[animaldoc]

Well, I actually am an animaldoc, and when people have PMd me, I have told them my real name and they can check my credentials if they would like. I don't like to put that on all the posts for all to see, because let's face it, there are people that would try to take advice that was given (even with the disclaimer that I could not make a diagnosis without examining a horse, check with the vet that is actually there etc.) and if things didn't go well, lodge a board complaint, sue, etc. Since what I do is my main source of income, I just choose to protect it a little (not that someone couldn't put it together from previous posts if they want).

But anyway, my real point is - as others have said - you shouldn't believe everything (anything?) you read on an internet BB. You can use what people say to get ideas, bring it up with your vet and bounce things off of them they may not have seen or thought of and they can then do more research, refer, etc.

I would also add that while it is rotten to impersonate a professional on the internet, I don't know that it's illegal/criminal - especially if the person is not taking money for the advice or actually impersonating a veterinarian in real life.

[rivenoak]

Can anyone actually find a post where Grataan claims to be a vet? I know she has never disabused the notion when people say she is a vet but did she actually say she is?

Didn't she sometimes refer to the 'husband' as "the other Dr. G" or "Mr. Dr. G"?

Or, do I have her confused with another poster?

[fargaloo]

Can anyone actually find a post where Grataan claims to be a vet? I know she has never disabused the notion when people say she is a vet but did she actually say she is?

Good point. I took a quick look through her posting history and found a post where she referred to where she did her internship....

However, when people ask me "hey, aren't you Angelina Jolie??" I am always scrupulous about saying "I can understand why you would make that mistake, but no, actually, I am Fargaloo."

And, I am an astronaut.

[wcporter]

P.S. this thread is way funner than the blind filly one!

[meupatdoes]

This is how I read it/interpret it - colored type is my addition for clarity:

Me (the mouse) up at (the person standing over me)
does out of the floor quietly Stare,
a poisoned mouse still, who alive,
is asking, "What have i done that
you wouldn't have?"

e.e.cummings

Liz, who has always loved cummings' visual poetry

"Me" is the speaker (human), the one doing the staring is the mouse.
Reworked into normal syntax the poem would state:

A poisoned mouse does quietly stare at Me out of the floor, who, still alive, is asking, "What have i done that You wouldn't have."

[Alagirl]

I hope Lex won't mind me posting this...but someone asked and I think it's a fairly benign story....

So here's how I met Lex. I had spoken and PM'd with Lex for a few years when I lived in MI. So I know his voice.

I went to a dog park (in VA) a few weeks ago that he had recommended. I was a little flustered at one point because my lab wasn't being very polite--read, humping every dog he thought he could--embarassing. I was rounding them up to head home and this nice young man started chatting w/ me and was walking me out.

There was something "familiar" about him but I couldn't put my finger on it.

As we were walking and chatting, I was just SURE it was Lex, but I didn't want to sound like a total creeper by asking "Hey, are you Lex from COTH? I'm Roo."

But once I got to my car, I texted him. "Did I just meet you in the dog park????"

Anyway, it WAS him and he was just trying to help out as he saw I was frazzled and was pretty sure it was me. I mean, who else shows up in riding clothes, tall boots, and has a black lab and a black standard poodle and just arrived in this region of VA? LOL

So. I met Lex.

hilarious!
I am afraid to run into COTHers...they might not be the nice ones.

[monstrpony]

I guess I'm going to have to just put up with the mice showing up in the barn these days. That mouse has (had) a good point ...

[prairiewind2]

"Me" is the speaker (human), the one doing the staring is the mouse.
Reworked into normal syntax the poem would state:

A poisoned mouse does stare at Me out of the floor, who, still alive, is asking, "What have i done that You wouldn't have."

I like mine better! LOL! Then the "up at" makes more immediate sense. And the poem becomes both more personal and from a different point of view than we humans normally take. But that's the great thing about poetry, isn't it? It's open to personal interpretation.

Liz

[Dead Lame]

The poster in question listed dairy vet as her occupation in her profile before the most recent system change. She often spoke about what she was doing between calls, and spoke about herself as Dr.

In real life, I'm not a stalker. This poster pretending to be a vet has grated on my nerves for a long time, but my philosophy is that if you're taking medical advice from strangers on the internet, you get what you deserve. And it's always possible that the posters asking for specific advice were also making up their horses or their problems.

[cowgirljenn]

Didn't she sometimes refer to the 'husband' as "the other Dr. G" or "Mr. Dr. G"?

Or, do I have her confused with another poster?

I've been known to do that - refer to DH as Dr. Mr. CGJ. (But she may have done it as well, I can't remember).

[mvp]

Didn't she sometimes refer to the 'husband' as "the other Dr. G" or "Mr. Dr. G"?

Or, do I have her confused with another poster?

That's what I remember.

