Quote Originally Posted by luckies4me
And then you get the lovely people who know something is really wrong, but avoid treating the pet at all costs. Like today, we had a young woman come in with an 8 week old lab mix puppy. The dog was extremely bloated, and even vomited, much to my friends digust, roundworms into the trashcan. She got the dog for free outside of a Winco. She was telling me how tomorrow she is going to donate plasma to earn 45 bucks, as she has no money. If you have no money why would you adopt a puppy? It's just beyond me. Now, that poor dog is probably going to sit there for months with worms, or get some deadly disease like distemper or parvo all because she took the dog in knowing she couldn't care for it. In fact, earlier she tried taking the puppy to the pound, but she said the pound wouldn't take it because they were full. The truth is, she couldn't take the dog to the pound because they charge a $45 dollar fee to surrender an animal, as the shelters here are very full this time of year. It's very sad.
Yup, that's probably why she was donating blood for the $45, to give to the pound. We've had a rash of people lately who get a new puppy then gripe about the fact we have to charge for vacc. etc (we are reasonably priced!) then explain that one of the family is out of work, or they are on a fixed SS income. Uh, I noticed you said you got the puppy AFTER that happened. Doesn't make sense to me. There is no such thing as a 'free' pet.


Quote Originally Posted by Cataholic
As far as I know, my dentist is a "registered" dentist..he he he, and he makes us sign a waiver if we elect NOT to have xrays done before our teeth cleaning. I go to the dentist twice a year! And, while he only does xrays on a yearly basis, it certainly makes sense to xray a pet's mouth before cleaning, when you consider the cleanings are done much further apart than ours.

How can an xray on a 4 year old dog's mouth, before the dog undergoes anesthesia for a dental cleaning be ridiculous? Sounds kind of good to me.
ALOT of people don't even understand the need for ANY dental cleanings etc. You and I understand the importance of it, and the benefits to the health of the animal but many people do not. Unfortunately some have to learn when their young pet dies from a massive infection from the teeth/gums, or some never learn at all and think that 5 years old is a long life for a dog/cat. I think I'll scream the next time I hear a client say 'well we've had dogs for 30 years and never had no dental cleaning done on them and they lived a long time, old Blue lived the longest and died at a ripe old age of 7 (not talking about no great dane either).

I don't have a problem with xrays or lab work before surgery or dental work, but then again I understand why it's necessary, plus I get an employee discount. Even if I didn't have a discount if the vet thought something was necessary I'd go ahead and do it.