[Rhetts_mama]

Thank you AllDogsBoots for posting this.

One thing that frustrates me is when people are giving their diagnosis of a dogs problems based on the result of a lab result or single symptom. NO test is or diagnosis is done in a vacuum. A vet (or any doctor for that matter) is taking not only what that lab number is in to consideration, but looking at things that you may or may not even begin to think are important. They are looking at a much bigger picture than we could ever begin to describe here in our posts.

It's fine to come on to the internet looking for information. But when you start taking everything that's written out there as gospel, you have a problem. Telling someone that they should NEVER give their pet med 'A' because this yahoo group all had dogs that had a reaction to it is not science or good advice. Is there a comparable group out there that says we gave med 'A' and it worked out great for our pet? Probably not. That's because we tend to use the internet to vent about things that have gone wrong and to find others who have had similar experiences. It's rare to find a pro-med 'A' group out there because no one thinks to start one. Yet despite the number of bad reactions to it, the number of pets who have used it safely and with good benefits are just as likely to be far greater in number.

Do treatments have risks? Of course they do. Everything we do has risks. You could put your pup on a leash to go for a walk and the leash could break allowing the dog to run in to the street and get hit. We could spread salmonella to our families by preparing and feeding raw chicken to our pets. We could slip and fall in a piddle puddle and break our necks. Does that mean we shouldn't ever walk our dogs, feed a raw diet or even have a dog? Of course not. We balance the risks versus the benefits to our lives and our pets lives every single day and we make our choices based on what matters to us and what our risk tolerance is.

We've all got our biases (my personal one is that I don't trust pharmacists any further than I could throw them , but I won't go in to that right now). It's great to share experiences and find out what worked for someone else. A team approach is almost always better than a single input as long as each realizes they each have their part and none have all the answers. But personally, if I ever had anyone on that team who was telling me that all my other docs were too stupid to do things the right way, that would be the first person I would be walking away from.

Bottom line, whether it's your dog, your child or yourself, you need to have a doctor (or team of specialists) who's experience and judgment you feel comfortable in. It's your responsibility to find that person, even if it means switching 6 times until you do.
And if you still feel that your vet is too stupid, too influenced by the med companies or is just doing things because it's the flavor of the month, then why bother taking them at all? Better yet, why don't you get off the internet, go to veterinary school and become the kind of vet you think you need?