A woman brought a very limp duck into the office of a veterinarian.

As she laid her pet duck, Cuddles, on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to its chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, "I'm so sorry. Your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed owner wailed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. The duck is dead," he replied.

"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, returning a few moments 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 at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog and took it out. He returned a few moments later with a cat.

The cat jumped up on the table and also sniffed delicately at the bird from head to foot. Sitting back on its haunches, the cat 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've already told you, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

Then 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.

"$150.00?" she cried, "$150.00 - just to tell me my duck is dead?"

The vet shrugged. "I'm sorry. but if you'd taken my word for it in the first place, the bill would have been $20.00 but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now gone up to $150.00."
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