PIXIEDUST PAPILLONS
PIXIEDUST PAPILLONS
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Veterinarians for your Papillons
Choose Carefully!!
For more than few yew years now, most people have been very involved in their own heath care. They know to ask more questions of their doctors when tests and drugs are prescribed. They know to get second opinions for serious diagnosis. Part of this is due to insurance companies who are trying to rein in costs related to both unnecessary tests and drugs and malpractice. Gone are the days of the "country doctor" who made house calls.
So it is with modern day veterinary care. However, oversight of veterinarians has not been nearly as intense as it is for human doctors. Animal health care costs have been skyrocketing in the last few years. Unfortunately, some veterinarians have more interest in improving their bank accounts, than in the quality of life they accord to their clients.
At the bottom of those article, we will have links to news stories of some of things pet owners have had to deal with. We see an increasing number of stories on the web of veterinarians who are pushing unneeded surgeries. Veterinarians who are ignoring the wishes of owners, or attempting to "guilt" owners who make their own educated health care choices for their companion animals.
In recent years, we are seeing more veterinarians who want to do unnecessary knee surgery on toy dogs, even wanting to operate on puppies as young as 12 weeks old! We know of one person who had a champion toy dog, was told it had severe problems and should be operated on immediately. The owner got a second AND a third opinion, both proclaimed the dog in perfect heath!! Owner of a different toy breed was told her new show prospect puppy needed the knees operated on. The dog was taken to a Specialist (as she wanted the best for her puppy) who told the lady to take her perfectly healthy dog home!!
Another "popular" surgery being promoted is nostril surgery on flat faced breeds. Just because they are short nosed does NOT make a dog a candidate for surgery!!
A big money maker for veterinarians is annual shots. Before you over vaccinate your Papillon to death, please do your research. After the first series of shots and boosters, the dog has lifetime immunity, just like humans. Do a Google search on Canine or pet vaccinations and make your own decisions on how much your pet really needs. (we at Pixiedust Papillons and Phalenes do recommend shots and booster till one year old and following all legal requirements in your state).
The same goes for flea, tick and worm control. Are all these poisons necessary for your dog? What is most at risk here--your dog or the vet's standard of living? Please make an educated decision when choosing to use these types of products.
Some veterinarians have their own agenda and their personal beliefs cloud their medical judgments. After reading the news articles linked below and from talking to other's with similar experiences, we have to ask these questions....Just how much money was being made by the vet who knew the animals were so ill and needed continuing care? Were the animals in the articles passed to other owners just so the vet could keep making money off of the animal's illness? When is quality of life more important money? When does the animal just become a medical experiment? When is mercy and compassion set aside, and money becomes more important than the suffering of the animal?
Even humans make hard decisions in their own heath care when they are facing terminal illness and some choose quality of life over risky treatments. Should not we care the same for our pets, who cannot express their suffering?
Ultimately, the decisions regarding a pet's health care is in the hands of it's owner. Make sure the decisions you make for your pet are well thought out.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1301445