I just HAVE to know. Soapbox inquisition.?

Question

Please excuse me while I hop onto the soapbox for a few minutes here. But there are things that I just really don’t understand here in Answers.
Why do so many people post questions here when they know that they are not going to get the help that they are asking for? No, no… I am not saying that there are not thousands of people here that don’t want to help! No, the ones that I am talking about are the ones that ask the questions that we are not qualified or willing to help with. Such as my dog is dying and I can’t/won’t take it to a vet. Tell me how to “fix” it or it is going to die. No semi-intelligent person on this site or any other is going to take up that flag and try to fix a strangers animal on sketchy information and without a medical degree. I am a vet tech… but I am talking Medical license here such as DMV. Not even a VET is going to give diagnoses and treatment over the net. What gets to me more is that a lot of the people that post these questions are not necessarily new to this site. Are they all just out to get the fur up on people that care or are some of them actually thinking that they have a chance of getting an on-line miracle cure?
And another thing: Why do many of the people ask for advice and then get angry or even belligerent when they don’t like the advice given to them. When you go and ask a virtual encyclopedia of strangers for advice and a vast majority are telling you the same thing again and again… shouldn’t that be a clue that the advice just may have some merit to it? And why even ask if you have your mind made up anyway? Why waste your time or anyone else’s? I really like Answers and I have met some really good, intelligent people here but sometimes, quite frankly, my legs get tired from wading through the idiots to get to them.
Everyone needs help from time to time. I am just concerned that those people stand a chance of getting lost amidst all of the people that just really don’t care and post for reasons that I can’t figure out.
Ok… Someone else can have the soap box for a bit. I am really not sure if anyone has answers for me on this one but if you do I would LOVE to hear it.
~Tyed~

stulisa4: I know well enough to check the age of the people before they iritate me. What I am talking about are the adults. I am talking about mitzy that just can not justify getting fluffy to the vet because she has to have that new gold ipod or
So and So that has 4 unaltered animals and is letting them breed and wants advice on how to deliver a puppy twisted in the canal because she AINT gonna spend money she doesn't have (forget the fact that she has a computer to gripe at) to get hte dog emergancy care.
I take care to care for the children and I do my best to educate. It is not them that I am questioning.

Answer 1

Are you trying to tell me that you can't walk me thru life saving surgery?? You mean that there is no home remedy for a life and death situation??

WOW, and I pay absolutely nothing to be here.. and I thought for sure I was going to get some answers..

I'm messin with you.. I think this exact thing every single day when someone's dog is on death's door and their comment is ' please help me, but DO NOT tell me to call my vet ' ! :)

Answer 2

Yup. Bizarre.

I do have to agree with Kuu Noita, though. There are a lot of things that you don't have to take your pet to the vet for and, therefore, can save money by treating them yourself. I get my pet's meds, syringes, and needles from the feed store but if it's a med that MUST come from a vet then my vet gives me those. That way I can treat my herd and he doesn't have to see them and charge me $$$ for all of them.

In many cases people don't need to go to a vet to diagnose and treat common illnesses. Rabbits are the perfect example to make my point. Many people have them as house pets but don't know much about them. Sometimes a what they think is a life and death situation is really not and they just want to make sure that their worry is warranted before they unnecessarily spend a small fortune at the vet. No one ever realizes how expensive it is to treat a tiny little rabbit until they have a sick one, btw.

Besides the vet, the breeder can also help with some very common health problems and give sound advice. Of course, that advice may very well be "Go to the vet" but it is the breeder, after all, that helped to create some of the content for modern rabbit medicine books. Many a vet has learned from the breeder. Not because they are smarter or better trained but because the rabbit vet isn't working with the same herd of 20 to 100 rabbits throughout the day, and sometimes, night. The breeder could actually have more practical experience, may also be familiar with the rabbit medicine books, and consulted with their own herd's vet about the same easily treatable problem that someone is asking about

I've seen some questions be answered by no less than 8 people and every answer was giving the same advice but they were all wrong. So a majority answer is not always the right one. One such case was when the rabbit owner was thinking she might need to take her rabbit to the vet. At least 6 people advised her to rush it to the emergency room "because rabbits can die quickly".

Only one person gave the best advise. It was to check the nozzle of the water bottle to see if her rabbit was able to get water out of it because they sometimes get stopped up and rabbits don't eat if they can't get water. Other instructions were given on how to do an external check before jumping the gun and going to the vet.

