Secret #34

My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"



" If we wanted to go into it for the money, we'd have become human doctors."

I could have gone to med school. Really. I scored high on the entrance exams- higher than a couple friends who had gotten pre-admittance to med schools.

I chose to pursue vet med instead. I did it knowing that I would not become rich. I did it because I want to help pets and their people.

Vets are one of the lowest paid professions with post-graduate degrees. We have an inferiority complex about it sometimes, and feel the need to defend ourselves. We work long hours, act as pediatrician, surgeon, dentist, internist, oncologist, geriatrician, and councillor.

We love it. We did not go into it for the money.

Enjoy your pets.

Secret #33- show me your title and insurance

My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"

"Some people worry that paying for pet insurance will be a waste if they don't use it. But when you renew your fire insurance on your house, do you say, 'Shoot, my house didn't burn down last year- I wasted all that money?'"

I like this. I pay my car insurance and life insurance, and never think that I have been cheated by not needing it.

But what if you really don't want to pay monthly premiums for pet insurance?

I offer a different approach to my clients- well, a couple. First, if you trust yourself to budget well, you can set up a savings account. Put in $50 per month, or whatever amount. Earmark the money for vet expenses. Use it for routine care, or save it up as an emergency fund. Then you feel like the money is yours no matter what.

Another option might be to "pre-pay" your vet. I have offered to have people bring in a little money at a time that we deposit on account for the client. Sort of like layaway, I guess. Then they can build up a balance to cover a spay, or a dental procedure. I wouldn't use this as insurance against a big, unexpected bill, though. I think it would work best for expected, planned services.

Enjoy your pets!

Secret #31- cost cutting

My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"

"Unfortunately, I've had to work in low-cost clinics, and many of them are cutting corners to make a profit. Some placed give half doses of vaccines instead of full doses, which is totally illegal and ineffective."

Vaccines are made to be given a whole dose at a time, no matter the size of the patient. A half dose is indeed wrong and possibly illegal.

Look, we all work for a living, we have bills to pay. And yes, you get what you pay for in veterinary care as in just about everything else. I recommend some caution with price shopping- there has to be some reason one person's prices are much cheaper than others. It might be innocuous- they might have lower overhead costs, the building might be paid for, the practice is rural with lower costs overall. But the differences might not be so harmless- they might give half doses of vaccine, or find other ways to cut costs that would make me flinch.

Most vet practices are moral, legal, upstanding. Watch for the bad apples, but don't let them spoil the perception of the basketful.

Enjoy your pets!

Secret #30- I'm late for my tee time!

My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"

"If your animal is really sick, it's better to bring him in during the morning. A vet I once worked with would do a huge work up when a sick animal came in early. But if the animal came in late in the day, the vet would actually encourage the owner to euthanize. But I would add that this is not common."

Not common? I would hope that it would be downright rare!

Sounds like this vet was working for someone with serious fatigue. Or maybe he or she had a standing meeting committment of some sort. I can't pretend to guess. Treating patients diffently based on the time of day of the appointment is wrong, and should not be tolerated.

I have seen articles that recommend getting early morning or just after lunch appointments with a doctor so that the MDs don't have a chance to get too far behind. But I can't say I've seen anyone say that you get better care in the morning.

You have to trust your vet. We are human, and make mistakes. But we should all strive to provide the best care we know how.

Enjoy your pets!

Addendum: So, I've been thinking about this one a bit. I wonder about the circumstances surrounding this vet's experience. Did it happen mor than once? Maybe there were vast differences in the signs the pets were showing. Maybe the accused vet knew the clients well enough to know what they would or would not do. Maybe there was more to the conversations between the accused vet and the clients than the quoted vet knew. We need to be careful about casting stones without having the whole picture.

Secret #29- sniffles

My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"

"The biggest mistake pet owners make is calling the vet too late. Pet's rarely get colds or the flu, and they almost never get food poisoning. So if they're sick for more than a day, call us."

Well, there is such a thing as canine flu virus. And I see upper respiratory infections (might be called colds) fairly frequently. I think the point this vet is making is this- don't sit on a problem and hope it resolves. There are certainly some self-limiting illnesses out pets can get, but they can't tell us how they feel, and many will try to tough it through until they are so sick it can be dangerous to them. Calling for an appointment sooner rather than later is always a good idea.

Enjoy your pets!

Secret #28- cold noses

My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"

"A cold, wet nose on a dog does not necessarily mean he's healthy. I've seen plenty of sick dogs with wet noses."


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The cold nose thing is an old wives' tale (tail?). A warm nose does not necessarily indicate fever, either. If you want to check your dog's temp at home- rectal is best. Be careful- he might not like it! Normal temperature range for dogs and cats is about 101-102 degrees F.

Of course, if there are any issues you have, any questions about your pet's health, call us!

Enjoy your pets!

Secret #27- to shoot or not to shoot?

My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"

"After the kitten vaccinations, indoor cats don't really need to be vaccinated. They're not going to get rabies sitting inside the house. Vaccines have the potential to create a lot of harm for cats, including possible tumors at the vaccination site."

My first year after vet school, I worked in a great small animal practice east of Cincinnati. One morning the tech and I came into the building to discover a dead bat on the floor of the treatment area (sometimes referred to as "the back"). We picked up the bat, handled it a bit- bats are cool! On a whim, we decided to submit the body for rabies testing. I'll give you once guess as to the results.

Yep, rabies positive. The tech underwent post-exposure vaccines. We monitored the clinic cat for months.

The point? The animals most likely to carry and spread rabies vary from area to area. In my part of Ohio, we have bat carriers. Eastern states have problems with racoon varients, and in the western states coyotes might be the biggest risk.

Yes, indoor cats might be a relatively low risk for rabies. But that rabid bat made its way into a vet hospital. I have had bats in my house. Tell me I am not risking my cats (or myself, or my kids) by not vaccinating. Rabies is fatal. Period.

Many areas have laws that require rabies vaccines for cats as well as dogs, inside or out. The state does not care about the cat's health, this is a human health issue. A rabid kitten biting neighborhood kids could be devastating. Imagine the lawsuits.

Yes, vaccines can have side effects. So do antibiotics. And pain medications. Heck, water can be a toxin (it is not well absorbed by the lungs). So we weigh risk and benefits with everything we do. There are very good vaccines out there for cats that minimize the chances of harmful effects- ask your vet about the pros and cons.

Enjoy your pets!

PS- I heard this really great interview soon after writing this rebuttal- it's very interesting!

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/19/157049292/terrible-virus-fascinating-history-in-rabid