Tails from the vet office

[Sunsetsky]

Don't you mean "tales?" or is that just a pun?

I meant that as a pun.

Freudian slip?

Oops. I didn't notice that typo. XD


I have a fluffy kitty myself. Everyone loves her tail. It's long and poofy with a dark tip. But she's a skinny thing. Got her at the humane society a month ago. Poor thing...I'm taking her to work on Wednesday to get spayed.

[JustADude]

Me, I go for big, laid-back dogs. I guess it's true what they say about pets and owners.

Right now, we've got a mix that's mostly Akita and Chow, and we think some Wolf in there somewhere. She's like 80 pounds of muscle wrapped up in ultra-fluffy black fur. Smarter than most SCs, too... though I think even a Toy Poodle could manage that.

[Shengirl]

Smarter than most SCs, too... though I think even a Toy Poodle could manage that.

Don't knock the poodles; they're smart little dogs and great at tricks. That's why they used to be so common in circuses. We had a miniature poodle up until I was 15, and I loved him to death. Now we have a big, goofy black lab, though. He's not exactly dim either!

My favorite is when you tell him, "Spade, I'm cold!" and he fetches a blanket. Even better if he's feeling cheeky and tries to steal said blanket from my father, who is napping on the couch.

[JustaCashier]

Well, I'll be damned!!

An SC says outright that they are more important than the other customers!

Most of them only imply it!

Mike

[myswtghst]

Smarter than most SCs, too... though I think even a Toy Poodle could manage that.

I gotta agree with Shengirl here. I had a miniature poodle from about 2nd grade until my sophomore year of college. She knew all kinds of tricks, including but not limited to: wiping her feet and knocking pillows down on the couch to perch on top of. She was also famous for "going away," as in: you would say "Daisy, go away" and she would go a few feet away, turn and look at you, you would say "Further" and she would go out of the room. She could keep this up until she ended up on the other end of the house.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

Phantom dances, shakes, high fives, sits, begs and knows her left paw from her right.

Unlike my mom. She tried to get Phantom to give her her left paw, which phantom does, happily. Mom goes "No, your left paw!"
Phantom gives her that "what?" look she does so well. Then gives her her left paw.
"No, left paw!"

Repeat this for like 5 minutes.
Finally my dad turned to her and went "Dog's friggin' smarter than you, it IS giving you her left paw, stupid!"

That's when mom finally realized that since Phantom was opposite to her...

[Seshat]

This sort of thread makes me understand why both the emergency vets near us are so kind to us. Every time we've used them, it's been because of a problem we noticed outside normal vet hours, and we called and asked their vet tech 'should we bring (cat or dog) down to you, or can we wait for our regular vet to open?'

And our regular vets seem to like us too. Much the same reason, I guess. '(cat or dog) has (symptoms), how urgent does it sound and when can we have an appointment?'

They stayed late for our girl-kitty just this week, actually. (Note to self: get a box of chocolates for them.)

Anyway: my point is just that the reactions they have to us tell me they get a lot of people who don't take their pets' ailments seriously.

[BaristaGirl]

I have two cats like that. Give them a bath and they are, literally, half their normal size!

Mine, too! My two cats are SO fluffy, it is crazy. Give 'em a bath and it's like they shrink. (Except they're -way- more angry than they'd be if they just shrunk...)

[Acolyte]

I'm jealous. My cats don't know any tricks beside 'Frolic', 'Sleep' and 'Bite Acolyte at 7:00 AM when we're hungry, but look really, really, really cute while we're doing it so he doesn't hate us.'

[Brightglaive]

Mine, too! My two cats are SO fluffy, it is crazy. Give 'em a bath and it's like they shrink. (Except they're -way- more angry than they'd be if they just shrunk...)

I think the most hilarious thing I have ever seen is when my friend's sisters get their white long-haired persian cats shaved for the summer. They shave everywhere except the paws and the head. They look scrawny when they get shaved and the cut makes them look like the pug dog poodle mix got a hold of the cat and this is the hybrid result.

[Sunsetsky]

UPDATE (on the last story):

He called on Monday. T answered the phone and he told her "Well, since the doctor didnt' even bother to call me on Saturday, I'm wondering if he still wants to see my dog." He spoke with the doctor and he referred the SC to the specialty center.

Well...yesterday he comes in to pick up his records and some xrays for the specialty center. I have never actually met the guy myself. So when he came in, I didn't know it was him. He approached me, and I said "How can I help you?" Well, apparently he recognized my voice because he walked away and put himself in front of my manager and waited for her to get off the phone.

OH...and here's the greatest part. We're firing him as a client. Boss is writing up a letter telling him not to bother coming back. I volunteered to sign it.

[Cia]

When my Pommie gets shaved he turns into a squirrel.

When ever my furry buddies get hurt they manage to do it after hours or late at night so we have to wait til the next day - I think it's a requirement for all Pommies and Manx.

[myswtghst]

Anyway: my point is just that the reactions they have to us tell me they get a lot of people who don't take their pets' ailments seriously.

For some reason, it always seemed to go to one of two extremes, either the above-mentioned, or people who took every little thing Fluffy did out of character WAY too seriously.

I understand worrying about your pet. I'm thankful my parents have me, even if it means I get to hear about Sunny's poop in detail while I'm trying to eat, since it means the vet doesn't have to listen to it. I know not everyone has a family member who has worked as a vet nurse and so on, but still. If the dog sneezes, or throws up once, don't call the vet. If there is a huge shift in normal behavior/mood, or blood in more than a small quantity from a minor wound, please do call the vet.

[Gravekeeper]

Back in high school we had a pair of Persians ( Snotfaces, as my mom began to refer to them. ). One black, one white. Brother and sister. We picked them up at the SPCA ( Lucky too. Two Persians, especially that kind of pairing would definitely be out the door pretty quick. ). They had JUST been dropped off. They were literally still in their cages on the counter. So we snagged the little beasties.

One would shrink when wet. The other....just became wet.

As for pets in general. Pets come with an inherent IQ Debuff ( Usually in the range of -20 or -30 depending on the type and breed. ). Some people equip enough resistance gear to negate this or have enough IQ to begin with that its not too much of an impact. However for some people its truly the difference between functioning normally and drinking paint.

( The Momo-chan and Dayamondo names made me smirk. )

[Andara Bledin]

She's like 80 pounds of muscle wrapped up in ultra-fluffy black fur. Smarter than most SCs, too... though I think even a Toy Poodle could manage that.

Wolf hybrids can be scary-smart. But as mentioned, don't knock poodles. Even toys and minis. They're not any less smart than standards, they're just more delicate and angry over not being the big dogs they should have been.

Now we have a big, goofy black lab, though. He's not exactly dim either!

We had a lab/retriever mix once. He was also in the really smart category. Not as smart as the part wolves, but still really high up there.

^-.-^