Father of veterinarian who took own life calls for more education on how much it really costs to own a pet
Slight rant coming up. This is what I’ve learned from my friends who work(ed) as vets and how they experience(d) the profession.
You spend your whole young adult life working towards a profession strongly tied to your identity, which is usually focused on wanting to care for animals. We’re talking 6 years of university study in the UK, preceded by several years of work experience alongside school to get on the course. The drop-off rates for mental health reasons are insanely high. I observed ~1/3 leave before graduating and among those who did, the final exams almost broke them (2nd year is pretty bad too).
Then you graduate and benefit somewhat from the high demand vets are currently in by mostly having your choice of practice. Interestingly though, your salary isn’t anywhere near as high as what most clients expect. Large franchises that buy out smaller vet practices, benefiting from economies of scale, pay your salary. You could work for a smaller practice, but few of them offer a full hospital service where you get to do more than just give vaccines/boosters.
Said franchises are often backed by venture capital and have investors that include large (pet) food corporations (nestle). Their idea of good business is to persistently harass your managers for performance milestones and, depending on how pliable those managers are, they pass that pressure onto you. These companies also hire a whole retinue of middle management staff to push these KPIs. They are frequently less qualified than you and know nothing about veterinary care. We’re talking regional directors, applications and transfer coordinators, and presumably whoever manages them and many more besides. Bearing in mind that the work you do as a vet also pays their salary. Between that and the expensive equipment, you can see why vets don’t earn much despite the huge turnover the industry must make.
On the other side of that pressure is dealing with the general public who are justifiably disgruntled at the huge expense their little animal has incurred them. Many (often insured) understand that you don’t set the prices as a junior vet. Many others call you money grabbing or worse (much worse). That’s not getting into the deluge of conspiracy theories around pet ownership that you need to constantly battle, as well as the literal shit, condoms, sanitary towels and God knows what else you need to extract from Snowy this week.
The hours are appalling. There is generally no paid overtime, but if an animal is about to die you can’t just clock off. If something does die unexpectedly, you might get threatened with legal action. The amount of second-guessing and what-ifs alongside self-flaggelation I’ve seen my friends go through is really sad. The expected deaths and euthanasia aren’t much easier though, because you see the heartbreak it causes the owners. My friends have offered consolation and emotional support to humans almost as much as they have medical care for animals.
There isn’t much recognition for the hard work you do and little to no vertical progression in your career. Once you’re a clinical vet that’s pretty much it, unless you open your own practice at some point or direct one of the ones that have already been bought out. You mostly get your sense of self worth from feeling that you’ve made a difference for the animal, but that’s not what your KPIs measure. Owners will blame you for not being able to afford the expense of treating their pet, while your boss tells you you haven’t been bringing in enough business. When you’ve spent your life working towards something that turned out to be a complete fantasy and is openly despised by so many, is it that surprising to consider suicide as an option?
I’ve left out a lot and this is necessarily anecdotal. There are good bosses, rewarding cases, wholesome workplaces, and grateful and well-insured owners. But I’ve also left out a lot of the bad, so do yourself a favour and don’t become a vet. Do it as a job if you have to, but don’t make it your identity.
As the owner of 3 insured pets, 2 of which need ongoing complicated care, it’s easy to see that vets are overworked and underappreciated.
My local practice was recently taken over by a UK chain and it’s obvious. I asked (before) if supplements were worthwhile, and was told that there was no clinical evidence for them and lifestyle changes were more impactful. After the buy out, I was led to the front where an enormous stand of supplements sat and was urged to consider the very expensive options after a consult that showed the lifestyle choices were having a great impact on quality of life.
It’s a real shame. I got a call later in the evening yesterday with results for my currently unwell cat and I know that vet had been there for 12 hours at that point.
I’ll never grudge the money I spend on them because I’d sell my car before seeing them suffer but I can see how many would become disenfranchised after working in the reality of modern veterinary medicine.
My girlfriend is a vet in the US. Everything you just said is 100% applicable to vets here.
The stories she tells are insane. She has literal billionaires screaming in her face that she won’t give them a discount on their dog’s 24 hour care at the hands of boarded specialists. The worst are dog rescues who weaponize social media into forcing free/discounted care for dogs, including lying about vets to make their followers angry enough to pressure the hospital to give free care. Those vets are then hounded/bullied/threatened on social media endlessly, which has caused multiple suicides. And a lot of it is down to VCA (owned by Mars Candy Corp) raising prices 4 times a year.
That is so so sad. You’re a veterinarian, you love animals for your whole life. You want to heal them and help. Instead you’re 4x more likely to die from suicide, over money basically.
Alright how about this: mandatory health insurance for pets. This could have multiple positive effects. People wouldn’t carelessly get pets without considering the costs as often. Any insurance would ask for very high rates for any of the incredibly defective breeds people keep buying. I know people find that flat faced pug funny/cute but they literally can’t breathe ffs. This might lead to less demand and less breeding. Vets and their customers wouldn’t have to worry about costs so much which would take a lot of the stress out and make many currently difficult decisions a lot easier. As a responsible per owner you have these costs either way.
