Vets are really interesting people. In the first place, their education is generally more selective and more rigorous than that of human physicians. They have to know all the same stuff, but about multiple species. They have to worry about getting bitten by their patients, which is rarely an issue among human doctors. And it’s a lot harder to get into vet school than into med school. Partly because there are fewer vet schools.
The vets I know have all seriously considered the practice of human medicine and specifically rejected it (even though they obviously could have qualified.) Usually this is because they see human patients as deserving a lot of their medical problems, whereas animals don’t. I’m not sure I agree with this. Plenty of dogs and some cats end up in the vet’s office as a result of getting into fights that they could and should have avoided, after all. And obesity is an increasing problem among critters for most of the same reasons it’s a problem among people, except that it should be easier for a critter to stay slim if somebody else is entirely in charge of feeding it.
And vets have a separate code of professional ethics, sort of like the one human doctors have, except:
1) there is, obviously, not much of a confidentiality issue between vet and critter, and
2) the code specifically requires a vet to refrain from causing the patient pain AND fear. Which would be a pretty good idea for human doctors too, wouldn’t you think?
Anyway, I raise these issues because I just got a postcard indicating that my cat is due for her shots next month. How come I never get postcards about mammograms and endoscopies for myself? Not to mention that vet care is almost always a lot cheaper than human medical care, and so are the meds. This is partly because vet care is (so far) not expected to be covered by third-party payment, and partly because most meds and many procedures are tested on dogs and cats before being approved for people, so the R&D has been long since amortized.
One of the first child-protection activists, a Brit whose name I can’t remember and am too lazy to look up right now, began his career by bringing an abused child to the local SPCA. “She’s an animal too,” he said, essentially, “and deserves the same protection as the carter’s horse.” Maybe we could try a similar approach with medical care?
Jane Grey
[...] Why Does My Cat Get Better Medical Care Than I Do? By wiredsisters Anyway, I raise these issues because I just got a postcard indicating that my cat is due for her shots next month. How come I never get postcards about mammograms and endoscopies for myself? Not to mention that vet care is almost always … Alexandria – http://aleksandreia.wordpress.com [...]
The obvious answer is that cats purr. I type this with a cat on my lap btw. Cats are cuter and superior to humans in every way. It is an honor to care for them.
The more serious answer is that we do not provide really expensive care to animals. I have been involved off and on the the U. of Pennsylvania as they have been getting a heart surgery program going. Heart surgery has been around for a long time and is common in humans. We pretty much dont do total joints in animals. CT scans and MRI’s are uncommon still. Chemo is hit and miss. Animals also do not have the capacity for self-abuse that humans have. Few smoke tobacco or drink lots of alcohol and it is really hard to score good crack if you are a poodle. Hell, just lighting the crack pipe is tough without thumbs.
Economics also plays a part methinks. I would go into debt and borrow everything I could if I needed it to save my son’s life. I really like my cats but I cannot justify blowing my pension and son’s college money on one of them. Vets probably have to charge less, because that is what people are willing to pay.
Vets are mostly pretty cool people. Most genuinely like animals. Doctors mostly train in inner city hospitals, caring for people that you would probably cross the street to avoid. Caring for labor patients while the father of the baby (you learn to never say husband) steals your backpack kind of leaves you jaded. It takes a while for some docs to get over that experience. Some never do. Some docs are just bright people with no real empathy, the Aspergers types. Vet schools are more selective and probably get an idea about who really likes animals and who doesnt.
To answer your question about postcards, my wife and I get reminders from our docs. I am surprised that you dont TBH. When I was in Saudi Arabia, an MP showed up with a sick dog at our hospital. These guys love their dogs. If the dog had needed sutures or something ok, but we werent sure what to do and God forbid you knock off someone’s dog. I put our ER techs on it and we discovered a vet was in theater about ten miles away. We arranged transport and 2 of my techs went along. That dog got more attention than any human we saw.
Steve