I just spent five days in San Antonio at the American Veterinary Medicine Association conference. I was blessed to be surrounded by amazing animal-lovers, from the country’s top researchers to frontline veterinarians to veterinary journalists, feline behaviorists, vet techs and future vets. What an inspiring week! The one thing we all had in common was our passion for animal health.
There is a dark side to veterinary medicine. Veterinarians have the highest incidence of suicide of any occupation. In September 2014, my friend Sophia Yin, a gifted veterinarian and board certified veterinary behaviorist, took her own life. If one good thing came out of her death, it’s public awareness of our vets’ vulnerabilities.
Why, when vets have such a warm, fuzzy job, do they suffer from depression? There are a combination of issues. They have six-figure student loans before they graduate from vet school. They witness stupidity and thoughtless in pet owners. People often wait until the pet is critically ill before bringing it to the clinic. Veterinarians feel helpless when clients fail to follow instructions and the pets suffer. They cry in their office when they must put a patient to sleep. Vets suffer in silence, concentrating on your animal’s pain, not their own.
As clients, pet owners and animal rescuers, we need to show same care and concern for our vets as they give our pets. Maybe a card, a note, a simple thank you for your pet’s recovery or for releasing him from his pain. You never know what difference your kindness will make.
Here and now, I want to publicly thank Drs. Cassie Epstein and Cynthia Rigoni for everything they’ve done for my cats and me. Because of you, my cats have been made healthy and my foster kitties have gone on to happy forever homes.
It’s not unusual during a routine office visit for Dr. E to say, “Don’t you need a three-legged puppy who’s not house-trained?” The answer is usually no. However, sometimes I give in. On one visit she showed me an FIV-positIve Siamese-mix who had survived a gruesome coyote attack. Because of Dr. E, Braveheart recovered from his injuries and went to a loving forever home.
WHY I LOVE VETERINARIANS
Pondering this incredible profession and all its dedicated members, I came up with a list of reasons I love veterinarians. (Cassie Epstein and Cindy Rigoni, and all my vet friends, take note. This is for you.)
I love vets because:
- They look good in scrubs.
- I don’t have to personally empty my cats’ anal sacs. I can stand near the door while the vet works directly in the line of fire.
- Vets save lives. Every day.
- Vets have a lot of patience—not only with fractious pets but factious owners, too.
- Vets are superheroes. When necessary, they run faster than a speeding kitten. They jump father than shooting anal glands. They have X-ray vision (or at least an X-ray machine.)
- They are bilingual. They speak Vet-ese and English and translate the former into the latter.
- They have the same education and skills as a human physician, but charge only a fraction for their services.
- When a vet helps a pet, she/he also helps a person and the family.
- When people leave healthy pets to be euthanized because they’re too much trouble or can’t deal with handicaps, vets often adopt the animal or finds it a home.
- Veterinarians are never out of school. They must continue their education throughout their careers to keep up with innovations and technology.
- Will Rogers said it all, “The best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what is the matter–he’s got to just know.”
So please, occasionally take a moment out of your day to thank you your veterinarian and tell her what you love about her. You’ll never know, but you, too, might save a life.
