draggonlaady

For things to die.
This week alone, we've had 2 colic horses that died, one of which was a long-time patient we've done a lot of work on. Euthanized a cat that was attacking the owner's grandkids, I did an at-home euthanasia of a really nice older dog on Monday. I've just heard from a client that one of our favorite regular boarders (an older Newfoundland) died at home about an hour ago, and I'm scheduled to euthanize an elderly boxer this afternoon, who's been enthusiastically and happily starving himself for weeks. I've been talking to a couple with a dog in kidney failure daily this week, and expecting to euthanize it at anytime--they're just trying to nurse her through the next few days so they don't have to kill her on Christmas. Yay. Happy Holidays, everybody.

November 28/30 + one client

DC June = 38
+ Assistant's sister suicide

DC July = 27

Last year threw my death/day stats all off.

January 36/31 = 1.2
February 33/23 = 1.2
March 26/31 = 0.8
April 27/30 = 0.9
May 32/31 = 1.03
June lost data
July 23/31 = 0.74
Aug 36 or 53/31 = 1.2 or 1.7
September 33/30 = 1.1
October 30/31 = 0.97
November 31/30 = 1.03
December 26/31 = 0.84

So February, usually the month I dread, was matched or beaten out in death/day by several months this year. August was particularly craptastic, even if you count all the birds from one flock as one incident instead of 18 separate. July did hold it's own though, about the only time frame that was as expected.

The whole homeopathic thing. I don't GET how people think about this stuff. I mean, I totally get that some plants have components with medicinal effect. Hell, something like 2/3 - 3/4 of our drugs are based on plants, so that's a given. What I don't understand though, is why so many people seem to be convinced that medicines that have been developed and tested and standardized so that we know what they do, and why, and exactly how much is in each tablet/capsule/milliliter should be shunned in favor of something that's never been tested, or is given in such diluted tiny doses that even if there IS medicinal effect from the plant it can't possibly be a therapeutic dose; why so many people buy into the "it's natural so it's totally safe" thing. I mean, really--ricin is totally natural, all organic, and deadly as bullets. Why are standardized, regulated medicinal components regarded as less desirable than herbal concoctions from the supplement store downtown? Do people not realize that different parts of the plant have different compositions? That maturity of plant at harvest, and handling, and time since harvest, and the soil it was grown in all affect the composition? That there is NO WAY TO KNOW how much of what is in that powdered stuff without sending it to a lab for analysis? How is that an improvement?

You cannot have things both ways; either the substance has medicinal effect, and therefore there have to be safe and effective dose limits (too little = not effective, too much = toxic) or it's completely safe at any and all doses, and is almost as effective as distilled water.
And it's not just random crazies that come up with these things. A veterinarian on a listserve I subscribe to recently asked for dose recommendations for a homeopathic treatment. Okay, fine.. until the response she got which was "how much you give does not matter, just give it for 3 - 5 days." This from a frelling doctor! How on Earth can it not matter how much you give?! I replied asking (as politely as possible) how dose cannot matter. No replies yet.

Sept dc = 33

Bruce can probably tell this story better than I can, because he's the one that actually heard the end of it... I stopped listening to the other people after "blank stare".

We stopped by a Bruchi's for lunch this weekend. It seems Bruchi's has added a few items to their menu, including a "BruCheese Burger". Bruce decided to try one. Brave Bruce!

While the young woman was making his sandwich, he asked her if they used Bleu cheese on the BruCheese burger. She looked puzzled, and asked "why would we do that?"
Bruce says "I was just wondering how many puns they decided to layer on."
"I.. What? Pun?"
So I (helpfully, I thought) clarified..."The play on words, Bruchi's and BruCheese. It's a pun."
Young woman gives me a totally blank stare. Seriously---slack jaw, dead eyes, a good 2 seconds. I think I just broke her brain. So I shake my head and wander off to find a table. Bruce remains long enough to hear the young man next to her lean over and say "Just smile and finish the sandwich."
To which the young woman replies "I don't understand why people have to use all these stupid big words."


---------------
May dc 32

I hear it's bad form to hit your clients upside the head with a brick. Too bad, that.

First encountered this woman a year ago tomorrow.

She had a very large, loud, aggressive bird that was having respiratory problems. She is a smoker, and somehow she doesn't seem capable of grasping that cigarette smoke can now be a problem "suddenly" after 13 years of smoking around the bird. Despite several conversations about how smoking doesn't cause emphysema or asthma within days of starting it humans, why should it in birds? and explanations about long-term respiratory irritants and resulting chronic damage, she will turn right the hell around with in 2 minutes and ask <i>again</i> why I think it's the smoke that's the problem.

She called back earlier this week, when BossDoc was on-call. She managed to thoroughly offend/anger him by refusing to come in because he's not the 'bird doctor' (as if he's incapable of administering oxygen?!), and demanding that he give her my home phone number. When he refused, she screamed at him "then I guess I'll just have to watch my bird DIE!" and hung up on him.

When I called her, she was much calmer, but no saner.

I asked about the changes that I'd recommended last year, and here's what's been done:

She has started going outside, but then hangs the smoke-saturated coat she wore while smoking near the bird cage.

The cage is still in the same room as the wood stove, subjecting the bird to drafts of smoke any time the door is opened to add more wood or start a new fire, and to dust and ash anytime the ashes are cleaned out.

She has made no changes in ventilation, nor acquired any kind of air purifier. She admits that the room is dusty.

