“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
Life With Clients
There I Said It: I’m Not Your Therapist
There, I said it. I’ve actually been thinking it for a long time. I don’t want to hear client stories unrelated to their pet’s visits. I have no desire to understand their family’s tangled web of conflict. Much less take on the task of caring enough to serve as the peacemaker. I’m your veterinarian, I’m… Read More
My Dog Died When I Was Away on Holiday
Yes, to me the unexpected happened, a pet owners’ worst nightmare. I was going on a 2-week vacation to the Caribbean with my husband. A long-awaited mental break after an exhausting year. Our dog Jack always went next door to my neighbors, literally his home away from home. I dropped him off, gave him a… Read More
The Difference Between Pleasing and Serving in Veterinary Medicine
Hello, my name is Ericka and I’m a recovering people-pleaser. Are you a people pleaser? Have you ever said those words in reference to yourself during an interview? Like most women, I was taught as a child to do as I was told, to act in a way that would please others and to always… Read More
I’m Allergic to My Patients, But That’s OK
Growing up, I was the kid who was constantly outside – running around in the grass with my dog, eating dirt, rubbing dandelions on the tip of my nose to be Rudolph the Yellow-Nosed Reindeer… and yet, by the time I left elementary school I was allergic to trees, grass, dust and cats. Once I… Read More
“Thank You for Not Judging Me”
The day after Christmas started normally for a day in the clinic… with an emergency. Petey had been vomiting since Christmas Eve. By the time he made it to my exam room, he was looking miserable. “Were there any Christmas parties?” I asked Mom. “Any holiday treats he could have gotten into?” “No,” she said,… Read More