But we also need to try to focus on why this work is so difficult and how bonded people are to their animals and how intense some of these interactions are. "And I kind of feel like that's a very good start. "There's been a big focus on wellness, that veterinarians should try to take good care of ourselves and get enough sleep and eat right and exercise," Fine says. It can take an emotional toll suicide rates among veterinarians are disproportionately higher than those of other professions.
A big part of the job, Fine says, is witnessing suffering - not just of animals, but also of their owners. At home someone might say, 'Oh, he only gets a little bit.' And I can look across the kitchen and see three overflowing food bowls."įine reflects on her experience treating pets and counseling their owners in her new memoir, The Other Family Doctor. "And at the clinic, people don't remember the name of the food," she says.
They're not themselves." She says she prefers to visit her patients in their homes, because it gives her a more complete picture of their lives and their owners' habits. I feel that I learn from my patients all the time."įine notes that one common veterinarian abbreviation - ADR - stands simply for "ain't doing right," which she describes as "can't put my finger on it. "And I think there's a lot that we sort of assume that we know, but that they really have skills and senses that we don't. "I think there's so much we don't know and understand about animals, she says. It was as if the cat knew what he needed and was asking for help - which she provided. Just as Fine was contemplating how to best access the infected paw, her feline patient stretched it out to her through the net, spreading his toes and staying perfectly still. "I knew that I could give him antibiotics for the infection, but it wasn't going to stop until I trimmed that claw," Fine said. Take, for instance, the feral cat she had to capture in a net, who was suffering from an overgrown claw that had punctured and infected his paw pad. Veterinarian Karen Fine continues to be amazed by her patients, despite the fact that she's been in practice for 30 years.
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