Tell me if you didn’t dream of being a veterinarian when you were a kid. Personally, helping animals and seeing them every day sounds so much fun! However, when we grow a little older, we understand that being a veterinarian means not only petting cats and dogs every day. Yeah, unfortunately. It also requires many years of hard studies and determination, but once you survive this – it’s a rewarding path. But! There is a slightly complicated part when it’s time to deal with pet owners. Well, of course, not every one of them can make you question your decisions, but it happens.
Speaking of dealing with pet owners, veterinarians in this Facebook group share the most bizarre requests that they have received. If you think ‘oh, it can’t be that bad,’ spoiler alert – yes, it absolutely can. Check it out for yourself!
More info: Facebook
#1
Had a very elderly woman come in saying something was wrong with her dog, very serious, it wasn’t breathing and could we do something about it. She unfolded the blanket revealing one a those stuffed dogs, battery powered, the ones that look so real, their chests move up and down,and she was SO sad, crying! We took the “pet” to our treatment area, replaced the AA batteries and the woman left completely happy. She did return 2 or 3 more times after that asking for help and we gladly abliged by replacing the batteries. Is kinda sad, but she was so happy.
Image source: Michelle Friedrich, Ruth Hartnup
#2
A woman came in carrying a photo of her dog, asking if we had seen her. After some confusing conversation it turned out her dog had passed over but she was looking for the reincarnation of it. I explained that her dog would most likely not look the same, or even similar, when she reincarnated, and that she should rather be on the look out for a young dog that “felt” the same; some weeks later she returned with a puppy from a shelter, thanking me enthusiastically because not only did the new puppy not look like her deceased dog, but she had come back as a boy!
Image source: Rosalind Spencer Stone, Glenn
#3
We were asked by a client that while their cat was being cremated that the person doing it read out a verse from the bible. The cremation man was so sweet he went down to the library and found the verse they were after and read it during the cremation.
Image source: Kate Baoumgren, nappy
#4
Oh yeah and another woman brought her young female cat in because she was getting very fat. On examination it was clear that the cat was heavily pregnant, but the woman said that was impossible – the cat never went outside and the only other cat she had contact with was her brother. “Is he neutered?” I asked, and most indignantly she replied that I was suggesting something very obscene and marched off to complain to my boss. Fortunately he was able to convince her that cats don’t have the same moral standards as humans.
Image source: Rosalind Spencer Stone, Shane Richards
#5
We had a former client bring in a cat to be neutered. He asked if prior to the surgery we could place his cat in a kennel with a female cat for one final…. Our sharp receptionist politely responded with “I’m sorry sir, but we no longer offer that service”.
Image source: Renee Brockett, Gabriel Benois
#6
We had a client ask to put down her 7 yo Golden because she was tired of dealing with occasional allergy issues. Then she asked that if her husband showed up with lost fliers to just not say anything. We got the dog into rescue. WTH???
Image source: Margaret Shepherd, Roberto Nickson
#7
Asked for testicles from their dog back so he could keep them in a jar at his office, so when his daughter was old enough to date he could bring the boyfriend in the room and explain what happened to her LAST boyfriend that didn’t treat her well….
Image source: Robyn Underhill, Wendy Wei
#8
Man brought in his cat that had been deceased for at least a month for us to have cremated – he had been storing it in a plastic cooler at his house since it died and it stunk to high heaven. AND he wanted a clay paw print to take home. Tech did it – and I’m thinking maybe I don’t pay her enough.
Image source: Kirsten Ura-Barton, Nothing Ahead
#9
Had a lady bring a small garden snail in a jar and insist we scan it for a microchip – she was convinced it was “rare” and that scientists or the government were probably tracking/studying it. We humoured her and ran the scanner over it. Surprise, surprise, this snail was not microchipped!
Image source: Ez Eddy, fdecomite
#10
I was asked by a client to discuss my diagnosis and suggested treatment with the patient – a guinea pig – through a animal communicator to see if the guinea pig would agree. I was pleased to hear that the animal thought that I was very nice and gentle and that it would trust my judgement… (At least the guinea pig was able to take a decision as it’s owner obviously wasn’t!)
Image source: Marianne Furler, Pixabay
#11
New clients requested that I cover the windows and turn out the lights when they arrived for their pets appointments….because they were vampires……they ended up being wonderful pet owners….new staff members thought I had lost my mind when I would inform them of this clients special needs.
