After living overseas for so long returning to the US always has it's surprises. But one of the worst was the state of Veterinary Care in the US.
Now I have had dogs all of my life, NO ONE loves their dog more than I do. My dogs usually live well into old age, in fact my English Bulldog Mr. Buster lived for 13 years an exceptionally long time for that breed.
I now have two dogs. Nigel my older dog at 12 years is a Border Collie/Aust Shepard mix. Jake my younger one is 6 years and is just the Original dog.
What follows is just one encounter of many similar ones in the last two years.
So when I go to the vet and they ask me what breed is Jake, who was given to me in SE Asia, it's always a contentious issue. Vets Dont know what to call him. Most dont even know dogs like him exist.
Jake and dogs exactly like him are found all over the world, mostly in the Developing countries of S. America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa and most famously in India.
When I lived in Egypt you could go to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and right in the front lobby was a glass case with the Mummy of a dog with most of it's bandages removed. This particular dog was 4000 years old. He looks exactly in all respects like Jake. And as you leave the museum the outside steps are littered with dogs exactly like the one inside. Not a thing changed in 4000 years.
Dog remains have been excavated in other places around the world and from that they can tell ist's just like that Egyptian dog and my dog Jake. So I just tell the vet he's the Original Dog.
They are not amused. Then I relate the story above. They often look at me as if I were mad.
The Vet who recently gave our pooches their shots and papers for Mexico insisted that he was some sort of AKC breed before he could go in the computer or be treated! I said OK well call him an Indian Pariah Dog...cant do that its not an AKC breed. Well actually it is. Look it up on the internet. I pulled out my phone said "OK GOOGLE" and showed her that yes indeed this was an akc designation. NOPE it's not in our computer...so they put him down as a "Sheppard Mix".
Later in the exam room she asked me where we got Jake and I told her Cambodia. "Are you from Cambodia" she asked? Well I was taken aback. I am a white male 62 years old. I laughed and said no I could not be from Cambodia. It was clear to me she knew nothing of Cambodia, SE Asia or probably any where else in the world. She became a bit indignant and said well there are white people that come from South Africa!
I avoided explaining to her that they were conquerors and colonialists and their descendants are not the original inhabitants. But I did, as nicely as possible, tell her that Only Khmers (the people of Cambodia are from Cambodia. (They have been invaded time and again by the Thais and the Vietnamese and mixed with them but I didnt go into this.
So once outside I started thinking...What kind of education are we giving our vets that they know nothing of the history of the Dog, or that dogs dont all fit into the AKC breed designations. And how can you get out of any college, even VET school or High School for that matter, without knowing basic world geography, the history of the Vietnam conflict, the Khmer Rouge etc etc?
She noticed a sore on my dog Nigels undercarriage and mentioned it. I told her he scratched himself getting up his ranp, That we were watching it. He has a couple of those Cysts that older dogs get and the sore was on one of those...It was healing nicely. No fewer than 3 vets had told me what it was and I am confident it is not Cancer.
She thought it should be tested, I told her other vets had diagnosed it as a benign cyst, not unusual in dogs his age. Even the US Navy vets that travel with the hospital ship Hope (and others)had the same diagnosis.
I wonder did it ever occur to her that even if Nigel did have cancer it would be crazy and in fact cruel to put him through the pain and agony of the treatment at 12 years old? I had stage 4 head and neck cancer more than 10 years ago and had Chemo and radiation and 9 hour surgeries..;so there was nothing I can be told about having cancer.
She was indignant. She made it clear that she thought I was a terrible owner. I wonder does it ever occur to the Vets that it might have been more humane to just keep the dog comfortable and happy for as long as possible and not subject it to unnecessary pain and sickness at it's advanced age?
Nigel is healthy and happy and yes two days after leaving the Vet his sore was completely healed.
This attitude of throwing money, drugs and more and more tests at our pets have resulted in a Vet visit that often times costs more than taking a human to the doctor, a completely ridiculous upside down state of affairs.
