It’s reassuring to know that our dealings with our doctor or other health professionals are protected by patient confidentiality – but did you know that the same applies for animals that are taken to the vet?!
I can’t help wondering if this is taking the whole concept of patient confidentiality a tad too far …
I discovered the rules regarding patient confidentiality for animals quite by accident recently, when we had some very sad news.
Miss Fleur’s brother and litter mate passed away suddenly – despite the fact that they are just 18 months old.
We very nearly adopted her brother at the same time we got Fleur, so I am kinda glad we didn’t – imagine how devastated I would be right now; even just having met this lovely fellow a couple of times, I am terribly sad.
It seems that Fleur’s brother had a heart defect from birth and his poor old heart just gave out.
I learned about this tragedy through the wonders of social media; I follow the rescue organisation on Facebook, and read the update there.
It wasn’t long however before I started to worry about our own adorable kitty – could she too have inherited this heart defect? The rescue organisation couldn’t give me much information, although they did pass on the details of the vet involved.
As a very worried mama of our precious furbaby, I wasted no time in phoning the vet to find out more, explaining that our kitties were born in the same litter. Could it be hereditary? What had happened exactly to her brother? What warning signs should we be alert for?
And that was when I discovered that patient confidentiality even applies to animals. The vet was unable to give me any details or information whatsoever, and could only recommend that I arrange an appointment with my own vet.
While I understand that the vet had to follow the rules, I am left a bit puzzled as to the necessity of it – especially in a case like this, where it could help save the life of another animal.
Did you realise there was such a thing as patient confidentiality for animals, or am I just a bit naive?!