DO NOT GO TO THE VCA ANIMAL HOSPITAL... Misiner/Halley


We just got back from taking our pet to be put to sleep, and they were very rude, and wanted to
charge us 30. extra to be in the room when they put the pet down. This place does not even have have color monitors, or the internet. I was so offended by how rude they were... also, they advertise that the first visit is free, then try to charge you for it. When I asked about this, he was like, OH, you know about that?

Very sleazy operation.

My wife is a vet. She's known from the age of 8 she wanted to care for pets. I'm in finance. She had crazy school requirements. It's incredibly hard to even get into vet school... practically everyone is a straight-A student. Lots of type "A" personalities. My wife and family live eat and breath her pets' medical cases. My wife continually worries about what is best for pets. The person referring to pet food kickbacks obviously doesn't know any vets personally. Money is usually the last thing on vets' minds. She worries all the time about what is best for her patients, and then the perception of her clients, even when the medicine is second to none. This is a profession that is not well paid. The equivalent person in my industry would get paid twice that of a vet. There are thousands of schools handing out MBAs, but only 28 vet schools in the US. If you love pets, and are ready to subject your family to pets 24/7, it can be rewarding. Veterinary medicine is considered the "compassionate profession", and my wife embodies that several times over. We both work on the vet business until midnight most nights, and get up at 6:30am to start again. She works weekends, evenings, and forwards her work phones to her cell phone. Her hobby on her "off hours" is pet related... her reading material by her bed is pet medicine... she even asks me about her medical cases, because of my logical reasoning... but it's pets pets pets. Astronauts don't think about space as much as my wife thinks about pet health. If I were to be re-born, I'd be lucky to come back as a pet and have a vet for a doctor.

An honest profession.

I love all vets.

I LOVE animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After milking the pus from my dog's infected neck for two straight, veteranarian is not a job I can say I would want

i would luv that.

I only love one of my pets and sort of half like the other.

Gots to love the pets

Yes I would like this job. Probably the large animal Vet

What a cute puppy!!!

i love animals

i cant kill animals

because i love pets

but to much school

these people are saints

Love love love animals.

i love animals! it would be the best job ever i think.

Hate blood, guts, and all that stuff.

Love animals

Animals are so much better then people...pass no judgments love unconditionally...

I think I would like this field. I love animals!

I would have Loved to worked with animals also, but likewise, I do Not 

believe I would have the stomich for it or the heart.  I hate seeing something in pain.

God bless.    I also don't understand the whole dog food market thing.  If they are educated and know the things that are unhealthy for our pets, why do they continue doing it??????????    GREAT question.    HEY Companies, these are more than our Pets.  They are a part of our hearts and family, household.

I would have loved to have been able to work with animals, but I don't think I'm a strong enough person; I wouldn't have had the stomach for it.

Here is a question to think about, why is it that your doctor will tell you to go to a nutritionist for diet information yet a vet hands out his "knowledge" to anyone who walks through the door. What makes a veterinarian think they know anything about what we should feed our pets. The answer...they don't. They get free food and benefits from Hill's, Eukanuba, or Royal Canine so they reccommmend their food. After all, what damage could reccommending the food that pays them off do, right? Well for starter, diabetes, overweight, allergies, ear problems, eye problems, intestinal issues and even cancer. And guess who is going to fix all those problems for you? Why your vet of course!

***Update 5/16/07 Ok, so everyone has heard about this recall. Want to know some interesting info? Here are the top 5reccommended veterinary brands of dog/cat food. Science Diet, Eukanuba, Iams, Royal Canine, Nutro. Guess what, all of these foods and one or more of their lines recalled! All of these lines were recalled because they contained Wheat Gluten and in Royal Canine's case rice protien mostly in cat food. Now ask yourself this, Cats are obligate carnivorse, that means they need meat to survive. What the hell are vets doing reccommending foods that contain wheat gluten, rice and corn as protien sources if cats are carnivorse? Their bodies are not meant to digest grains and yet vets have no problem reccommending that crap to unsuspecting owners. If you are currently still feeding one of the foods that had products recalled, I urge you to look inro other alternatives. For dogs and cats, Nature's Variety Instinct is a great formula, as well as Orijen, Innova, Canidae and Honest Kitchen. These foods actually contain meat as protien sources. But hey, you don't have to believe me. Ask your vet these questions and see if he can come up with a legitimate answer other than "thats B.S." or "theirs no proof"

1. Why does Hill's Prescription diet preserve their food with chemicals that are being tested because they may cause cancer (BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin, Propyl Gallate)?

