Is it really?

RE: Is it really?

vs0u — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 11:28:53 GMT

I heard the guinea pig one too - only it was a black and tan guinea pig that they thought was a rottweiler.

When I was working at vets now someone insisted on bringing in a couple of 6 m o Bengal kittens for flea treatment at 2 am. That was bad enough in itself given the cost was over £100 not including the actual flea stuff. When the kittens turned up they were black and white. Owner was disbelieving when told that Bengals weren't black and white.

Another one was a call on a sunday afternoon from someone insistent that their yorkshire terrier had somehow lost a leg. A locum was on call and she was staying in my house. After some discussion over the phone she went to the house and found that the dog had its foot caught in its collar and the owners couldn't see it as it had so much fur. She unhooked its toenail from the collar and all was well.

Those are the kind of calls that make doing OOH work seem very appealing!

RE: Is it really?

Julie Innes — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 11:27:14 GMT

And mine! I am actually howling at the thought of the person trying to groom that rat to look like a poodle

RE: Is it really?

Neil Wheadon — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 11:11:23 GMT

[quote user="Edward Jones"]

Apologies in advance for polluting the place with a daily mail link...

Nice poodle puppy?

[/quote]

Made my day

Neil

RE: Is it really?

Edward Jones — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 09:46:58 GMT

Apologies in advance for polluting the place with a daily mail link...

Nice poodle puppy?

RE: Is it really?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 13:46:05 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]We have a lady in reception at the moment wanting to return a dog toy because the dog will not play with it!![/quote]

I guess if you are going to flog dog toys that is the sort of thing you have to expect.

RE: Is it really?

Bob Russell — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 09:20:55 GMT

A minority of clients are complete morons!

We have a lady in reception at the moment wanting to return a dog toy because the dog will not play with it!!

Saints preserve us from the general public!

RE: Is it really?

Julie Innes — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 09:11:35 GMT

[quote user="Wren"]All correct guesses. I agree with you in principle, it was just your previous comments casting aspersions on the sort of people who buy from these sites which got my back up a bit. A lot of numpties, sure, but not exclusively .[/quote]

There are always exceptions, wren! . I just feel sites like Gumtree make it far harder for the average Joe to circumnavigate the puppy farmers and idiots breeding for cash

RE: Is it really?

Wren — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 09:01:22 GMT

[quote user="Julie Innes"]

[quote user="Wren"]I maybe wouldn't be so quick to judge. I have a beautiful Lakeland x terrier who I bought as a puppy via Gumtree, came from a gamekeeper - very reputable home, one-off litter[/quote]

I'm guessing that you saw the dog at home, saw the mum with the puppies, had a sensible conversion with the breeder before purchase? the problem with sites like Gumtree is that all sorts of unscrupulous "breeders" can advertise there and not everyone can discern a reputable breeder. I still think in balance it would be better if animals couldn't be advertised on the internet on sites like this

[/quote]

All correct guesses. I agree with you in principle, it was just your previous comments casting aspersions on the sort of people who buy from these sites which got my back up a bit. A lot of numpties, sure, but not exclusively .

RE: Is it really?

Julie Innes — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 08:46:46 GMT

RE: Is it really?

David Mills — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 02:34:45 GMT

[quote user="Wren"] I have a beautiful Lakeland x terrier who I bought as a puppy via Gumtree, came from a gamekeeper [/quote]

We're no talking about gamekeepers. Or did you pick it up at a motorway services?

If not, ref virtue signalling on other thread.

RE: Is it really?

David Mills — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 02:32:47 GMT

[quote user="Francisco Gomez"]The ability to differentiate and critique a source is the new meaning of literacy. [/quote]

Christ.

And people like you still read the Guardian.

Tell me again what was their take on Oxfam?

RE: Is it really?

Francisco Gomez — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 23:09:57 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]

Maybe society needs to change then. Sorry but there comes a point in time where the blame someone else and the ‘I want therefore I must have and must have now’ cultures has to stop and people have to start taking responsibility for their own actions.

[/quote]

Would you say that those who trust a homeopath to prevent parvo via 'nosodes' have only themselves to blame?

I guess not. So yes, I agree, society needs to change. But the driving force is not just us vets, it can't be. There something much deeper in education.

The ability to differentiate and critique a source is the new meaning of literacy. Sixty years ago many people couldn't read and write, Today most people can, the problem is to know what's to believe.

RE: Is it really?

Kate Richardson — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 22:27:30 GMT

RE: Is it really?

Francisco Gomez — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 20:21:27 GMT

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]

[quote user="Francisco Gomez"]

I do feel sorry for them.

How are they supposed to know what is real nowadays?[/quote]

I can't agree I'm afraid, there are plenty of reputable sources out there, not least the veterinary profession who are pretty much falling over themselves to give out this sort of unbiased information. Anyone who thinks a couple of photos are proof of parentage or that a guinea-pig is a Labrador puppy is getting no sympathy for me.

[/quote]

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]

i agree but there are other ways of researching than just the internet. Back it up with verifying the information by speaking to a real person For exame

[/quote]

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]

I find it incredibly difficult (Unless of course they have learning difficulties or are mentally ill) to be sympathetic towards someone who is so stupid, that when they go to buy a dog, they part with £500, and return home with a Guinea pig

[/quote]

I can tell you guys that people I know and I care for dearly, in fact, many are from my close family, would fall for things like this.

Misinformation today is king, not just in this area but in many. We sometimes forget what we know and our education.

