Oxymoron

RE: Oxymoron

J G Wray — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 22:39:51 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

Do tell more.

[/quote]

I asked the VIP what they thought the point was that I was making and they said that it was, obviously, that the profession is held in high regard because it cares for humans as well as animals.....

Oh dear

RE: Oxymoron

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 16:10:42 GMT

[quote user="J G Wray"]I sent a copy of my posts to a VIP in Our World and predictably they got hold of the wrong end of the stick.[/quote]

Do tell more.

RE: Oxymoron

Robin Grimmer — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 13:00:15 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Dennison"]

Has anyone tried using a foam roller on the lumbar muscles? I find it helpful when my lower back starts aching.

[/quote]

Yes! Funnily enough my back was killing me on Saturday and as I already had a foam roller I decided to give it a go and it's really helped. So many thanks Anthony

RE: Oxymoron

J G Wray — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 07:27:34 GMT

Update on the Large Budgie and it's cage - we called a local care home who said "Yes!". The owner took the LB there and there were more tears.

I sent a copy of my posts to a VIP in Our World and predictably they got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

RE: Oxymoron

Anthony Dennison — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 17:08:01 GMT

Has anyone tried using a foam roller on the lumbar muscles? I find it helpful when my lower back starts aching.

RE: Oxymoron

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 14:53:57 GMT

The sacroiliac joint is a false joint in that it is fixed but still has synovial membranes and fluid. It stands to reason therefore that you can suffer from inflammation and OA in it. This may be why SI problems are persistent, it is more than just a muscle/ligament strain.

I find glucosamine and chondroitin + EFA (Synoquin EFA large dog bid!) controls the pain in my dodgy knees, hips and SI joints very nicely.

RE: Oxymoron

Robin Grimmer — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 12:59:56 GMT

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]

[quote user="Anthony Todd"]

[quote user="Seadna "]I currently have a very sore sacro-illiac joint and I don't understand why.[/quote]

I got mine in 1972 paring the front feet of friesian cows in Taranaki; they slump on you....

I can PM you if you want some treatment details [and it doesn't involve any steroids....]

[/quote]

Any tips on treatment for a sore sacroiliac joint would be most gratefully received. I've been suffering since January and treatment with the NHS is so far going nowhere fast.

[/quote]

Me too! Except mine is my lumbosacral joint. It's not been right since I injured it in the gym a few years ago and seems to be getting a bit worse.

RE: Oxymoron

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 09:12:41 GMT

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]Any tips on treatment for a sore sacroiliac joint would be most gratefully received. I've been suffering since January and treatment with the NHS is so far going nowhere fast.[/quote]Its known as old age Clive and cycling long distances in an aerodynamic position isn't helpful (I can't do more than an hour or two before my back starts to play up and I just have to manage it for the rest of the ride) although I believe cycling helps to maintain a strong back and mitigates against additional problems. However in order to improve my core strength I do push-ups, planks and stretching exercises daily and it helps a bit but we can't resist the tide of time.

RE: Oxymoron

Clive Ansell — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 08:50:01 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Todd"]

[quote user="Seadna "]I currently have a very sore sacro-illiac joint and I don't understand why.[/quote]

I got mine in 1972 paring the front feet of friesian cows in Taranaki; they slump on you....

I can PM you if you want some treatment details [and it doesn't involve any steroids....]

[/quote]

Any tips on treatment for a sore sacroiliac joint would be most gratefully received. I've been suffering since January and treatment with the NHS is so far going nowhere fast.

RE: Oxymoron

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 19:07:41 GMT

[quote user="George Cooper"]Firstly, a direct and gut reaction to MA and his response.......I have tolerated so many of your crass and idiotic responses........ [/quote] Dear me George, got out of bed the wrong side today did we? You are entitled to your opinion and you can insult me if you wish, water and duck's backs come to mind, but others can form their opinion on whether they think its justified. I can't see what your issue is and the fact my post got 5 stars seems to show quite a few agree with me.

RE: Oxymoron

George Cooper — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 18:36:22 GMT

Firstly, a direct and gut reaction to MA and his response.......I have tolerated so many of your crass and idiotic responses on this forum without comment but this, my tortured friend, is almost beyond understanding - and I shall say no more either to you or about you, otherwise I will merely inflate your unhealthy self esteem.

For once I believe that, not only is JGW completely understandable, but is also completely correct and has identified exactly what the Small Animal side of veterinary business is about.

RE: Oxymoron

Richard Carter — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 17:00:01 GMT

yup - it aint broke.

The other side of the trust is that you have seen your clients at their most vulnerable and while it is unspoken, we are there to help and support. This part doesn't need a veterinary degree.

RE: Oxymoron

J G Wray — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 16:38:36 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Yes, I've been playing 'Hunt the Oxymoron' too![/quote]

This was a personal piece which may or may not resonante with some. The bittersweet moment came when Mrs H told me her news.

If you take a view like the Times columnist Kevin Maher that vets are part of the "Pet Care Industrial Complex" controlled by a "terrifying cartel of billionaire extortionists" or if you have a view of the profession as people who have sick Minds, who should be secretly reported, who have no wish to progress professionally and don't know how to and who are corrupt and dangerous to the public then you will not understand the impact of Mrs H's news.

I know of the occasional vet who has had a relationship with a client. One married and divorced the client. Another became a true friend, but on the whole we do not get personally involved with clients. However, that is not necessarily how clients, the public think of us.

