The Crushing Effect of “Health Care” Gone Wrong

I’d hope my profession is serving you. All too often, I’m disappointed rather than hopeful. This true story added to that disappointment in spades.

You’d love to think that everything Dr. WhiteCoat recommends for you was in your animal’s best interests, right? I mean, isn’t that why she became a vet? To help the animals who come to her?

The Veterinarian’s Oath sounds a bit like corporate speak, but does contain some gems (emphasis mine):

Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.

I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.

I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.”

Then, Comes This (in the “I Wish I Was Making This Up” Dept)

Mrs Z. wrote me this week, in response to my email inviting her to tell me what most troubles her with her animals.

I really don’t like bringing our dog to the Veterinarian. Whenever he gets vaccinated, he has a hard time getting up mornings for several months , will growl at us if we touch him to get him up, barks all the time at every truck or motorcycle he feels rumbling the ground before it reaches us and goes by the house, and scratches & licks spots on his legs and paws until they are raw.

He goes outside and just stares off into space. If we don’t bring him every single yr for shots, she makes us bring him once and then again in 2–3 wks. She says he has to build up an immunity seeing we didn’t bring him in on time.”

Selling Abuse

Okay, let’s pause the narrative for a moment. Did you catch the client abuse here?

“You didn’t do as I say, and now it’s going to cost you!”

And, in the name of “building immunity,” she gives this already multiply vaccinated dog two more rounds of multi-dose vaccines!

And, her default vaccination schedule?

“Every single year.”

Hello? Anybody home, there? Has she truly missed the piece that main stream veterinary immunologists have been telling us for decades now?

1. Immunity to viruses lasts a very long time. Probably life long.
2. Vaccinating someone who’s already got established immunity “fails” (their exact word) to make more immunity. No booster effect. No benefit.
3. And, we know repeatedly vaccinating anyone is risky to their health.

Was this vet acting “conscientiously?” With dignity? Ethically?

How about the part about continually improving her “professional knowledge and competency?”

Those immunologists published that information in 1992. In Current Veterinary Therapy, a well respected reference text book that all vets know about.

If you’re a vet in conventional practice, you’d would have had to completely ignore television, all print media, and the internet and have your head deeply stuck in the sand to miss the ongoing concerns about vaccinations in both animals and humans.

You’d have had to completely ignore the AVMA and AAHA recommendations, also out for decades, against annual vaccinations.

It’s All About the Bottom Line

Back to the embarrassing narrative. Hang on to your halter.

She’s all big Pharma and there is no getting through to her. Plus she is so expensive! She wants me to give him a pill and 1/2 of dewormer when he tests negative for worms @ 105.- per 1.5 pills which in the past he always throws up, therefore I refuse now.”

Wait. Hold the phone.

He tests negative for worms, but she sells Mrs. Z grossly overpriced dewormer pills? Which make this dog vomit?

Anyone else see an ethical problem here?

At least this owner put her foot down here and refused that part.

I feel so anxious and upset whenever we bring our dog to her. She has her assistants try selling us all kinds of tests/lab work, immunizations, pills, and so on before she even enters the room. I feel as though she is far more interested in making money than the health of the animals.

She put our dog on Apoquel a year & 1/2 ago… until I read the side effects and it was costing us a fortune to keep having his liver function and all tested by her.”

One Drug With a Side of Labs, Please

Apoquel? The expensive “miracle drug with a dark side” I wrote about late in 2015? Besides the vaccines that made him allergic, this drug is also making him sick, and comes with a side of lab testing.

Expensive lab testing.

“We need to check his organ function!”

Unspoken: “…because this stuff is toxic and we need to know how much damage we’re causing.”

Prevention and relief of animal suffering hiding somewhere in here?

I had to pick my jaw up off the desk when I first read Mrs. Z’s letter. It goes on…

The heartworm preventative gives him diarreah. She is literally making our beautiful Dalmatian/Labrador mix ill. And I know that most vets (that) are doing this, not just her. What I want to know is, WHY? It seems so evil. Looking forward to learning natural alternatives. “

The Solution to Evil is Simple (Relatively)

First, Mrs. Z. has really already answered her question of “Why?” right? Greed is the driver. Mixed with a disordered personality that really shouldn’t be in a helping profession.

My advice:

1. Fire Your Vet! For obvious reasons, this person shouldn’t receive a dime from you, ever again.
2. Tell all your friends and neighbors. No one should be spending money on this practice.
3. File a complaint with your state veterinary board. If they’re not reprimanding annual vaccinators, they should start. Price gouging is likely somewhere in their practice act, as well. If not, take it to the Better Business Bureau.
4. Get smart. You’ll want to learn:
   • about vaccinations
   • about their all too common side effects
   • …that often lead to dangerous drug use, like Apoquel
   • about nutrition
   • and, about non-toxic pest control and heartworm prevention
5. Take control in the veterinary marketplace. Make good prevention choices and find a vet you can trust to do the work you want done.
6. Spend money supporting those who are truly helping you and your animals thrive.
7. Raise amazing Vital Animals!

Let us know in the comments if you’ve ever felt abused in a vet visit. And better yet, what you did about it. I really hope Mrs. Z’s was a rare exception, but I’ll suck it up and pay more attention if I’m just being too innocent here.