Answering the Critics

In reading some of the comments here, I have discovered that we are uncaring, unfeeling, uneducated evil bastards who are the sole cause for the downfall of our profession. It seems we've been busier than I thought, no wonder I'm so tired. It's hardly surprising, since we are Veteran Aryans.

I'm only one of the writers here, but I do read all the posts. They can all be boiled down to five words. Let us do our jobs.

We were quite passionate when we went into this profession, and still are. It's a hard profession, where we deal with life and death of beloved family members. It's hard at the best of times when you have to deliver bad news. We knew this going in, and accept it.

What drives us absolutely batty, and the reason for this blog, is the needless suffering we could have prevented. Pets dying of preventable diseases. The hit by cars that weren't on a lead. "But he's never been hit before." I've never been shot before, But I don't want to try it. The breeder/feed store guy/internet information that's flat wrong, and leads to pet's suffering. Needlessly.

Yes, we tell these stories, and do so with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Why? All of us are experienced, and have seen too much needless suffering and death. To keep going, we have all developed "combat humor". You either learn to laugh at the pain, or you don't last in this profession. It's that simple. I don't want to trade my white coat that buttons in front for one that ties in back.

Some think, because of our humor, we do not appreciate the gravity of these situations. That is categorically wrong. We are wise enough to know that the world is made of opposites. Yes/no, left/right, up/down. What is the opposite of gravity? Levity. It's not that we do not appreciate the gravity of a bad situation. We chose to fight back with gravity's opposite, levity.

Some have intimated that this is not an appropriate venue for these stories. It has been said that this would be better in a private, paid subscription site.

Personally, I tried that site years ago. Quite frankly, it wasn't worth the money to me. For that amount of money, I could annually spend 4 nights in a nice place on the beach, or give a raise to an employee. For medical consultation with my colleagues, there are referral centers, and other online alternatives.

I think it very appropriate that this is public. First, I have nothing to hide. And second, part of our job is to educate owners. If just one owner, having read this, decides to call their local vet instead of the feed store dude, it could save their pet from needless suffering and death. One life is worth it.

When it comes to ruining the profession or its reputation, you're going to need to take a deep breath. Do it now. Ready?

- We've got a professional association that seems clueless, and is more interested in politics and selling insurance than your average private practitioner,
- Colleagues personally and in print intimating that their competition is too expensive,
- Breeders/feed store guy/internet telling owners not to use us,
- "Some guy my cousin knows" doing $40 razor blade ear crops,
- Owners who listen to these people until their pet is past saving, then blame the vet for not being able to repair 7 years damage in 7 minutes,
- Chinese knockoff OTC meds,
- Drug companies undercutting us, and pulling needed meds,
- Internet pharmacy adverts intimating that vets are not needed and expensive running many thousand times per day.

OK, now breathe. That was just a quick list off the top of my head. There are more. After that, can you honestly say that a three week old blog is the downfall of our profession or its reputation? Please.

Some may not like our style. That's OK. If you do stress release in other ways, go do them. If in other places, then go there. It's a big, wide, and free world, and not every solution fits everyone. If something works for you, great. We will not interfere. We ask the same courtesy from you.

As I said, we just want to do our job, and do it to the best of our ability. We love to do some no holds barred vetting.