2. Why are they using corn, rice, and wheat gluten as protien sources when cats are obligate carnivorse?

3.What is a by-product and why is it in the food they are reccommending for my pet? (FYI, it is not organ meat. If it was, they would be allowed to list each organ on the bag...read a raw food label)

4. What makes them able to reccommend nutrition information for my pets, when they are not nutritionists?

5.What do they think of foods like Honest Kitchen and other Raw Diets, and why do they not reccommend them? (Most will tell you that pets can get salmonilla from raw meat..that is actually not the case. Dogs and cats bodies are desined to eat raw meat. Why do you think wolves never get salmonilla in the wild. They can't, the way our pets process food makes them incapable of getting any disease from raw meat)

6. What makes them think that eating kibble will keep your pets teeth healthy? (Think of it this way, kibble is binded together by a grain. These grain particles are all over the kibble. When your dog eats the kibble, the particles get stuck in between your dogs teeth. This is much like your dentist telling you to brush your teeth with an oreo cookie. The grains get stuck and do much more harm than good. Dogs did not eat kibble in the wild, they ate soft meat and raw bones. Raw bones actually do help with the teath. When a dog eats a raw bone, the meat stripps go in and out between your dogs teeth. The meat litterally flosses your dogs teeth! Make sure you get raw bones made for dogs and not for people. The dog bones are hormone free where as peoples aren't and they could make your dog really sick)

7.Why can they not answer any of these questions? (You don't have to ask that one...but you may want to after they give you their "answers")

Good Luck!

4 out of 5 vets recommend Hills science diet dog food. These 80% get a one star rating.
The 1 out of 5 who recommend a quality food receive 5 stars.
After all, there isn't a doctor out there who does not preach healthy eating for humans.
So why is it that vets will recommend Hills science diet?
Maybe..selfish job security reasons?
Pets get allergies, vets get customers.
Vets recommend Hills science and get benefits and perks from the distributors.
A 40# bag of Hills science can not cost more than $6-7 to produce,
(corn and unnamed animal by-products)
yet you are charged $40 plus for the bag.
Vets get a part of this profit in kickbacks.
If your vet sells this, find a new vet.
Shame on you vets who push this food.
Sincere thanks to you vets out there who recommend the numerous available good quality foods.

Having cats and a rabbit now, I respect people who treat animals with the care they require. My poor rabbit had ear mites a few weeks ago, and our vet gave her the medicine she needed to get better. Now, her ears are perky, she's much more active, and I am grateful that the vet has helped our rabbit become her old self again.  

UPDATE:  Having worked in veterinary hospitals for about two years now, I am absolutely appalled at the misinformation that people have, and worse, they spread it to others.  People complain about veterinary bills, because "it only costs me ten dollars to go to MY doctor's office!"  That's because most people have HEALTH INSURANCE, but most people don't know/don't care about pet health insurance options for their pets.  Instead, it's easier to blame the vet.  "How would vets make a living if our pets were healthy"?  The vets that I know are more than happy to do regular annual/biannual visits, and are more than happy to help clients find cost effective means of helping their pets.  If vets were really out to get your money, wouldn't they rather keep the preventatives under wraps and wait until your dog gets the heartworm so that you'd have to pay $600-$6000 for treatment?  

