# Could a doctor fake being a veternarian (and vice versa?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282 "2009-02-24T21:56:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/21 "2009-02-25T10:28:21Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > I saw a programme where a British vet who had to perform a complex gynaecologial procedure on an ape, never attempted before, observed a surgeon carrying out the operation on a human. Out of interest the surgeon then observed the vet operating. Am I the only one who thought of [Lucy Mancini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Mancini)? ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/22 "2009-02-25T13:09:30Z")
You know that your doctor is really an equestrian vet when the treatment for your broken leg is to shoot you. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/23 "2009-02-25T13:29:38Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > I’m not a vet but I will be in a few months. > > Not to brag, but I think I could do better on a human than a Human doctor could do on most animal species. Beyond familiar monogastrics like dogs and cats, the anatomy of mammals starts to diverge pretty quickly and pretty significantly. A human doctor wouldn’t have any exposure to that and would be at a loss when sorting out basic physiology problems. Is the cow in pain because her abomasum is distended with gas, or does she have a piece of metal poking into her pericardium? And, even among dogs and cats, there are differences that make certain diseases more or less likely for a given set of symptoms Acute hindlimb paralysis in a dog is likely a blown vertebral disk, but acute hindlimb paralysis in a cat is more likely to be a clot in the artery that feeds the back half of the body. > > Conversely, I might not know human drugs and dosages off the top of my head, but I’m familiar enough with the basic physiology that I have a reasonable shot of figuring out the basic problem. Then, I can look up which drugs and dosages to try. > > That said, I would not even think of trying to fix a human unless it was a dire situation and I was the only option. I probably wouldn’t even offer unless it was some sort of straightforward trauma issue that just needs suturing. For example, I was helping at a county fair when someone got trampled by an unruly steer. Everyone was suddenly looking to me to help, so I did what I knew and kept the guy quiet and bandaged and conscious while the paramedics were called. I was also able to accurately describe his injuries, which was handy because the un-trained folks there were conflating things, having never really seen injuries before. That’s about as far as I ever want to treat humans. As an ED physician who has to be a jack of all trades for people, I agree with you. Much of the complexities around treating humans involves their brains–personalities; pain responses; cognition of what you are doing; willingness to litigate–on and on. Hey do you vet guys like that Gary Larson Veterinary exam where all the equine diseases are listed and all the treatments are “Shoot” ? **kferr’s** post reminded me of. I guess in some ways vet medicine is a little less constrained to outcomes. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/24 "2009-02-25T13:33:09Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I suspect a vet would do better with humans than a human doc would with animals, because human patients can at least usually talk to you. But I wouldn’t want a vet treating me for much of anything beyond a scraped knee or something of that nature only because they don’t know stuff like drug dosages (and appropriate drugs, for that matter) for humans. IANADorV; I am an EMT however. I have done some rather sophisticated interventions on critters in a few instances, but most often general first aid stuff like cuts, scrapes, and minor foreign body extractions (slivers and burrs). At the level I work, there’s not a lot of difference, but the differences are close by, such as not giving Tylenol or Advil to dogs. They can only have enterically coated aspirin. - Intubated a cat with a pediatric ET tube. Easier than a human, BTW, because the throat doesn’t curve. - Given injections to dogs and cats. - Set up a dog with an IV. - Splinted a dog’s leg. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/25 "2009-02-25T16:22:58Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Hey do you vet guys like that Gary Larson Veterinary exam where all the equine diseases are listed and all the treatments are “Shoot” ? That exact cartoon is hanging up by our radiology department. Granted, it’s the small animal radiology department, who seem to have a better sense of humor than the equine folks. **VunderBob** Why did you need to intubate the cat? Also, if you thought that was easy, you should try a bird. Their glottis is right at the base of the tongue. And, for a challenge, you should try a cow. Not only are their mouths a foot long, they don’t open terribly wide, so the only way to get the trach tube down is to wedge your arm past their massive molars, praying that they are sedated enough not to chomp on you, and hang on to their glottis while you guide the tube down. Oh, and they make up to 50 gallons of saliva a day. So, when they are knocked out and not swallowing, all that saliva goes all over you. Good times. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/26 "2009-02-25T16:30:53Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > **VunderBob** Why did you need to intubate the cat? Well, that wasn’t exactly line of duty. A buddy is a vet, and she knew I was struggling with ET intubation in EMT school. She invited me in to her office one morning when she was prepping a cat for surgery, and said “try this”. It was like throwing a dart; no stylet and no handle. Anyway, doing it on that fat old tomcat was enough of a confidence boost that I had no further problems with humans or mannequins. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/27 "2009-02-25T17:48:32Z")