Image source: Dennie Sellon Paganini, Daisy Anderson
#12
A man called our equine clinic once trying to make an appointment for his wife’s ob gyn annual visit. After I fell out of my chair laughing I finally convinced him his wife would not like how our vets checked mares.
Image source: Lisa Richardson-Vosbury, Bruno Cantuária
#13
Our Hospital Manager recently had a member of his church call him at home and ask if it was possible his dog had impregnated his cat. The dog is a pug and the kittens had smooshed faces.
Image source: Stacy Spring, Captain Pancakes
#14
We had a client come in the other day for an exam because they were worried about the 2 large lumps they found on their “female” dog’s underbelly…turns out the dog was not a female after all! The best part? It took several minutes to convince the owner that her dog was in fact a male.
Image source: Chelsea Camann, Randy Salgado
#15
A client asked if we would board the ashes of their deceased pet while they went on vacation bc their dog enjoyed being at our boarding facility so much!
Image source: Lindsey Westerfield Matera, Rachel Claire
#16
We had a client that wanted us to neuter her dog instead of spay her because it was cheaper….
Image source: Susie Dorman, Tima Miroshnichenko
#17
A client wearing a moomoo came in with her dog that had fleas. She said she had a rash and was wondeting if it was flea bites. She then lifted up her dress to show the doctor her itchy crotch…..and was not wearing underwear
Image source: Kristal Chance, Nida
#18
Weeks after euthanizing her dog, one woman came back to the clinic because she couldn’t find the spirit of her dog at home. She wanted to walk around the clinic to see if she could ” locate” him. She even made a tech smell his collar so he could help.
Image source: Jeannie Heafner, Anna Tarazevich
#19
We had a client that would bring her rabbit in and she would talk for the rabbit in this creepy tiny voice! One of the techs came out of the exam room after reviewing the tx plan with the client and said – “that rabbit just called me a b***h”! Lol! The rabbit always swore at us!
Image source: Karen April
#20
We have a rather shady hotel down the road from our clinic. One day a guy that lives in this hotel comes in holding a shoe box saying his cat isnt breathing. We quickly got him in a room and grabbed a doctor to get in there right away. The guy is freaking out (slightly…..very intoxicated) saying his cat is dying and asking if we can save it. The doctor open up the shoe box and there is a Nike tennis shoe. The guy did not believe that it was not his cat and make the dr use his stethoscope to make sure it was “dead”.
Image source: Brooke Bowman, Ray Piedra
#21
I had an elderly woman ask if we could see her Tiger.. When I asked if that was the name of her kitty, she said “No, I have a 3 month old Tiger at home and he’s not eating well”.
Image source: Erica Schildmeyer
#22
We have a client that insists that her male cat thinks he is female. Not only does he think he’s female, he understands human speech enough to know when someone uses the wrong pronoun in regards to him. So if someone “accidentally” calls the cat “He” or “Him”, she goes into a blind rage and cries and apologies to the cat. She has even asked that our official records be changed to protect “his” feelings.
Image source: Amy Carr, Rachel Claire
#23
I had a client ask for a copy of my license so she could open up a veterinary account at a distributor to get ‘flea medicine’. She promised not to buy controlled drugs.
Image source: Erin Foster McBean, Tima Miroshnichenko
#24
A client was boarding a dog at the clinic, and requested that we keep a photo of the family in the kennel with the dog. Not only the photo, but a frame that you can record messages into. The family requested that we play the message at least six times a day.
Image source: Emily Gamm, Lisa Fotios
#25
After amputating a cat’s tail, the owner asked for the tail back. 3 weeks later the owner came in with a new designer purse, with her cat’s tail as the zip pull !
Image source: Vicki Cheshire Cat Cook, cottonbro studio
#26
We had a client claim that the reason her cat kept getting sick was because it was urinating on mothballs and that the urine + mothballs was making meth. So the cat was high.
Image source: Halley Thompson, Emrecan Algül
#27
We had a woman who would take her cats home after euthanasia to sleep with them one last time then brought body back the next day for cremation… thank god we don’t see her anymore
Image source: Emily Nolan
#28
umm, we’ve had more than one person lift a shirt to show us a rash…
Image source: Jennifer Abe, Karolina Grabowska
#29
Had a client who a few years after I had gelded her horse asked if I could put the testicles back on because he had become so good and tractable she wanted to breed him! Said she has gotten them off the roof were I threw them and had kept them in her freezer.
Image source: Jim Wright, Tiana
#30
We had an owner ask the tech to trim her toe nails (the owners nails not the pets)
Image source: John T Feutz, Karolina Grabowska
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