Ouch!

Three months ago when I was in Edinburgh I got an abscess on my back left paw. Now I've got an abscess on my back right paw. Ann just can't understand how I've managed to get through 12 years of my life without one, and then I get two within months of each other?!



Anyway it didn't seem to be bothering me but Ann didn't like the look of it, so she said, 'Molly, when I come home from work I will take you to the vet'. Normally when I go to the vets Ann demands that I see Jonathan. Jonathan is the nicest vet in the world. Collies are his favourite dog and he always makes a fuss of me and gives me treats. Ann always feels reassured that I'm in the best possible hands because as well as talking to me, Jonathan also explains everything in simple terms to her.

Today Ann didn't demand to see Jonathan. Big mistake! She said, 'Molly, we'll just take the first appointment we can get. All you need are some antibiotics to make your nasty abscess go away.'

….............Now Ann is in ranting mode!

Vets, doctors? – nobody seems to be taught these days how to have a good bedside manner. Do these so called professionals not realise how stressful it is visiting them?

The vet today didn't even introduce herself so we haven't a clue what she was called. She was also foreign and Ann couldn't understand her so she had to keep asking her to repeat things, but we won't dwell on that in case we get accused of being racist! She didn't even speak to me when she first met me. She just said to Ann, 'Put her on the scales'. And then after I'd been weighed she said to Ann, 'Put her on the table.'

In fact do you know what?........................ the vet didn't speak to me at all!

First she stuck a thermometer up my 'you know what', then she listened to me with her stethoscope and I sat ever so patiently and didn't make a fuss. Ann was stroking me and telling me I was being ever such a good girl. …...........But I'd only gone to have my nasty abscess looked at?!

….............And before she'd even looked at my abscess she told Ann I'd have to wear a cone collar to stop me licking it. Well, I've only licked it a little bit and I didn't have to wear a cone collar the last time I had an abscess. And then she asked Ann if I liked swimming but because she was foreign it took Ann four attempts at listening to the question to work out what she was asking and she said I wasn't allowed to go swimming until my nasty abscess has gone away. Well that wasn't what I was told the last time.

….................And then guess what happened................. She shaved my paw so that she could look at my nasty abscess. Was that really necessary? This is a Blip of my nasty abscess before my paw was shaved and I'm sure you can all see just how nasty it is. I didn't have to have my paw shaved the last time I had an abscess. In fact the last time I had an abscess the vet just looked at it and was able to feed me treats and reassure me and Ann at the same time. Today's vet didn't talk to me once!!

Sorry Blippers but this whole experience has really upset Ann. I'm the bestest behaved little collie ever when I go to the vets. I'm the one who needed treatment and yet the vet was just talking over my head. She didn't use my name or personally reassure me once. In fact she was almost as patronising as Ann's dentist but we won't start ranting about him, because that's a whole other story!

Ann kept trying to tell her that I'd had an abscess before she hadn't even read my notes and antibiotics had cleared it up within days. All we wanted was some antibiotics, but she kept going on and on and on and on about how I had to wear a cone collar. Eventually Ann just said, 'OK, I'll put a cone collar on her. I've already got one at home.' ….................But she's not going to put a cone collar on me because I'm only licking my paw a little bit. And anyway if I was a dog out in the wild how would I get rid of my nasty abscess? I'd probably lick it better. It's not actually bothering me. I only went to the vets because it was bothering Ann. And I'm probably going to be allowed to go swimming because that was the first question that Ann asked the Edinburgh vet when I had my last abscess and she said it was fine.

Anyway now I've got some antibiotics (the same amount as I had last time) but instead of taking half a one twice a day for 14 days, I've got to take one twice a day for 7 days and I've also got something called 'metacam' that I have to take once a day. Haven't a clue what that does? Foreign vet bamboozled Ann with a load of jargon that she didn't understand! It is sooooo soooo difficult when the vet doesn't have people/dog skills. I'm sure that the vet that we saw has a very impressive list of qualifications.........................

…..............But sometimes all a little collie dog wants................. is a hug, reassurance, and 'treats' for being such a good girl!

And the moral of the story is................................... Whenever I go to the vets, Ann should always demand that I see Jonathan!!!
#nothappy