by Ingrid King
Janet and Jack’s clinic was a forty-five minute drive from home, and neither Amber nor Buckley ever did well on the long drive. I needed to find a vet closer to home. I never thought I’d find someone as good as Janet and Jack. And then I met Fern, and she and I hit it off immediately. Not only were her practice philosophies in synch with what I was looking for, she is the consummate cat vet and one of the most brilliant people I ever met. And even better, we became very good friends in a very short time.
Unfortunately, after caring for Amber and Buckley for two years, she had to make the difficult decision to retire, at least for the foreseeable future, from her beloved profession due to a family health problem. While I am fortunate that she will always be available to me for advice or a second opinion, I still needed to find a new vet, since she was not affiliated with a hospital and couldn’t do much beyond basic physical exams without that affiliation. As you might expect, with my background, my standards of what I expect in a vet are very high!
One of the things I always stress when I talk to people about this subject is that I think it’s a good idea to make an appointment without your pet when evaluating a veterinary clinic. By going to see potential vets without your cat, you will be more relaxed. Ask for a tour of the hospital. If you want to speak with a veterinarian, offer to pay for an office visit. Most vets won’t charge you for this introductory visit, but it sets the right tone for a future relationship of mutual respect. Come prepared with a list of questions. Some of the questions I’ll be asking on my search are:
How many veterinarians are at the practice?
Will I always see the same vet?
Are there vets at the practice who specialize in working with cats or have a preference for working with cats?
Are they open to holistic modalities even if they don’t practice them?
Are appointments required?
How are emergencies handled?
What is their policy for visiting hospitalized pets?
Are diagnostic services such as X-rays, blood work, ultrasound, EKG, and endoscopy done in-house, or referred to a specialist?
Do the veterinarians use VIN (the Veterinary Information Network)? This is generally an indicator that they are interested in pursuing continuing education and are staying on top of the latest developments in their profession.
I’m a big fan of house-call vets, especially for cats. Simply getting a cat into a carrier can be a challenge. And while there are things you can do to make your cat’s trip to the vet less stressful, having a vet come to your home can be a much better option for many cats. There are numerous advantages:
The vet gets to see your cat in her natural environment. This will allow your vet to observe and evaluate behavior and conditions that may be aggravated by something in your cat’s environment that you may not even be aware of.
No exposure to other cats (or dogs, if your veterinary hospital is not a feline-only practice) and any potentially contagious diseases. This is especially important for very young cats who do not have a fully developed immune system, and for older cats with compromised immune systems.
More personalized care. During a typical in-clinic appointment, you will spend fifteen to twenty minutes with your vet. A typical in-home appointment will last anywhere from half an hour to an hour.
Less stress for the cat guardian. I’ve always found taking my cats on car rides extremely stressful. None of my cats have ever been good in the car, and as a result, both the cat and I were stressed by the time we arrived at the clinic.
Ideal for senior citizens and others who are homebound or don’t drive.
No waiting times. Even though your mobile vet may not always arrive at the exact scheduled time due to traffic and other considerations, you’ll be waiting in the comfort of your own home and not in a crowded waiting room with other animals.
The American Association of Mobile and Housecall Veterinarians provides a state-by-state listing on their website. However, just like you shouldn’t pick a vet simply by location, don’t pick a mobile vet simply based on whether he or she services your area. Use the same criteria you’d use to choose a regular vet.
I ended up choosing two house-call veterinarians: a feline-only vet who specializes in homeopathy, and a full-service, conventional house-call vet.
Your pet’s veterinarian is going to be the most important person in your pet’s life after you. Choose wisely.
Life after Veterinary Medicine
I loved the years I spent working in various facets of the veterinary profession. I didn’t leave the profession because I didn’t love the work. I had taken the job at the animal hospital following fifteen years of working in corporate middle management at a financial-services company. Although I enjoyed most of the people I worked with there, I felt disconnected and uninterested in my work. I was just one more cog in a giant wheel.
While my immediate supervisors gave me consistently positive feedback about my work, I did not feel that I was making a difference in anyone’s life and my work was definitely not an expression of myself in the world—something that was becoming increasingly important to me. Once I had started working at the animal hospital, however, I looked forward to going to work each day for the first time in my life. I was making a difference, both in the lives of my bosses and staff as well as our clients and their pets. But after a few years, I knew I wanted something more. I just did not know what that something more might be.
