Читать книгу Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team - Группа авторов - Страница 144

Although it is possible to create complex algorithms factoring in all these criteria, our own brains do much of this automatically. We know that we should be talking to every puppy and kitten owner about vaccinations, parasite control, nutrition, behavior, reproductive control, and zoonoses. We do not think much about nor mention rare recessive genetic conditions because we know we are unlikely to encounter them.

Clients, on the other hand, are by‐and‐large unable to accurately factor risks for their pets. They do not have enough information about the likelihood of each risk, plus many of the risks we would know about, such as blastomycosis or ehrlichiosis, are completely unfamiliar to a client. This is one of the reasons why clients researching their pets' clinical signs on the internet are so frustrating for us. They come up with diagnoses that are extremely unlikely and then may worry unnecessarily, try the wrong home remedy or get upset when we don't think it necessary to test for that disease.

Risk assessment is also difficult for recent veterinary school graduates. It is easy to get lost in the weeds of a long list of rule‐outs. Even for wellness visits, a new graduate may struggle to prioritize. If one has not encountered a puppy of a specific breed before, one may be unsure of what breed‐related disorders should be discussed with the owner or breeder (see 3.13 Breed Predisposition). In many cases, a study may never have been done that would show the prevalence of a specific disorder in a particular breed. Experience is a great teacher, whether the person is a pet owner or a new graduate veterinarian. It is always more difficult to do risk factor analysis for things with which we are less familiar.

Risk assessment is affected by our own biases. For example, we are more likely to diagnose a disease, correctly or incorrectly, that we have recently read about or seen. We are less likely to diagnose or talk with a client about a disease we have never seen, even if we know the clinical signs and likely presentation. The brain is more likely to follow a familiar path. After a personal experience with a certain disease, whether in a patient, a family member or our own pet, we develop blinders to possibilities other than the scenario we already know. For example, if a family member had a bad experience with cancer, a client is less likely to let us treat their pet for cancer. The picture they have of cancer treatment affects how they regard the risks or rewards of treatment.

Also, things that frighten us more become higher risks in our minds, as when we are more worried about air travel than traveling by car, though the risk of a car accident is far higher than that of a plane crash.

All these factors create incentives to utilize logic and systems to help with risk assessment.