You shouldn't feel personally responsible for the fact that YOU didn't know the eye hurt until after the vet visit. The VET should have been able to tell that though, it's his/her JOB! Then he/she should have prescribed an appropriate medication for that pain before you left the office. It's not just that one vet, it seems to be many of them, from experience, they just do not seem to CARE that animals can feel pain, or are in denial about it. Don't beat yourself up... and don't write that vet off either. I use different vet for different things. Perhaps that is THE vet to take most cats to for the bulk work of testing, neutering, etc; but you might consider a different one for things like the Uveitis and other chronic painful conditions. Just because maybe he lacked in one area (pain management) doesn't mean he's not a wonderful vet for routine exams and vaccines and such.
As far as you being a wimp, don't fret over it so much... it happens. Try writing a letter in advance of all the things you WANT to say to the vet, but know you wont have the courage to, then, when you first go in the door, hand the letter to the vet and say "This is a list of things I want to go over with you or have questions about, and didn't want to forget. I wasn't sure how to phrase some things to ask you in person, so please forgive me if it seems rude or doesn't make any sense." That gets the info across, relieves you of the public speaking fear, and also apologizes in advance just in the off chance you offend him/her (though often in cases of shyness, it's often only in the mind of the shy person). I used to be terribly shy, couldn't talk to strangers, avoided social groups, always lost sleep over things I did say to people, etc. Then, I just cracked, and went from being so shy I couldn't function, to so offensive it's hard to communicate with others. Now, I often just start conversations with "Sorry if this offends you, but.... " or "Please forgive me if this comes out wrong, but.... " and I learned to laugh at myself, that was the hardest part, to stop dwelling on what other people thought of me, and just learn that NO-ONE is perfect, and everyone mis-speaks occasionally, the difference between outspoken people and shy people is that outspoken people go "Oh my, did I just say that!? (laughing) Sometimes I don't know what I'm saying! I'm a moron! (more laughing)" whereas shy people turn beet red and run away and hide, and run the scenario through their heads replaying it over and over, trying to analyze what went wrong and how they could have done it right, and how to fix it, and what the other person will think of them next time they meet, and how to avoid that person, etc, and lose lots of sleep and be very stressed about it. Learning to let go and surrender to the fact that you will not always be socially accepted in life will make you much happier and more able to participate in life. You have to learn to laugh it off, and then drop it, the past is the past, and you can't change things you have already said, and the future is the future, and you can't let fear of what you MIGHT say keep you from speaking. Live moment to moment, and learn that you're totally out of control in life, and just go with the flow, that's what I did, and it's worked fairly well for me. Phaewryn Please save Whitey! http://ucat.us/Whitey.html VT low cost Spay&Neuter, and Emergency Financial Assistance for cat owners: http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html Special Needs Cat Resources: http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html
