Recently, someone reminded me of how important it is to give thanks to people for the impact that they have in our lives. Everyone has something to be thankful for and to be thanked for. In that same spirit of thanksgiving, I wonder how many of us have ever taken their time to thank that veterinarian who always attends to our pets any time when needed. Despite the services they offer being monetary, do you ever imagine what life would be like without the vet doctors? It is obvious that maybe you or I wouldn’t be alive as per now.
This is because of the different crucial roles that they play in our lives and those of animals. I do not want to mention the countless number of times you would have consumed contaminated or poisoned meat. Any animal product must go through their hands before it is released into the market. Now you know.
Very few of us have ever taken their time to give the vet doctor a call after treatment and say “Hello Doctor, thank you for the best treatment you gave to my calf or dog yesterday. He is now lively and playful.” Perhaps we don’t think that they deserve the gratitude. After all, we pay them.
Pursuing a lifelong dream
Any doctor, being it human or a vet doctor, can bear witness that getting that title comes with a lot of stress and struggle. These are people who have to endure long hours of books and sitting in boring lectures pronouncing very complex scientific terms that only they understand. The 6-year course that trains individuals with requisite knowledge and skills to work as veterinary surgeons, animal scientists, nutritionists, veterinary pharmacists and public health officers is not usually a walk in the park.
Back in my school days, I never imagined going down that path of pursuing veterinary medicine. Perhaps I was just lazy. Today, I envy these great people in the community because of how passionate they are in giving back to the community, be it in advocating for proper animal welfare or being good animal ambassadors. Not to mention that their hard work really paid. Show me any jobless veterinarian. Their work not only lies in the urban centers like some of our professions, but also in the rural areas. Unless one chooses to stick to the urban, they are in one of the luckiest professions, for they are spoilt for choice in terms of where they would want to work from. With a single degree, one is exposed to such a wide variety of career paths. There aren’t very many graduate degrees that offer this kind of opportunity.
The passion
For some, the passion is inborn. They were born loving animals. For others, it is as a result of the childhood encounters with animals. For some, it is because of domestic violence that made them make a decision that they would never reciprocate the same deeds that they experienced in their families on their animals. Hence, they developed a sense of accountability and passion to care for all beings, animals not being an exception. All these led them to pursuing a career in veterinary medicine.
For my friend, her dream to practice veterinary medicine was fueled when she was 12 years old. She had visited her sister and heard a lady screaming in the neighborhood. She got curious about what was happening and found out that she was literally screaming at a kitten who had soiled her seats. The kitten was less than two months old. She was malnourished and covered in fleas. She ended up taking her in the sister’s house, nursing her till she got back in good health. It was a large volume of work but it assured her that veterinary medicine was the right career path for her. Funny, is it? But she had discovered a career for herself. She is now a successful veterinary surgeon.
Protecting the health of animals and the entire society
The veterinary profession is such a dynamic field. It allows for pursuit in whatever interest you may have. Be it treating large or companion animals. It all depends on your interest. The veterinarians make a difference for the animals every day. Whether its preventive care or an ailment management, their interactions with the animal patients are just unique. For a fact, many veterinarians that I have interacted with in my line of advocating for animal welfare confess that interacting with these furry friends usually gives them a sense of satisfaction. For instance, for a veterinary surgeon who successfully performs a surgery on an ailing pet cannot help but celebrate. The kind of contentment that comes with it cannot be put down on paper.
What would life be without veterinarians to monitor our animals’ health? We would have lost so many animals to the monster called death, for minor illnesses that these veterinarians prevent every day. Not forgetting that they also play a major role in protecting human health. This is in areas such as research, food safety and public health. Hats off to every veterinarian!
Research in the veterinary profession
Research is known to be a very important tool in development and acquiring of new knowledge and skills. Veterinarians are known for the research and development of new education programs, that help practicing veterinarians acquire gather more facts. They find new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent animal and human health disorders. They have made very vital contributions to human health.
Just to mention, it is veterinarians who made discoveries that helped control malaria and yellow fever. It is the same profession that came up with an anticoagulant that is known to treat people with heart disease. They also developed and refined techniques such as permanent artificial limbs and new treatments for broken bones.
In pharmaceutical and biological research, they develop, test and supervise the production of drugs for animal and human use. The veterinarians are in high demand in the agricultural and chemical industries, private testing laboratories, feed, poultry and livestock industries because they have specialized in fields such as pharmacology, toxicology, virology, bacteriology, laboratory animal medicine, or pathology.
Giving back to the Veterinarians
We live a fast-paced digital world, where the word ‘thank you’ can get lost amidst all the communications that happens every day. In honor of all the hard work they put towards ensuring that we as humans, together with the animals that are in perfect health, we should always take a moment to appreciate them. Normally, they work around the clock, sometimes for 12 to 24 hours a day, just to make sure that our furry friends receive all the medical care that they need. What then are the ways that we can reach out to them, to just show the kind gesture of a ‘thank you’ that always speaks volumes?
- Shout outs on social media
When you’ve had a great experience with a certain veterinary clinic, always consider giving that particular veterinarian a positive shout out on social media. For instance, you could acknowledge the outstanding customer service, the empathetic care towards your pets and excellent communication. Social media is known to be a very powerful tool that can build or destroy an individual. You can therefore use the powerful tool to sing their praises.
People will always rush to social media to look for reviews of different premises in order to seek services. Someone could be conducting a desktop research of which clinic to take their furry friend and luckily, they come across your comment. Imagine how you will have benefited them, and the said veterinarian.
- Gift a care package
Everyone loves gifts. They make us feel loved and appreciated. Veterinarians are not an exception. Gifting them with self-care items can be a great resource in their work place because they at times come across wild patients who sometimes soil their clothes. Items such as hand gloves, lab coats, nose masks could come in handy and provide comfort during their operations at the veterinary hospital
- Refer him to friends and families
Consider sharing your positive experience and refer your veterinarian and vet clinic to your friends, family, and their pets. Certainly, sharing this positive experience is a fantastic way to thank your veterinarian for their good work. This will greatly assist more pets in getting the excellent medical care and services.
- A thank you card
There is something that is extra special about cards. It could be because of the powerful message that they carry in form of words or maybe because they are tangible or is it because the message is more personalized? You can touch and feel them, which makes you connect to the sender the more. This could be a very unique way to thank your veterinarian for the great medical care that they offer to your pet. You could even consider using a pet paw print on the card. It would be a perfect gift!