I recommended taking the bird in the bathroom when she showers so that the warm, moist air (it's VERY dry around here) can help soothe his airways. Despite several suggestions of possible perches or a smaller cage in the bathroom, or even just setting the bird in there without her, she just argues that the bird will jump in the shower and bite her feet.

Feb dc = 33

oct dc = 26

Got a mailed advert for DirecTV today. To my non-profit. Because obviously my non-profit needs to subscribe to DirecTV, yes?

Call #1 to the only number listed on the page:
"I need to be taken off of your mailing list, please."
"Let me transfer you to customer service for that."
hold music....
phone is picked up by a bloke who I can NOT hear talking. I'm aware he's talking, but it's like the buzz of a voice on a radio turned too low to actually hear.
I ask him to speak louder.
That gets him up to where I can barely discern words.
He claims he can't find me in the computer system. Or something. I think. Because every other sentence, I have to ask him to speak up again.
Tries to tell me that it's probably some local provider that's sent it out, because I'm not in the system.
I finally give up, because between not being able to hear him and asking him over and over to speak up or repeat himself, and his apparent incompetence (no, I can't look it up by the address...) it was not worth continuing the conversation.
I hang up, and look at the envelope. Return address is Florida. Obviously this is not a local provider.

Call #2:
"I need to be taken off of your mailing list, please."
"Let me transfer you to customer service for that."
pause
"Your call cannot be completed as dialed, please check your number and try again."

Call #3:
4 minute wait on hold before being picked up by an "automated service" which doesn't give the option of talking to a person until you've been through 4 different recorded voices, even if you ask for "operator" when the recording asks what you need.
"One moment while I transfer you."
Back on hold. No music this time, just "please wait" repeated every 6 seconds, for about 30 seconds.
"We're sorry, your call was unable to be completed. Please hang up and dial the toll free number..."

Call #4:
On hold for 2 minutes before being picked up by the "automated service" again.
"One moment while I transfer you."
Back to the "please wait."
"We're sorry, your call was unable to be completed. Please hang up and dial the toll free number..."

Fuckit. I'm going out to dinner. I'll call the asshats again tomorrow.


http://draggonlaady.livejournal.com/94861.html#cutid2
http://draggonlaady.livejournal.com/96079.html


july dc = 26

3 euthanasias by 10:30 this morning.

Most of my frustration today is actually directed at clinic staff, not clients. Reception staff is being cranky, and I end up cranking back.
They've filed things I still needed to fill out (easy to tell, since if I'm done, it's got a signature on it!).
They've freaked out about a cat that came in today, because they weren't paying attention; I neutered a black cat from this owner on Saturday. Dr M spayed a white cat this morning, and both receptionists were pissed at some unknown person in back who 'put it all in wrong'; easy enough to figure out if they'd looked at the date on the entry! Really, folks, I can tell the difference between male and female, and black and white.
They've taken in several dropped off animals, which is fine, except that they aren't marking off time on my schedule for me to deal with them--they're just stacking up in the back. They also aren't actually telling me that the animals are here; just putting the charts in back and assuming I'll figure it out. I got snapped at for asking which of the 3 phone numbers written on one chart I was supposed to call to talk to the owner about one of the drop offs. I also got snapped at for asking what the phone numbers were (new home number? work number? turns out it's the owner's mother's number--yeah, I definitely should have just known that, huh?).

Dammit I need out of here for a while.

May DC 23

1. Ginger (dog)--age related
Cody (pony)--age related
Moppet (dog)--age related
Newborn (dog)--intestinal hernia through umbilicus

2. Lou (cat)--renal failure
Tweety (cat)--pyothorax
Ferugson (dog)--cancer (unknown origin)
Rascal (cat)--renal failure

3. Edison (dog)--age related
Guns (dog)--parvo

5. Shadow (cat)--chronic skin dz
Duke (dog)--fight wounds

6. Dusty & Smokey (cats)--same owner, age related, renal?

7. Stray (cat)--hit by car?

8. Ulysses--cancer (unknown origin)

11. Menou (cat)--hemothorax

13. Thelma, Jasmine, Yasmine (dogs)--barn fire
Missy (dog)--post op complications

14. Fritze (cat)--diabetic ketoacidotic crisis
Candy (cat)--spinal trauma
Marshmallow (cat)--panleukopenia

15. Flora (cat)--acute renal failure

16. Sally (dog)--transitional cell carcinoma
Crystal (dog)--age related
Rocky (cat)--panleukopenia
Tiny (dog)--multi-organ failure

17. Calf (cow)--dystocia; malpositioned

18. Cow (cow)--septicemia following dystocia
Cleo (dog)--liver failure

19. NO DEAD!!! (it's on the bad list, because it's sad that it stands out)

20. Cody (dog)--brain abscess
Sable (cow)--unknown; endocarditis?

21. Snow White (canary)--unknown

22. Starr (dog)--thrombus/stroke

23. Butch (cat)--lymphoma
Lyle Lovett (cat)--osteosarcoma

24. Rat (rat)--age related

25. Aphrodite (dog)--GDV

27. Butch (dog)--fibrosarcoma

28. Briggs (dog)--osteosarcoma

Yes, that was a list 42 dead animals. In a month of 28 days.

No, I did not personally put down all of these animals, but all of them were patients at our clinic which died or were euthanized this February. Also, this is an incomplete list, as I didn't keep track of them all at the time and there were several "walk-in" euthanasias for animals that we had never seen before.