CAT-astrophe

Newfoundland dog, from www.puppypoopy.com. Hehehe.

When I decided to work abroad in Denmark, I was excited to witness a new style of veterinary medicine, and as it turns out, a lot has been different than my experiences in California. For one thing, neutering dogs DOES NOT happen (which may be a European thing, I dunno). Also the law requires you to put an ID tattoo on your dogs ear so when it runs away, it can be easily identified as not a stray, and the tattoo code is in an online database that anyone can access, so people can contact owners themselves. Other differences are minor, like the style of IV catheters used, the method of catheter insertion, and the fact that every dog I have worked with is pure-bred, not a mutt among 'em.

But one thing in particular is the same in Denmark as it is in the US, and that is the clients. Clients can really suck. I have noticed that the biggest barrier to helping a sick animal get better is its owner. To me, there is no animal that does not deserve to become healthy, yet there are so many people who stand in the way of that. Today a woman came in with a vial of her Newfoundland's urine, and asked the clinic to process it. She didn't have the dog with her, and she was already known for being picky and stingy when it came to her dog's health. The vet on staff processed the urine and found a huge amount of blood in it, as well as an excessive amount of the sort of elements that cause crystals to form in the bladder, and eventually turn into a stone that can cause death. People used to frequently die of "The Stone" centuries ago, but since then, treatments have been developed to dissolve the minerals and save the lives of man and canine alike.

One of the treatments is a special diet. A fairly expensive special diet. Needless to say, the owner of this dog won't be purchasing it. And the dog will die a very painful death.

And what can you do? You have the ability to save this animal, yet there is nothing you can do, except sit and wait for her to bring him in to be euthanized.

Some of you might be thinking, "Well you can't always expect people to throw out a lot of money for their pets, there are financial limitations!" I would agree, except the lab work that she ordered costs more than the diet, so why process the urine at all if you're not going to do anything about it?

Sorry for the long rant, but in the 2 years I have worked in vet clinics, I have seen way too many of these clients hurting the well-being of my patients, and it makes me very sad. It is probably the only thing that could stop me from being a veterinarian, because having the power to save a life but not being able to use it is a very frustrating thing. BUT I know that for every animal whose owner won't let me help it, there are many more whose will. And that is a comforting thought.