The totally off-topic thread

[medhead]

Today
Facebook tells me vets have no shame. Knee operation on a dog! For the love of God.

TV tells the pharmacists are taking a run at the biggest closed shop Union in Australia, the AMA.

 

[blackcat20]

Today
Facebook tells me vets have no shame. Knee operation on a dog! For the love of God.

TV tells the pharmacists are taking a run at the biggest closed shop Union in Australia, the AMA.

What's wrong with a knee op on a dog?

 

[medhead]

What's wrong with a knee op on a dog?

Do dogs have a knee?

 

[wooley]

Do dogs have a knee?

Sure do.

 

[clazman]

Simple maths..... $200 dog and $4k of surgery

 

[JohnK]

Worked with a guy who part-owned two trotters (sorry, Pacers) - one a relative of the great Hondo Grattan, the other an unknown. Went to the trots at Hawksbury one afternoon/evening with this guy, and the other one (Crimson Glory) was in one leg of the daily double. Got there and the trainer says to double it up with another of his runners, about 10yo, who had been out to grass for about 5 years with bad legs and was making a (brief) comeback. Took the advice and won enough that night to put a 25% deposit on a block of land for our house. Decided it was not likely to be an experience I would repeat, so gave away punting that same night. BTW, of the 5 of us who went there that night, I won the least!

I remember a trainer/driver many years ago backed 6 pacers in a field of 7 to fill placings in superfecta while he drove the favourite to finish last. It was only ~$10000 but the superfecta pool wasn't much more so the idea was to scoop the pool.

 

[medhead]

Sure do.

Which gets to the next point. What exactly has a dog done to justify knee surgery. Has it done its ACL?

Given the family member hasn't previously posted any status updates about an incident involving the dog. Just out of the blue it's had knee surgery. Has the vet just advised that we better look at that knee? Sounds like the vets that want to do radiotherapy on animals. Or the vet that operated on a goldfish. They have no shame in performing unnecessary surgery to make money.

 

[anat0l]

Simple maths..... $200 dog and $4k or surgery

Thank goodness humans don't work the same way... although sometimes as an adult I wonder whether Mum and Dad deserve a chance to start a son all over again.

 

[juddles]

Which gets to the next point. What exactly has a dog done to justify knee surgery. Has it done its ACL?

Given the family member hasn't previously posted any status updates about an incident involving the dog. Just out of the blue it's had knee surgery. Has the vet just advised that we better look at that knee? Sounds like the vets that want to do radiotherapy on animals. Or the vet that operated on a goldfish. They have no shame in performing unnecessary surgery to make money.

Medhead, many people are attached to their pets very emotionally. If radiotherapy or knee surgery etc could save/extend life/improve quality of life or whatever of a pet, the owner has the option to attempt these, thanks to those vets.

 

[blackcat20]

Which gets to the next point. What exactly has a dog done to justify knee surgery. Has it done its ACL?

Given the family member hasn't previously posted any status updates about an incident involving the dog. Just out of the blue it's had knee surgery. Has the vet just advised that we better look at that knee? Sounds like the vets that want to do radiotherapy on animals. Or the vet that operated on a goldfish. They have no shame in performing unnecessary surgery to make money.

Yes they can do an ACL. My dog is at risk of a rupture so we avoid any running with sudden stops.

Dont know about you but my dog is a member of the family and there's no way I'd put her down rather than spend the money. She recently spent two nights at the vet with haemorragic gastro and I was incredibly upset at the thought of her not surviving. It's only money.

 

[Hvr]

Today
<snip>

TV tells the pharmacists are taking a run at the biggest closed shop Union in Australia, the AMA.

Actually I thought the pharmac_ guild was even more restrictive than the AMA. However, they're both right wing Liberal party donating organisations so they'll be ok with what ever outsome is proposed.

As for the classic union organisations then police generally have the highest percentage of personnel per employer in the union (aka Police Association).

 

[medhead]

Medhead, many people are attached to their pets very emotionally. If radiotherapy or knee surgery etc could save/extend life/improve quality of life or whatever of a pet, the owner has the option to attempt these, thanks to those vets.

That's my point. Vets play on that emotion to rip off people by suggesting unrequired treatments. That's my point there was no suggestion of an improvement in the dogs treatment. Exactly as I wrote I think the vet said "oh we better look at that knee" completely asymptomatic. I know you like to disagree with everything I write, but please do try to at least address my point rather than conflate it with a separate issue.

