Exactly this... there is always a pro/con to everything, risk/reward, etc.... the dog that needs vaccines but I can't touch, owner can't muzzle however I can get it behind a door to give it vaccines... it is getting vaccines and that is it. Yes, I could spend the time attempting to sedate the dog so that I can do an exam first, then vaccinate the dog, but really there is a risk to the dog in doing that, that really doesn't benefit a giant reward, considering the age and overall health of the dog at the time. You can also gain a LOT of information about an animal from a distance. I could tell the dog was walking well, not limping, I could see clean teeth through an open mouth panting. I could get a gauge of the dog's respiratory pattern/effort. I could visibly see no skin abnormalities, no alopecia, ears were pink, not inflammed, no discharge, eyes were clear with no discharge. So, really, while I couldn't put my hands on the dog I got a heck of a lot of information just from observation from a distance. And I informed the owner of the things I could tell about their pet vs. those that I could not (i.e. heart murmurs, abdominal palpation, feeling for lumps/bumps) and they understood. I also took the opportunity to talk with them about things that can possibly make a future vet visit better for the dog and maybe even allow us to examine the dog with a muzzle. Should the dog have been sick, then I would have made sure I got my hands on that dog for a full physical, but it wasn't worth the risk to sedate a dog just to vaccinate. Not to mention the cost to the owner, the time it would take to sedate the dog, etc. It wasn't my intention to do "less" for the dog, but to do what I could knowing the risk/benefits, cost to client, and time available.
Also, sedating for things like nail trims, anal glands, grooming, etc... there is a risk to that and frequent sedation is not something we should strive for. I may have made a groomer upset a few weeks ago because I didn't sedate an animal as heavily as normal for grooming because the previous grooming the animal's heart rate got scary low... and while the sedation does decrease heart rate this was lower than what anyone should be comfortable with and it isn't worth the risk to the pet. So I cut back on sedation but it was still adequate for the groomer to do what was needed, I could tell that the groomer wasn't thrilled about my method though. Too bad, my job isn't to appease the groomer, it is to be sure my patient gets the treatment it needs as safely as possible (for everyone) with as little risk as possible. There is definitely a fine balance and not everything is black and white. While it seems simple enough to just sedate that fractious animal for its nails or anal glands or whatever, those are common enough procedures that it isn't appropriate to be sedating for every nail trim or every anal gland expression, so there is definitely balance involved. Not only that, but you turn what can be an appointment done by a technician (a nail trim) into an appointment that needs to see a doctor every time, taking up an appointment slot/time that could be given to a sick animal and taking up the doctor's time to come up with a sedation protocol for a procedure that will take less than 5 minutes... you can see how if we are able to safely trim nails without sedation or maybe some oral sedation given at home first, it becomes a much better and more feasible option, not only time wise, but patient safety wise and client cost wise.
And that is just discussing healthy animals, that doesn't take into account those with underlying health issues. Yes, that dog may very will be Cujo's direct spawn, but I am not about to sedate it because it has a grade VI/VI heart murmur, diabetes, renal disease and is 12 years old.... nope, not sedating. No thanks.
I will anchor a dog. But for some reason I thought you were talking about using the leash as a muzzle and I was thinking that sounds like such a stupid idea.
you gon get bit gurl
