Forward: This blog features our associate veterinarian Dr. Paranoid, her alias based on the fact that she is exceptionally paranoid about her own dogs' health as well as many other things in the practice.
The ignorance of pet owners never ceases to amaze me. For some reason, owners will give information to the vet assistants that they won't give the receptionist, and give more information to the veterinarian than they will to the assistants. Let me just say that the questions we assistants ask aren't for the hell of it or to waste your time. The more information we can give to the veterinarian before they get in the room, the better the idea they have of what to look for and the more likely an accurate diagnosis will be given. Nothing is more infuriating than to hear an owner tell you one thing and then turn around and say something completely different to the doctor.
We had a small poodle come in today for North and South Syndrome - vomiting and diarrhea - that had been going on for about two days. When asked by the receptionist and myself, "Is there anything she may have gotten into that she shouldn't have? Has she possibly eaten anything that wasn't part of her regular diet?" the client answered very firmly that, no, her dog ONLY eats her own food. This was noted in the chart and I left to grab Dr. Paranoid to do the exam. This is the conversation that ensued:
Dr. Paranoid: *while palpating the dog's abdomen* So she hasn't gotten into anything she shouldn't have?
Client: No, she....Well, she ate part of a deer carcass a couple days ago. Could that upset her tummy?
Dr. Paranoid: ...Why, yes. Yes it can.
OMG, I SO hear you on this. When the clients don't tell us assistants something, we can't tell the doc, and then we end up looking like we didn't do our job while getting the hx. *fumes*
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