As vets, we have wins and losses. That’s the job. And amidst challenging clients, long work hours, insurmountable debt, huge caseloads and attempts at work/life balance, it is easy to lose track of why we entered this field. We advocate for the innocent, we heal those who are deeply loved (and in that process, those… Read More
No One Warns You About the Loneliness
Everyone tells you that you will learn more in your first year as a veterinarian than your year on the clinic floor in veterinary school. They tell you about the long hours, the mountain of debt, the anxiety and the high rate of substance abuse and suicide, but we are not warned about the loneliness…. Read More
“What Can We Do?”
I have a bad habit of checking social media first thing in the morning, which I know can really set the day off on the wrong foot. This morning, I woke up to see a post from a veterinarian friend that she had two veterinarians in her life commit suicide this week. As I read… Read More
In Defense of Holding Space for Clients
I’ve noticed a troubling trend in vet medicine. It’s not exactly client bashing, but more of lack of compassion and taking time to actually talk to clients. Lest you think me a starry-eyed optimistic new grad out to make every client happy and save the world, that is not the case. I’ve been in practice… Read More
What a Vet Sees: Minus Twenty Seven Degrees
It’s March 2nd, and it’s -27 degrees Celsius outside. Minus. Twenty. Seven. And I ain’t even mad. Maybe I should be. I mean, technically spring is only three weeks away. But I’m not. I’m not because I know that spring on the Canadian prairies – our real spring – comes when it’s good and ready…. Read More
How Responding to My Own Cat’s Code Helped Me Become a Better Nurse
“You don’t understand.” This is the statement given to me by anguished owners responding during their most difficult hours. My empathy sounds empty, as though I could never know or understand their pain. I glance into the corner of room five and quickly look away from the spot I last held my beloved pet after… Read More