As far as allergies go, one of the vets that work at my clinic is a veterinary dermatologist; if it's a food allergy, most of the foods that she recommends aren't even available at our office.  Actually, she recommends a lot of homemade diets.  I've witnessed the IDST (intradermal skin testing) done, I've seen the reactions, it's not just something you can make up.  The allergy vaccines that are recommended are mixed on site from ingredients; I can guarantee you that they are NOT "placebos". And while the Southeast and the Mississipi River area are the worst areas for heartworms, incidence of heartworms are found all over the US.  Anywhere where there are mosquitoes, heartworms can occur (in Alaska, though, it is noted that the prevalence is a great deal lower, as is the midwest).  As far as Southern California,  The Los Angeles County West Vector & Vector-Borne Disease Control District website  describes the situation:  

"The primary vector of dog heartworm in Southern California, Aedes sierrensis, is found locally throughout Los Angeles County.  Dogs travelling with their owners to these endemic areas may acquire heartworm and bring it back to Los Angeles County where the vector mosquito occurs.  Under ideal conditions, small outbreaks of dog heartworm could be observed."

Even more, adult heartworm treatment begins at your veterinarian office, typically with injections of immiticide, which are most certainly not available at a pet store.  Ivermectin is often used to treat microfilariae after the treatment of the adult heartworms, and some vets apparently use solely ivermectin to treat heartworm infection (I personally have not heard of this "slow treatment" actually being used by any vets I know), but according to some sources it takes 1-2 years for the treatment to get rid of the problem (http://www.dogaware.com/heartwormtreatment.html).  

I encourage all pet owners to do their research on pet care wisely.  Your pets depend on you to make the best health care choices for them.  

In response to the post right below me...maybe you should get some facts straight. I work at a Veterinary Hospital and have seen SEVERAL cases of heartworm. With so many military families moving to southern California, they bring pets from areas like Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, etc. When these dogs are heartworm positive and they get bit by a mosquito, that mosquito is infected and can carry it to any of our dogs. It's absolutely rediculous to say that heartworm doesn't exist in southern California. But then again you work at a pet store and I work at a vet...

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she lay her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, "I'm so sorry, your Duck Cuddles has passed away."

The distressed owner wailed, "Are you sure?

"Yes, I am sure. The duck is dead," he replied.

"How can you be so sure," she protested. "I mean, you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room, and returned a few moments later with a black Labrador Retriever.

As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck !
from top to bottom.

He then looked at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog and took it out, and returned a few moments later with a cat.
The cat jumped up on the table and also sniffed delicately at the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on it's haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

Then the vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman.

The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!," she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!!

"The vet shrugged. "I'm sorry. If you'd taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150.00

I love animals! I love my dog Charlie - feed him, walk him, pet him, really anything, but stick him with a needle or operate on him - I simply couldn't. If you read my review on DOCTOR - you'll understand.

A satisfying job for animal lovers, but not a profitable career. Vets make much less than doctors (GPs and specialists, even some nurses), spend years of time and tons of money for schooling, and still have a hard time finding good positions post-graduation. Not a bad job though, if you like animals and don't care much about money. Maybe this is the reason Vets are so much nicer, and modest, than most doctors.

Even though I have no desire to be a Vet, I have worked for many of them. Their patients can't tell them what is wrong so they have to be very knowedgable in a lot of areas. It is harder to get into Vet school than Med school mainly because there are fewer of them. Some vets are real jerks but there are really good ones out there. I work now for one of the good ones. He's not all about the money and really likes what he does.

Although this is a lucrative career,it is even harder to get a Doctoral degree in the Vetrenary Field than it is to get an MD...Why? Well,for one thing,you have to study a variety of species- not just humans!

more important than people MD's. they help keep harmless animals safe, while stupid MDs keep idiots alive.

I couldn't do it, bu I hear that guys who are vets get a lot of trim.

thank God these people exist.

I have a lot of respect for veterinarians, the doctors to our animals. It's not necessarily a noble career, but nonetheless, for all of us animal lovers, these people truly make a difference.

I deal with sick people all day in school... wild animals woudlnt be much better.

Someone needs to save our precious little animals of the world.

this seems like such a rewarding job, especially for us pet-crazy americans. although with vet bills being as expensive as they are, it's hard to understand why they don't make beaucoup bucks