They're Not Just Dogs and Cats

Let the facts be known to all what the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery has endured with the hope that change may occur. /br> /br> Since the inception of my career, in too many cases I have provided only the medical and surgical services that my clients could afford, instead of the higher quality and more expensive services that I was trained and hoped to perform in the best interests of the pet. /br> /br> The overly frequent disappointments I have experienced because I was not authorized to deliver the kind of veterinary services I recommended for horses and then family pets, due to the lack of government laws and financial assistance, and lack of effort by our national and state veterinary organizations to mount an offensive to remedy this situation, has disturbed me enough to wish I never chose this career path. /br> /br> In short, after over 25 years of private practice, I can say without reservations, especially with the rising cost of health care that unless the types of recommendations I suggest in this book are adopted, that the future duties of the veterinary professional will become even more and more about euthanasia, rather than any other successful treatment options. /br> /br> Born March 29, 1957 during the economic boom following WWII into a family that did achieve the "American Dream," set the stage for a son who searched for the same type of satisfaction. /br> /br> Before earning my undergraduate Bachelor Degree in Public Policy in 1980, I was volunteering at a wildlife center to care for injured and resident wildlife. Volunteering was a necessity because paying jobs in the animal sciences were scarce. After this experience, I mistakenly concluded that a career in veterinary medicine was the only realistic choice that would capture my dream, improve the quality of witnessed veterinary care, and easily earn a comfortable salary to support a family. I then volunteered as expected, for an equine mobile veterinarian that ultimately served as a the final source of inspiration which convinced me that I must become a licensed veterinarian. /br> /br> To achieve my goal as soon as possible, I started post graduate studies in Mexico, then the Caribbean, and finally finished in Oklahoma at Oklahoma State University. Externship studies at the Stallion Laboratory at the Fort Collins campus of Colorado State University gave me hope that I would be able to choose a successful career in equine medicine and surgery with an emphasis on equine reproduction. /br> /br> But it only took seven years in private practice before I had to give up on my goal as a career equine veterinarian, and instead reluctantly limit my expertise and services to dogs and cats for the reasons described in this book.