I’ll try and keep this short, but it’s still making me mad.
My dog, Margie, who is the love of my life, is not feeling well. I believe she either pulled a muscle in her leg or is getting arthritis, but she’s not her normal, jump around like a nut self.
In the past, when she had joint pain, we were advised to give her a Bufferin. So we did, and she puked her brains out…six times!
Nervous, I called the vet, who told me to bring her in just to see if it was an allergic reaction, although they figured it was just an empty stomach irritation.
MARGE HATES THE VET. Many many dogs hate the vet. Marge shakes, and whines and trembles…she hates being there. So I drag her into the little exam room and a new vet tech walks in. Without even putting Marge on the table, without even saying hello or greeting the dog, she says to me,
“Hold her still, I’m going to take her temperature.”
She never asked me what was wrong with the dog, to which I would have answered “she has a sore leg”, instead, she pulled at Marge’s hind legs to force her to stand, and then jabbed the thermometer in her butt, to which Marge responded by whirling around and nipping at her.
The tech dropped the thermometer, jumped up and screamed “dammit, that dog bit me.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “She’s nervous. She usually wears a muzzle in here.”
“Your dog bit me. It hurts!” she said, running from the room. She closed the exam door and I could hear her yelling “The dog in room one bit me! She bit me!” As if my dog were a rare and deadly scorpion.
Five minutes later she comes in with a big orange sticker that says “WILL BITE” and puts it on Marge’s permanent record. “You dog will be muzzled every time she’s here,” she said to me rudely. “And we have to file this bite with the state.”
“She doesn’t have rabies,” I said. “Her shots are all up to date.”
She ran out to fill out the forms. The actual Vet was laughing about it. He said “I hate going to the doctor too!” and gave marge some pets and was very nice.
But now my dog, who is very nice and sweet, has this permanent record with the state, and I’m so afraid that this vet tech is going to try and sue me or something, and she was so fucking rude and I don’t know what to do! The bite (I saw it) didn’t even break the skin!
She should have ASKED if Marge was nervous.
She should have PUT HER ON THE TABLE
She should have GREETED THE DOG.
She shouldn’t have touched the leg that she’s been favoring for three days.
I’m so mad at her and sad for Marge and I don’t know what to do!
Dammit!
J
Have you tried explaining to the vet what happened, and complaining about the tech’s behavior and the “labeling” of your dog? Tell him that you don’t feel that this is justified in light of the tech’s rough treatment of your hurting dog and then the jamming-in of the rectal thermometer, and that you want the “biter” designation removed and the report to not be filed. If nothing else, file a complaint about the poor “bedside manner” of the tech.