As for vets doing radiotherapy. The problem there is that they have no idea about radiation safety and no training in oncology. Radiation oncology of humans is complex, requiring many years of training and experience. That's only one species.

 

[anat0l]

That's my point. Vets play on that emotion to rip off people by suggesting unrequired treatments. That's my point there was no suggestion of an improvement in the dogs treatment. Exactly as I wrote I think the vet said "oh we better look at that knee" completely asymptomatic.

It would be rather unethical for a vet to suggest operations or the like which are unnecessary. Keeping a pet alive is one thing, doing unnecessary stuff - well, you wouldn't suggest it to humans...

 

[medhead]

Yes they can do an ACL. My dog is at risk of a rupture so we avoid any running with sudden stops.

That would require a precursor incident. "Oh poor baby can't walk. Better take them to a vet". As I've already stated that's something that is missing.

 

[medhead]

It would be rather unethical for a vet to suggest operations or the like which are unnecessary. Keeping a pet alive is one thing, doing unnecessary stuff - well, you wouldn't suggest it to humans...

Remind me again of what I wrote. That's right: Vets have no shame.

But it is even more complex.
Vet "oh that's a bit funny. It might be something serious sounding with a long name"
Mummy/daddy "oh no! Poor baby."
Vet "well we could do some investigation for $500."
Mummy/Daddy "yes better do that"

 

[Pushka]

The saddest thing I have seen in a vet was an elderly lady whose beloved dog needed treatment but she simply could not afford the $1000 pre payment asked. She was in tears. While you should not judge a person by their clothing I fully believed that she had very limited funds. I was called in just then so I don't know the outcome but I am not convinced the vet helped much.

I do think that vet fees are high. Unregulated. Maybe they need to charge as much as they do for all the bona fide work they do. Not convinced on that either.

 

[anat0l]

Remind me again of what I wrote. That's right: Vets have no shame.

But it is even more complex.
Vet "oh that's a bit funny. It might be something serious sounding with a long name"
Mummy/daddy "oh no! Poor baby."
Vet "well we could do some investigation for $500."
Mummy/Daddy "yes better do that"

Gee that's rough.

I'd expect that treatment if I took my car to the mechanic, possibly (and since I know little about the ins and outs of cars, in a sign of disgrace to my gender).

 

[Katie]

Today(still Sunday here in NYC) is officially World Hypertension Day.Appropriate that I am attending the American Society of Hypertension's conference.
Those lucky enough to be at Niagara Falls tonight will see the falls illuminated in the colours of the World Hypertension League-Blue,White and Pink.

We're in the same time zone, drron!!

Hmm, but it occurs to me that we are both often on AEST/Qld time, so this is not a revelation.

 

[wooley]

My experience may be skewed by vets in regional areas but I couldn't imagine any of them undertaking unnecessary procedures.

Although a few veterinarians I know from university feel they have the right to charge what they wish due to spending 6 years at university. But those individuals are also arrogant DYKWIA's who have had everything handed to them on a plate so skew the data further.

The big discrepancy I've seen between country and city, is de-sexing... $180 v. 320
Funnily enough, the country vet did a job which was magnitudes better in all regards.

 

[medhead]

Gee that's rough.

I'd expect that treatment if I took my car to the mechanic, possibly (and since I know little about the ins and outs of cars, in a sign of disgrace to my gender).

Are you emotionally attached to your car as an integral member of the family?

But don't get me started on thieving service centers. My most recent experience was to be told my headlights weren't working properly. (Low beam was fine, high beam wasn't) This was funny because they were working the week before I took it in and I'd just replaced a faulty relay. They offered to replace the high beam globes for $150, or something stupid like that.

An offer rejected since high beam isn't needed in the city and the new relay. Anyway, my brother in law kindly looked at it next time we visited. Turns out the high beam fuse had, somehow, been put into a blank fuse slot on the right side of the low beam fuse instead of the high beam fuse slot on the left side. Put the fuse in the proper spot and suddenly the lights are working perfectly.

Personally i found it a bit strange that the lights were working, the car went for a service and the fuse was somehow moved, and then I was up for a large amount of money to fix the problem. So your "possibly" should be an "entirely likely".