These words. These words are asked of me way too frequently. As a licensed veterinary technician in emergency medicine, we are frequently unfairly burdened by pet parents about being responsible for the health and life of their fur baby.
Recently, a client brought in her dog in distress due to dystocia. Dystocia is “difficult birth”. The bitch had been in active labor, stage 2, where she had been contracting for 5 hours to push out a puppy. As a general rule, if the mother is pushing for more than an hour, this is considered an emergency and requires medical intervention. Pushing for too long can cause uterine inertia to decline and the potential for the uterus to rupture entirely. This mother had been pushing for 5 hours, so we knew it was going to be a problem.
Upon arrival, we triaged the bitch into our hospital while the human waited outside. At this time, we are strictly curbside service because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I obtained a pertinent history from the human while my coworkers performed a vitals check and exam. As a courtesy, I described how the process works: my doctor performs their exam, and then they call the client and discuss findings and recommendations based on the exam they perform. The client asked about diagnostics and the potential for a c-section and I quoted them a ballpark price, buffering it with “only if the doctor recommends it, based on her size, and the cost could change based on what she needs”.
The client said, “I only have $500. You’re not going to let my dog DIE, are you?”
Full stop.
First of all, I appreciate the budget. It’s a lot easier for my doctor to formulate the best plan for the client when we have a budget to work within. We will always recommend gold standard care, but the client can *always* let us know if they can’t/won’t afford Gold Standard, and then provide us a budget to work within. This allows the doctor to choose the best combination of the less-than-ideal treatment plans to maximize your pet’s potential for healing. We understand. We’ve all been there, and as veterinary professionals we not only have empathy in spades, but we make bupkis so we frequently have to settle for less than the best because we can’t afford it. We get it and we appreciate the honesty.
Second thing - it’s not me or us that will let your dog die. We have the capabilities to perform whatever your pet needs. We are fully stocked and skilled to do what your pet requires. We are also not responsible for every pet in the world, state, county, city, or even those in the general proximity to the clinic. We perform a service, and we are extremely capable. It is not the veterinary staff who holds the responsibility of your pet’s health and welfare. That’s on you, the pet parent.
And so I responded as I always do, “We will do whatever it is YOU can do for your pet. I know this was unexpected, but we perform a service and we require payment at time of service. I know it can be hard to be a responsible breeder.”
Asking me if I’m going to let a pet die is a way to try to remove all responsibility from yourself and put it on the veterinary staff that just met your pet. Just because we are skilled and compassionate and empathetic doesn’t mean we can absorb the cost of your pet’s treatments.
A pet is a responsibility, not a right.
Breeding your pet is not for someone who cannot plan ahead and budget for an emergency c-section. If the litter is unplanned, a pet parent has the option to spay the female before the fetuses come to term, which is significantly less out of pocket cost.
So the next time you go to your vet, be it wellness or emergency, please do not burden the staff with your obligations unfairly. And if you intend to breed your pet, make sure you have room in your budget for an emergency c-section. You don’t want to let your pet DIE, do you?
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