NTTCALR: @ work tonight...(vent)

erpetdoc

My tech had to leave a bit early tonight.  Seeing as how she was leaving early, I was hopeful that I would get to leave a few minutes early too, and get a few extra precious moments of time with DH.  He works nights (leaves at 8:30) and I work 8a - 8p (sometimes it's not always 8p when I leave) on Mondays.

Sure enough, a client calls tonight and needs to be worked in for a very sick pet.  Per the receptionist the client said that the dog was "laid out all day" and "not eating."  And the thoughts of leaving early evaporated.  The client was Amish, and I was dreading the thought of the client bringing the pet via horse & buggy -- that takes a long time -- and would mean that I REALLY would not be finishing up even on time.  

The same receptionist comes back about 20 minutes later, and says "Dr. H., I need you to check on the work-in, check if it's breathing."  That makes a veterinarian get up and run...and run I did...to the parking lot to find not a horse & buggy but a red Camaro, with two Amish men, one married (has a beard) and one not (possibly a younger friend in Rumspringa -- when Amish youth CAN drive).  The older one said, "Doc, I don't think she's breathing."  

I had them move the box from the back of the Camaro, and put it on the ground.  He shined his flashlight into the box.  And there in the box was a young dog, maybe 2 or 3 years old, would was stiff.  Rigor mortis.  Absolutely not living.  I listened to her chest to be sure.  And it was so difficult to tell the owner that yes your dog probably was lying around all day and not eating..because it's not alive.  Ugh. I felt bad telling him that, because I do think he thought we could fix his little dog.  

That was my second Amish encounter today.  The first was a guy whose pet (that's an overstatement unfortunately) needed a c-section.  Despite having multiple litters, and several of those being c-sections, he didn't want me to spay the dog.  "She's no good to us if she can't have puppies."  Ugh. 

Vent over...a day in the life of a veterinarian.  I just wish all of my clients viewed their pets as family and not as property.  

LMichelleG

Wow!

mamaholic

Oh my gosh! I can't even imagine!

rjl07

So sad!  Especially since the dog was so young.  I hope your night gets better.  Do you mind if I PM you a quick dog question?  No rush on an answer since you have had a long day.  Feel free to tell me to beat it if you aren't in the mood to give some advice.

mlwinkle

That is a horrible day, sorry. Just before reading this post I mentioned to DH that he was looking a little amish with his new beard. Weird.

lax15bsu

Sounds like a rough day. :::big hugs::: from me.

ColindaP

Ack! GIven their lifestyle, you?d think the Amish would be a little more in tune with their animals, since their livelihood is largely animal'based. Yowza.

My neighbor bred his springer spaniel not long ago, and they puppies turned out to all be breech, she had to have an emergency C, and only one pup survived So sad. They named the pup Even, because they sold her for what they paid for the C-section. Kinda funny.?

erpetdoc

Funny about the name of the pup. 

All told, I don't think the Amish guy will break even this time around.  The dog had one pup on her own, and I took out a much larger pup by c-section.  Dachshunds with questionable backgrounds (bad temperment) don't sell for much...and the c-section was close to 1k.

ColindaP

Oh, yeah. Our neighbor's dog's C was $1k, but the pup sold for $1k. However, well-bred springers from proven hunting stock are worth quite a bit more than doxies of questionable origin....