Thank you for writing this wonderfully detailed, beautifully written, and very fair essay on duty of care and how far it can, or should extend, for veterinarians.
I literally hung on every word as Bob’s case unfolded, and I could *feel* the experience, almost as if I had been there.
His case was skillfully interwoven with the stories of the legislative initiatives and the Ohio pet owners’ Facebook group.
As a non-veterinarian who has worked with veterinarians for 10 years (as a vendor providing services), I agree that most pet owners have no concept of what it’s like to be a veterinarian in daily practice.
Once I started working with vets, my eyes were opened to things I could never have possibly known - or noticed - as “just a client.”
That said, I think I’ve always been a pretty easy-to-deal-with type of client (I hope), it’s not in my nature to be demanding or rude or combative.
But I now have a much greater appreciation of how much is asked of, and required of, veterinarians on a daily basis. It is an extremely demanding profession that, when done well, requires so much more than just clinical or surgical skills. It requires high level communication skills, empathy, compassion, patience, non-judgment (ideally), emotional and physical resilience, business acumen, significant risk tolerance, and the capacity to deal with loss and treatment failures on a regular basis.
And I’m sure I’ve missed several things.
That is A LOT.
As a pet owner, I do empathize with the Ohio group, because I can’t imagine what it must be like to not have emergency veterinary care available in less than an hour drive.
I live in the outer edges of the Baltimore metropolitan area, and I have access to at least 2 ER facilities within 30 minutes, and 3 more within an hours drive.
However, I remember feeling quite helpless when last November I came home on a Friday evening to a suddenly paralyzed miniature schnauzer - who had been walking & trotting around as usual a mere 3 hours earlier - and all 5 hospitals but one were “on pause” and not accepting patients.
I knew to call the hospitals in advance rather than just showing up, because I was aware of staff shortages and many of my veterinary partner hospitals had needed to pause services multiple times in the past year.
I was panicked, frightened, and utterly unequipped with my usual ability to organize information and make decisions. Fortunately I had one veterinarian friend who I felt comfortable calling late on a Friday night, who helped me sort through options and offered me steady, problem-solving guidance.
I ended up having to drive 45 minutes to get to the one emergency hospital that was also on pause but told me they’d accept a critical patient - and when I described my dog’s symptoms they deemed that critical and told me to start driving, that they’d be ready for us when we arrived.
When your animals are your “kids” - I wasn’t lucky enough to be blessed with human ones - I think you temporarily lose the ability to have realistic expectations of the medical care team. You’re just so desperate for a glimmer of hope, of a tiny reassurance, that your loved one will survive and come out the other side.
It’s hard. Hard for all parties involved.
Thank you for your willingness to be there for the pets and families in your community, and for having the empathy and capacity to understand that there is no right or wrong “side,” just people with needs and expectations for their animals that can’t always be met, no matter how hard we try and how much we want to fix things.
Thank you for writing this wonderfully detailed, beautifully written, and very fair essay on duty of care and how far it can, or should extend, for veterinarians.
I literally hung on every word as Bob’s case unfolded, and I could *feel* the experience, almost as if I had been there.
His case was skillfully interwoven with the stories of the legislative initiatives and the Ohio pet owners’ Facebook group.
As a non-veterinarian who has worked with veterinarians for 10 years (as a vendor providing services), I agree that most pet owners have no concept of what it’s like to be a veterinarian in daily practice.
Once I started working with vets, my eyes were opened to things I could never have possibly known - or noticed - as “just a client.”
That said, I think I’ve always been a pretty easy-to-deal-with type of client (I hope), it’s not in my nature to be demanding or rude or combative.
But I now have a much greater appreciation of how much is asked of, and required of, veterinarians on a daily basis. It is an extremely demanding profession that, when done well, requires so much more than just clinical or surgical skills. It requires high level communication skills, empathy, compassion, patience, non-judgment (ideally), emotional and physical resilience, business acumen, significant risk tolerance, and the capacity to deal with loss and treatment failures on a regular basis.
And I’m sure I’ve missed several things.
That is A LOT.
As a pet owner, I do empathize with the Ohio group, because I can’t imagine what it must be like to not have emergency veterinary care available in less than an hour drive.
I live in the outer edges of the Baltimore metropolitan area, and I have access to at least 2 ER facilities within 30 minutes, and 3 more within an hours drive.
However, I remember feeling quite helpless when last November I came home on a Friday evening to a suddenly paralyzed miniature schnauzer - who had been walking & trotting around as usual a mere 3 hours earlier - and all 5 hospitals but one were “on pause” and not accepting patients.
I knew to call the hospitals in advance rather than just showing up, because I was aware of staff shortages and many of my veterinary partner hospitals had needed to pause services multiple times in the past year.
I was panicked, frightened, and utterly unequipped with my usual ability to organize information and make decisions. Fortunately I had one veterinarian friend who I felt comfortable calling late on a Friday night, who helped me sort through options and offered me steady, problem-solving guidance.
I ended up having to drive 45 minutes to get to the one emergency hospital that was also on pause but told me they’d accept a critical patient - and when I described my dog’s symptoms they deemed that critical and told me to start driving, that they’d be ready for us when we arrived.
When your animals are your “kids” - I wasn’t lucky enough to be blessed with human ones - I think you temporarily lose the ability to have realistic expectations of the medical care team. You’re just so desperate for a glimmer of hope, of a tiny reassurance, that your loved one will survive and come out the other side.
It’s hard. Hard for all parties involved.
Thank you for your willingness to be there for the pets and families in your community, and for having the empathy and capacity to understand that there is no right or wrong “side,” just people with needs and expectations for their animals that can’t always be met, no matter how hard we try and how much we want to fix things.
Warm regards,
Suzanne