Why I decided not to be a vet

When started going to school here in Corpus, I had decided that I was going to be a vet. But after careful consideration, I realized that there were some scenarios that I would never be able to handle. One of which I had first hand experience with today. I was on my way back from the bank and I saw some people standing on the side of the road looking at a dog. It was obvious the dog had been hit. I felt terrible and kept driving because I had an appointment for Pistachio to get her yearly shots and I had to go home and pick her up and I didn't want to be late for the appointment. After getting Pistachio in her box and into the car, I was driving down the same road when I noticed that the people were still hovering around the injured dog. I thought to myself, "I'm on the way to the vet, obviously these people aren't going to do anything besides look at the dog, so maybe I can help." The people told me that they had been trying to call the owner, but they couldn't get a hold of him. I looked at the dog, and of course she didn't look good, but she also didn't look like she was going to die any time soon. So I got a towel from my car and the people helped me wrap her up and put her in my passenger seat. She was very quiet and still on the way to the vet, but she was breathing and looking around. I decided that if the vet said she could pull through, I would be willing to pay for her bill, up to a certain amount. But I didn't really know what the plan was besides that. I just figured they would be able to tell if there was any hope of her living and if not, they could ease her pain.

So we got to the vet, and they took a look at her. She had no feeling in her tail or her front leg. The back legs were questionable. The vet figured she had possible spinal injury, and that she would need a leg and tail amputation at the least. Her gums looked ok, so she couldn't really say whether or not the dog would be ok. And apparently since they didn't have her immunization records, they couldn't hospitalize her. What the vet said was that with a lot of surgery, the dog may pull through, but it would depend on whether or not the owner was willing to pay for it. That's exactly why I decided not to be a vet. I know I couldn't put down an animal just because the owner couldn't afford to save its life. Then I'd end up doing everything for free, and then I'd go out of business and wouldn't be able to help any animals.

The plan at that point was to try to get a hold of the owner and let him make the decision. I took everyone back home (pistachio, chloe, little dog) and called up the dog's vet to see if I could get the owner's phone number. I called him up, and he answered. I told him what the vet said and asked if he could come pick her up since my daughter was asleep and I had no one to watch her. Then I waited for a really long 15 minutes. Little dog was starting to get restless and trying to stand up. She was taking very short, labored breaths. I took at look at her gums, and they looked really white, which was a bad thing. I started to wonder if I'd done the right thing. Maybe if I hadn't packed her up in the car, her owner would have been able to get her sooner and take her to her vet. I could tell she was well cared for, she had current tags, her nails were clipped, she didn't have any fleas. I just don't know what she was doing out on a busy road.

After helplessly watching the dog suffer for 15 minutes, her owner showed up. He was an older man in a big, new truck. I felt somewhat optimistic because he seemed caring, and from the look of his truck, it seemed as though he may have the money to get her fixed up. I handed her off (she was in a cardboard box) and told him that he should get her to the vet right away because the color of her gums was not looking good. He thanked me and went on his way. And now I'm sure I'll never know what happened, but I have a feeling he'll have to put her down. The vet said if her gums turn white, that's a bad sign. Of course, when she was looking at them and said they looked ok, they already looked white to me. So it's kind of hard to say.

The good news is, Pistachio is doing just fine. With the exception of a little gingivitis, she's very healthy. And Chloe got to pet and feed a big black dog that lives at the vet office. She liked that. Well, I better prepare some lunch for me and Chloe.