I think I agree with **Pullet** and **Chief Pedant** - I would trust a vet to treat a human more than an MD treating a pet. Particularly with the “routine” stuff that a vet or MD handles day to day. Maybe I am prejudiced as the son of a veterinarian, but maybe not. I used to assist my dad with surgery (he did most of the surgery for his practice) and he could adjust to operating on a cat as big as your two fists or a wolfhound that weighed more than I did. And he had a huge variety of surgical skills and approaches down cold. I remember when he started doing a procedure to correct chronic urinary blockages in male cats. He read about the technique in one of his journals, and then just started doing it. I doubt it would have taken more than a few month’s practice before he would be at least as good as the average MD resident, and probably better. And veterinary practice uses a lot of the same drugs as MDs do - the pharm salesmen that he dealt with sold to doctors too. IOW, I think adding one more species to the list of patients when you are already treating ten different ones would be easier than adding ten when you are only used to dealing with one. Even if that one is the one you can’t muzzle. 🙂 Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/28 "2009-02-25T18:15:03Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > It was like throwing a dart; no stylet and no handle. You threw a dart at a cat?! :eek: 😃 > [@kunilou](#): > > I had a friend who was a vet. He understood the basic concepts (infection = treat with antibiotics, torn muscle = rest and/or surgery, congestive heart failure = treat with diuretics, etc.) Diuretics? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/29 "2009-02-25T18:57:51Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I think I agree with **Pullet** and **Chief Pedant** - I would trust a vet to treat a human more than an MD treating a pet. Particularly with the “routine” stuff that a vet or MD handles day to day. > > Maybe I am prejudiced as the son of a veterinarian, but maybe not… You just reminded me of one of my old high school buddies. He was the son of a vet also. A cut that any of us might suffer at that age (say, from using tools to work on something) that would have the rest of us off to the doctor for stitches would have our buddy off to see his Dad, who would sew him up just fine\*. I know that his Dad stopped short of actually practicing human medicine (perhaps with the exception of the stitches), though he probably could have with some study and practice–he certainly knew plenty about basic mammalian anatomy and physiology; and as you note, veterinary medicine uses a lot of the same drugs that human medicine does. Still, when our buddy had a problem that meant a visit to the human doctor, he was reasonably well-informed about what to expect because his Dad, the vet, had explained things. With all due respect to the SDMB’s physicians, I’d trust a vet like my buddy’s Dad to treat a human more than I’d trust my GP to treat my cats. - No anaesthesia, apparently; or so our friend said. But we were teen guys–we wouldn’t have admitted needing it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/30 "2009-02-25T19:05:49Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > That said, I would not even think of trying to fix a human[…] In people medicine, that’s called a _vasectomy_… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/31 "2009-02-26T01:05:49Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Hey do you vet guys like that Gary Larson Veterinary exam where all the equine diseases are listed and all the treatments are “Shoot” ? I think we had that picture up for either one of our equine lectures or one of our tests… I remember it because I was/am still thinking “If only it were so easy”… I think I would have a hard time faking to be a human doc. I don’t even admit I’m a vet most of the time! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/32 "2009-02-26T01:09:06Z")
I’d rather have a vet doctor me (assuming no MD or DO is around) than, for example, have an MD attempt to doctor my birds. Vets at least study mammals, MD’s only study humans, not birds. That said, I’d much rather go to a human specialist, but if one wasn’t around, the situation was dire, and there was a vet available, hell yes, I’d ask the vet for help. But only if there was no realistic alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/33 "2009-02-26T01:44:43Z")
> [@sassyfras](#): > > Supposing a doctor tries to fill in as a veternarian with no special training himself. Would he be able to be effective at all? I’d like to think so - but I flunked the elective in Horse. I _have_ trimmed a guinea pig’s toenails successfully without exsanguinating it, however. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282/34 "2009-02-26T01:53:21Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Diuretics? Huh? Congestive heart failure causes fluid retention, resulting in swelling of the abdomen and legs and excess fluid in and around the lungs. Diuretics are given to reduce the amount of fluid retained. (Note that congestive heart failure is not the same thing as cardiac arrest or a heart attack.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doctor-fake-being-a-veternarian-and-vice-versa/487282.md?page=1)