For those that know me well, they can attest to the fact that I just can’t keep my big mouth shut. I ask a lot of questions, and I make sure that I am not ignored. This goes for pretty much every aspect of my life. Especially when it comes to things I am passionate about, and one of those things is my Tinkerbell. And this is why I think I may get fired by my VET…

Diagreements with Professionals

Did you ever see that Friends episode where Rachel gets fired by her baby’s pediatrician? No? Well, Rachel has this baby and constantly calls the doctor asking him questions. Day or night, she’d call him, and eventually he fired her….I have always worried that that would be me when it came to my children, and each passing day shows me more and more that this could be true.

People laugh, but when I was getting married I had a vendor that I was thinking of using tell me that they wouldn’t be “right” for me….pretty much meaning “Damn lady, you are crazy and I don’t want to work with you!” But you know what? That was fine with me!

My Vet Situation

So yesterday I called the Vet to get Tinkerbell some tick prevention medicine. I had a friend whose dog recently got 12 ticks, and I certainly didn’t want that to happen to Tinkerbell because I was irresponsible. So I called, and tried to order Front Line. Yes I said tried…because the receptionist person decided that she was qualified to tell me that the heartworm medicine I am using would prevent from ticks. I then proceeded to tell her that it was nowhere on the box. She was baffled and had to check. She then told me that it protects from Dermacentor variabilis ticks….I asked if that was what all ticks were called or if this was a certain type of tick….but she couldn’t answer that! So here is my question. Why didn’t this woman just say “I am not sure, let me ask the doctor”. That would’ve been just fine. What if I just went by her first statement and assumed that this medicine prevented from ticks…I’ll tell you where. Back at the vet with ticks on my dog! Finally I asked for the vet to call me back. I should’ve just asked that in the first place.

That vet finally called me back at the end of the day. She told me that my heartworm medicine does not protect against the type of ticks that cause Lyme disease, and that’s what we need to watch out for. She told me I needed a tick collar. Now, have any of you ever in the past 10-15 years heard of a dog wearing a tick collar? I certainly haven’t. My dog doesn’t even wear a collar. I was told when I first got her that small dogs do not wear collars for many reasons. One being that it could displace their trachea, and I learned that Pomeranians are very susceptible to this.

So I told the vet that my dog, after 4 1/2 years, will not wear a collar. She didn’t seem to like that answer. So I asked about Front Line. This is the medicine that every dog I know uses to be protected from ticks and fleas. I just never gave it to my dog because she was mainly an indoor dog. Now that I take her to the dog park sometimes, I wanted her protected. I was told I could use Front Line, but then I couldn’t use my current heartworm medicine…but mind you the kind I use, I just put the liquid on the back of her neck. I had a heck of a time getting her to eat the pills, and she just wouldn’t do it, so this finally works. So I told the vet that. She didn’t like that answer either…so in the end we left it that I’d just continue doing what I was doing, and if she went to the dog park I just had to check her thoroughly for ticks. I am pretty positive that vet hung up the phone and mocked me incessantly. But what am I to do? I probably got a big red mark in my dog’s chart that I am a irrational dog owner. GREAT!

In my opinion it’s ok to ask questions, and it’s ok to be vocal about what you are thinking. I have a feeling I may get fired from many service-type people along the way. Oh well!