[heathervettechCa]

To everyone who is logging onto the internet looking for what really is a diagnosis with out having their pet seen by a vet:

I have been a Veterinary Technician for 11 years and the best advice I can give is to honestly, have a doctor look at your animals. While it seems strange to some that there are doctors for animals, to those who have one in their life as a companion, the bond they make with us is everlasting and irreplaceable. So why wouldn't you take care of them like you would any other family member?
There is absolutely no way anyone can give medical advice without having seen your pet, and even then, doctors may be wonderful at what they do, they are not fortune tellers, they have to rely on diagnostic testing to help them figure out what is wrong and how to fix it if they can. As for those who think veterinary medicine is too expensive, and that they can do the same for cheaper, one, there is a reason why they say vet school is more difficult than law school and human medicine, because it is. Vets have to know about every different species system function and their reactivity to certain things. Animals are delicate and giving the wrong type of medicine or trying to "do it yourself" often results in either failure and more expense or even worse, death that may have been prevented. Secondly, if you ever looked at your hospital bills before the insurance company handled them, you would realize its actually far cheaper to care for a pet, then to care for a human, the difference if out of pocket expense. Recently (in the past 10 years) there has been development of pet insurance, invest, its fairly cheap, and worth it.

Lastly, if your pet has a specific problem related to Orthopedic, dental, eye, skin, cancer etc. SEE A SPECIALIST. Some people exhaust their financial resources before they even have the chance to find out what is really wrong with their pet. If it is something simple, much like in human medicine, then a primary care vet is fine, but if you find that your pet is not getting better with minimal treatment, spend the money to see a specialist, in the long run it will actually save you money and your pet will be back to themselves more quickly.
Moral to the story,
If you're looking on the internet for vet advice, be looking for vets top give the advice and that can help heal your pet quickly so you can get back to normal life and healthy pets.
Good luck to all.
This is dedicated to Sierra, my baby girl, I miss you so much!
H

[poseidon]

Hello Heather,

Although I do not know the reason for your dedication to Sierra, I can hazard a guess. May I offer you my commiserations on your loss.

I cannot agree with you more. No matter what the animal is, no one, including a vet can diagnose a problem without an examination.

On top of this either the symptoms given on a Q&A site are too vague or can point to a number of different ailments. Either serious or otherwise.

Although I do reply to some questions in this category, I always try to impress upon the owner to seek the proper professional medical help.

The same applies to medical questions describing and asking for a diagnosis of human medical questions.

Sometimes I see a question that rings alarm bells and consider the symptoms being described are in need of urgent medical investigation and I answer encouraging the asker to seek that medical expertise, whether it be a condition affecting an animal or human.

Sometimes I am at a loss when someone posts a question giving symptoms which blatantly need proper investigation, especially because on more than one occasion I have seen incorrect, even dangerous advice given.

Cy
(Poseidon)

[ArielSolis]

We just had a pomeranian puppy and it doesn't want to eat from the mother. What should we do?

[heathervettechCa]

You will need to get puppy milk from the vet or pet store- I would recommend seeing a vet to make sure all is well- Puppies need to be fed every 2 hours, warm (NOT HOT!) puppy milk. The most common is KMR milk replacer. You can get a bottle appropriate for its size at the vet or at the pet store. If it does not nurse- You need to hospitalize it and have it tube fed. You cannot do this on your own. Tube feeding can be very dangerous if it is not done by a professional. If puppies much like any other organism that is growing and developing, go without eating for long periods, they will oftenhave seizures due to hypoglycemia and they eventually will die. This is not something that should wait.
Good luck! Let me know what happens.

[shanee]

Take your pet to the doctor and if you didn't understand what he said or if you've done all you can then ask in here because he needs to see a doctor first.

[Future Vet]

Ummmmm soz I couldn't read all that can u give me some facts about vets I really need help I need heaps of facts!! Can't you c how dsprite I am!