It sure has been a very hectic week and I am so glad I have a day off tomorrow. While I would just like to chill out and do absolutely nothing, I have a few lingering work issues that I need to tidy up before I can fully RELAX.
I have so many amazing stories to share with you all but I am running on very little fuel.
I am sleep deprived and was giggling like a 5-year-old for most of the afternoon today.
Tomorrow the aim is to clear my mind and maybe even meditate.
I just would like to share one thing with you first. Vets often get gifts for putting animals down. Pet owners appreciate the kindness and support given to them and their late pets in those last moments. While I appreciate getting a thank you card or chocolates for my compassion, I just don’t feel so much joy from such gifts. They usually make me sad and transport me back to that last moment where they lost their very beloved animal.
The best thing a client can do for me is to give me a gift for curing or treating their pet. It just makes my hard work feel recognised and I feel victorious and so happy to have saved or treated my patient successfully.
Today I received a wonderful gift for all my efforts in managing Katie’s(a dog) medical condition.
It was a hilarious book titled: ‘All cats have asperger syndrome‘ by Cathy Hoopmann.
It is full of kitty cat pictures with very funny captions. These are the type of clients I really treasure.
Thank you to all our lovely clients that thank us for all our hard work even if we could not save their much-loved pet. It really makes us feel so supported and invigorates us to work passionately to save as much patients as possible…
Related articles
- The art of surviving the losses (rayyathevet.com)
Dr Rayya's Online Veterinary Journal 
August 4, 2011 at 9:19 pm
You are a kind and caring vet Rayya, I wish all vets were like you. Your compassion for animals shows through in your writing, so in person, you must be a fantastic vet.
I once had a vet like you (she went on to become a people doctor), but she really felt for the animals in her care, and she had my full confidence.
After 6 months of trying different vets with our very sick dog, she was the one who diagnosed her with the Demodex mite. We were at our wits end. She started treatment on Penny who responded and after a few months, she made a full recovery.
We will be forever indebted to her for her patience and determination to get to the bottom of the problem’ if she hadn’t been the dedicated person she was, we would have lost our dog.
August 5, 2011 at 8:51 am
Dear Barb. Thank you for your very kind words. There are many great vets out there. You just always need to keep looking until you find one that you can establish a great rapport with. I am very dedicated and considered a workaholic. There is not enough time in the day for me to follow up on all my challenging cases. I often have to take my work home to get it finished and that would not be possible if I did not have an understanding and supportive husband.
August 5, 2011 at 8:58 am
Have a lovely break and make sure to recharge those batteries 🙂
August 5, 2011 at 1:43 pm
thanks rosie…i have had a gret start to my long weekend..
August 5, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Hi Rayya,
You probably know already I am a Veterinarian Nurse here in Holland. And our Vets and we nurses also get gifts for putting pets to sleep. I also find that very hard to accept. We don’t get gifts often for curing pets. I would appreciate that more 😉
I am also happy with my day off today 😉
Have a happy day off and enjoy it!
Love, Renée
August 5, 2011 at 1:46 pm
hey renee…enjoy your very well earnt day off…and i hope you get heaps of chocolates for the next patient you save…:-)
August 5, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Awwww!! Did Katie’s owner give you a gift? That’s so sweet! She is such a lovely client and likewise, her dog is wonderful too. I hope Katie is doing well, I haven’t seen her in a week or two! I know last time I saw her she was still touch-and-go…. so very skinny 😦
By the way, I just LOVE the photo of Piccolo “mediating” it’s just gorgeous! HAHA, what a character of a dog. Just a crack up. He should be our clinic mascot!!! 😛
As for clients sending cards and gifts after a euth, I understand what you are saying. But from the client’s point of view, for them, it is the best way to show gratitude, and such emotions are accentuated in times of grief which is why we probably see the appreciation more in times of death than in times of recovery. It’s not the nicest thing, but it’s usually the time in which the owner can take the occasion to reflect more on their pet; when they have passed, more than when they were living.
It’s only then that they feel the gap, the empty space that their beloved pet will leave. It’s a sad reality. I think it happens also in humans. I, myself appreciate my own *father* more now that he has passed than when he was living… isn’t that bad? 😦
Sometimes when it comes to recovery – even from a grave illness – we trick ourselves into thinking it was a close shave or a brush with fate…. so our clients tend to play it down – we, on the other hand as vets and nurses who were there during the drama, understand just a little better how close their “baby” came to a sticky end – but the owners, you see, don’t see the blood, sweat and tears we put in behind the scenes to pull their pet through! They often don’t understand the urgency behind their pet’s treatment. Nor do they get to see the worst of times their pet might encounter while in our care.
Most of the time it’s very hard to think from a client’s point of view…. I know that better than anyone because I am so often more critical and cynical than most 😉 I have to keep forcing myself back into the mindset of the “layman” or the client! 😉 I forget not every pet owner is as educated as I! It really can be hard to come to terms with! I’m sure it’s just as tough being a vet.
Dr Rayya, I honestly think you are amazing at what you do, and you are the most inspirational vet I have worked with so far in my 7 year veterinary nursing career.
Please keep up the good work. You are making a big difference 🙂
xoxoxox
August 5, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Hey Erin :)…thanks for sharing your indepth thoughts. my article was extra brief and definitely did not shd any light on all aspects of th subject i brushed on…I feel so humbled with your amazing compliments and i am so happy to have you in my team…thank you so much for taking on christopher/brownie/parapeg…it aint easy taking on a case with a gaurded prognosis and getting hyperattached well knowing the outcome may be dreadful…that is what i call amazing and dedicated….