What do you think? Source box wannabee's or real?

Question

I've been in this forum for a while now. I've seen wannabee's come and go. I NOW see a trend that I think may be questionable to say the least. Even dangerous to the askers dog..

People putting, I am a VET in their source box.

Do you think actual Vet's really have the time to come here to answer questions???

What do you think?........

Well I have to agree with Shanna and Shadow's Melon.
Just read they way they answer a question!

AbbyfulI have seen this person too. He is from the UK. He has a sponcer who advertises here on Yahoo. Yes he does have a special badge too.

Not a bad Idea Pom4life!

Answer 1

I don't know a single vet that works all day and then comes home and wants to keep being a vet on the computer. I am sure that 99.9% of the "vets" here are wannabes and I can back that up with their assinine answers.
One so-called vet told someone that they needed to have their dog tested for rabies, and then a real vet tech pointed out that the dog's head has to be cut off to test for rabies. Wouldn't you think that a vet would know that? She also claims to have a DVM in Zoology which doesn't even exist!
People need to realize that while they are impersonating a vet, someone may take their crappy advice and a dog could really get hurt. If you want to impersonate anything else, who cares, but impersonating medical professionals can be really dangerous and they need to realize that.

Answer 2

I would doubt it if someone says in the source box "I am a Vet".that they really are. But...as some have mentioned here..."vets don't have the time". Well, I work as much as a vet....but I'm on here....not claiming to be a vet, but a vet isn't the only person who works a lot. I come here for a get away...and I come to a place where I feel I could make a difference from the experience I have. It's possible...a vet wouldn't come here to give vet advice for free...but what about the vet who doesn't have a family and likes to come on here for relaxation? He/she would probably go to an area where they could answer questions. This would be the place. I don't know...maybe there isn't any vets here....and it's a good possibility the people saying they are vets aren't. I mean..come on...it's the internet....anybody can be what and who they want on the internet!

Answer 3

I, too, think it can be dangerous. I've seen some very questionable responses from people claiming to be vets. Even some of the "vet tech or I work in a vet hospital". Some of us know when an answer is not in our dog's best interest. Not everyone is able to discern that.
IMHO most knowledgeable people do not advertise their expertise. Unfortunately some of the people who put down false credentials are believed by some.
Another example of the perils of the internet.
Great question. Hopefully it will be read by some people taking replies as the gospel truth.

Answer 4

A vet works all day long, and gets paid for it. Why would he come home and go to YA and answer questions for free?
Plus the advice that some of these fake vets give... well if you were to listen to them, your pets would be in huge trouble.. IE the vet who said that you can just take your dog in to have him tested for rabies...

Here's the thing too, There isn't a vet worth anything who would come on YA and give out medical advice without having far more information available to him. A real vet would be asking people results of blood work and everything else.

If any of the people on here claiming to be Vets are actual practicing vets.. Well let's just say, I am glad they don't work where I take my dogs ! With the bad advice they seem to give here, you sure wouldn't want them performing surgery or anything else.

They are all FAKE.. As are Many of the vet techs..

Not THE Vet Tech tho ! She is definitely real!

Answer 5

I agree to an extent, I am a nurse and would not mind sharing medical advice with people, and yes, even after working 11 hours (as I did today), I can still find the time...however, it is kind of scary if people actually take medical advice based on someone putting "I am a vet" in the source box without consulting their true vet first. Sometimes the world just needs some common sense!!!

Answer 6

I think you should be able to judge by the answers they give. When ever I asked a health question of one of the Vets I was co-workers with their response was almost always "I don't know what to tell you unless you bring your dog/cat/whatever in to see me". They always have the better safe then sorry attitude and know pet owners may not be giving all or even accurate symptoms in their questions.

I have seen a few of the people's answers you are talking about, and wondered what kind of vet would give that answer, and not telling them to go to a Vet and get every test you can afford, lol. A couple of the younger Vets I worked with were big Net Geeks, but I usually saw them playing World Of Warcraft or updating their Livejournal, not talking on work related boards talking to pet owners for free.