Maybe (and I'm very sorry for the comparison) if you guys go to a car dealer, you won't know what to buy, but you do have the critical mind to be able to differentiate a 'reputable' source and do your own research. Many people aren't as lucky.

Even the fact that people are stupid enough to part with money in petrol stations to acquire something that needs care shows a degree of ignorance.

If we say that we aren't sympathetic to these people, someone is falling them in this society. I'm not saying that is definitely us, but someone is.

RE: Is it really?

Wren — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 19:49:43 GMT

[quote user="Julie Innes"] People really need to research far better before making a long term commitment to an animal. Anyone who buys off Gumtree or is handed a puppy in a car park has not done that research.[/quote]

I maybe wouldn't be so quick to judge. I have a beautiful Lakeland x terrier who I bought as a puppy via Gumtree, came from a gamekeeper - very reputable home, one-off litter. Also a Patterdale who came free via Preloved. For the record I had originally applied to a couple of different rescue centres and was turned down by both as they felt my working hours were not suitable for dog ownership. The fact that the dog would be coming to work with me (and is with me pretty much 24/7) was considered irrelevant by one place, and unsatisfactory by the other...

RE: Is it really?

Chris Milligan — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 17:36:03 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]there are other ways of researching than just the internet.[/quote]

I'm not sure clients know how to use any other modality these days :D

RE: Is it really?

Bob Russell — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:12:17 GMT

[quote user="rhmrcvs"]

A colleague was working in a large practice. One of the vets was asked by a new client to examine a black lab puppy, owners had purchased via trade it paper, parted wjth cash (£500) in pub car park near motorwsy junction . Vet thought was a set up so took pup out for colleagues to examine. Was v nice black guinea pig, owners irritated with vet and had to be told by 3 vets was not lab pup ! Then asked how much was worth as they paid 500 ..... bears of v little brain.

[/quote]

Are you sure the story was not written on 1st April?

RE: Is it really?

Clive Ansell — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 11:53:25 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]Given the fact that there are already a couple of variations on this in the thread I suspect this is an urban myth but a good story nonetheless.[/quote]

My initial though was that this is b******s, but then some folk are so stupid that it wouldn't surprise me at all

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]We can't help these people if they don't engage their brains.[/quote]

To engage a brain, there has to be a functional one there in the first place. Sadly, in many cases there just is not.

RE: Is it really?

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 11:20:36 GMT

[quote user="rhmrcvs"]

[/quote]Given the fact that there are already a couple of variations on this in the thread I suspect this is an urban myth but a good story nonetheless.

But even veterinary advice may be suspect especially in the light of the event I've posted in another thread about the local vet who has been found guilty of being in league with illegal puppy breeders and importers. It amazing how many of his clients couldn't see through the sham and some think he's wonderful even now. We can't help these people if they don't engage their brains.

RE: Is it really?

Clive Ansell — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 11:03:33 GMT

[quote user="bob lehner"]Maybe the guinea pig had come from a lab - and someone had got a bit confused ?[/quote]

A Labrador or an Laboratory?

RE: Is it really?

Clive Ansell — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 10:18:55 GMT

Would be like going to buy a new Audi and returning home with a second hand Ford Fiesta.

I had one end of last week. Owners bought a new pedigree Beagle that they would like to show and breed from. On clinical exam for its first vaccine it appeared to me to be a perfectly healthy xJRT puppy! Bought online and transaction complete on a Morrison's car park; apparently they did not even get out of their cars, puppy passed through open window one way and £400 the other. One born every minute.

RE: Is it really?

Niall Taylor — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 09:24:55 GMT

[quote user="Julie Innes"]I've also heard the guinea pig story, only in the version I heard it was a "litter" of 2 day old yellow labs, aka Syrian hamsters![/quote]

If you look at the SNOPES site it turns out to be a mutated Mexican sewer rat which eats the cat!

RE: Is it really?

Julie Innes — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 08:59:46 GMT

I'm another that finds it hard to be sympathetic. People really need to research far better before making a long term commitment to an animal. Anyone who buys off Gumtree or is handed a puppy in a car park has not done that research. There has been SOO much info about puppy farms, which people are up in arms against (a recent "puppy trader" near me was getting their windows put in, and clients angrily telling me they would burn their house down ). But they CONTINUE to buy puppies from dodgy backgrounds. The irritating thing for me is knowing that the sellers are continuing to coin it in at the expense of animal welfare.

(I've also heard the guinea pig story, only in the version I heard it was a "litter" of 2 day old yellow labs, aka Syrian hamsters!)

RE: Is it really?

bob lehner — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 08:31:09 GMT

[quote user="rhmrcvs"]

[/quote]

Maybe the guinea pig had come from a lab - and someone had got a bit confused ? Chinese whispers????

(No - on second thoughts - just dumb).

RE: Is it really?

Kate Richardson — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 08:20:06 GMT

[quote user="Chris Milligan"]

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]er research? Rather than just impulse buying? [/quote]

have you done an internet search lately pretending you know nothing about pet ownership? it's incredibly confusing to know what is fact and what is nonsense - and the adage of always checking with your vet first is getting incredibly diluted by the consequence-less breeders, the kid selling grain free diets at the local pet superstore and some guy that only uses home remedies for everything in the states but who now has a voice that's influencing clients halfway across the world. it's a minefield to be sure

[/quote]

i agree but there are other ways of researching than just the internet. Back it up with verifying the information by speaking to a real person For exame