# Dr Pol diagnosis for Golden, yuck!



## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Selli....So you got your Vet education from where? If you watch Dr. Pole's show more you would have known that he has a comprehensive lab, in his office that allows him to do more than most vets, in his office. He has a customer file of over 19,000 customer, many are farmers, but not all. He is an 'old school' vet, but he also uses the vet school for student interns and even hiring new vets. 

And, as you mentioned, the show editing frequently leaves out a lot of details....


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Dr. Pol has been in some trouble with the state of Michigan vet licensing. He did have his licensed pulled for awhile when he messed up pretty severely on a GSP birthing that had very unnecessary negative results.

Veterinary science has advanced a great deal since he was in school. Often he uses practices on TV that I think are very outdated and just plain wrong. Just his complete disregard for pain killers for his patients makes my skin crawl sometimes.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

I saw the same show while channel surfing too Selli. The lady also stated (to my memory) that the dog had been on a diet for 4 yrs too. I can not believe he did not run a thyroid test! 

I never saw his show before and know nothing about the man but wasn't surprised to find he fined and placed on probation for negligence/incompetence years ago.

Dr. Pol, reality TV veterinarian, fined and placed on probation for negligence, incompetence

I can understand "old school" Goldenlover68, but "splinting a calf's leg using wood slivers from a bushel basket and stitching a dog's tail that had been cut off by a screen door with little anesthesia and the owner holding it down" is archaic. It is 2014 for goodness sake not 1914. The next link is 10 months previous to the one above while he was still "in good standing". 

Some reviews of 'The Incredible Dr. Pol' reality show not so incredible

He may be a great go to for the farmers, Seems to me to be more his calling. I for one would never bring my dog to that man, sorry. 

Dr. Pol is coming back | Canis lupus hominis

All about the tv show ratings nowadays, right or wrong that is all the networks give a hoot about.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Dr. Pol disgusts the title 'veterinarian' IMO. I've never watched the show, but from the things I've heard... never would be able to.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I never heard of the guy but from what I am gathering, not somebody I would want to take care of my dogs. 
I worked with several primarily large animal vets and truthfully, most of them should stick to large animals and not treat dogs, cats etc. And then I still feel sorry for the large animals they treat.
There are a few exceptions, like the vet I am taking my dogs to, thank goodness.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

goldlover68 said:


> Selli....So you got your Vet education from where? If you watch Dr. Pole's show more you would have known that he has a comprehensive lab, in his office that allows him to do more than most vets, in his office. He has a customer file of over 19,000 customer, many are farmers, but not all. He is an 'old school' vet, but he also uses the vet school for student interns and even hiring new vets.
> 
> And, as you mentioned, the show editing frequently leaves out a lot of details....


Selli says she would have gone to MSU, but they don't accept dogs as students.

Dr Pol stated that seizures were not common in dogs.....the GRCAs scientific health survey from 1998 found more reports of seizures in Goldens than reports of Hemangio and SAS in Goldens.

According to the study, Hypothyroidism in Goldens is the most commonly reported health concern in Goldens other than Hotspots!

As to the testing facilities, I live in SE Michigan and even the large referral practices around here send their thyroid tests to MSU if they want to run a full panel.

Regardless of the editing, i.e., what actually happened in the practice, Dr Pol has given the audience information that seizures are not common in dogs, which is factually inaccurate and potentially dangerous. There are inexpensive drugs that can control seizures and I know that my sister has been able to control her dog's seizures with diet.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I am not a big fan of Dr. Pol, either.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Anybody here a vet? NO! Like belly buttons, you all have an opinion!...Nothing more...


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

My husband grew up raising beef and horses in northern Idaho. His family very rarely ever called a vet. They went to the feed store and got what they needed to take care of their animals. They used their horses also for logging and guiding for elk hunting season. So their animals were definitely how they made a living. Their horses were draft type of logging, thoroughbreds for cutting, and mules for hunting. DH doesn't have a problem with Dr Pol's large animal practices. DH has more of a problem with the farmers on the show that seem so helpless and relying on the vet for far too much. DH also thinks most of those farmers they show on TV do not have any common sense. But hey it's called reality TV for a reason right?


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## Ivyacres (Jun 3, 2011)

We watch the show each week even though we may not always agree with what we see, we find it it's entertaining. 
I wouldn't trust a reality program for information about my animal's condition/care, if I want real info I search it out or call my vet.


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## Colie CVT (Sep 15, 2013)

Speaking as a member of the veterinary medicine community, and someone who worked for a mixed animal vet gone small after his knee was nearly destroyed by a cow, the things that I have heard about this guy make me twitch. The first vet I worked for was a good man. I could never go back to working at a practice like his however again. It is hard enough some days for me to go into the general practice that I work at. 

The reason is very simple.

I work at a large specialty/emergency clinic as my main job the last seven years. I have learned so much and gotten to do so many things that are very similar protocols to that used in HUMAN medicine practices. We use a lot of pain control. We have round the clock monitoring for patients. Many different diagnostic tools. A staff that is highly trained, skilled and compassionate. I have stood side by side with some truly amazing vets, doing things I never thought possible. Things that the kind of practice that Dr. Pol has likely could not have done.

Honestly, even looking back at episodes of Emergency Vets (which I actually work with a vet who was in the first season of that show), I still find myself cringing. There was an episode where one of the vets did a GDV surgery on a dog just out on a wet sink with basically just sterile gloves on! The patient later on passed away. The other patient who had the same surgery in the episode but was done within a surgery suite with much heavier aseptic technique managed to survive. 

It makes me question just what factors of what is or isn't done could do. People tend to believe what they see on television or discover on the internet as actual facts, when the truth is that it often is a far cry from the truth. :/ How anyone could believe that seizures are not a common problem in dogs simply baffles me. It is one of the number one reasons that we see dogs brought into the ER! Whether they are actively seizing or not at the time depends (And you don't even want to know how hard it is to get an intravenous catheter into a dog's leg when its shaking and jerking about!).

I would be very confident that where I work would show a progressive and advanced form of veterinary medicine. Which is something that should be seen, as we are progressing forward!


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