Overmedication - not an exclusively U.S. phenomenon

Today I had my first experience with Bulgarian vets. Totally out of the blue. Sure, I have a mild case of conjunctivitis, but that's nothing that mom cannot treat with her natural remedies. But today, seeing as she didn't have to go to school, she decided that it would be a good opportunity to check out a vet now that there is nothing urgent, rather than wait for something really bad to happen.

So off we went. Actually, it took me a while to realize what's going on, because the vet is right in the neighborhood, very close to the river, so poor, naive me, I thought I was going on a walk. When I realized what was going on, mostly from the overload of dog smells right at the entry of the building, it was already too late.

Mom had found this vet clinic on the web because as I said, it is very close to home, and also because they advertise that they speak English. So language was not a problem, fortunately. There were 3 people in the office, a woman and two men, and it was not clear whether all three were vets or one of them was an assistant. The woman seemed to be guiding the process, but the men looked quite knowledgeable as well.

The office was bare of any high technology, but it was clean and low-key. It was a pleasant surprise to be greeted by the vets themselves, without the gate-keeping secretaries that are an integral part of all clinics in the U.S., whether it's for people or humans. None of the "you must wait to see the doctor" or "you must have an appointment" business. You just walk in, and if the doctor is busy, you wait.

The first bad sign came right after the initial greetings. Mom, always more prepared for my doctor's appointments than for her own, had brought my complete medical records with her. The woman vet took a look at them and looked puzzled. Apparently there were not enough vaccinations in her view. She started talking about how in Bulgaria dogs must get all vaccinations every year, and I could see mom getting an allergic reaction. Fortunately she managed to maintain her composure and explain very calmly that I do not need any vaccinations at the moment.

Then it was time for my eye exam. To their credit, the doctors were very thorough. They turned my eylids inside out (I wasn't very happy) and they stained my retina to check for trauma. Nothing, fortunately. So mom's diagnosis was confirmed.

Now, the problem with conjunctivitis is that unless you do a culture of the excretion, you can't know if it is bacterial or viral. If it is bacterial it needs antibiotic treatment. If it's viral, however, it's like a cold: you just need to let it run its course.

This disctinction, however, didn't make much difference to the vet. She stated that I had to take antibiotics and when mom protested (mildly), her response was that "even if it's viral, the antibiotics will do good". ??? Long story short, we came home with a course of oral antibiotics (amoxicillin with clavulanic acid), a tube of ophthalmic gentamicin (also antibiotic), and dexamethasone eye drops, and with instructions to go back for vaccinations. Needless to say, mom is not giving me any of that stuff. We'll wait a day or two and see if the infection clears on its own and if not, then it will be time for the antibiotics.

The whole experience was a bit of a disappointment, though it could be worse, I guess. And to be fair, in the U.S too there are many vets that are a little to eager to load me with meds. Once again I am reminded of how lucky I am to have such a great vet in the U.S. (miss you guys!). I am also very lucky that my colitis is under control and I don't need vet care at the moment. Let's just hope I will continue that way...