[Real Animal Friend]

Hello everyone,

I carry out independent research about cats (specifically bengal cats) and I make documentaries covering many subjects incuding general wellbeing, behavior, nutrition, breeding, medical, pharmaceutical and vet pratices.

I am looking for experienced vets that are not only passionated about cats but also carry out independent research since many years, using "full"critical thinking, empirical research and data analysis.

From this, I expect to build a longterm relation with some veterinary experts who I would like to work with on various subjects. The collaboration will involve interviews for my documentaries, discussions around data and empirical studies and also some appointments for my cats when they need to be checked / treated.

Note that I am not a vet myself but I have carried out scientific research at University and I spend most of my spare time researching.
I also have advanced knowledge in medical due to the fact that my family works in this branch which means that I've had the chance to have medical professionals teaching me / responding to my questions for over two decades.

In case you might wonder why I don't simply find some local vets on the internet, the reason is that I am facing an important problem:
Most vets I have seen so far (I regularly try different ones) are innapropriate due to a serious lack or total absence of critical thinking and independent research.
This ususally means that these particular vets get offended when I question their diagnosis and the treatment offered.
The problem gets worse as these vets usually have other issues paired with the lack of critical thinking such as:
-Ego / Pride related issues
-Dogmatic relations with their institutions which leads to the nearly automatic repetition of the same "pre-digested opinions"
-Refusal to consider other analysis and treatment options.
-Refusal to explain accurately why a given treatment is suggested in relation to symtoms.
-Absence of interest when it comes to looking into or reconsidering the source of certain health issues.
-Academic Arrogance: Apparent belief that all vets automatically know everything that needs to be known about cats and that people who have not obtained a vet diploma cannot make a valid point or have advanced knowledge and experience.
-Emotional / Academic Arrogance reactions that often lead to a disrespectful treatment of the client, including verbal agressivity, unfounded accusations of mistreatment, regular attempts to get my cats unnecessarily hospitalised and more...

To illustrate with one exemple, general anti-biotics are being unnessecarily prescribed way too often and other options such as local treatment are too often ignored (based on my empirical evidence but also other sources).
My experience has shown on multiple occasions (based on irrefutable empirical evidence) that I was right to disagree with the vet and avoid general anti-biotics which, as we know, gradually loose their efficiency if given too often...
I could give more exemples within other categories such as nutrition, wellbeing, reproduction and more but I believe the right vet will immediatly know what I am talking about here.

Note that I have listed many negative elements related to my bad experiences here but rest assured that I am a very positive and open minded person who is and will continue to be appreciated by medical experts who also function with what I call "full critical thinking".

Please feel free to ask questions.
I am based in London but would be prepared to travel.

Looking forward to meeting my future collaborators!

Best Regards,

Real Animal Friend

 

[OrientalSlave]

What are your qualifications? How long have you been doing this? Have you published any papers?

 

[Real Animal Friend]

What are your qualifications? How long have you been doing this? Have you published any papers?

Hi Oriental slave, Thanks for your response. From your questions, I think that you are either missing the point or maybe you are part of the group that believes there is a link between intelligence and "quaifications" obtained...

As you might have guessed, I do not wish to give my identity here as I am aware the subjects I am treating are very sensitive.
So I'm not going to type my CV here...

I can however confirm that I have published content that is doing well on the internet and this content has been appreciated by some vets too.
I've also worked with a top scientific media during the covid crisis and was offered to represent two official british political parties thanks to my knowledge in medical and my abiity to connect medical with economics, pharmaceutical, justice and other fields.

I could definitely impress here by mentioning many of my achievements in different fields but I believe what I've written in the post is enough to draw the attention of the vet's who correspond to the projects.

 

[OrientalSlave]

Now lets see. I can answer my own questions without giving you enough to work out who I am. I didn't ask for your full CV.

1. What are your qualifications? I have a BSc in Computing from the Open University
2. How long have you been doing this? 40 years
3. Have you published any papers? Not relevant in my field, but I wrote most of the software my main client used, most of the time.

That wasn't hard and you still have no idea who I am from this.

i do no believe qualifications prove intelligence, nor that lack of qualifications prove lack of intelligence. However as a quick read through the comments in many online publications demonstrates, a great many people leave education with no or very little concept of critical thinking, and it seems most of them don't managed to develop it later in life. Also many - most? - seem to leave education with the idea that there are 'right' and 'wrong' answers - without the appreciation that many - most? - real life questions (including medical & veterinary ones) don't have a clear right answer. It seems to be human nature to want a 'right' answer but maybe that's also the way we educate our children. Suffice to say, many questions & situations don't have a single back or white, right or wrong answer, but many shades of grey. Certainly more than Fifty.

"I have published content that is doing well on the internet" How is it doing in peer-reviewed journals?

In the highly unlikely event any vets here (I only know of one) get in tough I hope you will be prepared to reveal all to them. Right now to me this reads like a journalist trying to some qualified input to 'big up' ideas that are probably 'alternative' and not related to EBM* EBM happens to be what the only vet I know of here practises.

*Evidence Based Medicine.

 

[Real Animal Friend]

Now lets see. I can answer my own questions without giving you enough to work out who I am. I didn't ask for your full CV.

1. What are your qualifications? I have a BSc in Computing from the Open University
2. How long have you been doing this? 40 years
3. Have you published any papers? Not relevant in my field, but I wrote most of the software my main client used, most of the time.

That wasn't hard and you still have no idea who I am from this.

i do no believe qualifications prove intelligence, nor that lack of qualifications prove lack of intelligence. However as a quick read through the comments in many online publications demonstrates, a great many people leave education with no or very little concept of critical thinking, and it seems most of them don't managed to develop it later in life. Also many - most? - seem to leave education with the idea that there are 'right' and 'wrong' answers - without the appreciation that many - most? - real life questions (including medical & veterinary ones) don't have a clear right answer. It seems to be human nature to want a 'right' answer but maybe that's also the way we educate our children. Suffice to say, many questions & situations don't have a single back or white, right or wrong answer, but many shades of grey. Certainly more than Fifty.

"I have published content that is doing well on the internet" How is it doing in peer-reviewed journals?

In the highly unlikely event any vets here (I only know of one) get in tough I hope you will be prepared to reveal all to them. Right now to me this reads like a journalist trying to some qualified input to 'big up' ideas that are probably 'alternative' and not related to EBM* EBM happens to be what the only vet I know of here practises.

*Evidence Based Medicine.

Hi Oriental Slave.

Thanks for your response and sorry about the delay.

Basically, I think we have very different ways to look at things so I'm not sure how to respond.
Here I am looking for a vet because they are well positioned to know a lot about vet practices.

To cut short, I wouldn't base my selection on degrees, diplomas or peer to peer revues (even if I would of course take this into account).
From my experience, a five minutes conversation is enough to determine if a vet has reached the conclusions that you would reach after seriously investigating what vet practices are doing and why...
Then, another problem is that some of the vets who could be suitable for my project might not want to get involved in subjects that they know are "sensitive".
Many must be scared to loose their job and get in trouble...

 

[OrientalSlave]

I've just noticed one of your tags is 'vet malpractices'. If I was a vet that would scare me away.

 

[huckybuck]

The tone of the “opening discussion” would scare me away 😂