Page 10 - K9 News - Issue 15 - March2021

within it.
A eye showing a cataract
The profession seems to be going the way of
many other professions. There appears to be
more focus on money, and less on personal
service based on what is best for the animals.
And there seems a singular reluctance in
some areas to actually give advice and take
responsibility for making decisions. The
profession, like many others, is losing its soul.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying they
are all going this way and that nobody cares any
more. We are actually quite lucky here. Our vet
is a single-practice and covers all of our general
veterinary needs, large and small animals alike.
And they are very good, very friendly, very
reasonably priced and very easy to deal with.
They talk and they listen.
No, what I am saying is that the profession is
tuning into an industry and, with this, comes
change that is not always for the better.
Part of the problem is that there are very
few single-practices these days. Many of the
independents have become multi-practice
businesses, and even more have sold out to the
big boys. And we all know what happens when
you sell out to the big boys and become part of
a multi-national, multi-million-pound enterprise.
This changes the whole ethos of the profession,
and dampens the passion that drives those
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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MARCH 2021
For example, one of the first questions you will
be asked on visiting a vet these days is “is the
animal insured?”
Answer this in the positive and you will find you
enter a rather different cost structure.
But remember, Insurance companies are like
banks. They will give you an umbrella when the
sun is shining, but they will soon take it away
when it rains.
Also, there seems to be a growing trend of
enforcing circumstances whereby vaccinations,
worming, flea treatments etc., become virtually
compulsory in order to access other treatments
and services. And this has to be down to a
desire, or need, for a better profit margin.
However, of more importance than this gradual
and seemingly unstoppable metamorphosis, is
the fact that, within the profession/industry there
seems to be an element that is taking advantage
of the current extremely difficult circumstances
we find ourselves in, which is why I am bringing
it up here. It is significant to my series of articles.
I have to be careful what I say here because,
firstly, this is a delicate subject that has been
visited elsewhere generating a certain amount
of controversy, and, secondly, I do not, in any
way, wish to suggest that what I am about to say
applies to the overwhelming majority.
I am going to use Hereditary Cataracts - HC - as
an example.
In my breed, the Alaskan Malamute, HC is a
condition that is taken very seriously, and as we
have no DNA test for the condition yet (it was
on the agenda with the AHT, and huge amounts
of work had been put into it) we have to carry
out an annual eye test, which we do, of course,
through the KC/ISDS/BVA scheme.
With the eye tests having to be carried out,
and quite rightly too, by a suitably approved
canine ophthalmic specialist, there is, of course,
a cost involved. And while this cost is not
inconsiderable, it has always been considered