Is It The Delivery, Or, The Message?

It's beginning to feel like an island around here.

Dr Elizabeth Potter is challenging the insurance company system who denies care without following the law, or putting patients needs above profits.

Everyone is too afraid to be anything but A. A cheering squad, Or, B. The firing squad.

Then there's me, still here. Still squawking. I know I am here because I can physically, emotionally, and financially handle it. I know it's getting worse for those who have pets they love like family, and struggle to find care for. It is getting bleak and I know they also feel alone.

When you feel alone, afraid and alienated you seek companionship in the safest place you can; your pet. How ironic is that? Vetmed holds so much power. 

Do we forget that? 

Do we think that the shelters house so many extras that this one, this particular family pet, is replaceable? 

See the reaction from fellow veterinarians about this post here.

Here are some of the arguments I have heard vets provide as we justify the ever increasing cost of care.* 

• Our costs have increased.
• Our debt has increased.
• We want to practice better medicine and offer better treatment options. Think CT scanners, endoscope, big ticket/expensive equipment.

The reality is all of these, AND, there is a new player on the field; venture capital. They see limitless profits because there are almost no guardrails for pets, pet parents and the emotional bond is unparalleled. They have no emotional stake in the game. They never have to look into the eyes of the patients. parents, family. They have vets in gag orders. They are the fox in the henhouse. They are the evil in medicine. I mean that. I believe that. I see their consequences everyday. I have to look into the eyes of need, desperation, suffering and ask myself if I will be the only hand of mercy. I will hear everyday for the rest of my days a sneering, seething pessimists who want me to fail. They want the apple cart to land on my head and cause total system failure. That is the dilemma to being out here on this island, alone.

I feel like I have to explain myself over and over again. That is wearing thin. I suspect that people react to my message, but the intention, the audience, well that can get lost in the delivery. The passion comes through, but that elicits some stoking of the masses who finally feel heard and acknowledged from the source of their pain, AND, anger from my colleagues who (incorrectly) assume I am blaming them as the source of the problem.

None of this changes the (inarguable) fact that veterinary medicine is becoming out of reach to the majority. 

None of this changes the fact that all of us are deserving of love, compassion, hope and mercy.

None of this changes the collective responsibility to address the needs of our patients and pet parents. It is not ethical to simply shift the problem to the providers below you. (..and lets not dismiss the perception that specialty feels GP is below them. They don't have to make time, or compromise for patients who aren't their problem). How often am I reminded that "they simply cannot do it/whatever/for that price? When I want to reply, well, what can we do for this pet at an affordable price? (Please don't respond with "euthanasia").

I get so much, "you care, you figure it out." 

I get very little, "how can we do it together?"

I get back handed replies like; "she will die under the burden of trying."

The professional backlash feels like a deflection of some tapped into guilty conscious, some misplaced frustration. If it didn't strike a chord I would only fall on deaf ears. There would be no island, there would just be alone. Instead there is a purpose with a problem and a whole bunch of broken.

So, is it the delivery? Or, the message? ... and as long as treatable patients are dying so some billionaire can pay for his yacht docking fee on some tax-free sheltered island do I even care?

* "Over the past 2 decades, veterinary service inflation has surpassed general inflation rates by > 60% in the consumer price index, making it harder for pet owners to budget for their pets’ health care needs." Reference link here.

More about this on Instagram, Krista Magnifico

FaceBook, Jarrettsville Veterinary Center page here.

Pawbly.com, Ask questions for free. Share your pets vetcare experiences here.

Pet Good Samaritan Fund. The 501c3 we work with to help provide affordable care and support the other providers also providing life saving care to pets to avoid economic euthanasia.