Sometimes big plans look better from a distance.

Cold Cold Heart by Tami Hoag

This accurately describes my childhood aspiration of becoming a veterinarian. It seemed so rewarding and I thought I didn’t have to deal with people. However, getting closer and closer to that plan through my undergraduate career and working as a veterinary assistant, the dream definitely looked better from the outside in. I wanted to work with animals, not people, but those animals are usually attached to a person, and you can’t work on that animal unless that person says you can. Even if you, as a veterinarian, know what’s best for the animal and its health, it’s a matter of whether it can be afforded or whether the animal’s owner allows you to perform the services in the first place. Imagine going to school for 8 years, racking up $200,00 in debt, getting paid only $80,000 starting off, and starting work – only to find out that the owner of the pet believes their breeder or groomer over you. This is not an exaggeration. This happened quite often at the hospital I worked at, and it was common across any hospital any of my veterinary friends worked at also. Even now, it’s still a common problem for my friends that are now veterinarians. You can’t treat a pet, even if you believe a specific procedure or medication is best for the pet, unless you get permission from the owner. Frequently I heard from clients, “If you love animals so much, you would do it for free.” Do you think rent for the hospital space is free? Do you think medications are free? Do you think electricity, water, and veterinary equipment are free? Doctors want to help people, also. When have you ever heard anyone say to a doctor, “Well if you love helping people, you would do it for free”? And frequently, veterinarians and doctors do participate in voluntary or pro bono work on the side! But we all still need to make a living, we have school debt to pay off, rent to pay for, food to buy, etc. Clients/patients are just so ridiculous sometimes. This is the biggest reason why I stopped pursuing veterinary medicine. It’s a losing battle. Veterinarians are not respected as much as doctors and there is a high amount of suicide in the veterinary industry because of how veterinarians are treated. Veterinarians frequently burn out due to compassion fatigue, and rude or disrespectful clients do not help. You definitely need thick skin to be in the veterinary field and owners have made me cry before just by taking their frustrations about their pet out on me. Simply by saying the veterinarian left early due to not feeling well, we’re just closing up. And instead of being compassionate or understanding, owners frequently feel entitled to the hospital’s staff, time, and resources. I don’t know what it’s like to be a doctor or a nurse, but maybe there are some parallels to how staff are treated by clients. You wait at your doctor’s office for an hour or more sometimes, but that’s just part of going to the doctor – you know it’ll take longer than scheduled. But when a veterinarian is 5 minutes late to an appointment because the previous appointment needed extra medical attention or had questions, it’s a whole explosion. We cannot predict exactly how much time a pet will need, and neither can a doctor. The best we can do is estimate the time needed and hope the owner is truthful in reporting the history and symptoms so staff has a better idea of how to handle the appointment. Oftentimes a cat comes in not feeling well and it suddenly turns into a euthanasia because we find out the cat has end stage kidney failure but only showed symptoms now, when it’s too late to fix it. So a 30-minute wellness check turns into an 1.5 hr visit of tests, consultation, options, giving the owner time to consider the options, preparing for the euthanasia, and grieving. And we don’t rush these processes. How awful would you feel if your pet had to be euthanized and someone’s rushing you out the door because the next appointment is there? We don’t do that. We are compassionate for your pet and you. But clients just don’t understand that. Treat your medical and veterinary staff better. Be better. Stop complaining about veterinary prices. If you can’t afford the cost of an exam or an emergency surgery, don’t own a pet. People forget that caring for a pet, another living being, just like a baby, takes time, and lots of money. People forget that accidents can happen and don’t set aside emergency money for that. People just frankly forget that pets cost money. Think ahead before you own a pet. Do you see yourself caring for this pet if it gets hit by a car? What if it breaks a leg? In its old age? Or do you just want a puppy and don’t want to take care of it, you just want something cute? Never ever gift another person a pet. Stop giving people kits (baby rabbits) for Easter, or puppies for Christmas. Stop buying puppies from breeders. Adopt! There are breed-specific rescues! You don’t need to buy a specific breed, they all come with their own health problems anyways. A mixed breed will always be healthier than a purebreed. Stop encouraging people to breed dogs. There’s enough stray animals without homes. Stop making more dogs/cats when there are already dogs/cats in need. You don’t need to spend $2,000 on a puppy when you can adopt a dog for $30 fully neutered and vaccinated out the door. If you want a dog, do it because you want to care for it and love it and give it a good life, not because it’s cute at 2 months old or because it looks a certain way. We hate on people for being racist or for judging people by what they wear or how they look. Think about the parallels.

I never intended to get a cat at all. It just happened that my friends found a stray and I took him in. I saved money, brought him into the hospital I worked at for his check ups and wellness, and he is my happy little boy that keeps me going everyday. I didn’t choose him because of how he looked. I did it because he needed help and I was in a position to care for him in the best way possible, and that’s how owning a pet should be. Rescuing, adopting, if you have the means to. Not buying a puppy because you want it, without considering its needs and subsequently blaming your vet or pet care staff when it comes time to put your money where your mouth is.