>Seeking a cyber diagnosis before seeing a vet is just irresponsible.
>Scott and the Mustilid Mob
 
I don't know that it's necessarily irresponsible, I think it's lack of
knowledge.  A lot of people call a vet, give a description, and want to know
what's wrong with the animal.  Unfortunately it's not that easy.  There are
several reasons, for instance, why an animal's eye gets matted.  If given
the wrong medicine, based on a phone-diagnosis, it could potentially cause
the animal to go blind.  The Dr. needs to be able to *see* the animal, do
diagnostics, and go from there.  Many different problems present in the same
manner.
 
There are many reasons as to why an animal will have an 'upset stomach'.
Again, if the wrong thing is diagnosed because the Dr. is unable to do the
tests that are needed, the animal could potentially die.  Liver failure,
kidney failure, 'people' food, poison, nerves, etc, are all possibilities
and all are treated differently via special diets, medicines, or a
combination of both.  You certainly don't want to treat a poisoned animal
with KD (liver failure food), and don't want to treat liver failure with
charcoal (poison absorber).
 
I agree in that getting other opinions is a good thing, as nobody is perfect
and the vet may not know a particular thing, or think about a particular
thing at the time.  My particular vet is not that knowledgeable of ferrets,
but with my crew, the internet, and other Drs, he is learning.  He suggests
something, I post to a certain internet Dr that I trust, and we go from
there.  Live and learn.  One of my ferts did something that is not in the
text books, and nobody (that I have spoken with) has heard of.  We *all*
learned something that day. :)
 
There is no need to get rude with poeple just because they do not know
something.  We are here to share in our respective knowledge and to learn
from others.  Why does everyone have to get so uptight?
 
Sandy
[Posted in FML issue 2250]