Being present
I've been doing general practice veterinary work since 2007, as a 100% relief provider (the substitute veterinarian) since 2008. Last year I added emergency room practice as the money is generally good and I think quickly on my feet. What I wasn't prepared for is how often I can plan for the best but the reality (patient condition and owner finances) is that euthanasia is their only choice. Bringing a cat back from chronic and now acute kidney failure so it can be managed for another year or two is over $2000. A Hit By Car (HBC) pit bull is anywhere from 2.5 to 10K dollars for orthopedic work assuming there's no gross soft tissue damage.
So I hear their pain, share my losses with them, answer the question, "What if this were your pet?" and ignore that I contribute my own services, specialists will often discount their services 80% for a colleague, and instead put myself in their shoes. "If you can spend $X000 without being resentful, and while I think the prognosis is (blank) there can't be any guarantees, then I would go forward. If not, ending things now is better than taking your pet home to suffer. Take your time, call your family, there's no rush here."
Then there's the times when I have to help clients face reality. A 15yo bulldog with a 107F temperature, bleeding from the nose and rectum, fixed pinpoint pupils, bright yellow sclera, and a softball-sized mass in the abdomen is not going to get better this side of St Peter.
For all of them they need to know that they've been heard. Every conversation I end with, "Did I answer all your questions? Do you have any other concerns? If you think of something later, tell one of the techs and they'll find me." I always remember Roku, the best Tokinese that ever walked this earth, and remember the mindfulness of the kind vets that put him down when his time had more than come. That's what I try to emulate.
So I hear their pain, share my losses with them, answer the question, "What if this were your pet?" and ignore that I contribute my own services, specialists will often discount their services 80% for a colleague, and instead put myself in their shoes. "If you can spend $X000 without being resentful, and while I think the prognosis is (blank) there can't be any guarantees, then I would go forward. If not, ending things now is better than taking your pet home to suffer. Take your time, call your family, there's no rush here."
Then there's the times when I have to help clients face reality. A 15yo bulldog with a 107F temperature, bleeding from the nose and rectum, fixed pinpoint pupils, bright yellow sclera, and a softball-sized mass in the abdomen is not going to get better this side of St Peter.
For all of them they need to know that they've been heard. Every conversation I end with, "Did I answer all your questions? Do you have any other concerns? If you think of something later, tell one of the techs and they'll find me." I always remember Roku, the best Tokinese that ever walked this earth, and remember the mindfulness of the kind vets that put him down when his time had more than come. That's what I try to emulate.