Hi everybody ... couldn't find an answer to this on the 'net so I
thought I'd try you guys.  Hope you don't mind a stranger just barging
in here with a question!

Here's my situation -- my kitty was sick a little while ago (bad
reaction to some flea foam) so I took him to a vet in town; she was a
new vet to him; he's indoors only and he doesn't have a regular vet.
She ran a gazillion tests on him, even did xrays and sonograms, each
time saying the test was "inconclusive" and recommending more tests and
procedures.  At this point, I had already paid her $2,000 for all her
work and tests!  Next on her "to do" list for him was a biopsy of his
intestine.  Well, I was not comfortable with having my boy put under
anesthesia and cut into when he was acting fine (eating, drinking,
playing as normal).  Also, as you might imagine, I was quite emotional
with worry over my kitty, wondering if he was going to die or if I'd
have to make a decision to put him to sleep eventually or what!

So I asked the vet if she would talk to my friend, since I was unable
to absorb all the information the vet was giving me due to my emotional
state and I wanted my friend who was removed and could be objective and
analytical to hear from the doctor what was wrong with my boy.  The vet
wouldn't talk to my friend unless I paid her.  This seemed odd, since I
didn't see how this request would be any different than say, for
example, if I was married and asked the vet "Hey could you talk to my
husband about the cat's condition because I'm just too emotional to
understand all you are telling me."

Secondly, I wanted a second opinion on my cat before having him cut
open and biopsied.  I wanted to take him to my previous vet 40 miles
away who has an excellent reputation.  I asked the vet for my cat's
xrays so I could take them with me.  I paid over $100 for these xrays
and I would think they are basically my personal property not the
vet's, but I don't know for sure - so that is question 1.  Are the
xrays my *property"?   Second question -- the vet charged me $30 for
the xrays, a "handling" charge if you will.  Now, mind you, the xrays
were only a few days old and were still on her shelf in my cat's file;
it's not like she had to send off to some off-site storage facility to
retrieve his xrays.  So, question #2 is, is it customary for a vet to
charge to give me (actually "lend", as I had to sign a paper saying I'd
bring the xrays back to her office) my cat's xrays that I already paid
for when he first got xrayed?

I paid for the xrays, took my cat to my old vet, the vet looked at the
xrays and all the tests that the other vet faxed over and asked me "Why
is this cat here? He's fine!"

So, clearly, in hindsight, this first vet was just all about the money.
So now I am mad and wondering if there's some sort of action I can
take against the first vet.  You know, at the very least I'd like to do
a chargeback on the $30 I paid for the xrays - not that $30 matters to
me, but it's just the danged *principle* of the thing.  Plus, since
this vet seems to be all about the money, I'm hoping it would tick her
off a little.  Especially after she took me for $2,000 and, worst of
all, put me in quite the emotional state wondering about my kitty's
health.

What do you all think?

Thanks in advance **SO MUCH** !!!