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48
Feb 2016
"
D
octor, do you
give pensioner
discounts?” This was
the question from
a well attired lady,
new to our practice. She was driving a
fairly fancy, recent model car and her
jewellery also indicated that finances
were not that tight. She was probably
in her late 40’s.
“Yes, we do.” I replied.
“OK, then please put all my dogs
on my mother’s name – she is a
pensioner; and all the dogs are rescue
dogs and that way we can get a
reduced fee.” She nonchalantly stated.
Oh yea, I thought, here we go again.
I questioned her further – yes there
were seven dogs in all and some had
been in their care for many years whilst
others were more recent acquisitions.
After all these years, I still cannot get
my head round the reason that we
as vets should discount our fees for
rescued dogs. After all, we did not ask
people to rescue them. On top of this,
people being blatantly dishonest with
regard to the ownership of the animals,
to get a 10% discount.
“Oh, Mr. Garage owner, this is a second
hand car, I rescued it – can I get a
discount?” No, you don’t!
Then there are any number of
questionable animal rescue
establishments which expect likewise.
One of the major animal rightist
groups has a mega-buck budget and
the money just rolls in after every
demonstration – not unlike some of
the charismatic churches where the
line between spirituality and business
is poorly defined. All these also expect
veterinary support at little or no cost
and one has to wonder what the exact
motives are. Are these people seeking
self-indulgence, or are their motives
genuine?
And how do we as a profession handle
them?
Another client brought in a dog she
had spent a small fortune on and
had visited many vets in the area –
same old story “the vets have done
everything at a huge cost to me and
look at her!” First thought that crossed
my mind was “beware, you are next
on the list to be complained about”.
Secondly, the diagnosis was not
that difficult; a very severe case of
Demodectic mange. Next question was
why had the other vets battled with the
problem?
The answer became more than evident
in a very short while – a non-compliant
owner! And certainly one no practice
in their right mind would want. We all
know those clients very well –“Oh is it
that expensive” “we have had a very
bad month and I cannot afford it right
now” “can we pay you off’
After a relatively short while I was
more than happy to be the next vet
that she complained about, but was
not that fortunate – she stuck to the
practice like glue! Maybe she had run
out of vets in the area.
And what happens next – “Oh, we
have managed to adopt two more
rescue dogs (making the count now
8 or 9) – they so needed a home and
with those big brown eyes who could
resist them” It was about as much as I
needed.
“That’s fine but please; I never want to
hear about you being unable to afford
treatment and please don’t expect me
to reduce fees for them.”
“Oh, of course we will meet all costs;
if needs be we will take the food off
our table to give to them, you need not
worry about that.”
In a very short time I was to worry
about it – “Please, we have had a very
bad time with my daughters divorce
and grandkids having to go to a new
school and needing new uniforms
– can we pay you at the end of the
month”- real heart-strings stuff.
I made one mistake in agreeing to
settlement at month-end – I never
asked which month! I am still waiting
and although all contact has been
maintained my trough is still empty.
And then, I was approached by
the divorced daughter to attend to
her animals. From the outset I was
extremely strict with her and she met
her commitments albeit with difficulty.
And low and behold –I like that good
old stiff-upper-lip English cliché – the
daughter arrived with another rescue
dog.
This dog beat all the others – it was
uncontrollable and before we got it into
the consulting room the entire surgery
had to be sterilized and deodorized –
there were faeces, urine and anal gland
excretions all over the place. It took
a good dose of tranquilizer to get the
animal into a position to be examined
by which time the owner was beside
herself trying to explain just how she
loved the dog – love at first sight stuff.
The final blow was “Dr, can I settle at
the end of the month please”
Yes, the life of a vet is not that easy. I
feel for all the rural practitioners, with
what they are having to put up with,
with the drought and severe water
shortages and extremely compromised
farmers. We hope for adequate and
gentle rains in the not too distant
future.
Oh, by the way, my New Year’s
resolution was that I would state
both the month and the year when
settlements were to be made; so far it
seems to be working, but we have not
met the end of January at the time of
writing.
Have an excellent new year.
v
Life plus sixteen
without parole
By Mike Lowry
Mike Lowry has been in veterinary practice for "Life Plus 16", with
no parole. In this column he shares his experiences and opinions.
Regulars
I
Life plus 16