Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Veterinarian or Psychologist?

I think they should offer psych classes in veterinary school. Or maybe they should require them! Many, many times I feel that I'm treating the person rather than the animal... The elderly gentleman who comes in 3-4 times a month to pick up meds for his animal when he could get them all in one trip - instead, he says "Well, I don't have anything else to do, so I'll get them one at a time and I can visit with you as well." The woman who thinks she has bugs crawling on her skin, but her MD says she's fine - still she brings all her pets to us to check for the elusive "bugs." And today, the elderly woman who lives a very sad, paranoid life. Her dog is totally normal, but she feels he's being poisoned by relatives & the "meth-heads" down the street. Poor woman is convinced she has been threatened, poisoned, followed, and even had people steal the 'evidence of the poisonings' from her lockbox at the bank. I do my best to visit when I have time, to convince them their pets are bug free, and to appease them that we're looking into the allegations of abuse / poisoning... And yes, its all part of the job that I had been warned about, that I knew to expect... yet I often feel underqualified.
Today, we called the division of aging services... I hope the elderly woman finds the help she needs.

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