What I Wish I’d Known Before Working At A Veterinary Practice
Before I get into the nitty-gritty of things, of course cuddling kittens and puppies is amazing (and I will include lots of cute pictures to distract you a little from anything upsetting), but there is a side to that job that most seem to forget or gloss over.
For almost two years I worked in a less-than-savoury town (that shall not be named) as veterinary receptionist. In that time, I learned so much about the profession I so desperately wanted to work in — some good, and some not so good.
As a receptionist, I would see everything from someone walking in the door, to booking in, waiting to be seen, seeing the vet, having their animal treated, paying for said treatment, and leaving. Now during this time, I would receive the flack for everything big or small; from the long wait times, the heat or the cold, the diagnosis, the prices, and even the other people in the waiting room. Some would say things in passing just to get a rise, while others would openly be angry or aggressive and threatening.
Then there was the matter of becoming attached to animals that were very ill, and would stay in with us for a long time — the ones I would feed and cuddle each day, staying late passed my shift so they weren’t alone. I try not to think on the many farmed puppies who came to their new owners with parvovirus already taking hold of them, the elderly cats who could no longer stand or move on their own, or cradling and saying goodbye on behalf of the owners who didn’t bother to microchip their pets and would never see them again.
I remember the first time someone asked me to stay with them while we put their fur-baby to sleep. I hugged her and did my best not to cry, feeling cold for taking her money in exchange for that life. And I remember as soon as she left with tears in her eyes and an empty carrier, how I tried so hard to hold it together. After taking one look at my face, my colleagues told me to just go and let it out. I sobbed my heart out for at least half an hour before I could go back to work that day. But I cannot emphasise how important that time was, to get my head around what I had just seen and been a part of. I would go on to do this so many more times that I now honestly don’t remember them all.
But I didn’t always have time to think about the morality of things, when someone would come running into the waiting room with a bundle in their arms, and a tear soaked face. I would scoop them from their arms, rush them out for emergency treatment, and stay with them until they were stable. Then I would go to comfort the poor man or woman who now sat shaking alone in a room while they waited for the news on this creature that was part of their family.
So, before you coo over how many puppies and kittens these receptionists, nurses and vets get to cuddle, before you complain about the prices or wait times, remember the heartache they go through every day. And maybe just give a genuine thank you, to the vet who has put on a smile to the new owners’ face — just after putting to sleep a beloved pet they’ve seen grow up with the family who are now sobbing one room away.
With thanks to Louise Parker and Toby M-S.
