[Jacob-list] vets - a matter of economics

[Robvcas at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/25/01 10:51:35 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
mcmcc at ucinet.com writes:


> 
> Exactly.  When I realize what the sick sheep is 'worth' in terms of $ I know
> I need to solve the problem myself either by doing my own vetting or
> shooting.  My vet is wonderful about giving advice over the phone as best he
> can.  In the first couple of years I did have vet calls, even night time
> 

Just like Mary, I realized long ago that its MUCH cheaper to do my own 
vetting.  I have a very knowlegeable friend who showed me the basics of doing 
injections and such, so I had a good start.  If you can't afford or can't get 
a vet to your place, its not too difficult to set up to treat your animals 
yourself.  You really need to do some studying though,  those expensive vets 
do have at least 8 years of college behind them !  I have 3 general livestock 
vet books, two sheep books and the Merck manual as references.  When I need 
to diagnose a sick animal, I start with the "easy"  vet manuals to match the 
symptoms with possible diseases, then read the (hard) Merck manual to get 
very specific about what treatment to use.  Each time I diagnose and treat 
something new, that becomes part of my "education" , and I know how to handle 
it if it should come up again.  After years of treating my own animals, I 
rarely have to look in the books.  I keep a good supply of basic medicines 
and vet supplies on hand, and even if the antibiotics and such go past their 
use date, its still way cheaper to replace them than to call the vet in.  
Most of my learning came from raising goats, which seemed to always need some 
kind of treatment, I've hardly done any vet work in the three years I've had 
Jacobs.  (just annual shots and such)   No one knows your animals better than 
you do, so you're the best candidate to treat them!   Robin Casasanto
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