Rubystars
07-13-2006, 03:09 PM
Apparently the vet's office deals with a lot of dumb people.
My dog is 16 years old, and he can't be properly groomed without anesthesia. He won't let us get his face or paws. I would let him just stay ungroomed (and avoid the anesthesia) except it makes him very uncomfortable, so there's really no alternative except to take him in. I think I've talked about this problem before a few years ago.
Anyway, I called the vet's office this morning to make the appointment. The lady on the phone insisted that he needed a rabies shot, because "It would be safer for the handlers if he had a rabies shot." I don't get a lot of days off, I'm not even guaranteed a day off every week, though I get one most weeks lately. So I was concerned that I'd have to wait longer to get his hair cut. I asked "So, does this mean that I'll have to make an appointment for him to get the rabies shot, and then another appointment to get his hair cut?"
She said "No." So then I said "I don't have a problem with him having one, but it wouldn't do the handlers any good if he got a rabies shot that day and he had rabies."
After that there was an awkward silence.
The woman had been caught in a lie. A lie, that, apparently worked on a lot of other people to coerce them into getting their dogs vaccinated. She apparently assumed I would be so stupid as to think that a rabies shot would both go into affect immediately, and cure rabies!
She admitted that it wouldn't make any difference, but came back with "But he's due!" I told her that he hadn't had one in nearly a decade, because he'd been an inside dog, but I didn't have a problem with him having one, so I'd go ahead and get one for him. After that barrier was crossed, I was able to set up for an appointment.
Truth be told, it's probably not a bad idea. There are squirrels in the neighborhood now, which there didn't used to be a few years ago.
My dog is 16 years old, and he can't be properly groomed without anesthesia. He won't let us get his face or paws. I would let him just stay ungroomed (and avoid the anesthesia) except it makes him very uncomfortable, so there's really no alternative except to take him in. I think I've talked about this problem before a few years ago.
Anyway, I called the vet's office this morning to make the appointment. The lady on the phone insisted that he needed a rabies shot, because "It would be safer for the handlers if he had a rabies shot." I don't get a lot of days off, I'm not even guaranteed a day off every week, though I get one most weeks lately. So I was concerned that I'd have to wait longer to get his hair cut. I asked "So, does this mean that I'll have to make an appointment for him to get the rabies shot, and then another appointment to get his hair cut?"
She said "No." So then I said "I don't have a problem with him having one, but it wouldn't do the handlers any good if he got a rabies shot that day and he had rabies."
After that there was an awkward silence.
The woman had been caught in a lie. A lie, that, apparently worked on a lot of other people to coerce them into getting their dogs vaccinated. She apparently assumed I would be so stupid as to think that a rabies shot would both go into affect immediately, and cure rabies!
She admitted that it wouldn't make any difference, but came back with "But he's due!" I told her that he hadn't had one in nearly a decade, because he'd been an inside dog, but I didn't have a problem with him having one, so I'd go ahead and get one for him. After that barrier was crossed, I was able to set up for an appointment.
Truth be told, it's probably not a bad idea. There are squirrels in the neighborhood now, which there didn't used to be a few years ago.