VN April 2021

Vetnuus | April 2021 48 Life plus 21 Regulars I Life plus 21 Years ago, I had a bad experience at a veterinarian’s office. I had reluctantly returned to a vet’s office that had been recommended by a friend. I thought maybe the first time I’d gotten a bad feeling was a fluke; the workers had seemed rushed, had hardly looked at me or my dog, then a puppy, and had tried to upsell me on various products when I checked out. The second visit was worse though. They were hurried and rough withmy little 12-pound Gizmo, and he was scared and hiding his face in my armpit, his tail tucked between his legs. The tech saw this behaviour and labelled it as “guarding” and“aggression,”and said she was going to get a muzzle. Somehow I convinced her not to muzzle him, but I decided then that I was finished with that vet’s office. I never went back. It was years before I took my dog to the vet again. I know it’s weird that I didn’t just find a new vet for the next annual check-up, but I was paranoid that the same thing would happen and I’d have to convince another impatient tech that Gizmo is not aggressive but just a shy pup who needs some interaction before submitting to rectal thermometers and needle sticks. The vet we go to now is wonderful. When I had a health scare with my dog in the fall and thought he might need surgery, the tech sat with me when I burst into tears, worried about my dog, worried about the expense. The veterinarian himself is patient and gentle, paying more attention to Gizmo than to me. Gizmo still gets nervous, but it’s clear he trusts this kind doctor. I no longer have anxiety about taking my dog to the vet. This is how I’ve thought about veterinarians up to now — in terms of how I felt about them, and how they impacted my day, my dog, my wallet. My experiences with vets have always been a story about me. But the other day I stumbled upon a Ted Talk on YouTube that has made me rethink how I view veterinarians. In it, Dr. Melanie Bowden first describes the 10 years of school she had to attend before she could become a veterinarian. She left school with $286,000 of student debt, which she “affectionately” calls her “brain mortgage” because it amounts to a monthly payment of $1,100 for the next 30 years of her life. She tells us about the high attrition rates in the veterinary field. She tells us how, of the vets who have died since 2010, 10% of those were deaths by suicide. 75% of those suicides are small-animal veterinarians —vets who work with dogs and cats. Find the videoat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=objP3E625Xo She then describes a typical day as a veterinarian. The moment she arrives at work, a tech meets her in the parking lot and implores her to hurry. They have an upset client with a pet who seems to be dying. Dr. Bowden rushes in, examines the pet, and gives the client the grim prognosis. The client begs her to save her pet. The team gets to work, but in the process, the animal passes away. As Dr. Bowden hugs her devastated client, a tech pokes her head around the corner trying to get her attention. A different client is waiting in another room, furious that Dr. Bowden is 20 minutes late. If Dr. Bowden can’t be respectful of her time, she plans to leave and put her experience all over Facebook. Dr. Bowden peels herself away from her grieving client, takes a deep breath, plasters on a smile, and greets her waiting client with a profuse apology and her full attention. She describes the rest of the day — a litany of sick-pet situations ranging from minor to serious — and we begin to comprehend the intense emotional ride of a veterinarian’s day. Dr. Bowden is catapulted back and forth between joy and fear and heartbreak, all day long. Vets are expected to live up to impossible standards — giving in to unscheduled appointments means asking her Being A Veterinarian Takes a Huge Emotional Toll This month, I share an article by Kristen Mae. I feel it’s a very good article to support so many of our colleagues who are currently questioning their abilities. I have had a fair increase in stressed vets and I think with COVIDwe all need support. Regards, Mike Lowry by Kristen Mae