Jake
Now I have had dogs all of my life, NO ONE loves their dog more than I do. My dogs usually live well into old age, in fact my English Bulldog Mr. Buster lived for 13 years an exceptionally long time for that breed.
I now have two dogs. Nigel my older dog at 12 years is a Border Collie/Aust Shepard mix. Jake my younger one is 6 years and is just the Original dog.
What follows is just one encounter of many similar ones in the last two years.
So when I go to the vet and they ask me what breed is Jake, who was given to me in SE Asia, it's always a contentious issue. Vets Dont know what to call him. Most dont even know dogs like him exist.
Jake and dogs exactly like him are found all over the world, mostly in the Developing countries of S. America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa and most famously in India.
When I lived in Egypt you could go to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and right in the front lobby was a glass case with the Mummy of a dog with most of it's bandages removed. This particular dog was 4000 years old. He looks exactly in all respects like Jake. And as you leave the museum the outside steps are littered with dogs exactly like the one inside. Not a thing changed in 4000 years.
Dog remains have been excavated in other places around the world and from that they can tell ist's just like that Egyptian dog and my dog Jake. So I just tell the vet he's the Original Dog.
They are not amused. Then I relate the story above. They often look at me as if I were mad.
The Vet who recently gave our pooches their shots and papers for Mexico insisted that he was some sort of AKC breed before he could go in the computer or be treated! I said OK well call him an Indian Pariah Dog...cant do that its not an AKC breed. Well actually it is. Look it up on the internet. I pulled out my phone said "OK GOOGLE" and showed her that yes indeed this was an akc designation. NOPE it's not in our computer...so they put him down as a "Sheppard Mix".
Later in the exam room she asked me where we got Jake and I told her Cambodia. "Are you from Cambodia" she asked? Well I was taken aback. I am a white male 62 years old. I laughed and said no I could not be from Cambodia. It was clear to me she knew nothing of Cambodia, SE Asia or probably any where else in the world. She became a bit indignant and said well there are white people that come from South Africa!
I avoided explaining to her that they were conquerors and colonialists and their descendants are not the original inhabitants. But I did, as nicely as possible, tell her that Only Khmers (the people of Cambodia are from Cambodia. (They have been invaded time and again by the Thais and the Vietnamese and mixed with them but I didnt go into this.
So once outside I started thinking...What kind of education are we giving our vets that they know nothing of the history of the Dog, or that dogs dont all fit into the AKC breed designations. And how can you get out of any college, even VET school or High School for that matter, without knowing basic world geography, the history of the Vietnam conflict, the Khmer Rouge etc etc?
She noticed a sore on my dog Nigels undercarriage and mentioned it. I told her he scratched himself getting up his ranp, That we were watching it. He has a couple of those Cysts that older dogs get and the sore was on one of those...It was healing nicely. No fewer than 3 vets had told me what it was and I am confident it is not Cancer.
She thought it should be tested, I told her other vets had diagnosed it as a benign cyst, not unusual in dogs his age. Even the US Navy vets that travel with the hospital ship Hope (and others)had the same diagnosis.
I wonder did it ever occur to her that even if Nigel did have cancer it would be crazy and in fact cruel to put him through the pain and agony of the treatment at 12 years old? I had stage 4 head and neck cancer more than 10 years ago and had Chemo and radiation and 9 hour surgeries..;so there was nothing I can be told about having cancer.
She was indignant. She made it clear that she thought I was a terrible owner. I wonder does it ever occur to the Vets that it might have been more humane to just keep the dog comfortable and happy for as long as possible and not subject it to unnecessary pain and sickness at it's advanced age?
Nigel is healthy and happy and yes two days after leaving the Vet his sore was completely healed.
This attitude of throwing money, drugs and more and more tests at our pets have resulted in a Vet visit that often times costs more than taking a human to the doctor, a completely ridiculous upside down state of affairs.
Jake
