| Wylie's Mom | 03-25-2014 08:23 AM |
As far as substituting a vet for online advice - it's a sad reality, but it happens -- and I think it's great that we have a place to say "GET TO A VET ASAP!" and provide rationale for that kind of emergent advice. Ideally, human beings just *know* when they're supposed to seek vet advice - but the reality is that not everyone is as knowledgeable as others - and that's where the more knowledgeable folks have the chance to kindly step in and help a fellow human understand what they need to do. Will they do it? Don't know. Regardless, the person needs to hear the advice, clearly.
Generally speaking, I think people here are VERY cautious in providing responsible advice, rather than trying to diagnose. That said, I've seen pretty much every person (including myself in this) in this thread diagnose dogs on this forum - it just happens. I've seen spot on diagnoses and horrendously wrong diagnoses occur. Really, we just have to do our best to provide sound, respectful, supportive advise -- share what we think it could be, always w/ the caveat that a dog must be SEEN, in person, to be diagnosed by a vet.
I've seen countless lives saved here bc of advice received - in fact, we should really be keeping track of those threads where people come here afterward posting about how YT saved their dog's life. At least then, when we question the validity of advice received here, we can remember that there is much good that comes of it.
Like anything else, my feeling is that it's all about balance - balancing good advice with the understanding that only a vet can truly treat a pupster. | 