Dear Fellow Pet Lovers,
I have many clients quote the Will Rogers line about veterinarians being good doctors because animals cannot tell them what is wrong. I do appreciate the kind thoughts and agree that, sometimes it would be nice to have a better idea of “where it hurts.”
At the ER, we sometimes see pets for which the owner provides a good, detailed history of exactly what has been happening. And we have some who can only say that the pet is just a little off but almost nothing more.
To give you a helpful hint, the better the history you can give your DVM, the better that DVM can diagnose quickly and with fewer tests. The less you tell the DVM, the more he/she is guessing, and in many cases, the more testing he will be forced to do.
So, what to do?
1- Keep decent records on your pet. That pet’s birthday, meds it is on, the environment it lives in, all help the DVM to get a better picture of that pet’s health.
2- Get a good picture of your pet’s condition in your mind on your way to see the DVM. The more detailed history you can provide, the better chance the DVM has to figure things out more quickly.
3- Go ahead and confess what you know. The DVM is not there to judge you, but is there to help your pet. If you have done something that you are embarrassed to tell, tell it. Go ahead, confess. Good for the soul and for the pet.
4- Take reasonable care, take decent precautions against obvious problems. Sounds simple, I know. But over 60% of the accidents we deal with at ER are painfully silly and avoidable.
So, there you have it. You can do something about pet accidents and injury!
That is all.
Dr. John Emerson, Pet Emergency Clinic
Dr. John Emerson 