The reason why

Everyday as doctors we struggle between what we 'want' to do for our patients and what we 'can' do. Many people do not realize the limitations that we encounter during our day, often in the form of restrictions created by the owners of our patients. Often we are accused of not caring enough because we can't do procedures, diagnostics or even dispense medications for free or without an exam. Trust me when I say that if we could remove the monetary factor of veterinary medicine our jobs would be so much easier. We would no longer have to create a treatment plan that fits into a clients budget or pick and choose which diagnostics we think (ie hope) will give us the answers everyone desires. Too often we are forced to treat symptoms instead of diagnosing patients...which is what we all went to school for. As veterinarians we are problem solvers....we like to find out answers. We want to know what is causing the weight loss, the vomiting, the elevated liver values. Sure, if your dog is vomiting we can prescribe medications for that but we want to know WHY. And we want to know why because we do care. We know that the injection for nausea will help for a day or so but what if the reason your pet is vomiting is because it is in kidney failure. We care to find that out. We want to know if your cat is losing weight because it has cancer so that we can help ease its discomfort and give you quality time with him or her. We want to know that because we care. We care about the bond you have with your pet even when it seems that all we care about is making money. Discussing finances and cost of services generally makes us uncomfortable but it is a part of the job. Trying to put a price tag on a relationship with a family member is near impossible. Trying to put a price tag on my level of care, service and expertise is even harder.  The bottom line of it all is we do care - we care enough to try to do our best despite the limitations. We cut corners, we find a way, we come up with home remedies to try or we develop creative solutions to help our patients and their owners. Think about that the next time you visit your doctor - would they do the same?