I realized today that I don’t miss doing farm calls. At the morning stops my fingers were numb while I was trying to give vaccines since it can’t be done (at least by me) with gloves on. My tolerance level has gone way down too. Ten years ago when I was doing horse medicine for a living I would have gotten the blood from that stupid yearling stud colt feeling the first flush of testosterone in his system. Today I made a valiant effort, but when he started rearing and striking even with a twitch on, I told them to reschedule when they had his preferred handler (the only one he listens to) available. It is not worth getting hurt over.
It did make me start thinking about doing housecalls for small animal though. Simple wellness care could be done with relatively little upfront costs. We get calls for home care all the time from people who have lots of big dogs or stressed animals or are homebound or who want to euthanize their pet at home. No one in our area does it. I could do it on my days off to see if there is a demand. I’ll have to sleep on this idea for a while to see if it sticks. I get lots of strange ideas and usually they are no longer appealing the next day.
Ah, well that’s certainly not a bad option, then. Interesting to hear how things work differently in different areas of the country. Not that people don’t bury their dead pets in their yards around here, but if they’re found out they face some decently hefty fines over it. *rolling eyes* Makes me wonder what the officals think happen to dead ravens & rabbits & foxes and such in the wild. 😉 Well, I know, they’re generally picked apart by other scavengers rather than buried, but the point is there…. They’re not cremated. LOL
Kati,
I have thought about that. Some people do bury animals here. There is a good cremation service in the area that picks up for the vet hospitals. I think they will go to a person’s house. If leaving the body there until they can pick up isn’t an option I could bring it home and they could pick up from here or I could beg space in a clinic freezer somewhere they go to.
I have a question about the euthenizing at home, it sounds like a good idea, but what is the rule in your area for properly disposing of dead animal bodies??? I mean, when I had my Honey-cat euthenized at one of the local vets, they had free disposal by sending the body in to the animal shelter for mass cremation & proper disposal (or I could have paid more to have her individually cremated & the ashes returned to me). But, technically it’s illegal around here to bury one’s pet on one’s own property, for sanitary reasons, and obviously it’s illegal to toss dead bodies of that sort into the dumpsters at the transfer stations.
So, for euthenizing that’d be a major consideration for me, if I was a vet (not that I’ve got the stomach to be one, but if….). Would it be legal for the pet-owner to bury the body on their own property, and are they capable of doing it (in the case of oldsters having to put down an elderly pet) or would I be capable of taking the deceased pet with me for proper disposal. Just a thought that comes to my mind. Then again, I’m sure you’ve already considered that connundrum, seeing as you ARE a vet and have to deal with such concerns on a regular basis.
YES – do it. I’m sure many people would be appreciative. I’d hire you!