[prairiewind2]

I guess I'm going to have to just put up with the mice showing up in the barn these days. That mouse has (had) a good point ...

Mice in the barn a couple of years ago. I killed one - turned out to be a momma. Then the babes started coming out looking for food and (mostly) water. Didn't have the heart to kill them, so I fed and watered them. *sigh*

Liz

[FalseImpression]

I remember one of her posts about euthanising a horse and a dog for a boarder... She always gave me the impression she was a vet... about prescribing Equiox instead of Previcox because that would put her at risk of losing her license...

[Bluey]

I hope Lex won't mind me posting this...but someone asked and I think it's a fairly benign story....

So here's how I met Lex. I had spoken and PM'd with Lex for a few years when I lived in MI. So I know his voice.

I went to a dog park (in VA) a few weeks ago that he had recommended. I was a little flustered at one point because my lab wasn't being very polite--read, humping every dog he thought he could--embarassing. I was rounding them up to head home and this nice young man started chatting w/ me and was walking me out.

There was something "familiar" about him but I couldn't put my finger on it.

As we were walking and chatting, I was just SURE it was Lex, but I didn't want to sound like a total creeper by asking "Hey, are you Lex from COTH? I'm Roo."

But once I got to my car, I texted him. "Did I just meet you in the dog park????"

Anyway, it WAS him and he was just trying to help out as he saw I was frazzled and was pretty sure it was me. I mean, who else shows up in riding clothes, tall boots, and has a black lab and a black standard poodle and just arrived in this region of VA? LOL

So. I met Lex.

My goodness, what self restrain!

I would have been too shocked to do other than blurting a question first, think later.
Glad that you got your dogs back under control, with his so nice help.

[RaeHughes]

Many thanks for the morning entertainment

I must admit i have only just worked out that "Lex" is not a woman - I am really behind the times.

And Rae is my IRL name

[FlashGordon]

I hope Lex won't mind me posting this...but someone asked and I think it's a fairly benign story....

So here's how I met Lex. I had spoken and PM'd with Lex for a few years when I lived in MI. So I know his voice.

I went to a dog park (in VA) a few weeks ago that he had recommended. I was a little flustered at one point because my lab wasn't being very polite--read, humping every dog he thought he could--embarassing. I was rounding them up to head home and this nice young man started chatting w/ me and was walking me out.

There was something "familiar" about him but I couldn't put my finger on it.

As we were walking and chatting, I was just SURE it was Lex, but I didn't want to sound like a total creeper by asking "Hey, are you Lex from COTH? I'm Roo."

But once I got to my car, I texted him. "Did I just meet you in the dog park????"

Anyway, it WAS him and he was just trying to help out as he saw I was frazzled and was pretty sure it was me. I mean, who else shows up in riding clothes, tall boots, and has a black lab and a black standard poodle and just arrived in this region of VA? LOL

So. I met Lex.

LOL this is awesome.

[SarahandSam]

I'm so boring. My name is really Laura and I do live in KY. Sigh. Some of you even know me in real life. Boring, boring, boring. Maybe I need a secret life and alter.

Ditto. I feel like I am missing an opportunity for glamour and intrigue here. Maybe I am really named Sam and my horse is named Sarah. But I have already stated that he's a gelding, so perhaps he's conflicted.

It amazes me that anyone would bother lying in a community like this. I am pretty sure I've either knowingly or unknowingly met everybody in the WNY area who posts here, and I'm sure it's like that for most people here... the horse world is more linebred and overlapping than a halter paint's pedigree.

[Heinz 57]

I would just like to point out that Grataan's profile does still state Occupation:
Dairy veterinarian.

ETA: and no, my name is not really Heinz. It's Erin, but when I joined COTH there was a rather infamous moderator named Erin that I wanted to avoid confusion with!

I do love ketchup though.

[Alagirl]

Ditto. I feel like I am missing an opportunity for glamour and intrigue here. Maybe I am really named Sam and my horse is named Sarah. But I have already stated that he's a gelding, so perhaps he's conflicted.

It amazes me that anyone would bother lying in a community like this. I am pretty sure I've either knowingly or unknowingly met everybody in the WNY area who posts here, and I'm sure it's like that for most people here... the horse world is more linebred and overlapping than a halter paint's pedigree.

I have always read your name as Shazam anyhow...

[netg]

I know CrazyHorses, or some similar username. Haven't seen her here in a while so I don't remember.

I bought a horse from acottongim so she knows I'm real, or at least my checks are. ;-) There's someone else who posted and I believe rides with my trainer, but with few posts over a lot of time I don't think she ever checked back on the thread to say if I knew her or not and I haven't seen her in person to ask.

And my username is my username all over the place. No secret who I am.


I have found that my writing style makes me sound more self-assured than I intend to, and have at times had to clarify to people who think I'm an expert (or believe myself to be) that, no, I'm an ammy whose head can be up my butt just like most ammies...