Vet waiting room

Most of the pet's owners at the vet are very friendly and talkative.  
Every time I take my cat (sakura-chan) to the vet, I am warmly welcomed by them when I enter the waiting room. 
They all love to talk about their pet's health problems, their age, etc. and they always give nice compliments about each others pets. 

We all listened sympathetically as one lady told us about her dog's recent lack of appetite.  Another lady replied "Oh, the poor thing. He looks quite pale."
Pale? The dog was black!
I thought it was a joke, but nobody was laughing.

I stared at the dog, looking for signs of a pale complexion, but he still just looked black to me.