason, yesterday they decided that the payment arrangement was only for the last visit, and they needed me to pay the total amount for yesterday's visit. It was only $100, which may not seem like a lot to some people, but for me, that means there is a bill that isn't going to get paid this month. I don't have extra room in my budget right now to pay extra to anyone. So I was very upset about that. And not only that, but when I got my receipt for the first visit, it said on the bottom that rechecks were free. The first time I took her back in, that was true. They charged me $75 for the x-ray, but nothing for the recheck. And then last time, they added $25 to the bill for a recheck. I asked about that last night, and suddenly they know nothing about free rechecks, either. So they're adding that little bit extra to the bill every time I bring her in (and of course I was stupid and threw that first receipt away, so I have no proof of the free recheck thing).

So, obviously I wasn't very happy when I left there yesterday. I'm going to write them a complaint letter today. I've always had good experiences there. The vets are caring people who I don't have any hesitation trusting with the care of my animals. The one vet endeared herself to me forever when Bo had to be put down - she called me in on a Sunday to put him down, because she was afraid he wouldn't make it to Monday, and she didn't want him to die alone in a cage. She even let me take him outside, and she put him down out there. So this experience yesterday has just left a very bad taste in my mouth. I need to tell them about it.

And I guess this is where I'll end that story. I'll update next week with the decision from the radiologist.