Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
I actually continued my studies in Veterinary Science at a university in Indonesia, where the course lasted about six and a half years.
Since COVID happened, I couldn’t do my practical (which was supposed to be 1 and a half years), so I haven’t graduated, and this means I can’t practise as a doctor yet.
Still, I’ve been a vet technician for a year and a half now. I did an internship in Indonesia at some point. I’ve handled my fair share of animals, and I can say that it’s not always the animals that make the job hard for me.
The vet tech shares that he uses his right hand for dogs (as they are stronger) whereas his left hand is for cats. [Image taken by the author, Armani!]
Negligence? No… High Mortality Rate
The thing about the entire veterinary scene (and not particularly just being a vet tech) is that when you’re holding a pet’s life in your hand and most people don’t see what’s happening behind the scenes, they would assume negligence if something went wrong.
What it really is, most times, is that people bring their pets that are already terminally ill. For the most part, it’s an emergency case that we can’t help with. A lot of the time, people don’t understand that if their pets are in terminal condition, the mortality rate is very high. They have a very low chance of surviving in the first place.
At the end of the day, we’ll get blamed for a lot of the deaths when it’s complications in surgery or something that’s been explained to them that they can’t understand… but it’s never negligence.
Getting Second Opinions After The Pet Dies?
It’s not like we didn’t tell them that this could happen. We tell the owners about the risks and our suggestions on how we can go about it.
So, it’s kind of like going to the doctor (for humans), where it’s always about second opinions. You could go to another doctor and get the same diagnosis. But these doctors might have a different suggestion on how to treat your pet.
When their animals unfortunately died, they’d go to another doctor, and those doctors would say what they would have done instead. That’s when they turn against us.
It’s not like the other doctors are sabotaging other clinics, but it is medicine, and everyone has different opinions.
Actual Negligence
If you think about it, the veterinary industry isn’t exactly flourishing in Malaysia. We’ve got only a few general hospitals here for animals. The people who work in private clinics, well, the pay isn’t the best.
There’s no glory in animal medicine, at least in Malaysia. You’re spending every waking moment for 10 or 11 hours with animals. So most of the people who do end up getting the job are animal lovers.
In my experience with veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and nurses, they all adore animals!
A scar on the vet tech’s leg from when he was dealing with an angry snake that he thought was put under anesthesia. [Image taken by the author, Armani!]
A lot of the bad reviews that vets get come from personal experience. But people tend to overlook the fact that we also have good experiences. We save a lot of lives.
But That’s Not To Say That We Shouldn’t Trust Bad Reviews
Unfortunately, when it comes to choosing a vet for your pet, it’s all trial and error. You very much need to go for second opinions, maybe even third and fourth opinions.
The most important thing when you’re looking for a doctor is to see how much effort they put into treating your animal.
If they don’t suggest blood tests, IV drips, and constant management of their health and symptoms? Then you just have a lazy vet.
Most vets I know will go through copious amounts of testing. And it’s EXPENSIVE, we know! But there’s no subsidy for animal medicine in Malaysia. It’s not the same as human medicine. It’s all privatised and expensive.
[Source: Mikhail Nilov on Pexels]
One Pet Owner’s VERY PUBLIC Dissatisfaction
We had this one guy who brought in five cats, and they all had Parvovirus (Feline Panleukopenia Virus).
“If your cats have parvo, you would likely need to bleach the hell out of the house.” “It’s extremely contagious.”
So the thing about parvovirus is that it’s incurable, it’s very easy to spread among other cats, and the treatment is based on the symptoms. So, this means that each of those five cats he brought in would need to be treated differently, according to their symptoms.
[Source: Gustavo Fring on Pexels]
But he got super angry when he saw the bill.
“Imagine this: You’re paying for five different cats, all with the same symptoms, and they all need to be treated based on each symptom. So, let’s say three prescription medications for each cat. That’s a lot of money”
He went nuts, and he was screaming profanities! He brought the issue to Twitter, and then he even made a police report, which I didn’t understand because he had the receipts. He knew what he was paying for.
What Can You Do To Avoid Feeling Scammed At A Vet?
Ask for the price of the medicine. Vets generally assume that pet owners know about how high the bill would be, so they don’t immediately share this. But if you asked, they are more than willing to share the price.
I think it’s also important to just do your research. Get a second opinion, why not?
If you research enough to know what’s going on with your pet, then you’ll know if the treatment that the doctors are suggesting is necessary.
Dogtor [Source: Sam Lion on Pexels]
We’re required to explain it in the first place.
It’s quite literally our job.
Do you know anyone with an interesting story to share? Drop us an email at hello@inreallife.my and we may feature the story.
For more stories like this, read:
Malaysians Need To Stop Letting Their Cats Do This One Thing
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