When the Vet Blames the Groomer
Q&A: What to do when the vet blames the groomer?
Everyone’s situation is different, so there isn’t necessarily an exact answer to this question, but I can give you the steps that I follow when a vet or client contacts me about an injury or illness that may have happened under my care.
First and foremost, I try my best to not take it personally. I struggle with this perhaps more than the average person thanks to the rejection sensitivity that comes along with my ADHD, but one tactic that seems to work well for me is allowing myself to feel upset. Trying to stop my feelings from being hurt is often futile, so instead, I give myself permission to feel however I feel, let those feelings pass, and then remind myself that it’s unlikely anyone in this scenario means any harm to me.
Now that I have those feelings out of the way, it’s time to assess the situation. How do I know the vet is blaming me for an injury or illness? Did their office contact me directly or am I hearing about it secondhand from our mutual client? If I am hearing about it secondhand, there’s plenty of room for miscommunication, misinterpretation, or exaggeration. Imagine a pet owner at the vet’s office with inflamed skin. The owner asks the vet if they think the groomer caused this problem. The vet could have simply said, “It’s possible,” right? If the owner then angrily confronts me, the vet is not to blame, which is important to keep in mind because most vets are just like most groomers - trying their best to look after the pets in their care, just like most pet owners. We’re all on the same team, ya know?
Whether I’m contacted directly by the vet or by the owner, my response typically includes the following:
Concern for the well-being of the pet, of course! Even if the injury/illness is minor, I don’t like any animal hurting or uncomfortable. It’s easy to temporarily lose sight of this when my rejection sensitivity is in the way, but it’s much more important than my own ego.
Concern for the pet owner. Even if they’re being accusatory, they may simply be panicked or stressed for their pets. I know that I am easily overwhelmed when worried about my pets!
Gratitude for being contacted. If I ever unknowingly hurt a pet in my care, I would absolutely want to be made aware so that I could accept responsibility and reevaluate my safety procedures to make sure it never happened again. If an owner or vet thinks that I’m responsible for harm, then I truly appreciate being included in the conversation so that I can offer information and solutions.
Addressing the injury/illness. Do I actually know for certain that I couldn’t have caused the problem or that it didn’t occur under my care? How do I know? What information can I offer to my client to explain that I couldn’t have caused this problem? What other explanations can I contribute?
Offering or asking for a solution. In my experience, owners and vets both truly appreciate the sincere effort to 1) understand what happened and how I could have caused it and 2) make changes to keep it from happening again. If the owner needs more from me, I may offer to cover the medical expenses or ask directly how I can help resolve the situation. Note that doing so is not an admission of guilt. It’s more like “I can’t say for certain that I didn’t cause this, so let me help make the situation better because I know this must be stressful for you” rather than “I did this, so let me pay.”
In situations where the owner contacts me, I may ask to reach out to the vet directly to be sure I understand the details so that I can make sure this doesn’t happen again (vs asking to talk to the vet because I think the owner misunderstood, even if that may actually be the case).
Example scenario:
I groom a cat on Monday. The owner, Jan, emails me on Wednesday saying that Fluffy just came home from the vet with inflamed skin that must have happened when I groomed her.
Response:
I review my notes from the appointment. Was there any matting? Excessive undercoat that required additional combing? Did I use a different product than I’ve used in the past? Was my dryer warmer than usual? If everything was perfectly normal during the groom, my response might look something like the following:
“Hi, Jan!
I’m so sorry to hear that Fluffy’s skin is irritated! Thank you for letting me know! I’m reviewing my notes from her appointment now and don’t see anything that might be to blame. (If she had been matted or if I had needed to comb her more than usual, that could certainly irritate her skin.) Has anything been different at home? Are there certain areas where her skin is irritated or is it all over? Did the vet mention what exactly they think could be the cause? If you want, I can reach out to them directly or you can have their office contact me. Just let me know! I want to be sure she doesn’t experience this again!”
Here, I offered concern for Fluffy, gratitude for being contacted about it, and evidence to help show ways it didn’t happen in my care (reviewing my notes, and referring to different situations that would have irritated her skin). Even if I’m certain that her skin was 100% fine after her groom, maybe there’s something I have overlooked, which is why I asked for more information about her condition. In my experience, this type of response would lead to a conversation about Fluffy’s skin and things we can do to protect it (which may be more or less frequent grooming, a different type of groom, or a different shampoo). In some cases though, an owner may respond back insisting that I caused this and that I should pay for it. In that case, my response would likely read:
“Hi, Jan!
I completely understand your frustration! I certainly want to make things right. Can you send me a copy of the invoice for Fluffy’s vet bill for me to keep with my bookkeeping records? I’d also like to contact their office to make sure I understand how I could have caused this so that no one else has to go through this stress you and Fluffy have both been through!”
If they reply with a copy of the invoice and the vet agrees that this *could* have happened during Fluffy’s groom, I would happily cover the expenses. In my experience, owners who are just trying to get a free groom or have someone else pay their bills will not be willing or able to provide the invoice. Even if they are, from both a personal and professional perspective, I would prefer to accidentally cover the expenses for a client who doesn’t mean well than assume the worst of a client who is just concerned about their pet. Not only that, but in our age of social media, it would be very difficult for someone to slander my business if I have done everything I can to make the situation right.
What strategies do you have for addressing these situations? What are your experiences? Comment here or shoot me an email at kelcie@theiapeg.com and let me know!
- Kelcie