Taking the rabbit to the emergency animal hospital in the middle of the night could have easily cost her $400+ but more likely would have been a futile exercise because it is very rare to find a vet at an emergency clinic trained in rabbit medicine let alone find one there in the middle of the night. I hope the owner took the advice of the later.

A lot of people give an answer because they are guessing, or even though they have never dealt with the problem personally, the answer seems intuitive but they still get it wrong.

I understand your point. It annoys me, too, sometimes. What annoys me more is when people just make up nonsense questions to get their kicks.

Answer 3

I've said this 50 times,,,,so here goes 51. Alot of these people are children looking for help,,and have no choice if mommy or daddy won't take the animal to the vet. You guys act like everyone on here is a mental deficient adult asking retarded questions, but probably more than half are kids. They have no choice and are afraid for their pets and then they get trashed for asking.

What might be a stupid question to a 50 year old dog specialist vet tech,breeder of champion whatevers, is a genuine concern of a child who doesn't have your experience, and maybe doesn't even realize that the situation is hopeless, looking for a last ditch effort which is all they CAN do.

Experience and common sense are what give the adults on here their info. How many 12 yr old do you all know that has very much experience and/or common sense yet.

Of course some of these guys are just trying to get your hackles up,,,and they get what they want instead of being ignored like adults should be able to do. When someone says " Is it ok if I cut my yorkies legs off since I carry her everywhere anyway?" you can assume they are messing with you.

When you guys start to trash these people for a question that seems silly or ignorant to you,,,picture a scared 12 yr old crying and upset over her dog that she can't take to the vet because unlike you, she/he can't drive, pay,get a job etc. When you call someone irresponsible and cruel, think first .....is it a child who honestly doesn't realize what to do about a dog in labor or heat,, with no guidence from the parents?

We have the opportunity to help educate these kids, so that unlike the parents, they will have the info and knowledge to make good pet owners as adults,,but instead some of you guys just drive them away and crush them.

The best way to make a kid rebel is to try and drive a message into them rather than guide with understanding.
If that is the goal....Good Job guys.the plan to phase out all children(and even some adults) from being responsible pet owners in the future, is nearly complete.

Answer 4

I agree with you most people should be calling the vet instead of typing a question on the computer.

I try and answer questions I have knowledge of.
I raise rabbits and have been for 15 years. I feel I do know a little about them. I do not answer questions I don't know about. i do not litter train my rabbits as they all live in my barn. I cannot give advice on that, so I don't. But it someone asks about sore hocks, I can answer that, as I have dealt with it. These are just examples.

A lot of the answers I see people give are to just get the points. As if that "means" anything in the grand scheme of things.

When I answer a question I try and help that person with my knowledge. I do not claim to have all the answers but if I feel I can help someone I will.

I am going to say something that may upset you and others on this forum. I do not think that every little thing that happens with a pet merits running to the vet. If pet owners would take the time to learn about their pets and possible ailments they can treat them themselves. I do not like the seeming consensus here that if you are "poor" you don't have the right to have an animal. How totally unfair is that, to deny a person the joy of sharing their life with an animal that they will love?
Many people with unlimited funds have pets and treat them badly.

I guess I would just like to see more "real" questions here and more people who are willing to give an answer that may help not only the asker but anyone else who reads it.

I will now step down from the box.also.....

~KuuNoita~

Answer 5

agreed
why have a pet when you can afford them.
granted some people think they are doing the right thing by ...picking up the turtle and bringing it home but they should really do research before even asking questions on here
it seems to be the same type of questions...what do i feed it? i dont even know what type it is???
what the hell people...GET A BOOK and READ....CALL A VET
then you have people that think they are giving correct advice and go ape$hit on you when you give them more decent advice.
Im not saying I know everything about animals but I know quite a bit since I take care of over 150 of them ranging from bears to salamanders

Answer 6

I love that too!! The "Dog dying, no car, no phone, no money,is there any home remedy, and no rude answers please".
These people know there is NO help for them, so why do they even ask?????

Answer 7

haha i most definatly agree!
it drives me crazy when people ask questions like ' i have some pain in my side, does anyone have a diagnosis?'
its like..uh no? go to a clinic or something instead of asking people onlinee!

hha well thank you for bringing that upp!

Answer 8

With ya - and today seems like a particularly bad day for this.

Answer 9

My setiments x-actly