It is 3 pm on New Years Eve. It is a Saturday, and the vet clinic closes at 12 noon.
So, already, we are three hours past closing, when all we want to do, is to go home, and catch up on whatever cleaning, cooking needs doing, and more importantly, say hallo to our ever suffering family.
And the phone call comes in. "My pet freaks with fireworks, and I need something to help him be quiet. He is like this every year, but normally I am home, so its not a problem. I need some sedatives for him for tonight"
What gives? You know your pet freaks out. They do it every year. So why decide at the last minute to consider getting something to help them.
So I check the records, and realise that we hadn't seen this pet at all. Not ever. Not even for a weigh in. The dog is 7 years old.
"Who is your normal vet?" I ask innocently enough.
"Don't have one. Dog is not sick. Never goes to the vet. I just need some sedatives for him."
You don't want to know the language that then occurs, when the advice is given to the pet owner that as all sedatives are prescription drugs, the pet needs to be examined by a registered veterinarian first, before we could prescribe something. And the owner is not prepared nor willing to allow an examination.
This scenario happens every so often for any medication that a pet may need, where the owners are not aware of the legal requirement of a valid vet- client-patient relationship. What this actually means is that we need to know that we are actually prescribing the right medication for the pet, as it is illegal to prescribe anything without a diagnosis or presumptive diagnosis.
Such abuse (or bullying, as I liken to) hurts, as vets care about the needs of all animals, whether they are under our direct care or not. And we don't like the thought of not releasing medications if the pet actually needs them.
Sedatives can kill pets if they have an underlying heart condition, or at a risk of epilepsy. Some other sedatives need to be dosed to the pet's needs (that is, the dose is pet dependant not weight dependant). What if we gave into the bullying?
Now that we are heading into thunderstorm season, as well as fireworks on/off... now is the time to speak with your vet about what can be done to help your pet.
Don't leave it until the last minute, and don't leave it so that you have to rely on drugs alone to dope your dog out for the night.
So, already, we are three hours past closing, when all we want to do, is to go home, and catch up on whatever cleaning, cooking needs doing, and more importantly, say hallo to our ever suffering family.
And the phone call comes in. "My pet freaks with fireworks, and I need something to help him be quiet. He is like this every year, but normally I am home, so its not a problem. I need some sedatives for him for tonight"
What gives? You know your pet freaks out. They do it every year. So why decide at the last minute to consider getting something to help them.
So I check the records, and realise that we hadn't seen this pet at all. Not ever. Not even for a weigh in. The dog is 7 years old.
"Who is your normal vet?" I ask innocently enough.
"Don't have one. Dog is not sick. Never goes to the vet. I just need some sedatives for him."
You don't want to know the language that then occurs, when the advice is given to the pet owner that as all sedatives are prescription drugs, the pet needs to be examined by a registered veterinarian first, before we could prescribe something. And the owner is not prepared nor willing to allow an examination.
This scenario happens every so often for any medication that a pet may need, where the owners are not aware of the legal requirement of a valid vet- client-patient relationship. What this actually means is that we need to know that we are actually prescribing the right medication for the pet, as it is illegal to prescribe anything without a diagnosis or presumptive diagnosis.
Such abuse (or bullying, as I liken to) hurts, as vets care about the needs of all animals, whether they are under our direct care or not. And we don't like the thought of not releasing medications if the pet actually needs them.
Sedatives can kill pets if they have an underlying heart condition, or at a risk of epilepsy. Some other sedatives need to be dosed to the pet's needs (that is, the dose is pet dependant not weight dependant). What if we gave into the bullying?
Now that we are heading into thunderstorm season, as well as fireworks on/off... now is the time to speak with your vet about what can be done to help your pet.
Don't leave it until the last minute, and don't leave it so that you have to rely on drugs alone to dope your dog out for the night.
