Today we took Duke and Goblin to the vet. I really don’t like taking them in on stuff I think I can fix myself. I am the same way when it comes to me going to the doctor – last year I had a fever of 103.9 and I kept saying “I won’t go to the hospital unless it reaches 104.”
Well, the boys needed thier Bordatella nose drops and while I was going, I figured I would start a list of questions, just like I do with my doctor. I made the appointment, and instead of asking for the head vet (who my neighbor told me to go see in the first place) I said we would take either. I will not make THAT mistake again. I had a lot of good questions and this vet just wrote them all off. I don’t think she was REALLY listening to me. The boys both tear their pads fairly often – about once every few months. They limp and then lick at the pads and it ends up getting their face all blistery from licking so much. So we bought boots from Bass Pro to keep them from licking that hurt paw. That seems to work. But I wanted to ask about a spray we got from them before when Duke first ripped his pad. This SAME vet clinic gave us the spray. What did this vet tell me? “Oh they have allergies, so they chew their feet. You need to give them Benadryl.” Okay. I told her they don’t ever chew their feet – they just lick the one paw when it gets torn. “Oh they tear them because of allergies” she said.
Next question – Goblin paws at his face after he drinks water. I asked what this might be – he does have a chipped tooth in the front, so I didn’t know if maybe there was some sensitivity. Nope. She said it was allergies! What? Goblin is allergic to water?!?!
Then I asked about Duke and how he gets ear infections often. I am able to treat them with an OTC remedy and I clean his ears often. But I just wanted to make sure he was okay overall. Yup, it is allergies!
Oh and Goblin has an area on his neck that is itchy and he started to bleed the other day. I thought maybe he got bit by something there and as it was healing it itched and he has been making it worse. What can I do to help this? “Oh, that is allergies” she said. What the hell lady? You are a vet? And you went to UF’s vet school? I am embarrassed!!! Then I said, I don’t think it is allergies. Is it possible that he got something from another dog we were watching? (I just wanted to be sure since we watched a friend’s dog that was very, very itchy all over and crusty). She then told me (in a serious tone) that allergies were not contagious. That I had nothing to worry about.
Ugh! Then on a funny note – as we were checking out they were telling a woman that her dog needed to be microchipped just in case he was ever lost. The woman said “oh, can you track him? And find out where he goes if he gets lost?” and the dip behind the counter said “yes, they will know where he is when someone finds him and scans the chip – they will then call you” So the woman asked again, “but can he be tracked, his every move?” (not sure why she thought this chip was a GPS but at least *I* knew what the woman was asking) and the girl said again “yes, they can track him when someone scans the chip and calls you.” Ugh! Finally, someone else told this owner, no, the device is not a GPS. And you are lucky if someone finds your dog and HAS HIM SCANNED in the first place. Then the owner realized what the deal was and said “oh, well then why can’t we just do a tag on the collar with our phone number? Then at least if someone finds him that isn’t a vet they can call us” Duh!