I see so many I am a Vet/Vet Student/Vet Tech here to believe any of them are, and most Pet Health Professionals probably would not put it in their byline because they would know too many people are fakers for it to mean anything.

Add: To Dog Owner, the only thing I worry about is, (because like you say most answer we give are opinion only), is that a answer given by someone claiming to be a vet might be given more weight by the asker. I also worry it might give the asker a the idea they don't need to go to a real world Vet to ask a question because they can find one here for free. That being said, of course only a fool would substitute someone else judgment for their own, esspecailly an anonymous one on line.

Add: To abbyful, Hey if their is a badge for real Pros then I really now doubt any of the so called vets are now. I have not seen one myself yet. Some might be Vet Techs for real, but I have worked with some Vet Techs that were very knowledgeable, and some that didn't know their *** from a hole in the ground. I have heard some really stupid advice from Techs in the real world being given too (particularly student ones who don't know what they don't know yet), so we must always take advice with a grain of salt and ask for second opinions in the real world too.

Answer 7

I agree. I certainly haven't been on as long as you and many others have but I have noticed it more and more. I believe there are a choice few on here that are legit....but the number of people claiming this, suddenly coming out of the woodwork, is very noticeable. I've also noticed with some that their advice really isn't the greatest either. I'm not a vet, vet assistant, or anything of the sort, and there has been a few times where even I smelled a rat. People who are not vets, shouldn't claim to be. Someone may take their advice seriously, endangering their pet with out realizing, because they thought they got advice from a "real" vet. Its quite sad.

Answer 8

Well, I don't know how many veterinarians actually show up on this forum. I am a veterinary student (yes, a real veterinary student at Michigan State, getting an actual DVM) but would NEVER tell someone to avoid going to the vet. I see it as practice for my critical reasoning skills. I think of what might be wrong, tell them what their vet might be looking for, and give my take on it. I'm only a second year, so there is much I have not learned yet. It also doesn't help that most of my experience is with dairy cattle. Our veterinary school made the mistake of putting computers in our main lecture hall.....and they have internet access. I try to keep my answers between classes, but well, sometimes my will power just isn't strong enough.
Surprisingly enough, I know of vets who would have enough personal time to come in and answer questions. As one of my friends put it, "I'm the vet, I get to set my own hours. If I don't want to work like a dog, I'm not going to." Of course, this only works if you have the money to cut your hours, and have paid off your $100k or more of debt from school.
Basically, when I come here, 95% of the time I'm telling someone to get their butt to a vet. If you see something I write in as misinformation, I would love to hear about it because I need to make sure I've got things straight in my head for later!!! If you see someone claiming to be a veterinarian and actually giving medical advice, report them to Yahoo. They could lose their license for something like that. You really can't make medical decisions off of a question that is usually vague.
Sadly, there are veterinarians out there that are not very good. They don't stay up to date on their pharmacology, and some of them are downright immoral. I've heard some major horror stories about my future colleagues and I have to say I hope I never meet them.
So, basically what I'm saying is, you have to take the answers here with a grain of salt. I've seen some "best answers" that were completely off the wall. It's sad that people just looking for help can be taken in by this.

Answer 9

I believe that's exactly what they are - wannabee''s! A vet is not going to come on here after working all day. The wannabee's seem to answer the simpler questions - questions that ANYONE could answer like "take him to the vet". They don't go into detail because they have no knowledge.

ADD:
I don't know how they could even consider representing themselves as vets. Some people are naive enough to believe it just because they say it. I wouldn't want to take the life of an animal into my hands based on a big, fat lie.

Answer 10

There are a few vets on here not much, mostly plain dog lovers and reputable breeders. That is very dangerous to claim your a vet when your not. You could give the person some incorrect information at the dog's expense.

so if someone says their a vet tech. heres how to tell.

"Take him to a vet quick! the vet prboboly knows what to do
source(s)
I am a vet tech


Chocolate is bad for dogs. I don;t know why but just don't give him any!

source(s)
I am a vet tech.


I guess ol roy is a good food and I feed it to my dogs

source(s)
I am a vet tech


ALL FAKE!