Pain in the .....Nose?

Do vets care more about their pocket book than the heath and comfort of their patents? I always thought of Vets as caring folks who had turned their love of animals into a way to make a living, after a recent experience I am thinking that the latter item takes precedence. My doggie companion recently learned not to mess with a porcupine the hard way and returned from a woodland walk with a group of us viewing the spring flowers with a snout full of quills. Ouch!

There being more than just one or two we decided that it would be best to call a vet and take her in to get sedated to remove them, no big deal, whilst not one to take my buddy into the vet unless there is a pressing reason I thought this was one such occasion. Called up a vet we had dealt with some years ago to put down our previous long time companion who's time had come and was in pain, explained Nikki had quills that needed removing, first question “have you dealt with us before” Yes, can I bring her over to get looked at. “Sorry we are fully booked and cant help you”. Guess a dog with porky quills in her muzzle is not an 'emergency' much more important to keep those regular customers little poodles looking pretty I guess!

Ok, there's more than one vet listed, that they are all a good half hour drive from us so best call first to see if they are open, two more calls two more responses much the same the first question being whether we had been there before (what bearing does that have on looking after the dog) that last of whom kindly informed me that they could 'probably' fit us in tomorrow and the MINIMUM charge would be $500 to $700 or quite possibly more ….SAY WHAT!

Now I love my dog who is the 5^th of a long line of friends 'rescued' from one bad situation or another but also try not to spend more than my old age supplement brings in and that kind of money to briefly sedate a dog and pull a few quills seemed to me to be excessive. No doubt they would want to give her a full check over and find some other excuses to up the income but even so it would have been a distinct possibility IF they could actually deal with it TODAY.

So here we are at home having managed to remove those in close proximity to her mouth with a little help from a couple of our visitors. She NOT a happy camper after that so we will let her rest for a bit and have another go later but my companion who normally barely leaves my side is keeping her distance now. Sorry Nikki but you are going to be even less fond of me before we are done with this trauma. Hope you learned the lesson about Porkies the first time around!

(I note that I never spoke to the actual 'Vet' so far as I know but who  ever answers the phone at those establishments!)