Every pet owner has the right to choose the veterinarian they trust. If they are unhappy with a clinic, they can transfer. If they lose confidence in a doctor, they can seek another opinion.
Veterinarians rarely have that same choice.
We don’t ask whether a client is patient, understanding, or respectful before accepting a case. We simply see the patient because that is what we were trained to do.
Contrary to what many people think, treating the animal is often the easiest part of our job.
The Difficult Part Is Everything Around It
Managing expectations.
Explaining that medicine is not mathematics.
Accepting that not every patient survives despite doing everything medically possible.
And increasingly, defending ourselves long before the facts have been established.
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Somewhere along the way, veterinary medicine has changed.
A poor outcome is no longer simply a poor outcome. It is often immediately viewed as someone’s fault. A grieving family deserves answers, but answers should come from medical records, investigations, and due process—not from assumptions or viral posts.
Every veterinarian accepts accountability when mistakes are made. That is part of being a professional.
But accountability should be based on evidence, not outrage.
Many people tell veterinarians, “If you don’t like difficult clients, choose another profession.”
The reality is that we never chose this profession because of the clients.
We chose it because of the animals.
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We stay because every patient deserves someone willing to fight for them.
What wears veterinarians down is not the long hours, the surgeries, the emergencies, or even losing patients.
It is the growing feeling that no matter what we do, we are presumed guilty first and heard second.
Respect is not earned by one side alone.
Trust cannot exist if only one party is expected to give it.
Veterinary medicine works best when veterinarians and pet owners stand on the same side of the consultation table, not across from each other.
Because in the end, the veterinarian and the owner want exactly the same thing.
The difference is this:
When the patient loses, the owner loses a beloved companion.
The veterinarian loses a patient, carries another family’s grief, and goes on to treat the next one—hoping that this time, compassion will be remembered longer than blame.
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Dr. Geoff Carullo is a Fellow and the current President of the Philippine College of Canine Practitioners.
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