Are pets receiving better care than owners?

Published: Monday, February 8, 2010

As a middle-age guy and the father of a 10-year-old boy, the responsible thing to do is to have a medical checkup once a year.

So, dutifully, I called the local family practice to schedule my appointment. The receptionist asked if I wanted to schedule a visit or a physical. And honestly, I had no idea what she meant. Isn’t it the same?

My options were to schedule a “sick visit” three days later or a “physical” eight weeks later. And then, I was even more confused.

During my years as a veterinary student and as a surgery resident, every instructor drilled the point into our brain: Regardless of the symptoms, good medicine starts by performing a complete physical examination. It turned out that it wasn’t the case for me.

To receive a complete physical, I have to request it and not be in too much of a hurry. And if I’m sick, only my specific complaint and related symptoms will be investigated.

Immediately, several patients came to mind.

The golden retriever with the ruptured ligament whose physical revealed a tumor of the spleen.

The cat with the bladder stones whose physical revealed a tumor of the jaw.

The German shepherd with hip dysplasia whose physical revealed enlarged lymph nodes later diagnosed as a lymphoma.

Now that I’m on a roll, let me share with you a few more anecdotes.

Recently, visiting an 80-year-old family member, I noticed a Band-Aid on her leg. She had a biopsy of a nasty skin scab three weeks ago, but she hadn’t received any result yet.

I urged her to call the dermatology clinic to assure that everything was in order. She was told that the result was in (for a while, it turned out), but the doctor hadn’t had the time to call her yet.

She requested a copy of the report; the diagnosis was a benign, but serious, skin tumor, for which the doctor couldn’t see her until two months later.

Now, she’s very concerned and asked me to call on her behalf. I called three times within the week, to be prompted each time to leave a recorded message. It took a fourth message, for which, on the suggestion of an MD friend of mine, I used my doctor title.

And it works as a charm; the dermatologist finally called me back the same day, probably thinking he was returning a call to a colleague, not the vet that I am.

Here’s another anecdote: My son, 3 at the time, hurt his elbow. The emergency clinician requested an orthopedic consultation and a physician assistant performed the examination. She suspected a partial dislocation called a “nurse elbow,” but she wasn’t seeing a favorable response to the classical manipulation to reduce the dislocated joint.

She was concerned about a fracture and afraid to be more forceful; therefore, she called the orthopedic surgeon on call. To her embarrassment, I could hear the surgeon through the phone piece yelling at her that he was “not coming back for this kind of thing at 11 p.m.” and that I should call his office first thing in the morning.

So, I did, and guess who I see at the appointment? Another physician assistant, who, after looking at the file, immediately stated that we really needed to see the doctor himself, but that he wasn’t available before the following day at the soonest because he was on call.

One more! My wife recently had shoulder surgery for a torn labrum by an outstanding gentleman and surgeon. My wife is a veterinary anesthesiologist, and naturally, during the preoperative period, she got into a discussion with her anesthesiologist.

The doctor cautioned her that she may have to wait a little because the surgeon insisted on personally reassuring every patient immediately before anesthesia. And after the procedure, he also insisted in providing a brief face-to-face account of the surgery to a family member, which sometimes put him a little behind in his schedule. He strongly felt it was good patient care.

But here’s the punch line: We were also told that it used to be customary for every surgeon to do so, but that he now was the only remaining surgeon to provide this personalized patient interaction.

Don’t get me wrong. In the end, the medical outcome of every anecdote was positive (although when it came to my son’s elbow, I requested another orthopedic practice). My stories aren’t representative of every situation, and veterinarians are by no means perfect. But if I had more space, I could go on for a while.

So, here is the pledge I feel comfortable making for all my veterinary colleagues. We will perform a complete physical examination every time. We will call you promptly after receiving a test result. When on call, we will come to the hospital if our help is requested. We will speak to you after any procedure and return your call promptly.

And all this for a fraction of the cost!

Your Pet is published on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Bruno Massat, DVM, is a veterinary surgeon, board certified by the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons. Massat is associated with the Animal Medical Center of New England in Nashua. Call 821-7222 or visit www.amcne.com.