Family/Client Similarities

It horrifies me to say this, however my family severely reminds me of many of our clients. A great example of this is our clients that call and demand request diagnoses/treatment recommendations over the phone and then become irate when given the standard, "We're legally not allowed to do that," or, "That could be any number of things; it's best to bring Fido in to get a correct diagnosis," which is not only the ethical thing to do, but is much safer for the pet. The clients that do this are usually the ones looking to get out of paying for a vet bill - because, as we all know, the veterinary field is 100% "money grubbers" and not folks who actually care about pet health - and it pains me deeply that my own family has done this to me on, so far, two instances.

Instance One: My sister - who lives overseas - calls me in the middle of the workday, stating that her cat is, "acting like she's drunk," due to some sedatives her vet had given the cat (apparently this feline becomes Luci-fur at their clinic). When told that I'd have to check with one of our docs - her clinic was closed due to the time there and there is no ER vet in that area apparently - she proceeded to yell at me about how "incompetent, and self-centered" I was (...Um, what?). The story ends with her getting her answer via Social Networking Site, after some research on our docs part and the equivalent of pulling teeth to get my sister to tell me what the drugs were. Oi.

Instance Two: Grandma calls at 11:00 pm to tell me that Rufus has a hotspot and ask what she can do to help it. Hotspots - while an easy fix - need to be seen, no matter what. For all I know it was covered in pus and needed antibiotics. My advice? Call the vet. Telling me, "But I called you because you know all that stuff," doesn't work, but thanks for the flattery. I'm not a DVM, simply an assistant, and cannot legally give medical advice over the phone without 1) the pet being seen by a DVM that I work with, and 2) consulting a DVM. Nice try, Grandma. Nice try.