It’s not very often we have the luxury of an instant second opinion at our clinic, because when one of us is seeing cats and dogs in the office, the others are usually out on farms. Even when there are a couple of us around, most of the time we are dealing with pretty straight-forward cases, and calling another vet into the room is unnecessary. But this past weekend must have been a little rough on our pets, because by Monday afternoon, we were scrambling to get everyone’s animal ailments seen, with two of us working in the clinic.
Taking full advantage of having an extra set of eyes around, we went back and forth to each other’s appointments, my partner looking at my ultrasound, me looking at his x-rays, both of us weighing in on bloodwork results and the like, and the whole afternoon went pretty well. That was until I went to help the gentleman waiting patiently for a simple follow-up exam from his dog’s neuter.
The dog was not sick or sore at all, there was just a peculiar thickening remaining in the dog’s scrotum, and the owner wanted to make sure everything was healing properly. As I examined the surgical site and believed everything to be healing well, I saw that my tag-team partner had just finished what he was doing, so I thought I would have him check it out for added reassurance. We were a little busy, and at the time it didn’t seem practical to say: “Dr. Hawkinson, could you please give me your opinion on the progress of this canine patient’s post-operative healing?” What came out instead, while hurriedly speaking to my partner in front of a full lobby and gesturing toward the unsuspecting man sitting with his dog was: “Go have a feel of his scrotum.” Hearing some chuckles and suddenly becoming aware of what I had said, I quickly added “… the dog!” which, judging by the amplification of laughter, didn’t seem to improve my situation in the least. Sorry, sir.
A second opinion – at the veterinarian clinic
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