The Veterinarian | Svetoslav Dimitrov
The door of the veterinarian clinic opens and a man carrying a shivering puppy wrapped in a blanket enters. Dr. Svetoslav Dimitrov gets up from his chair and asks what the little patient needs. The puppy has come for his second dose of vaccine. Svetoslav takes an injection out of a cupboard, uses is it to draw a certain amount of the vaccine, and injects the puppy. Then, he massages the place where he injected the dog so that the vaccine can start working. The puppy whimpers for a while- a sign that Svetoslav did his job right. He tells the owner when the next dose should be administered and the puppy is free to go.
This happens for less than 10 minutes and is probably one of the easiest parts of Svetoslav’s job who has been working as a veterinarian for five years now. Although he entered the field not a long time ago, Svetoslav says that he knew he wanted to be a veterinarian since he was a child.
“This is my childhood dream. I may have been 5 or 6 years old when I decided to be a vet. I was influenced by the TV shows about animals and also by living with my grandparents in a village,” Svetoslav says. He also shares that he used to miss school so that he could visit the village and be with the animals.
Even though Svetoslav spent most of his childhood with animals, he was not prepared for some of the difficulties of his job- the danger (no matter how small it is) that every animal poses to his life. He says that his patients hurt him on a daily basis either because they feel threatened or because the procedures he does cause them pain.
He remembers the most dangerous accident he had. “It was during the first month when I officially started working as a vet. I was giving a dainty to a dog. When I was getting up, the dog most likely felt threatened and bit me. I had to spend five days at the hospital and was given three doses of rabies vaccine.”
Despite this Svetoslav doesn’t feel discouraged. Just the opposite. “Troublesome animals make me feel even keener to do my job, especially, when the animal is badly hurt and I need to work fast.”
What Svetoslav likes even more than treating unruly animals is the opportunity to get up close to exotic species like bears. “It is satisfying and exciting to work with such animals… When I took the scalpel (when operating on a bear), my hand was shaking.”
Although Svetoslav loves his job, it takes its toll on him especially, when an animal dies. “The feeling is not good. I have treated some animals several times and when the time comes and they die, the feeling is not good at all.”
The pet owners’ attitude doesn’t make it easier, either. “The aspect that I dislike the most about my job is people’s lack of respect… Everyone thinks that they are the most important and that they should be taken care of first.”
Despite all of these challenges, Svetoslav is confident that he will continue to work as a veterinarian. “At the beginning, I was wondering how I am going to get by but eventually I learned to be resilient.”
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Frantsiska Kutevska is a student at the American University in Bulgaria. She is interested in listening and writing about people’s jobs and hobbies.
