Something Educational?

I wanted to do a post that was a bit educational instead of me usual rants, but I'm not sure I succeeded. Here's a list of  random thoughts from your friendly companion animal vet. Some things we just can't say to clients, no matter how much we want to.

-I don't care where the drugs your dog ate came from, I just want to know if your dog could have gotten into drugs. I do not report anything to authorities.

-I love your pet. I want what is best for your pet. But I can't care more than you do, and I can't make decisions for you.

-I do not recommend heartworm prevention or flea and tick prevention to make money but to protect your pet. I also do not recommend it to make your dog sick so you have to spend more money. (Fleas are gross, and seeing one makes me itchy) And did you know 10 years of heartworm prevention is cheaper than going through the treatment once? Not to mention so much easier on the dog.

-Muzzles are just a tool and do not mean I think your dog is a bad dog. Same with oral sedation and cats- I do it to save them and my hands. Please don't make it harder on your pet because you think it reflects badly on you or them.

-It is not my job to make sure you bring your pet in where they are due for basic preventative care. We do our best- oh boy do we, with phone calls and e-mails and things mailed to you that your dog is coming due/past due, reminders on your invoices. I cannot make you come in for the appointment though, so don't get mad at me when you miss it and need to repeat something.

-I do not do vaccines to make money. I do it because I believe your pet will benefit. Vaccines are not some money making scam. Parvo is real.

-It is not my job to look up what vet in whatever city you lived in 5 years ago to get your cat's vaccine history. And if she hasn't been back to a vet in 5 years, she needs her rabies anyway. I do sympathize with this one- if I didn't work at a clinic, I imagine I'd have a much harder time keeping track of my pet's records.

-Your dog did not give your kid strep throat. Human doctors don't always understand zoonotic things - yeah that kitten probably did give you ringworm though.

-Please, ask me if you have a question. No question is stupid; I want you to be involved and knowledgeable about your pets care. I absolutely want you to trust my decision ,making, but I also want you to know why we give things like lepto vaccines and heartworm prevention. We are here to educate you.

-We do not keep a jar of fleas in the back to put on your pet, it came in with fleas.

-It's great the allergies improved on the medication! Of course they came back when you stopped it, do human allergies disappear after a single dose of allergy medication? No, you keep taking it daily. It is so much cheaper to manage allergies and prevent flare ups than to come in and treat chronic ear and skin infections from poorly managed allergies.

-The internet is not always right.

-Just because someone works in a pet store does not mean they are a nutrition expert.

-If your dog is limping- NOT USING A LEG- that leg is painful. Just because they are eating and their tail is wagging does not mean they are not in pain. Do you eat when you're injured? Or laugh?

-Taking pain medicine does not mean your dog is weak. Your dog is not getting addicted to the dog version of ibuprofen, ok? Just give them the NSAIDs please. And call us before giving them over the counter stuff- ibuprofen is BAD for dogs.

-If you can't touch your dog's feet, why do you think I can trim his nails? I'm a scary stranger, and you want to make today worse by having me try to cut his nails?


That's it for random vet comments, before I just start getting snarky. For WoW; Mythic Shad'har progress tonight, woo! I must learn to play disc priest, so the holy angel of fail doesn't make it obvious when I die. Alternatively, I can learn to, you know, not die to stupid. It's an ongoing process.