A dog or cat with a fracture in a leg will not use that leg. Even if you pick up the other leg, it will roll down onto the fractured leg. They will bear no weight on a limb fracture.
But that does not mean if the dog will not bear weight on the leg, that it is fractured. This is too much for some veterinarians to keep in mind. So they need x-rays. Even as the pet is walking around. And they will find nothing because cartilage and tendon lesions do not show up on x-rays but that is never explained as the diagnostic is suggested and done.
A cat with a fever of any significance will not eat. But that does not mean a cat without a fever will eat. And, it does not mean that a cat that is not eating has a fever.
This is too much for some veterinarians to keep in mind. So they need bloodwork. They also need the % commission on that blood work.
I haven’t seen this in print anywhere in an employees, manual, but there is a “breadcrumbs, testing algorithm“ at work in certain veterinary practices, especially at the franchise or corporate level. And that is the “stock answer“ to any question being asked:
“What’s wrong with my pet?”
We should be able to answer that question with the results of a few tests.
The test results indicate a specific problem. What’s the prognosis?
We should be able to tell with the results of a few more tests.
What are the chances of my pet survival?
We should be able to tell with the results of the next few tests.
OK so we know it’s UN-treatable is there anything that would buy time?
We should be able to tell with the results of a few more tests.
Wow, this looks really hopeless, should I put my pet to sleep?
We should be able to tell with the results of the next battery of tests.
If you get that answer over and over again from the doctor at the franchise, please realize you are feeding a commissions based machine.