The bitter-sweet thing, the oxymoron, was Mrs H giving me a priority in the sharing of her deeply personal news, the sweetness of her action at a such a terrible time. There was nothing veterinary about this. I mattered to her for some other, personal reason, that was neither salacious, nor venal.

Whilst I sought to illustrate the trust and something more that we are given and are familiar with in general practice by use of a exceptional example, lesser but no less intimate and important trusts are shared when we look after the welfare of pets. This, in general practice, can go on for decades. I am now seeing the pets of the third generation of some client families. We, in general practice, are exceptionally good at maintaining these relationships with the public without rancour and problem, yet dosed with loss and tragedy to keep them "real" across those decades. WHo can say the same for their family and marriages?

That we are so good at the professional side of being vets is reflected in the surveys of public trust.

So why is this not celebrated - except on Channel 4 in the Noel Fitzpatrick show? Why are the Dark Things, and Things that are supposed to be missing referenced by our industry bodies?.... And,if we are so good at earning the trust and respect of the public and manifestly retaining it for very long periods, why does the public need increasing levels of interference in this relationship?

RE: Oxymoron

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 09:44:51 GMT

[quote user="George Cooper"]in my opinion, and it is only my opinion, this is based upon that human-pet bond that has been resolutely rubbished (last time I looked) in the thread about how clients "view" their pets. [/quote]The problem is George that the 'human-pet bond' often becomes a burden that we see and laymen don't. In the eyes of the public it is a thing to be cherished but we too often see the child substitution, emotional crutches and anthropomorphism resulting in over-feeding, behavioural issues, inability to respond rationally to advice, failure to accept illness, unreasonable expectations of outcome etc etc.

The value of a pet to someone who for whatever reason doesn't have/can't accept normal human relationships cannot be undervalued but is not our area of expertise and we shouldn't be put in the position of becoming mini-psychologists. This can put an additional stress on us trying to balance our responsibility to the pets under our care which is our prime concern against that of a psychologically unbalanced owner. While we try to be empathetic we shouldn't promote the myth that pets are furry children.

RE: Oxymoron

George Cooper — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 07:21:10 GMT

I suspect this is a thinly disguised poke at the RCVS, by demonstrating how our incalculably elevated position is in the eyes of our clients. After all the Rcvs does/do seem to be hell bent on protecting the public - who, as JGW so rightly illustrates and Mr Cynic doesn't, value us far more deeply and more personally than almost any other professional.

in my opinion, and it is only my opinion, this is based upon that human-pet bond that has been resolutely rubbished (last time I looked) in the thread about how clients "view" their pets. (There was some research done into that some years ago which concluded that about 9% treat their animal as an object, 60% or so as a family member, and the rest as the equivalent of a 5-7yo child. Can't recall the actual numbers but it was of this order.)

RE: Oxymoron

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 06:38:20 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]I don't know how you define an oxymoron but I've not seen one here.[/quote]

Yes, I've been playing 'Hunt the Oxymoron' too!

[quote user="J G Wray"]For those in general practice and particularly when you've been established in a community for a few years, the public, the clients are well defined. They have faces, quirks, personal stories interwoven with their pets lives and we get to hear about them. They are precious to us not only because they pay us but because they give us respect and trust and that, as well as a clear idea of our purpose as vets, gets us into our high street clinics day in day out.[/quote]

I was wondering which, if any other profession has that same kind of relationship with the community. I guess doctors are the nearest (obvious) comparison. The clergy?

[quote user="J G Wray"]The public are not an abstract construct for us, there to be protected, without reference to those they respect and trust. How can those who do not do what we do understand this?[/quote]

I don't do what you do. I 'get' that the public is not an abstract construct for you. But I don't quite understand what you mean by 'there to be protected, without reference to those they respect and trust'.

RE: Oxymoron

Anthony Todd — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 20:52:39 GMT

[quote user="Seadna "]I currently have a very sore sacro-illiac joint and I don't understand why.[/quote]

I got mine in 1972 paring the front feet of friesian cows in Taranaki; they slump on you....

I can PM you if you want some treatment details [and it doesn't involve any steroids....]

RE: Oxymoron

Seadna — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 20:25:45 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Todd"]Says he massaging his sacro-iliac joint.....[/quote]

I currently have a very sore sacro-illiac joint and I don't understand why. Is it from the constant rotation of the pelvis during scanning, calving etc? I've got the upper body strength of a teenage girl so I suspect I use my back and legs too much. Sorry for hijaking the thread but this comment caught my eye!

RE: Oxymoron

Anthony Todd — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 14:55:56 GMT

Someone silly enough to be in cattle practice?

Says he massaging his sacro-iliac joint.....

RE: Oxymoron

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 11:00:31 GMT

[quote user="J G Wray"]

For those in general practice and particularly when you've been established in a community for a few years, the public, the clients are well defined. They have faces, quirks, personal stories interwoven with their pets lives and we get to hear about them. They are precious to us not only because they pay us but because they give us respect and trust and that, as well as a clear idea of our purpose as vets, gets us into our high street clinics day in day out.

[/quote]I don't think many of us ever doubted this. But then tomorrow you may bump into 3 of your idiotic clients who don't care for their pets and always moan about the fees and the warm fuzzy feeling will disappear. Its a double edged sword.

I don't know how you define an oxymoron but I've not seen one here.

RE: Oxymoron

mariette asselbergs — Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:22:14 GMT

And then they keep saying that James Herriott is dead!

Mariette

RE: Oxymoron

Hannah Wynne Richards — Sun, 24 Jul 2016 09:57:55 GMT

Hear hear

Wynne