Last week I saw a dog at work for a tongue problem. The week before this dog had had emergency surgery. She came back a few days later with a swollen tongue. At this visit she saw the boss, the same vet who did the emergency surgery. Last week I saw her back again. She had formed a thick membrane over her tongue. It looked like the tongue was falling out.

The owner was livid. If the boss hadn’t been on vacation 1000 miles away I’m sure she would have killed him in the office. She was convinced that he had clamped the dog’s tongue and now it was dying. She said he ignored her concerns about the tongue when she came in for the recheck.

I spent time trying to talk her down. I explained that this can be seen in kidney disease. She informed me that under no circumstances did the dog have kidney disease. I explained that the dog was very sick and had emergency surgery. She could have damaged her kidneys. The owner wasn’t buying it.

I kept the dog and was able to pull the dead tissue out. The tongue underneath was fine. I sent out bloodwork and starting treating her for kidney-induced mouth problems. I talked to this woman several times that day. She was still planning on killing the boss.

Fast forward to today. I go to work and see the boss. He says that that dog was in this morning and it looks good. It did turn out to be kidney disease but the fluids I gave the dog seemed to turn it around. Then he says, “The lady said I was her hero.”

Me: What??!!! She wanted you dead last week.
Him: Well, I’m her hero for fixing her dog now.
Me: You didn’t fix her dog. You were on vacation until this morning. I fixed her dog.
Him: But I’m the hero!
Me: That woman used cuss words that I haven’t even used on you. I talked her down.
Him: You apparently did a good job of it because she loves me now.
Me: Next time someone says that you’re an idiot I’m going to say that I totally agree. No more making it nice for you!

I swear that I am totally invisible to clients. That tops my previous invisibility story. I saw a cat about a year ago. I diagnosed a terminal disease. I treated the cat for about a month to keep it comfortable. When the time came I euthanized the cat. About a week later the owners sent a very nice thank you card expressing their appreciation for our compassion and care. It was addressed to the two male vets by name “and staff.” Neither of the male vets had seen this cat at all during his illness.

Normally, I don’t care about this stuff. On the flip side no one is calling to complain about me either. But occasionally I’d like to get some credit for the good things I do.