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."