TODAY I'm travelling back to a time that the door opened and my next client strode briskly into the consulting room.

He paused, slightly red in the face, held his phone out at arm’s length, as if checking for calls, and announced confidently, ‘My dog has Tetralogy of Fallot and Hyperadrenocorticism! But you told me last week he had diabetes!’

I blinked, face like a mask, sighed inwardly, and smiled.

‘You’ve been consulting Google, haven’t you?’ He nodded, quite indignant in his self-righteousness. He had done what many people do; checking a list of symptoms against a list of diseases on the internet.

It is very easy to match anything with anything or everything with everything or something with something. In this case, our client was confusing a very complicated congenital heart problem and an adrenal condition with the clinical signs of his dog’s diabetes (weakness and an increased thirst). It’s so easy!

To be honest, while the internet is great for very many things, and is certainly useful for additional information on medical matters, it is no substitute for a proper examination and diagnosis. And it appears I am not alone in thinking so.

A survey carried out by the British Veterinary Association of 700 companion animal vets showed that 97 per cent said their clients consulted Google with 85 per cent concerned that, as a result, many pets were treated much later than they should be.

Of those vets who had seen animals they felt should have been presented earlier, most suspected financial reasons and a lack of understanding were behind the delay. Attempts to self-diagnose and treat pets – through medication kept at home, bought online or in supermarkets – were also reported as problems.

One vet who completed the survey commented, “‘Dr. Google’ often results in owners misdiagnosing conditions, followed by the client being led to believe that there is a cheap and effective ‘treatment’ obtainable online or from a pet shop…And thus animals suffer far longer than need be…”

Another vet told how a client had checked Google on the phone during his consultation with the vet and how another client had refused an operation on her dog “only to come back with the dog minutes later in a blind panic because the internet had agreed with my advice.”

This vet commented, “It is frustrating that some people appear to genuinely believe that a veterinary degree and a quick search on Google are the same thing.”

The then BVA President and small animal vet Robin Hargreaves said, “It worries me to hear that so many people are relying on guesswork or unverified internet sources for health advice for their pets. While there is some useful information about pet behaviour and health available online, the best source of information for animal health concerns will always be your vet, the person who really knows your pet.”

And there you have it. Now just let me Google him to check he is right…

But fast forward to today and it is much worse. Not only is there Dr. Google, there is also social media where anyone with an opinion on a medical matter can state it as a fact.

Most of these people are the ones who need to be ‘vetted’.