A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her
> pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the
> bird's chest.
>
> After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry,
> your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."
>
> The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure. Your duck is
> dead," replied the vet..
>
> "How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any
> testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."
>
> The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few
> minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on
> in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs,
> put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to
> bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.
>
> The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few
> minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also
> delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its
> haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.
> The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is
> most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."
>
> The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill,
> which he handed to the woman..
> The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150
> just to tell me my duck is dead!"
> The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill
> would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now
> $150."
>
