A vet I know named Brad sent me a list of 31 rules he has developed over a lifetime around veterinary medicine (his father is also a vet). Here are a few of the choicer ones. These are all tongue-in-cheek, but also give some profound truths about life as a vet.
Rule #6--The condition is never an emergency until 3 a.m.
Rule #8--The more money spent on procuring the animal, the less spent on maintaining it.
Rule #11--The more ignorant the client, the more certain they are that they know more than you do.
Rule #12--The nicer the clothing, the more nasty, disgusting, and malodorous a procedure you will be asked to perform.
Rule #17--If the client does not comply with orders and the animal gets worse or dies, it is your fault.
Rule #18--All lesions occur overnight ("Really, Doc, he was fine yesterday").
Rule #24--Any unexplained illness seen in a pet is the direct result of the spay/neuter you performed 3 years ago. ("I don't know, Doc. He was just fine until you neutered him back in '95.")
Rule #26--No matter how late you stay open, or how many days your office is open, there's always one client that will show up 5 minutes before closing with a patient that's been sick for 3 weeks, and complain that you're not open late enough.
Rule #27--Four years of veterinary school cannot possibly compare with the 15 minutes of training that the high-school drop-out got at the pet store.
Rule #28--Consciousness is a privelege; if you abuse it, it will be taken from you.
Rule #30--It is a geophysical phenomenon that all of your clients live only 5 minutes away from your hospital if it is within 30 minutes of closing.
Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. I know that my veterinary readers will appreciate this in a special way!
