Did I really just have a guy come in 20 minutes ago and spend a solid 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get me to make a recommendation for his CAT?
70 year old patient here at my pharmacy walks up 20 minutes ago with a myriad of topical creams, ointments, and lotions he as procured over the last 5 years here and proceeds to set them out on the counter. Yup, there are 6 tubes of cream, 2 tubes of ointment, and 1 lotion....and just for good measure, a couple of eye drops. He begins describing a spot in "the fur". It's red, looks possibly infected with a black spot in the center of it. I ask him for clarification of what "fur" he means. I get a simple answer of "my cat". He points to the counter and asks me "which of these should I use on it?" I try to explain to him that this question would be better answered by his veterinarian. So, he tries a different approach "I was thinking maybe one of these two (holding up tubes of generic Lotrisone and Mycolog II)". I explain again that I really cannot tell him, as I'm not a vet, and honestly don't know what might be wrong with his cat. I walk back to my filling area, only to have him walk over to stand right in front of me again. I look up, and he says to me "Well, what would you do if it was YOUR cat?" I finally told him "Listen Bob (not his real name). I understand you do not want to take your cat to the vet and have a bill from it. That being said, I can assure you that I am NOT a vet. I do not know what any of those creams or ointments may do to your cat. Felines have much different systems from ours, and for all I know, those may all cause some serious skin irritation or worse. You can always try to call your vet and see what they say." He gives me a sour look and responds with "Yeah...but they'll want me to bring it in and pay an office visit".
It was at that point, I had to walk away. Another day in the life of a "free doctor" (aka Pharmacist).
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