I had a truly heartbreaking experience with a vet when my cat Chelsea was dying.
We had arranged to have the vet come out and euthanize Chelsea, as he was dying of cancer, and we thought that it would be nicer for him to die at home with his family around him.
The vet was supposed to arrive at 9 am, as Chelsea had had a particularly bad night, and we didn't want him suffering any more. The vet never showed at all the whole day. So we called, and she said that she was too busy, but would come the next day. At this point we feared that just putting Chelsea in a car to take him to another vet would kill him, so we agreed.
She arrived late again the next day. I had Chelsea on my lap, and she took him off my lap, pinned his head to the table, and injected him, he died a few seconds later, but not before letting out the most terrible yelp. Then without pause she asked us if we were going to pay by cash, credit or cheque.
No compassion at all, and she was very rough in her handling of Chelsea. It made a very tough day a thousand times worse.
It is my opinion that vets, like doctors, should be as sensitive as possible in situations like this.
One thing I did do was inform everyone I knew about how this vet behaved, hopefully people would think twice about going there.
I got a new vet, who is wonderful, very gentle with my cats, and very kind. His name is Dr. Hugh Chisolm, and I would recommend him to anyone. His web page is http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/hugh.chi.../Home_Page.htm . It has a really cute virtual tour.

[This message has been edited by nsweezie (edited May 04, 2001).]