The Dead Poodle

A lady runs into the vet's office carrying her poodle, screaming for help. The vet rushes her back to an examination room and has her put her poodle down on the examination table.

The vet examines the still, limp body and after a few moments, quietly tells the lady her dog, regrettably, is dead. The woman, on the verge of hysteria and not willing to accept this, demands a second opinion.

The vet leaves the examination room and momentarily returns with a cat. He places the cat down next to the dog's body. The cat sniffs the body, walks from head to tail, poking and sniffing the dog's body and finally looks at the vet and meows.

The vet looks at the woman and says, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but the cat agrees with my diagnosis. He thinks that your dog is dead, too."

Still unwilling to accept that her dog is dead, the lady demands one more opinion. So the vet brings in a black lab, and like the cat, the lab sniffs the body, walks from head to tail, and finally looks at the vet and barks.

The vet looks at the lady and says, "I'm sorry, but the lab thinks your dog is dead too."

The woman, finally resigned to the diagnosis, thanks the vet and asks how much she owes. The vet answers, "$495."

"$495 to tell me my dog is dead?" exclaims the woman.

"Well," the vet replies, "I would only have charged you $50 for my initial diagnosis. The additional $445 was for the cat scan and lab test."