It’s a shame you were able to find the one veterinarian willing to bash the profession, especially as someone who makes a living writing about and for the $50 billion pet industry. Your article evaluates the veterinary profession from only one side, so let me proffer the flip side:
There are people who fly their animals to the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine for dialysis or a kidney transplant. A couple offered Texas A&M millions of dollars to clone their beloved pet dog. Should a veterinarian not offer the best possible medicine just so those who are unwilling or unable to give their animal the total hip replacement or MRI will not feel guilty or inadequate? Are we to practice a medicine that is a step below human medicine simply because there’s a V in our MD?
Would those pet owners in your article be more comfortable with the archaic “vaccin-arian” who sees a dog or cat once a year simply to look it over and boost the rabies vaccine–which must be boosted, even in people, contrary to what your article might imply, because that immunity does not last forever (like a tetanus booster). As a veterinary student, I’ve had my rabies vaccination series and anticipate getting boosters for the rest of my life to keep up my immunity and protect myself from those patients who do not live with an owner responsible enough to follow legal guidelines. Being a veterinarian is about being the pet’s advocate, and having the tough conversations with the owners who want to take their aging, pained pet home to waste away about palliative therapy or even euthanasia. When our patients can’t speak, we have to practice the art of medicine to help them, heal them, but before that, to even diagnose them. A veterinarian runs diagnostics, like blood-work or imaging, to examine our patients who can’t tell us where it hurts or if they’ve had a decreased appetite lately or if they just don’t feel themselves lately. The last time I was at the doctor, I had basic blood tests run, and I’m a healthy 22-year-old! The biggest complaint you seemed to find was the cost which, until veterinary medicine inevitably goes the way of human medicine, is not determined by insurance and protocol.
And you did mention the protocol company, if not by name, by a calling card anyone well-acquainted with veterinary medicine would recognize. Do not be so foolish as to think that all veterinarians give Giardia and Corona vaccines to all dogs annually or run Lyme’s tests just to earn money.
But, while on the subject of money, why is it so wrong for a veterinarian to earn some money? Should they be forced into poverty simply because they care for your pets? If a lawyer, private practice doctor and accountant can charge what they do to “keep the lights on,” then surely you will not begrudge the veterinarian the same. Your veterinarian is not trying to gouge you when she tells you that your dog needs pain management after an operation, nor are they trying to take you to the cleaners by providing the highest quality surgical techniques. Do not be so cynical as to think that any veterinarian got into the business for the annual income.
Veterinarians understand that medicine is to be practiced individually, with each case managed on a personal level. Just as no veterinarian would ever attempt to diagnose a child’s heart murmur, so should no doctor or lay-person attempt to extrapolate that benign diagnosis to a cat. As my three board-certified veterinary cardiologists have taught me, a cat with a heart murmur has a severe pathology until proven otherwise. I enter my field with an open mind and a passion for medicine and for my patients, knowing the obstacles and the opportunities that my profession provides. We are one of the most respected professions in America, a respect that we neither take for granted nor, as your article insinuates, abuse. I am pleased to be entering a profession that manages to stay on the cutting-edge of technology without leaving the patient behind, as we veterinarians truly are the pet’s advocate. I plan on offering my clients the best possible medicine for their pet and finding a necessary compromise that suits the owners while giving the pet the best possible options.
I would recommend to your readership listen carefully to their options and know that we have everyone’s best interest at heart, and we leave the judgmentalism to Slate.
