03/23/2026
Hi!!!!!!
This past weekend was an emotional one for my staff and I. I dubbed it “The weekend of the preventable”. This weekend we saw over 80 patients, and a lot of them suffered from illnesses or trauma that were preventable. We saw numerous toxins from things not being kept in a place the animal could not get to, patients hit by cars because they were unleashed, numerous severely sick, even full blown septic parvo puppies, pregnant dogs that were purposefully bred with no plan for safe delivery, numerous Pyometra females left unspayed, severely ill un-neutered male dogs with infections in the prostate, pets that need life saving surgery because they have ingested foreign material, which they have always done but nothing was done to prevent it “because they always pass it”, and the list keeps going.
Some of these patients were able to be saved and some not… some just too far gone. It was heartbreaking to see the tears, the regret, the anger, and unfortunately at times we took the brunt of that anger.
We teamed up with Angel fund this weekend, as we regularly do and there were comments made about how a vet should perform life saving surgery if an animal is in pain irregardless of money. I think it is easy to quickly blame the veterinarian in these instances because mistakes happen right? What is a vet to do when they see something that could have been prevented but wasn’t, and now an animal is sick? What if that is the majority of patients you see? At what point does the owners responsibility outweigh that of the veterinarian? We do what we do because we want to help. We do our best to educate on the benefits of spay/neuter and beg people to please vaccinate their puppies/dogs. We don’t do this to make money, we do this to keep them safe.
Veterinarians have garnered a reputation of being money hungry, rip offs, accused of running unnecessary tests to make money, recommending treatments that are “overkill” etc. If you can think of a name we have been called it. The veterinary industry as a whole is tired. We are tired of diagnosing, treating, and sometimes euthanizing animals for things that could have been prevented. We are tired of being the scapegoat for people that don’t do the basic necessities for their pets. When you acquire an animal they are your responsibility, not ours. Everyone knows that veterinary care costs money, I know this because I have the financial conversations with people 40x a day.
This is what I can tell you, your veterinary team wants nothing more than to treat your pet. They want to see them wagging their tails and happy to leave the hospital. They also need to pay their own bills, and pay for their own pets. They have children that need to eat, clothes, and houses to live in.
So I ask… what is the veterinarian to do? Do it for free? Make payment arrangements that no one ever pays? I’ve done this… people change their phone numbers, cancel their cards, block us… so I won’t do it anymore. I can’t care for the people that show up everyday, get screamed at on a daily basis, take care of these sick animals, and do it with a smile if I just gave everything away. Everybody thinks “it’s just one time” or “just make the exception for this one case”. It isn’t one time per day, it’s almost every case, everyday. How can the veterinarian choose who gets care and who doesn’t? You have to have one set of rules that apply to everyone.
Below is a picture of one of my best girls… Penny. Penny has 2 chronic illnesses, neither of which could be prevented. She will need veterinary care for the rest of her life. Her mom brings her religiously every 28 days to see me for injections to keep her healthy. NEVER missing an appointment! Penny’s mom is prepared and she has insurance for her, and 90% of her care is covered. We get to treat/test penny for anything she needs without hesitation. I hope that one day, every pet has insurance. I hope that every pet gets what they need, and money is no object. I would love nothing more than to be able to run every test I want, every time and not have to think about it.
But until then… I will continue to offer as many financing programs as I can. Continue to work with non-profits, and accept charity donations to be able to help as many as I can until that day comes. I will continue to take care of my staff to the best of my ability because they deserve it.
Signed
A tired veterinarian