I loved working in an environment that mattered to me. Janet and Jack were not only my bosses but had become personal friends. They treated me more like a business partner than an employee, and I was able to make decisions and implement my ideas without the constraints of a corporate hierarchy. I loved seeing how my decisions directly impacted the people and animals around me. Along with that, however, came a certain amount of burnout. We were a small group, and it often felt more like a family than an office. When things were going well, that made for a wonderful work environment, but like any family, there were also personality clashes and a certain level of dysfunction. Eventually, it was the people-management aspect of the job that made me reevaluate and realize that I was ready to move on and take my life in a slightly different direction. I wanted even more freedom than this position afforded me.
I began to think about starting my own business. The time was right. My father had passed away a year earlier and had left me a small inheritance, so I had some financial flexibility. It was still a difficult decision. I had never been a big risk taker, and going out on my own—especially without having a clear vision yet of what I wanted to do—was nothing if not risky. I loved working with Janet and Jack, and I knew they trusted me with their business and relied on me to free up their time to be doctors and not just business owners. It took a considerable amount of soul-searching on my part, but eventually, I realized that it was time for me to move on.
In February 2006, I told Janet and Jack that I was going to be leaving. It was an emotional and difficult conversation, but their kind and understanding acceptance of my decision reaffirmed that they were friends first and bosses second. While they were sad that I had made the decision to leave, it didn’t come as a complete surprise to them. Over the past few months, my burnout with certain aspects of my job had become more and more difficult to hide. I offered to stay on until a replacement for my job had been found and trained, a process that took another four months. I often joked about it being the longest notice period in history, but it was important to me to make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone.
While I look back fondly on my adventures in veterinary medicine, I haven’t regretted my decision to leave. I took a leap of faith when I started my own business. After my departure, I continued to take care of the hospital’s financial management for a few hours each week for a few more months while starting my new business, Healing Hands, which provides Reiki healing for pets and people. Reiki is an energy therapy that originated in Japan. A Reiki Practitioner transfers ener
gy through her hands to a person or animal by using a light touch either directly on or slightly away from the body.
As part of this new business, I began publishing my bimonthly newsletter, News for You and Your Pet, and I found that I loved writing. I had been writing in some shape or form all my life, but this realization became a turning point, and my writing career took off with my first book, Buckley’s Story, my blog, The Conscious Cat, and numerous articles for print and online publications. This was followed by my second book, Purrs of Wisdom. I’m currently working on a sequel and prequel to Buckley’s Story.
I will always be grateful for my experiences in the veterinary world. They enriched my life in ways I never could have imagined, and paved the way for a successful career of writing about what I’m passionate about: cats and pets in general.
About the Author
Ingrid King is the award-winning author of Buckley’s Story — Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. She is a former veterinary hospital manager turned writer. Her popular blog, The Conscious Cat, has been called “educational catnip for the cat lover” and is a comprehensive resource for conscious living, health, and happiness for cats and their humans. The Conscious Cat has won multiple awards, including DogTime Media’s 2011 Pettie for Best Overall Pet Blog and About.com’s 2012 Readers Choice Award for Best Website About Cats. Ingrid is the publisher of the online magazine News for You and Your Pet, which goes out to subscribers around the world. For more information about Ingrid, please visit www.ingridking.com.
Acknowledgments
Even though being a writer is a solitary profession, no book is created by the writer alone. While it’s impossible everyone who contributed to making this book a reality, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the following:
To all the veterinarians, veterinary staff, veterinary clients, and veterinary patients who made my years in the profession such a life-changing and enriching experience.
To T.J. Banks, for being my first reader, for your unwavering support of my writing, and for your friendship.
To Anna Maria Trusky, editor and kindred spirit, for making Adventures in Medicine a better book.
To Bernadette Kazmarski, for communicating the joy I felt working in the veterinary profession with a beautiful cover.
To my cheering section – you know who you are. Your friendship and steadfast belief in me mean the world to me.
Do you have questions or comments?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. E-mail me at [email protected].
If you’re not already a reader of The Conscious Cat, I’d love to invite you to join one of the best communities of cat lovers on the Internet. www.Consciouscat.com
One last thing…
When you turn the page, Kindle will give you the opportunity to rate the book and share your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter. If you believe this book is worth sharing, would you take a few seconds to let your pet-loving friends know about it? If it turns out to make a difference in their lives and those of their pets, they’ll be forever grateful to you. And so will I.